Memorial Day Weekend

My Memorial Day started off early because I got to go to the first grade fairy tail plays. I know you're jealous. 

If I am being honest, they weren't that great. It was hard to both see and hear but who cares? It's first grade. We did get to finally see all the dioramas. Here is a smattering of most of them:

We also got to spend some time with our kids and read. And I enjoyed that too. 

Friday night, we went to see M's friends play baseball. This is not our family's sport but we were happy to go and support them for a single game. 

It was cute to watch her watch the game. She ran up to one of her friends to tell him he had a nice hit, and he reacted so sweetly. He tossed his head back and was like "no big deal" but he was beaming that a classmate came to see. There were 4 of her friend's on the team and we knew a couple of the other kids as well. The best part was the team they played also had some kids from our school so she knew some of those kids too. 

Plus, at one point Husband got to hold a three week old baby. And that's always fun! 

Also on Friday night, Husband and I put together our new grill!! 

We have used the same Weber charcoal grill since we got married. It works perfectly fine. But after work, getting the grill going can be a real pain. Last summer we actively avoided grilling because we either didn't want to smell like charcoal or it would take too long. So having a gas grill is a real treat. 

We gave our Weber to one of Husband's employees. She's just a year out of college and happy to have our old grill. She already used it this weekend in fact.  

Saturday we took the kids to play laser tag and the arcade to celebrate C a little more. We went right away in the morning and got to play laser tag just the four of us! Which was great because the kids had never played before. We had a good time! 

For the arcade we got time cards where they could play as much as they wanted for 30 minutes. The only thing they couldn't do was earn a prize. (Darn, no lame plastic-y garbage for me to throw away a few weeks later.) We had a lot of fun. Everyone's favorite game was the Down the Clown Game

I took no pictures of that though because we were having fun. 

Saturday night, Husband and I had a little date night fire. 

We didn't talk about much at all but somehow talked for 3 hours. The BEST. 

Sunday and Monday were SUPER low key. Mass. A grad party open house. And I did a lot of laundry. And I took no pictures. But it was good. I love a low key few days and a paid holiday. I slept in so I could get paid to sleep. (I enjoyed it too.) 

And now we are in the final push, last week of school and a Tuesday that feels like a Monday. We can do it!! 

A Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Birthday

 Yesterday was a big day because C turned 10! Should we recap the day? Too bad, I am going to anyway. Please note the many wardrobe changes throughout the day. 

He woke up and discovered the surprise theme Husband and I decided on was Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. 

He got to open his present from M first thing. (Because they have no patience and a present before school is always fun!) 

After a birthday bagel it was time to go to school. Cosmic Brownies in hand for the birthday treat of course! 

 

Today was supposed to be a reward day at school with fun activities and bounce houses and things. I told them in January that it was going to rain that day, because it always rains on his birthday. Always.

Sure enough, there was a pretty decent thunderstorm in the afternoon. We expected it though. And C had a great day at school. 

I picked him up from school, a treat because typically Thursdays the kids go to aftercare. We went and picked up his cake, an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Then we actually went home and got ready for our super early dinner at Red Robin. 

C enjoyed his birthday cheeseburger. Then we went home for the party portion of the night. But first: the last present arrived and it was on theme so he had to change again! 

(Fun fact about buying Thanksgiving's Day Parade merchandise in May, it's all on sale! Also, Macy's said YL was out of stock so I got a YM since C is so skinny he can wear that just fine, I just like the length of the YL better. But then they sent a YL! So that worked out!) 

I set up a teams meeting for my family and we all had a good time watching him open presents and blow out his candles. 

Then he just played and read his new books until bedtime. It was a fantastic day celebrating my C. 

Double Digit Birthday Boy

Goose, 

10. 

I mean, 10 seems really big. And yet I know there's so much more to come. It helps that you're still so tiny and snuggly. Please please never stop snuggling with me. I know you hate the "Best Snuggle Friends Forever" song, but kid you are just so snuggly. And no matter how big you get I want to snuggle you. 

This past year was a good one really. Third grade was not as scary as I thought it would be. Even math went okay and I was worried to be honest. I just kept reminding you that never once in my life has anyone ever asked me to do 100 multiplication problems in 5 minutes so it doesn't matter much to me that your brain doesn't work that fast. You can get the right answer, in your own timing. And I am okay with that. 

You are so imaginative. Still. I love how you are still so innocent and prefer just playing toys to about anything else in the whole wide world. I also appreciate that you still love Bluey and other shows even if the boys in your class call them "baby shows." They can keep their video games and violence thank you. 

This year you were in your first play and you were really very good at it. I want to always remember your big heart trying to clean up the snow as you were meant to be exiting. You also were given the largest speaking part when your class led school Mass. And I am equally proud of you for that. Next year you can become an altar server and while I am not sure if you want to, I hope you do. Serving the Lord is always a good choice. 

You also ran track for the first time. You've never expressed a ton of interest in sports but it was a good place to start. And I think it was good for you. Even if track meets are boring to watch. You sure can run and keep going. 

Your interests really didn't expand much. It's funny how that happens. Every time I think we are past penguins or Minions, they come rolling back in full force. Mario, Garfield, Minions, Penguins, Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes those are your jam. And parades. You just love parades. I honestly don't get it, because of the parade hater that I am. But I love how you love them. 

It's incomprehensible how ten years went by so quickly. It's incomprehensible how much I love you. You drive me up a wall and can push my buttons like no one else and I would do literally anything for you because you are one of the most important people in my life. I pray this is the summer you flourish and I am praying for a friend for you so much. You have such a wonderful heart to share. 

You are loved. You are cherished. I appreciate all that you are and I cannot wait to see what this next year brings. Happy happy birthday C! 

Love, Mom 

Wonderful (Busy) Weekend

We had such a good weekend it took me until Tuesday to write about it! Ha! 

Friday night Husband and I went out with some friends for dinner before our couples group. We tried a new to us restaurant and it was good! I of course took no pictures. But it was a great night out. 

Saturday was M's last soccer game. They won and it was fantastic. I love these kids!

Saturday night, I got to go see Beauty and the Beast with my people. The person who was meant to review ended up getting COVID (which for real has been off my radar) and so I got to fill in and bring this gal. But then the boys decided to buy tickets too. 

Here was the picture Husband sent me of this guy! 

I took this picture of M buttering her roll. Her fancy dinner manners were so super precious to me. 

There's the boys. C did come over during intermission to say hello. 

My girl enjoyed her strawberry sundae. 

And then she took this picture of me with my cheesecake and I love it. 

We had such a delightful time. It was a really great production. 

Sunday morning brought Mass. Then we joined my parents for a group Amazon Explore experience in Buenos Aries. As it happens, we were the only ones in the group and it could have been up to 6 different people so that was kind of cool. We explored the Ecoparque with our guide Julieta and it was cool. 

Then I had to write my review. In time to get M to a birthday party. Which we did. And then we took C out for a dinner to Cracker Barrel for some awesome two on one time. Which doesn't happen often. 

Then we brought this sweaty trampoline park gal back home because we had another meeting to get to. I again took no pictures except for of a picture on the host's wall that I liked. 

So jam packed. But good! 

Multicultural Day

Yesterday was Multicultural Day at the kid's school. It was so well done. Each grade got a special shirt color to wear for the day. (Please note, you'll see this shirt two more times from other events coming up at school.) 

The day started in the gym where they "boarded their planes" they all watched the airline safety video. 

They even gave the kids a Biscoff cookie. Which is the best part of a flight as you probably know. 

Then each grade or class rotated through the different countries. Not every grade or class visited the same things. The list of potential countries were Ireland, France, Switzerland, Mexico, Nigeria, Haiti, Philippines, Germany, Nepal, Costa Rica, Bosnia, Bahamas, Scotland, Russia, Lithuania, China, Poland. 

They had little passports for all the places they visited. And they got to do activities as well as learn a lot. 

They even had a taco truck come at lunch! Which is very cool. Except my kids don't like tacos and so I was sad because they looked tasty and I wish I could have enjoyed them myself. M and C were very happy with their packed lunches. (I was secretly hoping that the peer pressure of it all would convince them to try a taco. Alas.)

My crew said the day was great. My teacher friends said the day was great. I am so glad they got to do this! 

A Diorama Project

When we first learned about the Charlotte's Web diorama project we were excited. Because, as you may know, we love a good artsy school project. 

A few weeks back a few essential supplies were purchased. A pig. Some silvery thread. Popsicle sticks. And an on clearance sale raffia bow. (Because the little hay bales they were selling at Michael's were $5 and this is a first grade project after all.) We also had a few shoe boxes stored up. 

We waited until the rubric came home to get started. First M had to pick the scene she wanted to depict. She opted to go with the scene where Wilbur meets Charlotte for the first time. I loved this idea because bonus: we wouldn't have to figure out how to put words in the web! 

Here was her vision: 

My favorite scene is Templeton and the rotten egg but it's not my diorama. 

I did a lot of googling dioramas and ultimately made the decision to use just the lid of the shoe box and the back wall, this makes for a shallower diorama, which gave us less space to decorate as well as let it be well lit without much effort. 

M painted the box red and we used the 3d pen to make Charlotte. I had her draw a spider on wax paper and we just traced it with the 3d pen. Purple legs and a dark gray body is what her Charlotte looks like. 

Okay, here's the diorama in all its glory. 

I think this is pretty spot on to her vision right? M really put a lot of effort into the project with an assist from her dad since I had NO clue how to create a hay loft. Husband did also cut all the popsicle sticks for her too, because let's be real, I wasn't going to let her use a snips. But M figured out exactly how she wanted the fence to look and drew lines where he was supposed to cut. I wanted rounded popsicle stick edges but she was insistent she wanted pointy pickets. M also didn't want to whitewash the fence, but for just a little contrast we were able to convince her to brown wash it. Turns out she enjoyed that part nearly as much as twisty tying the hay bunches.

Here's a close up for some details. She is pretty tickled by the use of oatmeal in Wilber's bowl (a vitamin bottle lid wrapped in tin foil) and raisins as the manure. (Yes, I now have pig poop in my google image search history. As one does for school projects.) The web obviously is on top of the manure because Charlotte knows that's how she will catch flies. 

My favorite part of the diorama is the barn quilt out of Perler beads. Do you have barn quilts by you or are those a midwestern thing? I like that it adds a pop of girly flair to the whole project which feels awfully monochromatic to me. (But... it's a barn so...) 

Okay, I admit, I also love Perler beads because we always listen to One Direction when we create them. 

We had such a fun time creating this diorama. M still needs to present it to her class but she is so excited about it. 

Flying Into the End of The School Year

 This weekend was lovely. We spent Saturday soccering. This was a picture of my girl on the big soccer ball, the picture she insisted on wanting to take. 

And the photographer who was kind enough to take it as well as snap a selfie. 

Saturday night we went to be the fan club for our friends who were in a play. (At the same place C did his show in December.) 

The show, Aladdin, was cute. And the crowd was especially energetic. Like, I am not lying, I have been to concerts and plays with less of a hyped up crowd. 

Sunday was a little rainy, but it was perfect for Husband to work on fixing some of the plaster in the house as well as get started on the first grade diorama. 

Yesterday, M had a make up soccer game. And I had to miss it because I had a board meeting. 

Wouldn't you know she scored a goal?! Of course I missed it. 

This season has been an odd one. I am not sure why, but M hasn't seemed super excited for the games. She practices well and then at games seems to not be in it. I don't want to push her into sports at all, I don't care one bit. She's 7. But she's always loved it, and she still says she does. 

I am wondering if we need to switch models to an all girls team? Maybe that would help? I'd like her to stick it out at least one more season and play in the fall. Since that's the first year of goalies and 9 players on a field. (So almost real soccer.) But we will see. 

Last night I saw a teeny tiny honey bunny silhouette so I snapped a picture. 

 

Nature is pretty amazing isn't it? 

There's still a lot of fun coming up this week so stay tuned. Plus a finished diorama and I know you're on pins and needles about that! 

May Crowning!

Today is May crowning! My crew didn't forget their flowers. 

And it is Friday. We made it! There wasn't anything this week that was particularly bad, it just was so hot, and there were a few extra things to do. So it felt long is all. 

I'm just ready for a Friday night in, with my favorites. Eating pizza, watching a movie. 

Happy Weekend!

Thursday Check In

 Well hello there! It's time for the weekly what's going on check in. 

I feel this on a deep personal level. Looking at the calendar I am slightly overwhelmed by how many things there are to do. And it is a big birthday month to boot. 

Saturday we did play soccer. I got more sunburnt on Saturday than I did when we went to Jamaica. So... that was something. 

Their team played well and won both of their games. Yay! 

Yesterday was the 3rd Grade Folk Dance Festival. I was lucky enough to get to go. I'm not even going to lie, I think that I was one of the better folk dancers of the parents who attended. 

It was kind of a hoot. Well worth taking the morning off for. 

We skipped right to middle of July weather here. It's been in the 90s with high humidity and no break at night already, which seems crazy! We're actually setting record highs. Seriously were wearing winter coats last week so the swing is not my favorite, but the sunshine sure is! 

Happy Thursday!