A Skewed Perspective.

My FIL got C a fishing pole for his birthday.

Which came in handy because we spent this past weekend at his cabin. C was anxious to go fishing and then after the rain stopped it was finally time! Wouldn't you know that on his very first cast he actually caught a fish?!

And when you're 6, size does not matter. A fish is a fish! 

M also found herself pretty lucky with the Mickey Mouse fishing pole. Hilariously enough, she caught the most fish of the entire weekend! What are the odds? Someone would cast for her, hand her the pole and almost immediately she'd say "I caught another fish." 

My rule was my kids had to have life jackets on if they stepped on the dock. We started talking about it days before we even went. It proved to be a good rule as Little Miss Fisherwoman was sitting on the dock and slid right in. She got scooped out immediately and she was fine. (Delighted even!)

Then yesterday C caught a fish that was big enough to keep! 

It was pretty exciting! However, after lunch, he went out to fish one last time before we had to leave and was really disappointed not to catch a fish on that go of it. I tried to explain that not catching fish is a more accurate representation of the fishing experience as a whole. He did not appreciate my "It's called fishing, not catching." tagline. 

It will be interesting to see how we do on another fishing adventure. Honestly, I am happy to be home doing laundry and in air conditioning but the weekend was pretty fun nevertheless. 

Eenie Meenie

How do you best make decisions?

I am a big fan of the pro/con list myself. And letting logic decide.

Lately, I have been waiting in the stillness for Him to tell me what the right answer is. I think sometimes that I am really in tune with the Holy Spirit and not so in tune with listening to what He wants from me.

I find life to be complicated and hard sometimes. And I wait for signs. I have a good friend who says: "I always ask God for a sign, but then if I were to see a burning bush I would drive by and say something like, 'Do they know their bush is on fire? Should I call 911?'"

She's not wrong. So I sit. And wait.

And maybe, just maybe, play eenie meenie miny moe. Just for good measure.

Summer Life

It has been a week since I've been here in this space! Crazy. Here's what we've been up to.

We've been spending a lot of time outside. Mostly in the mornings. But sometimes in the afternoon. But as you can see in the picture, our backyard is shaded in the afternoon which makes it so much more tolerable. They have finally come around to the sprinkler. Which is good because it's fun and easier than inflating and filling a pool. 

Husband was out of town Thursday-Saturday Sunday (Delayed flight ---> missed connection ---> extra night.) Thursday night we had a campout sleepover in our living room. The kids were beyond excited. And then when it came time to actually sleep they decided that the floor wasn't comfy so they went to C's bed. (He has a double.) Still in their sleeping bags side-by-side. Ha. 

We made brownies. Yes, I let them lick the whisk. I like to live dangerously. 

We went to see Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical yesterday. It was really great. M stole the show of the audience members in her Knuffle Bunny shirt and with her own Knuffle Bunny. C wore his Pigeon and there was an awesome Pigeon puppet who made an appearance so that was awesome. #mowillemsbiggestfans 

And we've been spending even more time outside playing. I could cite all the studies about the outdoors and brain development. Or I could tell you they sleep better when they play outside. But really it's because when they're outside I can get some reading done and the kids mostly just play without needing anything.

I feel like we are busy. But by normal standards, we are not. Some days we don't even have anything. And days we do have something it's usually like, going to the park. Or an appointment. Nothing too major. VBS is coming though and that will be a long long week. In a good way certainly and I am excited/nervous about it.

Alright. More soon. Promise!!

Beanstalk

At the beginning of May C's class had a Jack and the Beanstalk unit. 

They read the story. (I think a few different versions.) They had a readers theater about the story. They counted beans for math. Then for science, they wrapped a bean seed in a paper towel to see if it would grow. They made predictions and all that TK jazz. I'm not the curriculum director so I am not privy to all that occurred. 

The point is they sprouted bean seeds. Then they planted the little bean sprouts. Then they sent them home with the kids. When it came home it had two leaves and was a little taller than the popsicle stick it was tied to. 

The little beanstalk has lived on our window sill for a few weeks now and last night husband and I transplanted it to the yard. 

And within ten minutes of going outside to play, M had bent the poor little beanstalk in half. I don't think she meant to? It wasn't quite the same as when she picks flowers. (Which is total and absolute destruction.) The result was not great, however. 

It may survive. I tied it up and hopefully, it will appreciate being out of the bottom of a Dasani bottle and in loads of dirt. It rained last night. And I watered it this morning. While I recognize that I am not going to get to climb this beanstalk, I don't want it to just die on me. Maybe I should go out there and sing Tubthumping to it? (The I get knocked down, but I get up again part. Not the booze part.) 

Look at the little popsicle stick at the bottom. Look at how far it's come! 

This could be a sweet post about how sometimes God has to knock you down so you grow stronger or something metaphorical or whatever. But no. It really is just a reminder that 3-year-olds are among the most destructive beings without even trying.

I'm pretty sure she didn't mean it. Oh well.

Day One.

You know those days where you just feel like you're winning at life? Well everyone remind me of June 4th when I have a blah day okay?

It's the first day of summer vacation. (Like when we would have normally gone to school) We started by going to a summer session of our Monday rosary group. We've been going to one on Mondays during the school year at the church and someone offered to host us in her home this morning. So sweet. But it's such a lovely way to start a week!!

Then after I swung through the drive-through and got everyone a juice box and cheeseburger and we went to a park for a picnic.

We played. We ate.

We then went to the library (that opened at noon) to sign up for summer reading! We also played at the library for a good while.

We came home and I pulled into our freshly cleaned garage for the first time. I mean I was there when we cleaned it yesterday but I hadn't pulled in and it felt good. So light and airy. So spacious!

Now I am doing laundry and dishes and generally feeling like maybe summer isn't going to kick my butt.

But it's only day one.
Still plenty of potential for crazy. In fact, I can promise I'll get there.

Have a lovely day friends!

Unrelated picture of my flower bed. There's a little tiny baby bunny under the gutter if you look closely.

June's Busting Out All Over!

It's June! It's also the last day of school!!

We have been doing a countdown in the car line for the past two weeks.

I am super partial to day five because he had 5 days of school left and it was also his last day being five. so there's that sentimentality about it. I'm going to miss this kid and the car line. But it will be M's turn soon enough and I know she's pretty excited. (They move to the passenger seat after I am in park.) 

Here's a little first day/last day comparison. 

Even if my angle was a little off, he still clearly got taller. 

Tomorrow is our last soccer game and then we kick off SUMMER! Happy June! Happy Friday! 

Teacher Thank You Gifts

Tomorrow is C's last day of school. It went pretty quickly though I know I am ready for summer break. I purposely didn't plan any activities for June but it got filled up crazy just the same. Anyway, we (C mostly) made our teacher thank you gifts this year. Here they are:

What Will Mrs. Teacher Do This Summer?

Mrs. Teacher will eat ice cream. 

Mrs. Teacher will go shopping.

Mrs. Teacher will drink coffee.

Thank you for teaching me Mrs. Teacher! Have a good summer. 

If you can't tell, each activity in the book comes with its own $5 gift card to help complete the suggested activity. I liked this gift as it combined the practical with the sentimental (in my opinion anyway) and the homemade with the store bought. 

Husband bound up the books with a cardboard backing/plastic cover sheet and comb binding. I included a thank you note to each amazing lady who has helped him this year. His teacher (not the assistant) also will be getting a copy of Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems to add to her classroom library. Last year I had C pick a favorite book to add to the classroom library and I rather liked that idea so I continued it. I obviously reserve the right to discontinue that as I see fit but for now, it works for me. 

Anyway, that's what we did for our teacher thank yous/end of school year gifts this year.