Old Photographs

I found this picture when I was digging through old photographs the other day. This is an activity that used to involve shoeboxes and yellowing albums, but now mostly involves browsing through old files and hoping the software needed to open them still exists. 

Anne-E looks exactly the same, only thinner. I look amazing in this picture. I look like I'm fifteen, only when I was fifteen I didn't look this good. Obviously, since then, I have ruined my face by spending too much time in the sun with no sunscreen, drinking too much red wine, and having three children. 

Nick Is 8 Today

a few weeks ago I sang this song in church, and now I am shamelessly posting the lyrics here for my son. If you don't know it, ( I didn't,) it's a Tom Chapin song.

May you grow in your own sweet way, 

And blossom more every day,

And follow the music in your soul.

May there be time for you to grow.

Happy Birthday, Nicholas!

I love you so much.

Story Time!

In The Audience

Recitals can be so tedious.

Seconds To Go

The boys both did very well at their very first piano recital. I was very proud of them. They were two of the most prepared students there. Not that I'm biased or anything.

The whole event was a little bit of a flashback, especially when a few of the pieces played were some old favorites my sisters and I tackled when we were younger. It was good to have them there.

Before the Recital

Sisters

Here's a picture of me and my sisters:

Well, almost. Anne-E decided not to come that first night, so she was replaced.

Actually, I found that I really didn't end up taking too many pictures of Anne-E. Which is a shame. But we see Anne-E much more than we see Emily, and I'm sure I'll have many many more chances.

Back to "Normal"

Yesterday I drove my sister Anne-E to the bus station early in the morning, and Emily drove herself off to the airport shortly after noon.

It was really really nice to have my sisters visit. We didn't get to spend enough time together. I know this because they didn't have the chance to get on my nerves even just a little bit. Obviously next time they must stay until I get slightly irritated at least for a moment.

While they were here we had 2 karate classes, 2 T-ball games, 1 piano recital, and 1 gymnastics class. We ate out 3 times. I did nine loads of laundry. It was really fun. I had a great time just with the usual chaos. I miss them already.

Right now I'm getting over that little bout of depression I always get when a visit ends, particularly a visit I've been looking forward to for awhile. This has happened to me all my life, only now that I'm an adult I can recognize it in myself, and even look back and think "Oh, so that's what that was" about that time when I was seven and the Wolfes went home after a long weekend and I claimed to feel sick and crawled into my parents' bed for three days.

There is no time to slow down here. Tonight we had piano lessons - the first after the recital. Tomorrow is karate, and I need to clean the house (run the vacuum and all that). I have birthday parties to plan and gifts to purchase and a 10th anniversary creeping up. Go, Fleen, Go!

She's Not Here

My sisters are visiting me from far away, and so I'm not posting for a few days. I'm too busy having fun and talking with them,and then trying to do the things I usually have all day to do in the few minutes we are not together.

Andy's Work

We all know Andy loves the camera.

The other day I had to take him to Karate class with me. Because there's no place to wait inside, and because the dojo has moved, there is now no place to go during class. I usually bring my computer and write. But Andy needs to bring his own toy. This day, he forgot.
 But I remembered my camera, so he could keep himself entertained

.

New Life

One day it will stop raining, and I'll finally get to pop these babies in the ground.

Translation

It's like some secret code, the Rosetta Stone, or the ancient sea scrolls. I can see the text, I can make out the letters, but the meaning is... not there.

Actually, I think they are supposed to be dragon names from Skylander. If you don't know what that is, I can't exactly help you. I'm lost. My boys are already immersed in a culture I do not understand. I'm going to be in SO much trouble when they get to be teenagers.

Snack Time

I can't for the life of me figure out what the boys are eating in this picture.  I'm pretty sure I gave it to them, and I think I took the picture...

Taking A Break

You might have noticed that, of late, I haven't been posting every day.

Or maybe you haven't. Maybe now you're scrolling down and glancing at the dates and thinking "oh, jeez! she has let a few days go by without actually posting anything. Go figure!" Or maybe you're just thinking, "so?"

I haven't been posting every day. I usually do. But these days on Saturday I sit down with my computer and I don't have that much to say that hasn't been said.

And so I am exercising my right to not post every day. Who says I have to?

Momther's Day

Because it is Mother's Day, I am taking advantage of my new rule, the one that says I don't have to have a post every single day.

Instead, this is a fake post, with a link to a different blog post . One that made me laugh and laugh, and know that even my 4-year old has better spelling than some employed adults.

Actually, while I'm at it, here's another post in that same blog. It's Momther's Day. I can do what I want.

Working It Out

I've started working out again.

I took a long time off. I wanted to make very very sure my ankle healed properly, because I'm tired of having to worry about it. But at my last doctor's visit I found out the lump was never actually going to leave the back of my heel. And then I stepped on the scale and found out I was a full ten pounds heavier than I was a month ago. I kind of knew it was coming, because the jeans that used to fit but then started falling down were actually fitting again.

So.

Yes.

I have a couple of plans in motion. I'm doing a couple of different things. I plan to add shorter runs in as soon as things pick up a bit, and possibly when the days get warmer.

So far, I'm four days back into it, and I feel like... well... I have never felt more like a lump of heavy clay. For some reason the people on the video spring up and down like it's nothing, and I can't manage to move at all. Also, when I jump, I hit the ceiling fan. I sometimes feel like I'm working out in a closet. It's odd.

But I'm hopeful. Even if I don't lose the weight, maybe I can at least get back into the skinny jeans. Not actually skinny jeans, but the jeans I used to wear when... never mind.

Schedule

This T-ball schedule is throwing everything off.

There have been more evenings that I care to count where the boys have karate until 5:45, and T-ball starts at 6pm. I have have church related meetings and activities at 7pm many nights these past couple of weeks. I've been trying to cook dinners that can be made quickly or ahead of time, and we juggle the kids.

I hate this part. Everything runs into each other. T-ball team photographs are the same day as the church board meeting, and games are never scheduled when we have time. It would be one thing if the weather were half-way decent, but T-ball always seems to be cold and wet.

It all makes me incredibly grumpy.

More Grass

It's hard work spreading grass seed. Especially when you have such small hands.

Actually, the best part of this whole fiasco is how I watered the seed. Our hose is on the other side of the house. Instead of stretching it and walking around the house, I just walked it up the deck and through the kitchen, then out the front door. I should have taken pictures of THAT... but I was too busy actually wrestling with the hose and trying to make sure we didn't somehow spray it inside the house.

Yard Work

Yes, I even gave Nathan a rake to help spread the grass.

I regretted it when I realized he was actually raking up small mounds of dirt everywhere. But those were easily fixed. He took himself so seriously.

The Green Grass Grows

Last weekend I handed the boys a bag of grass seed and had them plant it in the bald spots in the front yard.

A couple of years ago I tried planting grass seed up there. The rain started falling moments after I spread the seed, washing the seed down into the driveway and into the flower beds where I had just planted tulips.

Last year I bought something called Turf Builder (maybe it was something else?) and I spread it around rather unevenly. I thought it was grass seed, but I think it was actually just weed killer. Instead of anything growing, it just killed the few stalks of crabgrass and dandelions that were out there, making the bald spots much, much balder.

So after all that, I figured it couldn't get much worse handing the boys a bag of plain old grass seed.

Of course, the next day it rained, but as I directed them to stay at the top of the slope, I son't think the seed will wash down all the way.

It's actually been cold, cloudy and rainy all week, with a notable lack of sun. I'm hoping when this weather breaks, the grass will actually start to grow.

The white stuff? Grass seed.

Say "Stinky Cheese!"

I asked Nick to smile so that we could see the cute gap in his teeth. My reasoning is that his new teeth will grow in too quickly, and he won't be a cute little boy much longer.

His reasoning is that he's not a cute little boy anymore anyway, so this is what he gave me.

Actually, I think he just didn't like what I had made for dinner, but the result is the same.

Jelly Donut

Seriously - is there anything better?

May Day

 The tree at the top of the driveway, the one I've been working to keep alive for the past couple of years - removing a bush that was crowding it and giving it tree-food and anti-insect stuff... It's flowering! We've had years go by with just boring old leaves, so this means something.

Happy May!