Friday Night

So today was a long day. The kids played hard, husband worked hard and I got some cleaning and cooking accomplished. We enjoyed spending some time with the nice young man that came to help with the side work that was to be done. He was kind enough to listen to the kids stories and look at their drawings and toys. Sweet guy, he is. We had a fashionably late dinner and all was good. On a whim, we decided (the grownups, the kids had no idea) to go out for ice cream.

Such a time honored tradition. Ice cream on a summer night...there might not be anything more perfect. But then it was more perfect. As we sat down outside to eat, a little girl came running up, calling to us. It was one of my daughter's friends from preschool! What a fun surprise! And what is funny is the last time we went to this establishment, we ran into the same friend! The girls were overjoyed to see each other and started chatting and never missed a beat. While we were sitting there, I caught people waving out of the corner of my eye...another family from school/church was in line as well! The kids squealed with delight at this unexpected reunion! The parents talked, the kids ate their ice cream and played in the grass. It was a real Norman Rockwell kind of night.

Some people enjoy living life anonymously, keeping to themselves and not "bothering" anyone. I am not one of those people. I love that we live in a community where we know other people and see friends while we are out and about. I love that my kids have friends and have both kids and adults outside of our family that they can count on, talk to and share with. I used to dislike that whole "it takes a village to raise a child" thing...now that I have kids, I have a greater appreciation for it. I love our "village" and I am happy that they are helping raise my children. We wave to people in the community parades and can call many of them by name. We see friends at church and see people we know from church at school. We see church friends at gymnastics. We see old baseball teammates in the preschool pick up line. We are on teams with people we had never met but are now happy to know them and be a part of the "village." I think we are well on our way to being a part of our community and I couldn't be happier.

I meant to...

do some laundry today. And clean the kitchen.

But it was raining. And we had a playdate. And went out to dinner. (So how did the kitchen get messy?)

*sigh*

I guess I know what I will be doing tomorrow.

The first day of summer vacation

Off the bus for the last time this year!



Went to the hobby shop for some glider airplanes.


Fetching said airplane when it flew over the fence!

Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring!

Fear not!

I have not abandoned my Project 365 already, I promise. I have just decided there are not enough hours in the day to do it all so, I will be dedicating some time on the weekend to upload and post the week's photos. Unless I find more hours in the day. I have looked for the last 6 years and have been unsuccessful. I guess I better just adapt to the set 24 hours.

Check back on Sunday for the week's pictures!

My Project 365

So I read online about this Project 365.
http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/
I thought this might be a fun challenge to take on this year. I am in no way a good photographer by an means. I am a mom and I have 2 cameras. It is with this equipment that I will set out on my journey.
As any mom knows, a year passes in the blink of eye and I am hoping that this will allow me to reflect on what all has happened in a year's time with my family. Don't expect earth-shattering, artsy-fartsy snaps here. Expect lots of kid type things, maybe some nature shots and quite possibly some off the wall the wall things. What will the year bring? Who knows!
Here is My January 1st shot:


Oooh, ahhh! Look at that! Color, blurry background/sharp foreground! (I'm sure there is some photography term for that.) You may ask, "Why crayons?"
Well, for one, they were right there while there was a lull in conversation on New Year's Day but the more I looked at it, the more I realized how relevant this is to my life right now. For anyone that is around my family, you know that my kids love all things arts and crafts. Crayons are a part of daily life around here and like my children, each individual one has it's own unique personality to it. Some of our days are blue, others green and many bright pink! yellow! and red! So, on January 1, 2010...my life is crayons. I'm ok with that.

Good Idea, son

Riding in the car today, the topic of marriage came up. The kids were discussing who they would marry (we had to eliminate relatives from their lists), then the discussion turned to Mommy and Daddy. Evan, thinking hard says, "Dad, I think you should marry mom."

Good idea my son. I think your dad already thought of that though. :)

Surprising discoveries

My children amaze me every day...sometimes for the good, sometimes for the, well, not so good. Some recent surprising things I have realized/been informed of:

Evan is so far, a pretty decent little t-ball player! Being so small and his struggles with language and following directions, we tend to always think that he will be behind others his age. We need to stop assuming that. He has had 2 practices and is really getting a handle on the game and is pretty good at throwing and batting. His catching needs help, but that appears to be pretty common for his age group. At field day today, his teacher even commented on his skills! Go Team!

Aubrey informed me after prayers tonight before closing her eyes that, "Leo Leoni writes books mom. Today is his birthday." Well, color me shocked! I really have no idea if today is his birthday, but I do know that he does indeed write books. She apparently heard this at school today and that little mind of hers held on to it. This girl has a mind like a steel trap. Unless it is in regards to where dirty clothes go...then, she has no grasp of it whatsoever.

They can be independent. Evan sat down with his homework the other night and completed it without me doing anything to help him. I said, go get your homework. He did, finished it and all I had to do was check it over. I know it won't last, but I'll enjoy it while I can! Aubrey can entertain herself in her room for almost an hour with her dollhouse and little character type people/animals. Can I get an "amen"???

I will be doing laundry until the day I die. Why I am just realizing this now, I don't know. It will be with me forever and I am pretty sure that Hell has washers and dryers just waiting for souls like me. I better start working on a more desirable afterlife destination.