Most satisfied story:
Continuing with the yard projects. The rest of our sod for the front and back were put in and we spent most of May watering it with a huge water bill to prove it. I then spent a few hot hours mowing, raking and edging the beautiful new lawn--with a few new blisters to prove it. I really do love the look of a crisply mown lawn.
Most frustrating story:
In February I ordered some free mulch from a tree service company. I was put on a list and would get a call when they were in my area. I got the call one day in May--on a day that was going to be devoted to cleaning the house in preparation of a bread making class being held in my house the next evening. The picture doesn't do justice to the amount that showed up--a whole truckload! Every neighbor on our court felt the need to comment on the quantity. Yes, I ordered way too much and over half the pile ended up in the street to be picked up. It took me around 8 hours, but I was able to clear out my driveway and amazingly get my house cleaned too! I also had the same amount of dirt delivered last month and used all of it--that took me 3 days. I'm always so satisfied (but pretty tired) after these projects.
Most exciting story:
Here is the before picture of my preschool room. The walls, closet doors, baseboards and ceiling were a deep dark salmon color--YUCK! The blinds for the windows and sliding glass door were metallic gold--shiny! Everything has been repainted and the blinds have been thrown away. After a few more touch-ups and a new rug being delivered, I'll post the after picture. It's not done, but I already LOVE it!Most proud and crazy mom story:
Me and four kids at Open House.
Me and four kids at Open House.Rachel had been talking about Open House for weeks! It was a big deal. Both girls were excited to show off some of their best projects. It was unfortunate that it happened while Jon was in Spain.
After a long line for some promised books at the book fair as a reward for a job-well-done for their reading program, we had some root beer floats while waiting for the classrooms to open at 7:00! We then quickly went to Ray's room where she proudly led me around the room with her checklist of 15 different things to show me. Em did her best to entertain the younger two, but Lizzie is CRAZY! So back and forth I went chasing after Liz and "paying attention" to Ray. Admittedly, I jealously saw other parents with 1 child slowly and with full attention read everything their child had done. I was sad that I could only give Ray a fourth of my attention knowing that she deserved a whole lot more--she works hard at school.
Em didn't like my idea of "Let's read these 12 reports/poems/stories when you bring them home." So, while stopping Lizzie from destroying the room, I read quickly and with as many oohs and aahs as I could fit in.
Most "What Was I Thinking?!" Story:
Emily wanted to bring in some treats for her summer b-day. Emily's class had been reading Charlotte's Web. So, I thought I would combine the two and make this spider cookie. I emailed the teacher my idea and she said great, but didn't give me a date. Last Thursday Emily came home and said the class finished reading the book and her teacher wanted to know if I was bringing the cookie in the next day. "Sure, no problem!" I say with a forced smile. That night I found myself making 2 (oh, did I forget to mention that Rachel's class also read Charlotte's Web and it made sense at 10:00 at night for me to make an extra one so the other child didn't feel left out???) The recipe was easy (Pillsbury cookie dough, Duncan Hines frosting, melted chocolate chips for the web). It was the spiders that got a little tricky because I forgot to pick up chocolate licorice for the legs so I found myself cutting black Jujy Fruits into little spider legs and carefully jamming chocolate sprinkles into gum drops for the eyes! I was getting to that "I'm so tired I'm going to start laughing with the crazies!" stage. But the next morning, seeing the reaction of Emily and hearing her say "Wow! I just thought you were going to do cookies for my b-day treat--I never expected this, Mom!" made it all worth it!And the "Just Because They're So Darn Cute!" picture:
