An Ode to Family Reunions

Horse back riding, riding the ski lift, hiking, waterfalls, family pictures, sleepovers with cousins, beautiful mountains, many mosquito bites, Grandparents, long drives, Yellowstone, bison, aunts and uncles, Rook, tire blowouts, many movies, the flu, good to see family, great to be home.

Crunch time

Book club is Thursday, I'm leading the discussion for North and South, and I still haven't received my book I ordered a month ago. I was hoping it would come before our trip, but alas it did not and now we're home and it's Crunch Time! Enter librivox.org. I listen (for free, of course) to my book while catching up on laundry and various ho hum tasks. Each chapter is read by a different person, which means that some chapters have a different experience other than what the author intended. I have decided that people from the Midwest (or many other parts of the world) should not be reading Britsh lit. The readers say where they are from at the beginning of the chapter, and I feel giddy when I hear "UK" because then I know it's going to be a good one!
I don't think I could listen to the whole book this way, but it's nice to have the option while doing other things.
If you try it, let me know what you think.

Pure enjoyment

A&E's Pride and Prejudice might have just been bumped down a notch on my list of favorite movies. Last Saturday night Jon and I were looking for a movie to watch online (our computer is hooked up to our TV so please don't picture Jon and me huddled around our computer watching our version of TV :) ). I was in the mood for a period drama (when am I not?) and came across a four-part adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South from the BBC. I remembered a friend in England recommending it to me (well done, Jo!). We only had time for episode 1, and I could hardly wait until Monday to watch the other 3 episodes. If you haven't seen it yet, make haste and WATCH IT!
I often enjoy the book much more than the movie version, so imagine my excitement in reading the book. I hope to read it quickly (I'm choosing it for our next book club book), but I have been rather busy watching the movie over and over (and over?)!
Here's a great review of the book and movie--read this after you watch the movie (there are a few spoilers and her comments about Mr. Thornton will bring a smile to your face.)
Enjoy!

Seriously?! (#2)

It's time to vent. Here's the story:
E, R and H are in a swim class at my neighbor's (heated!) pool. She invited anyone she knew to have their kids come over for classes with a hired swim instructor. Very nice of her. There are 4 or 5 classes with us being the last one of the day. I was excited, the girls (well, E & R) were excited. So far no complaints. Enter the parents of the other children and the complaints begin. First, the parents of the other child (he's 3) in the girls' class did not want me to invite a friend to join the class because "it would change the dynamics of the class." I don't even begin to pretend to know what that means, but I keep my thoughts to myself. My neighbor tells me of other politics she's having to deal with and I keep my thoughts to myself. Unsurprisingly, I haven't connected with any of the other parents. Let's just say I stand out a bit--I show up to the classes without my husband and I have 4 kids and my nail polish doesn't match my swimming suit. Two lessons ago I had Liz on one hip trying to dive, jump, back float and swim at every opportunity and Hannah on the other holding on for dear life. Hannah has not yet discovered a love of the water and Liz definitely has. I definitely changed the dynamics of that class and not many were amused. I asked a friend to watch Liz during the next lesson so I could be in the pool with Hannah and not change the dynamics of the class again.
Last night I got an email. The instructor is not available, but a substitute is and does anyone mind? Not a problem, I replied. Well, shocker! the majority would like to postpone for a week until the instructor is available!!!!!!! WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL? WHO CARES? WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE? were some of the thoughts I had loudly in my head. I won't share my other thoughts regarding parents who have too much time and not enough kids. Seriously!!!!

The Month of May

May was an exhaustingly great month filled with some good stories (see post entitled "Oh Well"). Here are some other happenings for the month:

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.

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:

Things That Make me Chuckle #5

Jon.

Every year Jon and I try to take a couple's trip. We have some great memories from our past trips to New York, D.C., Hawaii, a Mediterranean cruise. I was looking forward to our next trip partly because the current Jon spends a little freer than the Jon I first married. Or so I thought...

Jon: "I think we should go to Hawaii. I have enough miles to get our tickets (which means free) and I have enough hotel points to get our room (which means free) and if we pack a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter..."

Thankfully, this idea of his made him laugh, so I'm still holding onto my thought of traveling with a carefree Jon who is going to enjoy going to restaurants.

Oh Well...

After a long week of being a single mom, Jon lovingly suggested I take a nap after church today. And I eagerly agreed! No sooner had I laid down than Lizzie came up for a visit. She had a wonderful smell to her. Not a good thing, my brain told me. Jon took a whiff--baby oil. Meanwhile, downstairs, Rachel and Hannah were slipping in the puddles of baby oil in the hallway. Jon and I immediately divided and conquered cleaning kids, changing outfits, cleaning Lizzie's room, hallway, stairs and our room. A freshly clean floor, clean kids and my nap time is over!