Sunrise, Sunset

Okay, really just First Day of Preschool (Sept 2013) and Last Day of Preschool (May 2016):

Scenes of "Summer"

Okay, we still have 3 weeks left of school.  But with the arrival of high temps after a rainy, cool most-of-May, it sure seems like summer is here:

Where Did The Morning Go?

Goodness, I almost walked out the door to a busy morning without posting.  ZUT ALORS!

I didn't take any pics yesterday.  I was too busy being sad over the Baylor news.  Sad that students were ever hurt, sad that people in charge didn't respond appropriately, sad that the coach we all admired might have made some poor choices.  I have truly loved spending my Saturdays over the last couple of years watching the Bears play football-- it's been a way to feel connected to our alma mater even living so far away.  I grieve for the (potential) loss of that tradition, but I grieve more for any Baylor Bears who might feel like their health and safety mattered less than the institution's public persona and success.

Today, ironically, is "College Shirt Day" at B's school.  I sent him in a Baylor shirt but actually had to think about whether I want to publicly connect ourselves today.  I'm quite confident that very few elementary schoolers up here are following collegiate football news, however, so I imagine it will be a non-issue.  For all the years of sighing that few people in this part of the country have an understanding of Baylor and its unique collegiate experience, it's discouraging that now they might...for not a great reason.

May we feel excited to fling our green and gold afar again someday soon.

In any case, HAPPY FRIDAY!

Movin' On Up

Miss C's preschool class graduated yesterday.  (They actually still have a half-day tomorrow and then she'll do 3 themed weeks of a morning camp the preschool runs starting next week and ending right as the public schools let out for the summer.)  So it's not really goodbye yet, although the ceremony was a fitting send-off for these little Bears.

Met up with bestie Clara on the way into school.   Big Brother chose to come to the graduation (and had to miss his Field Day to do so) because he's "so proud of his sister"! 

If you want to know the truth, he REALLY loves playing in the preschool room.  He wasted no time fixing up some "dinner" in the "kitchen" with lots of C's friends:

The teacher asked if he could stay and read the class a book while the adults took their places in the sanctuary which-- of course!  He loved it.   Thanks to a testing schedule this week, the BG was actually able to escape for an hour and be here for the ceremony so that was great, too.

The girls in the class singing:

Watching and listening:

She moved way too quickly to get her photo snapped at the front of the church but here's the happy graduate afterward:

And here's bestie Clara's mom...and her little shrimpy friend:

For point of comparison, here's B's graduation from the same class/school 3 years ago (with his little thin-haired sister in front):

Wayback Wednesday (Sad Edition)

I know most of you are on Facebook and might have seen this collage when I posted it Monday, but since there are some of you who are non-FB peeps, I thought I'd share it here today:

My aunt Margaret, married to Sheils's brother and the youngest by far of my 6 aunts/uncles, died last Tuesday.  The family held a celebration of her life (apparently she wanted a party-- she was always so much fun!) on Monday; I wish I could have been there but it just wasn't feasible.  Geoff was able to fly in, however, so I'm glad for that.

I went through some old photos Sunday night and these were the first 3 I found.  I realized shortly thereafter that the pics happen to be from 1991, 2001, and 2011.  As I wrote on FB, "This symmetry delights me...but then I realize there can't be a 2021 photo and that's hard to take."

The same day that Margaret died, a longtime family friend also passed away.  Her husband grew up in Waco with my dad and they are also part of the group that shares the cabin in Colorado.  So much loss lately.  Give everybody you see a hug today!

Natural and Added

(Sugar, that is!)

I'm not going to lie:  30% off coupon to Kohl's plus a free shipping code somehow ended up with me getting an electric juicer.  (A very basic one, not like a fancy juicer/blender thing.)  We have a great handheld squeezer for lemons and limes but it's too small for oranges and grapefruits.  I have long been envisioning getting the semi-circle thing with the rounded protuberance for juicing oranges and then discovered that--ON SALE!--was an electric version of that.

We had lots of fun testing it out the other night!  There are multiple settings for pulp which is good since someone in this family prefers his OJ pulp-free whereas the other of us thinks that freshly squeezed OJ should pulp it up!

Some friends treated us on Friday to doughnuts from the most recent addition to the fried cake scene, which is actually a transplant from North Carolina and thus a fave of lots of peeps around here who travel to NC beaches for vacay.  I would tell you that I'm a "yeast donut" girl over a "cake donut" girl but, I gotta say, these dipped/topped/drizzled-to-order treats are pretty darn tasty!   Sooo.....I ended up making a little detour by there yesterday.

As you can see, the hot doughnuts come off the belt into the big bowl, where the workers then glaze/top/drizzle per customer specifications:

Um, I might have already sampled one before I thought to take a pic:

For the same price, you can get a glaze, a topping, AND a drizzle but I didn't do that on any of these.   Just might have to go back!   ;-)

Active Weekend

After several quiet, calm, restful weekends, we just had a much busier one!   Saturday morning was C's dance recital, one of THREE that the studio put on.  (Thank goodness the little kid classes only had to be in one!)   It was a 2 hour show and we were all very impressed with how organized and entertaining it was.  Miss C looooved her year in dance and is looking forward to doing it again next year.  She also likes pink flowers and her daddy:

The dancer requested Jason's Deli for lunch so it was off to the town of our former residence.  Since J's D happens to be across the street from The Place Where Dreams Come True, we took a quick trip through there.  Per usual, the kiddies wanted a pic in the back of the red produce truck:

Yesterday was the elementary school PTA's spring carnival.  While I didn't have anything to do with the Carnival preps, per se, it was still definitely a cause of plenty o' PTA emails firing up the interwebs this past week.   In SHOCKING news, yesterday was rainy and cold so we had to move everything indoors.  The BG and I manned the bake sale and raffle ticket table for the entire 3 hours so I never actually saw much of what was set up in other parts of the school, but it appears the kiddies had a grand time:

Here's a similarly sweet/sticky pic from last year!

Dancing Queen

I'm quite certain that I've used that blog post title at least once before, if not more, and it makes me smile this morning, as always, when I think about a) AKHG and our fun with Muriel Wedding-inspired ABBA tunes (especially harmonizing on "Waterloo") and 2) the interpretive dance motions I developed for this song in college.

But enough about me... Oh wait, no...there I am again! :-)
 

I don't know that I think we look *all* that much alike but it's always fun to dig photographic treasures out of ye olde memory box.

Up tomorrow?  Her first recital experience, aka lots of little people on a big stage:

(from the dress rehearsal)

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Throwback Thursday

Seven years ago, I posted only a simple photo collage...

Party Fun

We didn't leave the house yesterday and the rainy day was pretty icky all around...so let's concentrate on fun times from Sunday!

Miss C often holds "pony parties" in her room that involve many My Little Pony friends, but this birthday party for one of her preschool classmates was a REAL Pony Party!!

The birthday girl seeing her birthday surprise arrive!

There were two ponies and C rode this one first:

She just hated it:

Apparently her friend felt the same way about the impromptu jam session in the basement!  ;-)

Move Those Hips!

If you look at this pic from yesterday, you'll see evidence of not one but TWO opportunities for hoopin'!  We've been shooting baskets for awhile now but the hula hoop has been a fun discovery this week.  The B-man seems to have quite the knack for it-- by yesterday, he was able to "hoop" long enough for me to dribble a basketball in a circle all the around him (can you tell I'm trying to be more active?!) but this was one of the first videos I took on Saturday and I love the little manic motion he makes near the end:


His sister had her own fun moves when she tried it out yesterday:


It's hard to see with all the wind whipping about, but C was rocking a new look, thanks to Crazy Hair Day at preschool.   She thought it was super fun to sleep in (wet) braids, although I think this pic is saying, "No more hairspray!!!":

Weather Whiplash

Here's what the kids wore to play outside on Saturday:

And here's what they put on to go out yesterday:

But hey-- at least it's not raining!  (Until tomorrow, that is!)

Keep On Truckin'

Never have to figure out how to hold a taco again! 

I used a sale and a coupon to score these little Taco Trucks recently!!  Such fun!

Speaking of fun-- HAPPY FRIDAY!

Happy Girl

Last day (pre-recital events) of dance class, with medal and a pose to boot:

She's had a great year!

BTW, based on the lack of comments yesterday, this prob isn't important but just to close the loop:  the top recipe was a cauliflower "rice" (raw cauliflower pulverized in food processor and then sauteed in oil on stove with some garlic, lemon juice, basil, and parmesan) and the bottom pic was chia pudding which really does thicken up upon refrigeration after chia seeds are added to milk along with some honey for a titch of sweetness.

What Is It Wednesday?

(Culinary Edition)

I've made some new-to-us things this week...

Either of these concoctions look good?!

The "Holiday" Itself

On actual Mother's Day, we had to be up bright and early because the kids were singing with the Cherub Choir at the 9am church service.  Thanks to the wonders of technology (aka live-streaming), both Grammie and Big Daddy were able to watch/hear them sing!  Grammie even sent evidence of her internet viewing:

They actually also sang at the beginning of the 10:45 service, after which we scooped them up and ran out for some fancy fast-casual Mexican eats.   I'm pretty sure that my food was laced with something that made me sooo sleepy so it's possible that I was tucked in my bed for a nap by 12:30pm!!

A little later, I had some company in the lying-around department.  This guy was soooo excited that Amazon now has Sunday delivery in our area because, 'round about 3pm, our doorbell rang and B received the latest-and-final installment (released just last Tuesday!) of a book series he's been enjoying since we found it at the library:

I generally am not in favor of spending money on books what with the whole library thing, but for under $5, I figured we could provide this joy.  (I certainly have SO many memories of stalking the local bookstore in Corning for the latest Babysitters Club books-- thanks to Sheils for not making me only read library books!)

Of course, he had read the whole thing in about 15 minutes....but he'll read it over and over so that's fine:

So yeah, I couldn't be bothered to get up while taking a few pics.  B-man to the left....and these two tall peeps to my right:

Note: I did finally get out of bed to mow the front lawn.  Yes, the BG absolutely would have done it but it was a great way to get exercise.  We actually had sunshine on Sunday--yay!--but are back to our pattern of dreariness and gloom all week--boo!

Taking Advantage

In general, I'm not really a fan of "obligatory" holidays.  Should you really need some calendar creators to tell you when to appreciate your mother?

That being said: if the culture is going to tell me that it's appropriate--nay, expected--to be honored/pampered/revered, then I can work with that.   ;-)

My weekend thus kicked off with taking a bubble bath at 5pm Friday with lilac bubbles I bought for myself ("for Mother's Day") earlier in the week.  I don't really remember what happened after that, other than making naan pizzas for dinner, but it surely involved saying, "I'm going to lie here on the couch and do whatever because....it's Mother's Day (weekend)!"

We had no plans on Saturday other than to lie around some more, although I actually ended up getting quite a few piles of house clutter dispersed so that was a huge win.   The BG had to go up to the school for an hour or two to help with something and we eagerly awaited his return so we could go out to a dinner at a new restaurant where I had made a reservation and informed them they were taking me out...for "Mother's Day (weekend)."  Since the sun was finally shining, I tried to get a snap with my chickens.

The "best" outtake:

Changed locations and figured out a way to "hide" the selfie stick (continued thanks to loyal reader JC for said stick!):

I'm not a fan of crowds so I knew I didn't want to try to do anything real-restaurant-related on Sunday. I did want to "be celebrated" (read:  an excuse to try a new restaurant!!!) so I made a dinner rezzie for 5pm on Saturday when I figured it would be safe to take children to a nice place.

Breakfast for dinner on the kids menu?  Yes, please!

I could (and might still!) pen a post on my thoughts about taking kids out to eat but here's the summary:  at 8 and 5 years old, our tykes behave in a perfectly appropriate manner.  If there's food available to his liking, older brother will even eat vigorously.  But....but...

I don't think I'm ready to try to make eating out an "occasion" with them along.    As I studied the menu at this place, I found myself purposely limiting myself to the cheap(er) options like a burger (which, admittedly, was delicious) rather than the more interesting (and expensive) culinary entrees I would have allowed myself to choose from if it had felt like a true, no-stress dining out experience.

I guess that means that bringing the kids along is a way to save money-- but it kinda just left me wistful that I wasn't enjoying all that the restaurant had to offer because I still felt like I was in "mom mode" and that doesn't quite align (yet?) with "celebratory mode."

Good thing they are pretty cute ladybugs, though:

And a post-dinner wander (er, sword fight) around Target is always fun, too:

Friendship Friday (with Flashback)

These two girls had big fun yesterday:

 They've changed a little bit since an earlier shopping trip (Jan 2014):

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Can You See It?

Miss C spotted it first.  I tried to snap a pic but, with the phone held over my head, I couldn't see what I was capturing.  But it's there...and it's not the neighbor's recycling bin!

(or an apple)

**Yeah, not sure this is really going to work--maybe if you're on a screen that can easily be zoomed?  In any case, we're currently on Day 10-in-a-row of having a chance of rain, and there's not an end to the gloom in immediate sight.  Every day is dreary and gray--although, as I'm typing this at 7:20am, both kids are still asleep so that's a gray day win!--so any little burst of color is fun to see.

Delightfully Strange?

Or strangely delightful??

In either case-- a tasty treat!

Bug Man

Someone was SUPER excited to find a furry friend yesterday:

All Over The Place

Happy start to your week!

For whatever reason, I haven't really been capturing many pics of late. Things are fine, and even happily slow.  I waver between being really glad we can be so lazy and a little anxious that maybe we should be doing more.

Such back-and-forth thoughts are pretty par for the course these days.  In the meantime, just trying to do the best I can and hoping desperately I'm not messing up anything along the way.

The BG works as an Assistant AD during non-football seasons and he covered volleyball games Friday night until 9:30pm and then left again at 8:30am to cover lacrosse games on Saturday.   If you thought I planned exciting entertainment for the kiddies in his absence, you fail.  ;-)   It is possible that, after finishing a novel and letting the kids eat cereal for dinner in the living room,  I sat on the couch and watched 3 hours of the NFL Draft.   I don't even care about the NFL, but I do love the personal and informational aspects of the process.   Oh, and this makes me think about the Olympics later this summer aka the ultimate pinnacle of information-driven personal stories!  Yessssss.  Of course, now I'm thinking about how hot it's going to be in August and that makes me sad because not only do I hate feeling hot but I also have not yet managed to make myself feel any better physically (or mentally) about wearing fewer clothes as the warmth requires. (Translation: I still eat too much and that's not helping my lack-of-clothes-that-look-decent.)   Boooo.

See?  thoughts constantly in motion!

Speaking of being constantly in motion, Miss C got to attend "the best party ever!" on Saturday: an amazing backyard carnival party for a preschool classmate.  I'm pretty sure she came home with more prizes than I would have bought for the entire group of kids so that's pretty sweet!   It was hard to believe how COLD it was (I think it was like 55 degrees) but at least the rain held off.   Fun times!