March 27, 2015

I survived the post-Spring Break week.  Monday was admittedly lonely, but as I had to work the front desk at school all afternoon it wasn't too bad. I ended up having to do a few extra projects at school so I was up there a bit more than usual. The weather has been gorgeous, we've spent long afternoons at the park.  The boys were both able to have some playdates with friends. Mike traveled for a couple of days, not too long though.  I spent time at the gym, even doing yoga today.  Probably the highlight of the week though, is this beautiful picture...

We weren't expecting the glasses to come in for another week or so, but they came on Wednesday. It's so very cool for me to see him so happy over something that can make many feel awkward or uncomfortable.  Nothing negative about these specs at all.  A smooth, easy adjustment, even his friends think he looks cool.

I am still picking away at the guitar, I am working on the finger picking method (I just don't like playing with a pick). I picked up a book to help with that and a book on classical style playing as that is what I would like to do eventually.  So very much to learn, but it's fun and my fingers are now sufficiently calloused so the strings don't hurt anymore.

As for the weekend ahead, looks like we'll be raking leaves - the oaks drop twice a year here (spring and fall). Probably we'll squeeze in a bike ride or two, maybe a hike, maybe a hunt for some bluebonnets.  We are dog sitting as well.  Never a dull moment (well, never a quiet moment anyway).

So Long Spring Break

Sad sad day :-( It's officially the end of Spring Break.  I remember looking forward to Spring Break when I was growing up.  It always coincided with Easter, which usually meant a visit from Grandma and Grandpa, and all the fun stuff that happens at Easter time.  Once in awhile we would trek up to D.C. to check out the cherry blossoms, usually there was a day trip to Monticello or Mount Vernon or some other cool historic place.  In college I only took one spring break trip, and that was with Mike to Florida.  Always good memories, always sad to see it end.  Now, I long for the break because it's just that much more time I get to spend with the boys.

Here's a brief recap of the week.  It wasn't the best weather wise, but it wasn't a total washout either.  We managed a few bike rides, went swimming once, had lunch with daddy.  Alex had his annual well check which meant Ben got to spend the afternoon with his best buddy.  Friday and Saturday were a wash with rain.  Today the weather was beautiful but everything is sopping wet still, so the kids got hair cuts and played a very rousing game of monopoly with dad for the afternoon.  Not the most memorable break ever.  We usually trek up to Waco for a trip to the zoo, or to Marble Falls for strawberry picking, or to parks we haven't visited in a very long time.  We didn't manage any of those things this time.

We didn't manage  much, yet I am still so very sad that it's over.  It's so great to watch the boys relax and enjoy being boys and running around shouting Harry Potter curses at each other.  It was nice that Mike had a 3 day weekend. It was nice not having to get up early, not having a schedule to stick to, not having to deal with people, homework, school, any of it.  Tomorrow the house will be stupid quiet and it's back to the routine and I am back to volunteering at school and I am already counting the days until summer break and 3 glorious months without school.

Spring Break!

No School!  Woohoo!! Happy mom, happy kids.  Need I say more?

No plans for the week.  Hoping for some bike rides if the weather holds, movies if it's rainy.  Who cares?  Not having to stick to the school schedule is the best break of all.

Breakfast in Bed

So a few weeks ago Alex and Ben woke us up on a Saturday morning and said they had a surprise for us. Up the stairs they came with each of them holding an end of a big baking sheet with breakfast for us.  Let's see... for each of us there was toast with butter and cinnamon, a bowl of cereal, a bowl of dried cranberries, a granola bar, a hershey kiss, a glass of orange juice, and a mug of hot chocolate complete with milk and marshmallows, oh, and a banana to share.  Alex really wanted to fix us eggs but the rule at the moment is no use of the stove unless an adult is at least awake and aware of the kid cooking. So they settled on cereal as the main dish.

We were so touched at their thoughtfulness, you would have thought we had given them the moon instead of just a huge hug and a few dozen kisses.  Apparently we ignited a fire in them.

They were so proud of themselves that they have since repeated the treat several times.  However breakfast each time is less and less elaborate.  This past weekend, they each carried up a bowl of cereal and a plain piece of bread - didn't even bother to toast it.  It's so sweet and they are so cute.

Again, they wanted to bring us breakfast on Saturday and Sunday.  Well, truth be told, there are only so many soggy cheerios one can eat.  So I flipped the tables and said why didn't I make them a nice breakfast on Sunday.  They thought that was great and they wanted a turn to be served in bed.  Fine.  Only problem is, Alex woke up way too early and came in to wake me up demanding to know where his breakfast was.  That wasn't part of the deal.  I sent him back to bed, eventually got up and served them breakfast in bed - no cereal, they got the real deal.  And they loved every minute of it.

I might just have to break down and let Alex cook the eggs just so we get a break from the soggy cereal!

Stories

A friend posted an interesting little note on her blog about stories.  Specifically, as a child, when does your story become your own and similarly as a parent when does your child's story stop being your story?

It's an interesting thing for me to think about as the kids get older and as I am reminded of the purpose of this blog.  At the moment, that purpose is to keep in touch with those far away that we can't talk to or see easily.  Do those people want to hear my story, my children's story, my husband's story?  Does it become monotonous to hear constant bits of "Oh, child/ren did this and isn't it funny/adorable/scary/ridiculous/amazing?!"

So I wonder.... does it really matter what I post?  More pictures and stories of the kids?  More stories of my life? More just plain stories?  I don't know.  I think that as this progresses, to keep me interested and posting this will become more of a journal.  Things that I might want to remember or pass onto the kids one day are inevitably the things that will find a home here.

As the reader, take from it what you will and remember just because I post it doesn't mean you have to read it :-)

March 5, 2015

It's a snow day!  SO very glad that LISD took preemptive steps to cancel school at 5:30 last night.  Wow, what a hardship it would have been to get the kiddos to school today.  Check out these uber dangerous icicles...

I promise there really are icicles in the picture - teeny, tiny, itty bitty icicles that aren't even a result of sleet or freezing rain or any other icy frozen precipitation.  These it would seem just happened to be drips from the thunderstorm that froze.  Anyway, we were supposed to get this big nasty ice storm overnight, with measurable accumulations of ice and the whole nine yards.  What we did get was a couple of thunderstorms and a cold front that dropped the temp from near 70 to below 30.  But, the threat of all that dangerous weather is always enough to cancel school.  I'm actually OK with it, I get a day at home with the boys, they get to sleep in, we all win.  Yeah, we'll have to make the time up, but that's ok too.  

So what do we do on a snowy day such as this?  Well, the usual activities are out, sort of because we don't actually have any snow to play in.  So I made marshmallows, chocolate and vanilla swirl marshmallows with little chunks of chocolate in them to be exact.  No weather, but it sure is cold and we can't exactly have hot chocolate without marshmallows.  So.  Marshmallows it is.  And, I am reminded of why the only way I really like store bought marshmallows is if they are baked into something or in that cup of cocoa.  Nothing compares to homemade.  They are fluffy and sweet and gooey and chocolately and silky and it's sort of like eating little clouds.  

Next up, some rosemary cinnamon graham crackers to go with those marshmallows.