See. I can finish a project? mostly....

There it is.  Our dresser turned raised bed, filled with dirt.  We had it built and painted a while ago, but were lacking the motivation to get it "planted."  So there it sat, with the roll of hardware fabric,peat moss, and organic soil until I checked the weather for last weekend.
"Honey, it's supposed to be kind of windy this weekend.  50/50 on a tornado within fifty miles.  Let's get the raised bed in place and weighted down."
"Ok."
That was last Saturday before lunch.  Hey, I didn't say I was motivated by logic.
So out in the yard we went....and like any other project with a deadline, children magically appeared.
"Can I help?"
"No, I wanna  help!"
"I'd help, but I don't want to get my dress dirty before the party. So I'll just sit here and watch."
"Mommy, I move rocks!"
"Can I dig?"
"I have the hoe!" (Uh, no.  You're swinging that thing a little close to Dad's head.  Thanks.)
"Wow.  This ground is hard."
"How many rocks are there?"
"Let me break open the dirt with the shovel!"
Exciting times to be a kid.  Digging a hole, moving a box into it, and filling it with dirt.
"So when are we getting cucumbers?"
Not this year.  It's a bit late for cucumbers, and I want to train those to a trellis.
"So what are we gonna grow?"
Tomatoes and peppers.
"When do I get to pick?"
When I have more than one raised bed.  I guess I better start scouring yard sales for old dressers.

      I hope everyone had a lovely Easter.  I know our family did. Those eggs up there were colored on Saturday.  It's so much fun to see each child's unique take on "art."  On Sunday, we had them on the table for breakfast, both to admire and to eat.  Some were also featured, in deviled form, at dinner.  The kid's baskets each had two "spiritual" items.  They ranged from Veggietales to a cross of nails on a leather cord.  They also each received one "entertainment" item, a bunch of candy, and two quarters to symbolize "silver."   Next year I think I'll put forty cents in that egg.  We had several conversations on what "Easter" is about for us.  We talked about why the resurrection is so important.  We had an egg hunt in the back yard.  Grandma & Grandpa came, took us to a movie, and hung out for dinner.  The weather was great, so we were outside a lot.  We basically had "home church" and some great family time.   No, we didn't go to church-church.  We're too introverted for that on Easter.
       We understand for a lot of people, Easter is the annual "church pageant."  The church building has to look it's best, and so does everyone in it.  The regulars want to look their best to make a good impression.  The twice a year peeps pop in to show yes, they get it.  Whole families attend to make grandma happy.  The pews are full.  The sermon, about hope, or conviction, or the cross.   Everyone smiles, waves, and goes to Grandma's for dinner.  Then life goes back to "normal", whatever that is.
    Our family refuses to play that way.
    Yes the girls both wore dresses, and were adorable.
    Yes, we reviewed what Resurrection Day is about.
    Yes we partook of Easter as well, in the nonreligious sense.
   We just don't feel a need to partake in the pageantry, and crowds make us cringe.  Heck, wearing dress clothes and make up make me cringe.  I just don't feel like "me" in that stuff.  I'd rather celebrate the carpenter angle, by working on my new raised vegetable bed.  That covers the new life aspect too, planting seeds or fledglings into healthy soil.
   I do admit, if our church had a candle-lit sunrise service I would probably feel differently.  The quiet of watching the sunrise to symbolize the "SON-rise" holds a lot of meaning to me.  I still did kind of see the sunrise, because the kids were up at oh-heck thirty in the morning,  (upstairs, awaiting us to get out of bed, but still noisy enough to wake us up.)  Once we we did arise, it was a glorious day.

My daughter is Xena, warrior princess.

I'd already had suspicions that Ms. D wasn't as prim as she looked.  It just took laser tag to bring it out.  She scored solidly in the middle of the pack as a seven year old girl playing with nine and ten year old boys.  (No, I'm not comparing her to the teens or "adult" men playing.)  She loved every minute of it.  I have two pics of her there on Facebook.  One is now my profile pic.
   The other kids had a great time too.  One thing I love about my friend J is she has "whole family" birthday parties.  Her baby boy Mr. M was turning 9.  I swear he and E2 share a brain.  Even though they only see each other a couple times a year they gravitate towards each other....even in a room full of Mr. M's other friends.  It's amazing to watch.  Of course given where those brains go, it's probably best we live in different school districts.
  Mr. Man came along on this venture too.  I was absolutely shocked that he *cheerfully* attended a party with me.  It turns out laser tag is a draw for grown ups too.  He consistently came in second, behind J's oldest son S, who is a mere child at 21.   He was sweaty and smiling, just the way I like him.
   So where was I during all this?  Watching on the monitor, cackling with the rest of the moms.  Not one of us went in there.  I thought about it, but socializing just seemed like more fun this time.  Maybe we'll go back another time as a family and I can show Ms. D where her warrior princess tendencies came from.

valleys

    It seems we are in a series of valley right now.  Another acquaintance lost her husband in a head-on car accident last week.   This one, a mother of five kids, all in the same age range as my own.  My husband came home from work that day and I met him at the door.
   "These things come in threes.  Don't you even think of being next."
   Yesterday, I received an e-mail that our beloved principal is retiring.  She has been out much of this year, due to being needed by her family.   She has been a part of our lives since we transitioned from home schooling to public school.  She made that transition smooth, eased my mom guilt, and didn't condemn my previous choices in our previous situation.  She had a gift with parents, of empathy, of being "real" without being rude.   There's a lot more I could write about her, her humor, her selflessness, how she worked with the kids....
   It leaves an air of uncertainty around us, especially since our children are transfers...and our incoming kindie hasn't been approved yet.  If they close transfers for the transition....well, then things get interesting.   I'll take that interesting over what either of those women are going through right now.
Peace be with you both, and may there be a river in your valley.

Spring Break

      Spring break for our house was fantastic.  The kids rotated through grandparents.  We had a family movie night.  The weather was perfect for lots of time outside on skateboards, scooters and swings.  We ended it with swimming, a kindergarten play date, and a kid-friendly dinner.  In my bubble, all was well.
      Outside my bubble many were also having a great time, but others we know are hurting deeply.  A parent at our school loses her husband to cancer.  A key staff member is going through the same, drawn out, slip away, pain.  This year our school family has already taken so many hits with student illness, parent hospitalizations & surgeries, and the loss of a sibling in the adoption process to another family.  Yet, for the sake of our children, we keep smiling, waving, and moving forward.  Privately, the adults gather to express their anger, pain, and ugliness...but we keep a cocoon of warmth, safety, and happiness around our kids.   They aren't fooled, but it does help them stay focused and move forward.   They have each other, and us, to turn to and sort things out.   The younger kids lean more on us, the older, on each other.   We know this is life, but we wish we could shield them from this side of it just a bit longer.
   Today is the first day back at school.  Somehow, it seems appropriate that it is raining.  Everything is muddy, but when the storms clear, the blooming flowers and green grass are back again.

Signs I may be approaching middle age

     Okay, forget approaching.  I'm there.  I know I'm there for many reasons.

     1) My favorite live action movies are in the $5 bin at Wal-Mart, and go on sale for 1.99 at Christmas. 
     2) Lavender.  I love wearing it.  The scent, or the color?  Yes.
     3)  I have as much "peach fuzz" as my 13 year old.
     4)  My old injuries remind me of where they were when the weather changes.
     5)  I find myself liking clothes in fabrics and styles I once dubbed "old lady".
     6)  My karaoke list consists primarily of songs from before the current "21"s were born.
     7) Anti-aging cosmetics don't seem ridiculous. 
     8) I count grams of fiber and glasses of water.
     9) My kids have to explain technology to me, like flip notes.  I think of flip notes as a notebook w/ the spiral at the top.
    10) I can never again wear a sleeveless dress.  Even if I do finish "taking off the weight" there is a cleavage issue.  As in when I put on a strapless bra, instead of "lifting" I "fold", leaving the ever attractive "hoochie line" in plain sight.  My tatas need engineered straps to stay over the gut line now.
   and of course,  having a teenager in the house.  I imagine when there's more of them that will age me faster than anything.

Field trip Thursday

   Yesterday was a double-field trip day.  Both my daughters were off to new and exotic destinations, Kindergarten to Kaleidescope, and 2nd grade to the Natural History Museum.  Days like that moms want a clone so we can be in two places at once.  I had the next best thing, a friend leading my daughter's group in 2nd grade who sent me a pic, and grandparents who worked at the university to eat lunch with her.  Thus I was able to go on the kindergarten field trip with a clear conscience.
    At Kaleidescope, I skillfully maneuvered to volunteer at the puzzle station.  It's fun to watch the kids design their puzzle pictures and use the machine to "magically" make it into pieces.  One child came to me saying, "LOOK.  It's a crown in the center!"  (ha,ha, crown center & Hallmark.  Very cute.)   My daughter swung by to visit me twice, and was obviously living it up.  While she was happy I was there, she didn't need me there.  Oddly that was reassuring.
   Meanwhile, at the museum my other daughter was also having a great time.  She was given the opportunity to build her own dinosaur and name it.  Pentacephaquadrosomethingsaur.  (Five-headed-four-tailed-lizard.)  She won the prize for longest name...since parents were disqualified.  There is a photo of this fine creature on my FB page.  She too, was just fine without me.
    I arrived back home to "Mo-mmy!  I missed you!"  and littlest man fell asleep in my arms last night.  I held the monkey with his stuffed monkey for over an hour.  It won't be much longer a child wants to use me as a mattress.