Happy Birthday Littlest Man, and recital dancer boy, and camping scouts....

         Yeah this weekend is a tad busy.  First thing up of import was Si Guys birthday yesterday.  Littlest man turning five was a huge deal in the world of mom.  My baby is growing up.  So what did we do for this monumental, tear-inducing milestone?
" I want monkeys with bananas."
"Sure we can do monkey cake w/ bananas"
"And chocolate!"
ok.
"And lunch at Taco Bell!"
ok.
So that is what we did.  I made banana cupcakes with chocolate frosting and Si Guy & I put monkey faces on them.  What was awesome about this cupcake was how "kid help" friendly it was.  The faces were just vanilla wafers with smiles drawn on in red gel & noses w/ food coloring pens.   We used pre-made candy eyes, (available at Wal-Mart), and mini vanilla wafers cut in half for ears.  No, he didn't draw or cut...but he had a great time eating and decorating with cookies and candies.  We also made banana flavored fondant from a recipe I found on Pinterest!  It turned out kinda like a mix between floam and play doh in texture, so the kids had a great time making "bananas" for their "monkeys" to eat after school.    We did manage to sneak in lunch at Taco Bell too before I took off for our next event, the all school end-of-year party.

This was E1's last "all school" party, because sixth grade does their own thing.  It was perfect day!  The kids loved the inflatables, frozen desserts, DJ, hula-hoops, all of it.  I loved seeing them have a great time.  I loved that there were no major injuries.  I loved recruiting one of my favorite people into a chair for PTA next year.  Clean up was fast, and it was fun getting whisked away in the van in the car line.   Good  to see things from the kids perspective.

After getting home from that, it was time to take E1 to his dress rehearsal for his recital today & get dinner for the herd that remained.  (Our oldest is on a 2 night camp out to prove his "manliness" with minimal food.  I have until 12:30 tomorrow to have my refrigerator stuffed.)  After his rehearsal, we went for a mother-son meal at Wendys, came home and gave the birthday boy his present...(a hot wheels track the older kids have played with as much as him,) did some grocery shopping and collapsed.

Then it was off the the farmer's market this morning, getting the girl scout ready for her camp out, and the 2PM performance of E1.   It was great seeing him a stage again with the "dance joy" look on his face.  I hope this wasn't the last time I get to see it.

I still have Sunday ahead too, with being Mrs F & picking up the oldest & the grocery store gauntlet I haven't gotten around to yet.    I love being busy, but I'm still  hoping next weekend is a quiet one.

The 3K book project.

The 3K book project is a bit of a self-revelation project.  Right now, I'm still on the easy part...kids books.  Sure I've touched on spirituality and nonfiction a bit, but those sections are far from done.  Yet even in the little bit I've accomplished, there are some titles I cringe as I type, and others I puff out my chest and lift my head with the "see what good taste I have" pride.  I swear before I'm done, there will be a section called "I've read these of course!" and another called "Books that need a shredder"....or maybe just "books I'm embarrassed to admit I've read."
Now imagine that instead of just books, it's every single word and action of my own life, on record.  I'm so thankful that day is probably far off.  I'm also thankful that Jesus is my editor.   He's the best white-out ever.

Project 0-3K.  What a great reminder that every word matters now.

Writing...

You'd think with everything going on lately I'd be writing on here more, but there's an inverse relationship between the amount of stuff worth writing about and the time available to write it in.  That, and I've been doing a bunch of "busy" writing lately,so the more creative stuff has taken a back burner.
With VBS only a few weeks away, I have been busy writing schedules, lesson ideas, craft plans, and supply lists.  Another writing project diverting me is making a list of every book I can remember reading.  The idea for this project came from here.  http://sahmiam43.blogspot.com/2012/05/and-it-was-still-hot.html
But enough about the mom!  Here's the kid summary of late.

Our oldest is about to complete seventh grade.  He's been promoted to Patrol Leader for camping in his Boy Scout Troop.  He's going to be selling hot dogs and snow cones at Old Shawnee Days from our church overhang.  (This fundraiser pays for our youth's summer trips, so please stop by if you're around!)
He's grown taller than Grandma, but not quite taller than me, this year.  He's starting to realize that he can't schmooze his way out of everything.  I expect next year will be a bit smoother at school.

E1 is having a fantastic spring!  He was accepted into the 6th grade Pre-Algebra program.  He was "darth cello" for the SMN area strings festival.  Today, he found out he was chosen to play his cello in the school talent show.  He enjoyed his last field day as a participant.  (6th graders work it and then have their "olympics" at one of the high schools.)  He just went to Exchange City earlier this week.  His "adult" job was web-site designer.  Next weekend, he'll be performing with his ROAD class at the Folly Theater.   He's a bright, accomplished kid.  He knows that in his head.  I'm hoping it will take to his heart soon.

E2 is just enjoying life as always.  He's looking forward to summer, where he can daydream, bike, and play with his water rocket.  He may be hanging up his football helmet for culinary classes this year.  We'll see how it all works out.

Princess D is already chafing for the workbooks of summer, and the pool.  Not that she isn't having fun at school.  She is!  She had a great time at field day (except when her little sister beat her at a game),  and is having her "dot auction" in EL on Monday.  She finished the entire Sparks program and review this year.  She has a shiny new plaque to show it!

Princess P has thrived in Kindergarten.  She's feisty, determined, and a ray of sunshine.  She's even managed to keep track of both pairs of her glasses for a whole year!  First grade is coming....

And so is Kindergarten for my Si Guy!  Ack!  I don't know what I'll do without my little companion in August.  I know he's ready.  He was counting on the Abacus earlier today.  He can cut out shapes and write his name.  He'll still give hugs freely but "no kisses mom! Blech!"  My baby is turning into a big boy indeed.

A moment of mush.

  You know why Mother's Day is in May?  I am convinced it's because it's the most sentimental month of the year for us moms.

What other month starts by ding dong ditching your neighbors with hand-made baskets of flowers/candy, scribbled kid notes?

Other notable May activities:

Squeezing in that last field trip

Spring sports banquets.

School concerts & talent show.

Field Day.

School concerts & talent show.

End of year parties, and of course the big one.

Graduation.  I don't care if it's kindergarten, sixth grade, or high school.   Some mom is going to cry.  (In the case of high school, consider it wedding training.  Wedding?  Yeah, if you have a Mid-June or July wedding guess when you mail those invites?  Yep.  MAY.)

So for all our trouble and tears, history gave us a holiday.  Wasn't that nice?  

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.