Coming To An End

I have spent the last three days with my kids, volunteering for field trips and school activities. I am grateful to be in a situation where I can do that, though I must say, I am tired and looking forward to a relaxed Memorial Day weekend. The countdown to summer is on . . . one more school activity, field day and one more week of school. I think I may be looking forward to it more than my kids--the chance to not have to wake up to get kids out the door for school. Then again, when you add in swimming, golf and tennis lessons, plus the end of lacrosse, soccer, baseball and dance, we still have a lot to do. Its a good thing I love my kids, cause they sure keep me busy.

Tyler "graduated" from preschool today. I was a bit sad, realizing that my baby is going to kindergarten. He, on the other hand, is very excited to go to "Mitch's school." In some ways, I dread the 1/2 days of kindergarten. You barely get grocery shopping in, or a gym class, before your back to school for pick up. I'm not ready to have Tyler gone all day though, so I suppose I can deal with it.

Here are a few "kid" updates.

1. Jake was elected as an 8th grade SBO. He has also played some of his finest lacrosse games in the last week. On Saturday, he scored 4 goals, and made 2 assists of his teams 7 points. On Tuesday night, he scored 3 goals and had 1 assist of his team's 6 points. The other team, seeing that he was doing so well, called a stick check, where the ref said his stick was 1/8 of an inch too stretched out and therefore, illegal. Pete and I were not very happy with the ref, to say the least, but it was a compliment to Jake that they considered him such a threat that they'd have his stick checked. (I still get a little angry just thinking about it!)

2. Mitch is playing baseball and is a great batter. He's an easy-going kid, such a pleasure to have around. He just finished making a "Mercedes-Benz" boat for the Raingutter Regatta, but was disappointed when his boat didn't win. He is a reading machine, he may even put me to shame. At night, I always have to double check before I go to bed to be sure he's not still up reading. Barnes and Noble may be his favorite place, as long as he's got cash for a new purchase. (I know, try the library, but he's not nearly as psyched about that.) He's also a fabulous piano player.

3. Madeline is my busy social girl. She's currently playing soccer, taking dance and piano, and has a dance concert coming up in June. The concert theme is Mary Poppins, so Madeline was anxious and excited to get her costumes (since she's wanted to be Mary Poppins for Halloween the last two years, but I don't have the skills to make the white and red dress from the chaulk scene in the park). Unfortunately, the costumes weren't what she hoped, so the search is still on. Her teacher told me that after struggling with a math at the beginning of the year, she has worked her way up to being one of the top math students in her class. She also learned how to crochet this spring and thinks its awesome. She and I spent last Sunday cooking together, making homemade pizza and other delicious food for Sunday dinner. She is also taking piano lessons and doing a great job.

4. Tyler is my funny boy. Last summer, he fell in love with an older woman (she's 8 to his 5). Though he hasn't seen her but once, he hasn't forgotten her and her awesome toys. He finally had the chance to see her again. I asked if she was like he remembered (we've all built someone up in our minds, only to realize that the dream was better than reality, I won't site any examples to protect the guilty) and he smiled for ear to ear and said yes, she was, even if she was 8, she was still his girlfriend. I asked if she knew that she was his girlfriend, to which he replied, "Of course she knows, I gave her the love look." What, pray tell is the love look, you might ask? Well, apparently she knows because she saw it and everyone knows what the love look is. He makes me laugh. He's also decided to change career paths from being a person who builds Lego sets on video to teach kids how to do it, to being a person who creates Lego sets. He is the Lego master. I have felt bad that his bedroom is our old office room, full of old oak bookshelves. I told Ty he could switch rooms, but he said that he has the best room ever because its not just a bedroom, its an office with lots of shelves for his lego's. He even has two empty shelves set aside for his next Christmas presents--I know, its only May. What can I say, the kid thinks ahead.

Pete and I are great. We are grappling with the finances and design of landscaping our yard. Pete's big request is that it be lawnmower friendly. That means that he wants cement curbing anywhere that grass meets dirt, so he can have one wheel on the cement curb and avoid edging all together. I think for the price of the cement curbing, he can hire someone to edge, or better yet, teach me and then pay me! He also wants a circular drive in the front yard so that we have as little grass as possible to mow. Pretty soon we're going to look like a playground in the Bronx! Ah well, I'll do my best to blend both of our ideas.

10 Things You Might Not Know About Me . . .

And who am I kidding, probably don't care to know. But this is my blog, so here it goes!

1. I was a witch for Halloween every year through elementary school. I'm not talking about cute Glinda (Wizard of Oz) either, I mean a plain, green faced, pointed hat, clad in black witch . . . every year. Talk about lack of creativity!

2. My ideal weight, in my very unhealthy mind, is the weight I achieved in college, when a Giardia parasite deprived me of all food and nutrients that entered my body. It also helped that I dropped all academic classes that semester and took all dance classes. It was the one time in my life when my parents were worried that I might be anorexic. Now, four children later, I still lament that I can't get down to that weight or wear those really tiny, light blue denim Guess jeans that I saved, just so I can remind myself that at one time, I could wear them.

3. I never rode on an airplane until I was 20 years old, and took a flight to Portland with my roommate Amy. I've flown many times since, but I'll admit, I'm not a big fan of flying.

4. I love to change the furniture around and have since my father built my sister and I a Barbie house as kids. If only it was as easy to rearrange full-size furniture.

5. Before I married my husband, I dated many and kissed two of his good friends. He took my sister to Junior Prom. In my defense, he wasn't taller than me until he was a junior in high school, so I really didn't think about him in that way. In his defense, my sister was shorter than me.

6. If it were socially acceptable, I would make my life a musical. Happy . . . I'd break into song and dance. Sad . . . I'd let the tears flow and ad-lib a really touching monologue about the woes of life. As it is, I will continue to dream about writing a Tony Award winning musical some day. (I've got it all outlined in my mind, I just haven't gotten it down on paper yet.)

7. I'm a dreamer in general. Here are a few of my other dreams: own a Country French style furniture/decorating store, go back to school to become an interior designer/architect, write the novels I've thought about writing for the last 10 years, and last, but not least, move to the south of France, where I will become fluent in French and buy baguettes from street vendors just like Belle in Beauty and the Beast.

8. I have decorators ADHD--self-diagnosed, but I'm sure its a real thing. That explains the constant state of flux in my house and yard.

9. I really love the idea of having a garden where I can provide fresh veggies while I cook incredible, simple healthy meals. So far, I have a rhubarb plant that doesn't produce very good rhubarb, or I just don't like it. But one day I hope to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peppers, pumpkins, peas, beans, strawberries, and water melons, in addition to apple and peach trees. I just tore out the two apple trees I had, but I'm hoping to create my own little mini orchard by summer's end.

10. I'm a bathtub person. Why, you may ask, when you lie in your own filth? I'll tell you. Its the one time, other than bedtime, when I've justified "reading time." I think that is explanation enough.