Power Posting

I have WEEKS worth of material to blog about. I am beginning to deal with this blog like I do my laundry...I let it go forever until so much is piled up that I do a massive laundry weekend, like I did over Memorial Wkend, and then I am so sick of it, I ignore it again!

That is probably what will happen with this power post covering all kinds of stuff over the last several weeks...then you won't see me again for days or weeks! Well, maybe I'll try to keep up better this summer.

Yesterday was the girls official first day of summer vacation. After they kindly let me take a 2 hour nap, since I have not been feeling my best, I took them all to Target where we sat in Starbucks and enjoyed overpriced drinks (thanks, Dad, I've already emptied that card!), and then I let them each pick out one of those giant bouncy balls. It is quite a challenge getting four giant bouncy balls from the opposite corner of the store to the checkout without taking out any shoppers or vandalizing the store and merchandise in the process! The girls were excited and played outside with them for the rest of the afternoon.

We have really been missing the activity that the trampoline gave the girls, but I have noticed them finding more and more to do out there. They spend more time on the swing set, they draw with chalk on the side walk, ride their scooters, watercolor, play badmitton...I am always proud of them for how self-sufficient and self-entertaining they are. Mady and Sarah will also play for hours together with their Littlest Pet Shop and American Girl stuff. Precious.

Anywho, lets back up for a bit...

The end of the school year was extremely hectic, as it always is, with many school committments and projects all culminating in the last couple weeks of school. I especially enjoyed being the lead parent teacher for the 2nd grade Little House on the Prairie day for Madeline's class. I went all out for it. Thankfully my parents were in town and my mom was a tremendous help in getting all the details and plans pulled together. Also, honorable mention is my dad who went on many errands with me the day before to gather all my supplies.

We dressed in Pioneer clothing, made butter by shaking heavy whipping cream in glass jars, wrote on slates, made toilet paper, brushed our teeth with little rags, "punished" the class by making them stand in the corner in a dunce cap and "swatting" their hands with rulers (this was seriously their favorite part of the day and they all tried to misbehave to stand in the corner!), we played marbles in the dirt and did hoops relays, we ate popcorn balls, bread and homemade butter, and apples for snack, we made hammered tin decorations, yarn and stick God's eyes, and embroidered our initials in fabric. It was a wonderful time! Here are some pics...










Also during these last couple weeks our beloved school was torturing us parents with big projects. In E's 4th grade science class they were finishing up their bug unit by having the children each make an insect of their choice out of whatever they wanted to, but it had to look authentic. Daddy really helped E come up with a great concept and it turned out great, check it out!...




Madeline also had a project to go along with a biography unit. She chose Harriet Tubman and was very serious about it...she read her 90 page book on Harriet twice to be sure she knew her well. Her teacher commented on how excellently Madeline presented her person and how much knowledge she had of her! She had to make a "quilt" for her biography project. Madeline is a gifted artist, and it really shows in her excellent project!...




My parents came into town over Mother's Day weekend. It was great to have them here together, my mom usually comes alone so it was nice to have dad along this time to see the girls and our life here. We had a nice time shopping, eating out, and hanging out. We had a nice dinner at our favorite steak restaurants with my parents and our dear friends, the Housers, on Mother's Day. We also enjoyed a firepit one evening...









Hmmm, what else has been going on...

Evie has been continuing to swim and at her last swim meet she qualified in another event for the state meet! She now has qualified for 50 meter freestyle, 50 meter butterfly, and 200 meter freestyle! She has one more meet to see if she can shave off just one second in the 100 meter backstroke and qualify for that event.

At the last meet a very disturbing thing happened with Grace. What do you think abou this...
Mady (8) and Grace (4) were sitting by our chairs with another friends daughter when I moved away to watch Evie swim an event, I was not gone even 5 minutes, maybe 3 min. When I returned I asked Mady where Grace was. She uncomfortably told me that a lady had taken her to the bathroom. I said, WHAT?? and Mady said, I told her not to, but she did anyway. (my anxiety level is rising as I type and have to relive this!)

A man sitting right near us pipes in and tells me that his wife had taken Grace to the bathroom. I was stunned and mumbled something like oh I am sure she didn't have to go, I just took her (which I had) and I turned and started running. You see, the bathroom was in a different building! where you had to leave the pool building, walk down a sidewalk along the parking lot, enter another building and walk across it to get to the bathroom.

I run in and say Grace? and thankfully she says from a stall "hi mommy!" a woman was standing outside the stall and tells me that she really had to go badly and she had told her sister (Mady) to take her but she said her mom wouldn't like that (you think?) and so this woman decided to take her!!! ???????? I was in such a state of shock I just mumbled thanks, I've got her now and she left and I went into the stall.

Grace had pooped and as I was wiping her I started to have a break down of anxiety. I explained to Grace that she can never, ever leave with a stranger and how dangerous it was and how scared I was and how wrong that woman was to have taken her and stranger danger, blah, blah, blah. I carried her back and was holding her in my lap trying to calm down when the guy walks by me and says, so did she really have to go?

I said yes and then told him that I was really upset that his wife took her because even if she had good intentions, she is a stranger and I was very uncomfortable that my 4 year old would leave the building with a stranger and walk along a parking lot into another building and I was feeling really upset about it. He just said he understood and then walked away. The woman NEVER said anything to me. It took me about 45 min to get over it.

Actually I am still not over it. WHAT COULD SHE HAVE BEEN THINKING???!!!! Okay, maybe in the moment she thought she was helping, but she should certainly haver realized how inappropriate it was and when her husband told her how upset I was she should have apologized to me! It upsets me so much, they clearly knew there were parents in charge of these kids, I walked away for less than 5 minutes!!! Why would someone do such a thing!

And Mady, poor girl, she was so freaked out, knowing the woman shouldn't take her, even told her that her mommy would not like it if she took her and she did it anyway! We teach our children to respect adults, so Mady did not know how to take this woman down! You can be sure we equipped our children with a lengthy discussion at dinner that night, and it was a HUGE wake up call to us how easy it is to take a child!!! Okay I have to calm down now...here's a cute pic of our little Goo at that swim meet and of E swimming...




Phew! I am FIRED up now, how about you??

On to more pleasant topics...

Also, while my parents were in town, CJ and I were able to get away overnight to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary. I am kicking myself that I didn't bring my camera, our hotel room was so great. I only have this one photo from CJ's camera phone...



That is a good shot though, to show that I actually did get to a state of relaxation! We left the afternoon after I had taught 2nd grade and it took me several hours to stop feeling tense. I realize that I live my life in a contstant state of tension. No wonder CJ doesn't think I am very fun to be around! :) It took me about four hours to relax after we left home, and realize that I had all night and all the next day until I had to return to the tension-producing atmosphere!

We stayed in downtown at the W hotel which had just opened in January. Very chic and modern, super cool room decor in deep purples, metals, and glass. Bed was so soft and fluffy. They had a great lounge area where I had the most perfectly and freshly made Mojito that I will never be able to order another one again because it will never be as good as this one was.

We ate steak and seafood at the hotel restaurant, watched movies in our room and just relaxed. The next day we went to the aquarium all by ourselves! What a difference it is without little people to contain! We must have spent at least 45 min in the Titanic exhibit alone, which would have bored the kids to tears. The best part was sitting in front of a huge glass window and watching the huge whales and manitee and grouper swimming and being fed right in front of our noses, what a treat!

Alas, we had to return home, and yes, I am tense again. But I was reminded (and so was my husband) that I do, in fact, have a personality! It is just currently buried beneath the demands of mommyhood and life. But they are precious and worth it and someday they will be gone living their own lives and my home will be quiet and clean and I will miss them terribly. So I pray every day that I will enjoy this joy-filled life God has given me.

Well, I think that is about it for now. I told you it was going to be a power post!