Last Day of School Thoughts

Yesterday was the last day of school for the last of the big kids. I now have two first-graders, a third-grader and fifth-grader mixed in with all those 4-and-unders. Wow. I'm not sure how that happened. 

One day at a time I guess. 

The ten-year-old is so excited her birthday in May makes her eligible to take the epic baby sitter training class her mom took as a six-year-old. Yes. There was indication way back then that her momma loved kids. Tennie might have I-pod withdrawals though. Ha. Ha. Since her birthday she has been listening to the same ten songs she picked over and over again. 

Our little six-year-old who spent so much time with the principal in preschool rocked kindergarten. She even won the citizen of the month award and was labeled as a natural and fabulous leader. That girl needs to remember to use her skills for good. Oh please! 

And finally, the second grader got a special gift from his teacher. She designed a word art with each child's name and description words from classmates and teachers. His is pictured. What I love about this is that it is framed so that he can look at it every day. And there is something soul satisfying by being reminded that people don't see us as mess-ups or frauds or dumb as we sometimes label ourselves and repeat over and over again. No. Maybe he will start including these rich truths about himself in his internal dialogue. Because he is smart and unselfish and kind and loving. Kudos to his teacher. And kudos to him for earning those kind labels. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Full Holiday Weekend

I haven't had such a fun weekend in a long time. I'm tired, and a little shell-shocked by temperature extremes, but, hey, that's not uncommon around these parts. 

Wednesday night Rob put in a new floor in the mud room/aka puppy room. They have a room. :  ) With a nice big back door entrance and lots of easily swept and/wiped up flooring. 

The girls have been alone in their room a few hours at a time with just a couple barricades and plenty of room to roam. So far they are respecting "the crib." This move opened up more room in the living room where the kennel has been resting since May. So we rearranged the living room furniture a little bit and I finished up a functional project I've been working on. 

Thursday was a wonderfully laid back day. We had a simple brunch with & and her little ones and a couple of friends. Thanksgiving was the 5 month anniversary of the little ones moving in with & and it was a cherry on the top of the sundae. The kids have bloomed under her mothering and we all love them. They spent the day and we pulled out all the Christmas items and we decorated and loaded up the Christmas tree. I tipped it over and broke two ornaments. But a good time was had by all. And my house feels festive. & and I cooked all the goodies we were going to be eating later that night. 

We had Thanksgiving dinner at my folks house. Another lovely get together. And of course the food was pretty amazing. & and I made several vegan options (our main dish was mushroom seitan loaf that was perfect but which I will add maybe a bit more garlic to next time I make it.)  and my new sister-in-law and brother made a delish pumpkin cheesecake.  Super delish. 

Friday night found me at &'s helping them decorate their place. The kids had so much fun. The 5 and 3 year olds especially got into decorating little Christmas trees for their rooms. So cute. Pure excitement. 

Saturday night we headed over again to decorate gingerbread houses with Toad Boy and the Mrs. One more Christmas thing on Sunday night at church rounded out the whole kid centric weekend. But. In exchange for all the work, I got lots of hugs and kisses, and a raging cold. Ha. Ha. I'm good with that.