A little of this . . a little of that . . .
This just melts my heart. Watching Eric teach Drew how to play ball. Drew starts t-ball this week and he’s a little apprehensive so Eric took him out and worked with him this evening. He’s using Eric’s first glove and now he thinks he’ll do okay! (Gotta love the cowboy boots while wearing shorts and playing catch!)
Mother’s Day saw all of us wore out and not wanting to do anything much! Joe took Drew and I out for breakfast. Eric and Aaron had to work all day. The rest of us decided to meet at Belva Deer early evening for a picnic. Leftovers from the graduation party worked out great – no work required! Joe, Drew and I went early to go for a bike ride before everyone else came out. Later Dad, Mom, Jeremy, Abby and Braxton came and we had a nice visit. The boys played at the playground, we went for a walk/bike ride and called it a day. It was a nice quiet get together. Perfect for Mother’s Day! We are so blessed to have Belva Deer so close!
Hopefully next time we visit Belva Deer we’ll have the camper with us!
Friday and Saturday went by like a blur! Friday was spent setting up for the celebration, Saturday was cooking, party and tearing down. Poor Joe, all week in California then home Friday afternoon with no chance to relax and unwind. Just on the go doing whatever was asked of him. Abby and Aaron helped Friday evening and then back on Saturday with Jeremy too. I couldn’t have done it without them and Dad and Mom who were indespensable. It was so nice to have family to help.
We had a great turn out. It was fun to see family and friends and friends we hadn’t seen for quite some time. It’s sad how everyone’s lives get so busy that it takes a special occasion to see cherished friends that we should make the time to get together with on a regular basis. There was lots of catching up and lot of laughs. So many of Eric’s classmates stopped by. There was something like 10 or 11 parties in all on Saturday and they all tried to hit all the parties. Eric was able to hit them all and still stay at his throughout the whole party. It’s nice to see the kids all be close like that. I felt bad not making it to any of the other parties but they in turn couldn’t come to ours. There are more next week though that we’ll be sure to get to. Hard to believe these kids are graduating – they just shouldn’t be this old!
I didn’t get any pictures during the celebration. I was too busy I guess. I think we’re all glad this day is over. It was lots of work and lots of fun but now we can enjoy Class Night and Graduation knowing this is behind us!
A quick post today. To take a quick breath and gather my thoughts I walked around the yard this morning. It’s a beautiful sunny cool day. The birds are chirping. There’s a breeze. Such a change from yesterday’s heavy rains. As I was walking around I noticed all the dandelions that have gone to seed. This spring we have lots and lots of dandelions. They don’t bother me. I love the cheerful yellow blooms. Joe on the other hand really doesn’t like them. In fact he bought some stuff for the yard to try and get rid of them but hasn’t put it on yet. I do have to say we have an overabundance of them right now and when they go to seed they aren’t very attractive but I keep telling him they are good for the bees and really, what do they hurt? Then I remembered what Drew said over the weekend. He said, “Mom we are so lucky. Look at all the wishes we get to make. We get to make a thousand wishes!” Why do kids see the bright side of things so often and we as adults just don’t?
I’m off to pick up all the toys in the living room, tidy up, vacuum and start loading up the graduation party stuff. Tomorrow we decorate and Saturday is the big day. Yeah! Oh, yeah, can’t forget the last soccer game of the season this evening. It will be a nice evening to spend outside!
For some reason this evening it feels like it’s been a long week and it’s only Wednesday. That’s usually how I feel when Joe is gone. The first day or two are fine and then I’m just ready for him to be home. Friday can’t come soon enough!
It rained today. A lot. Drew’s class trip was today and they were supposed to visit the county park today and I volunteered to go along but that was canceled. They still got to see how pizzas were made at the Pizza Ranch and enjoy pizza for lunch, visit the Public Library, go bowling and then ice cream at the local ice cream shop. All done in between the rain drops! I helped at the bowing alley and they had lots of fun and were so well behaved!
In between running Drew to school, running into the bowling alley, then running back into town to pick Drew up from school, I managed to get the kitchen and bathroom painted. It helped that I didn’t go to Belva Deer this morning and t-ball practice was canceled this evening. Next I want to paint my kitchen cupboards. That will be a major project. And I don’t plan on starting that until after school is out. Just too much to do to jump into that right now.
So tonight, since it’s chilly and rainy outside and Drew and I are both tired, it’s a good night to snuggle up under a blanket with Drew and stitch. And what am I stitching? Chickens of course! If I have chickens outside I might as well have them inside too!
It seems like yesterday went by in a blur. I am so ready for school to get out and for things to slow down. I don’t do busy well. Looking back I am amazed that I survived having the older three kids at home and involved in everything that they were involved in. I don’t know how some of those parents do it who have children involved in everything they can possibly be involved in. I find that it takes away from home and family time. Sitting on the sidelines is great and the kids learn so much being involved but there just needs to be home time too. Family time. Slow time. Joe left yesterday midmorning for California. He’ll be home sometime Friday afternoon. I have to remember to remind him to stop at Hy-Vee and pick up Eric’s graduation cake. It’s an extra in case we run out of cake balls. Drew had soccer practice after school. I’m thinking they have had plenty of practices for them being kindergartners but I guess that means the coaches were really involved so I can’t complain. He has his last soccer game this Thursday but starts t-ball practice on Wednesday. I’m already thinking maybe that’s too much but I guess one day of overlap isn’t too bad. He’s not sure he even wants to play t-ball. We’ll let him try it and see how it goes. Eric loved baseball, Aaron not so much. They’re all different. Our only rule is if you start it you finish it. But if you don’t like it, you don’t have to go out for it again the next year.
Today is the only day that we don’t have anything going on. I’m going to try to get the housework caught up and the laundry done because I won’t have much time until after the weekend now. Tomorrow is Drew’s class trip and I’ve volunteered to go along. Out to Belva Deer for a picnic lunch, then bowling at the local bowling alley and ice cream at Walker’s. Should be a fun day. Then t-ball practice. Drew will be exhausted. Thursday is soccer. Friday will see us at the church decorating for Eric’s graduation party. I’m hoping to get everything set up Friday afternoon and evening so Saturday we can focus on cooking. I’m looking forward to the party. We have friends we haven’t seen in ages coming and family members all getting together. It will be fun. With Eric’s party and all that entails, we haven’t made any plans for Mother’s Day. We’ll just wing it I guess. I think we’ll all be ready for a nice quiet day. Maybe a picnic later in the day out at Belva Deer. That would be the perfect Mother’s Day for me!
Another busy weekend in the books. Friday I got my hair cut then picked Drew up from school. From there we ran out to the new greenhouse. We have some Amish families that have moved into our community and one of the famlies opened up a greenhouse this spring. Very nice family and lots of pretty flowers. It’s so nice to have a greenhouse so close to home! After that Drew had soccer practice then we ran out to Dad and Mom’s where Joe already was to help them with a project. Supper at their house and some relaxing outside. It was a beautiful evening.
Saturday saw Drew’s soccer game then the boys and I ran to Ottumwa to get Eric some clothes to wear for Baccalaureate, Class Night and Graduation. We ate at the new Chinese restaurant and boy was it good. Then back home. Checked out Joe’s lean to to see how much him and Dad got done on it while we were gone. Later we went for a drive and got ice cream at the local ice cream shop. A summertime weekend pastime of ours. Ice cream and a quick trip out to our county park, Lake Belva Deer for a drive around the lake.
Today Drew and I got all of our pretty flowers planted along with our tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Can’t wait for those to start producing – yum! Then we had the Baccalaureate Service this evening at the high school. A very nice service and cake and lemonade afterwards. I’m glad they have Baccalaureate again. They had stopped having it for a few years but they’ve held it the last few years. It was very nice and a lot of the kids attended. Then Eric went out to supper with his classmates and it was back home for us. We had a movie night with Drew. We popped popcorn and he chose to watch The Life of Pets.
The last concert of the season and Eric’s last band concert. Sad time for mom’s and dad’s but I don’t think the kids were too sad last night. I love to see them having fun together!
The music this time was unbelievable. The first song sung by the choir started out the night and it was unbelievable. Both songs were chosen by Abby. She was able to tour Europe and these two songs were songs she learned while there and she asked that they sing them at the concert. They were beautiful. The solos and duet were wonderfully done and the band was at its finest. Mrs. Meier never chooses easy songs for these kids and they always pull through. I still have “I caught a little baby bumblebee” running through my head from Travelin’ Music. Amazing Grace was absolutely beautiful and Disney at the Movies was so fun. You can never go wrong with classic Disney songs!
It was Senior Night and the seniors all were looking good and enjoying the night. I’m going to miss these kids – and I’m going to miss the sound of Eric playing the baritone. Of all the things my kids have been involved in throughout the years, music/band is one of my favorites.
I looked out the window around 8:00 last night and saw this beautiful sky. I braved the cold and wind to run out and snap a picture and it was gone by the time I got back in the house. It’s the simple things that bring joy.
We had another cold, wet, windy day today. A perfect day to stay inside and paint. I managed to get the living room all painted. It took all day and went a lot slower than the dining room. Of course having a six year old in the house today didn’t help! Now I need to get the living room put back together. I ran out of time for that. I’d like to keep on painting but I think I’d better spend tomorrow making sure I have everything ready for graduation and make my grocery list. Then maybe Wednesday I can get back to it.
This is a before picture of the living room. I’m keeping the border. I know wallpaper is out of style but I like this border and I’m not ready to take it down yet. I obviously don’t decorate according to what is in style anyway – nothing in this picture was bought in a big box store or a mall! The pictures were stitched by me and most everything else came from a thrift store, flea market, antique store or online.
And the after picture. I’m really liking it. It’s actually much darker than the picture shows. It makes the room feel cozy and warm. The rest of the walls are a shade called Heartland. A medium shade of tan maybe? Not sure how to describe it but not much different than before. Which made it a little difficult to paint – it was hard sometimes to see where I’d been and where I was going. It’s the same shade as the dining room to tie things together. Funny how a fresh coat of paint makes everything look and feel better – even if it’s there’s not much change in color.
The weather has been miserable here. I’ve even turned the furnace back on. I don’t ever remember running the furnace in April and especially not in May. The poor chickens have been cooped up since Thursday. Joe opened their door up for them yesterday and they refused to go outside. Drew tries to go out but comes right back in. It is cold, windy, muddy, miserable out there. On the bright side – it looks like after today things might be turning around. Warmer and sunshine – yeah! I will definitely appreciate it when it comes! The sun is even trying to shine right now – yeah!
Last Thursday I painted. And painted and painted and painted. I almost got the dining room done. I decided I like the color so much, I’m going to paint the living room, hallway, our bedroom, the kitchen and maybe even the bathroom in the same color. It will take me awhile to get it all accomplished, especially with graduation coming and hopefully with the weather turning for the better here I’ll need to be working outside. But I will get it done. These walls haven’t been touched for years and it’s definitely time.
Friday I subbed at the elementary school. That was an experience. I worked with a very challenging boy for sure. I was in an old friend’s classroom, someone I hadn’t seen in a long time and we had a nice visit. All in all it was an enjoyable yet very tiring day. We should all appreciate the associates out there who dedicated their time working with special needs kids. It is an extremely rewarding job yet one of the hardest jobs I can ever imagine.
Saturday was spent finishing up painting the dining room and getting the room put back in order. Then off to Jeremy and Abby’s in the afternoon. They invited us over for supper so we went a little early to have time to play with Braxton. He was mad at us when we got there because we took so long! It’s fun to watch him and Drew – they play together so well.
On Sunday we ended up running to Ottumwa to Menards. Joe needed more boards to finish his lean to and Drew needed a package of toys to put in a piñata at school. We picked up a few groceries too while we were there but since it wasn’t a planned trip I didn’t get everything I needed. I’ll have to sit down this week and figure out what I need for graduation food wise. It’s hard to believe it’s only two weeks away.
