things that should have gone in the blog but never did

He can simultaneously look both small and grown up. I watch him sometimes and just try to burn the image of him into my mind.

6- year old logic....Me: We need to make cards for the grandmas for Mother's Day.

6YO: No, they don't like cards anymore, because they are old. They have gotten enough cards, and they are boring now.

Rolling potstickers for dinner.

My six year old: "Sometimes, I think that other grown ups are nicer than you. But then, I realize that those people that sit in front of the TV all day are not very smart. I am really glad you take the time to be with us, and you don't let us watch TV all day."

And THAT is why I am his mom. I am thankful for my completely unbiased propaganda I feed him!

Our Greek Goddess Heara is ready for World Cultures Day! Laura L. Cameron made the dress.

"What clothes?"




These are the roses that BabyP bought me with his own money.  

My sweet boy insisted we go home to get his money before going to the grocery store. He wanted to buy his momma flowers! He said if I bought them then it would not be as special. He is so sweet that it makes me cry.

BP: "Mom, can I leave some dishes for Peanut to do?"
P: "Oh BP, you do not have to be so generous!"

BabyP knows why all the girls think he is cute.  It is because he can pick his desk up.  THAT is how you impress girls.  

Love Letter to a Seven Year Old

Dear BabyP,

My good and sweet boy.  Your sweet like the lollipop I say you look like.  You are all legs, arms, and ears.  You are wickedly funny and love to make people laugh.  You are my cuddle buddy and video game phenom.  You are my boy, and I love you dearly.  

This year we have struggled.  You have continued to come out of your shell, and in doing so, you have learned that you love making people laugh and will do most anything for a giggle.  Class is not a great place to make people laugh, and we both had to learn that.  There were a number of yellows and even a red, but we worked hard and we were able to work through it.  I think it was the first time I really saw you be responsible for your actions on a big scale.  It was the first time you really solved the problem.  

You do really well in school.  You are on the top tier for spelling, and your reading has improved dramatically over the year.  You have become more interested in books, but it is still a struggle to get you to read to me.  Thankfully, though, gone are the days where you sound EVERY WORD OUT.  You have most of the memorized by now.   You excel at math and science.  Parents who visit your classroom remark on how well behaved you are in class.  They also remark on how thoughtful you are in the answers you give.  You don't just blurt out an answer.  You think through the different aspects of the question.  I think that analysis will serve you well.  

You continue to love your sister.  I really like the relationship between you two.  It is part friend and part overseer.  Who the overseer is changes from time to time.  Sometimes you are taking care of her like when you think some kid at school may be bullying her.  I think what you confuse for teasing is really just boys wanting your sister's attention, but to you, it is an injustice that needs to be remedied.  Someone is messing with YOUR sister, and YOUR sister is yours to torture.  Yours alone.  

You are at a fun age of both little boy and big boy.  You know you shouldn't cry in front of your friends, so you save your tears for when you get home.  I sometimes see you and you just start crying.  It takes us a bit to work through what the issue was.  You don't want to be a baby, but you still love crawling onto my lap for a cuddle.  You shout "I'm a man" while throwing your arms around me and burying your face into my belly.  You think you have a "60 Pack chest", and that everyone is interested in it.   

You are starting to take an interest in girls, but it is in the most dude way possible.  You talk about how they love you, but in reality, I think you may have a crush or two.  There is one girl in particular that you splashed at the pool instead of talking to her.  We talked about it, and I think you did a bit better the next day.  

You are an amazing soccer player.  You understand what you need to do even if you can't necessarily do it at that point.  You are fast, and your smarts show on the field.  You listen and try to work as a team with your friend Jax. The coach and the team can rely on you to try hard and give it your all.  You fight for the ball, and you can take a hit.  I am proud of the sportsman you are, and I am looking forward to watching you grow.  

This is the first year that you have REALLY had a close friend.  Jax is someone that you picked as your friend, and someone who you share interests with.  Most of your friends to this point have been friends of convenience.  You have rarely sought out other children and have generally preferred to just hang out with me and your sister.  However, Jax and Eric, who live in our neighborhood, are your friends, and you constantly want to be with them. It is both fun and sad to see you build your own life.  It is important for you to do it, but as you do it, I realize that there are parts of you that I just will never know.  As a mom, I struggle with that.  

This year we also started camping and fishing, which you enjoy.  You joined cub scouts.  Cub scouts is not your favorite thing, but I think it is important for you to do.  As you get older, I can see you enjoying it more.  You enjoy being outside, and you enjoy riding your bike.  You are a fantastic helper, and you like helping the most when you get paid for it.  I can see you being a very smart business person or at the least taking care of me in my old age.  Especially since your sister already told me she was going to put me in a home.

I love you more than you will ever know,

Your mum.

Community sale and a 10 miler

I finally was able to organize a yard sale a few weekends back.  I think with kids, and likely even without them, we end up with so much "stuff".  I don't think I have always been as good as getting rid of things as I have always wanted to be.  The nice thing about purging is that once you do it a few times, you start to really get rid of more and more.

I am not necessarily doing it because it is trashed or I don't use things.  I think at this point, I am getting rid of things I don't feel like I use enough.  As the kids have gotten older, I feel like I more time to be more thoughtful in my purchases.  But... I digress.

We had a yard sale and I made a lot more money than I thought I would.  I got rid of a lot of stuff, and I have already started planning for the next one.

That night, Mr. T. and the kids went on a camp out, and I was ALONE.  I was glorious ALONE and by myself.  So, I did what every working mother and woman approaching 40 does on a Saturday night alone, I went out with friends for dinner and then did the grocery shopping.  GROCERY SHOPPING ALONE!

Then, when I came home, I put everything away, poured a cup of tea, and snuggled down in bed to read with the light on.  I am crazy and wild, and there is NO stopping my party!

You may be wondering what would make my forgo a night of camping in the cold rain with my family to be in a warm house by myself, well... the answer is these lovely ladies.  I ran the Parkway Classic 10 Miler, and it was by far the most fun I have ever had at a race.  

I ran faster than my out of shape self has run in a long time.  I spent a lot of time looking at the back of these women, but they would not let me stop!

We ended up spending some time in the beer tent, eating hot dogs, and having our picture taken with George Washington and Martha.  They aren't the real ones, mind you.  The real ones are at Mt. Vernon. 

Pretty much, the weekend was great.  I made money, did some shopping, and got a long run in.  SCORE!

Bring your kid to work day

I started a new job a few months back, and it seemed like everyday for about a month something AWESOME would happen.  I am realistic enough to know that not everyday over the length of my career would be that awesome, but it sure was nice to feel like that is the culture I was hired into.

Anyway, one of the awesome things that happened was "Bring your son or daughter to work day".  My organization poured a LOT of resources into this and did a bang up job on it.  I learned a lot, and since I was new, I met a lot of people.  I also was able to show off Peanut, and introduce her to my work place.  

This is Peanut in front of the corncob columns in the Capitol.  There are burn marks in the columns from when the Capitol was burned.  

Here we are at the Botanic Gardens.  They did a demonstration on planting in four by four plots.  They showed us what could be planted in there and how far apart to space the plants.  

One of the demonstrations was with the police dog that hunts for bombs.  We love dogs, and the kids went wild for this one.  

This is Bartholdi Park.  Bartholdi sculpted the statue of liberty.  Some of our senior leaders were on hand to get a picture taken with the kids.   

We were tired at the end of the day.  We were both so happy, though. BabyP is counting down the days until he is able to come up to work with me. 

Mother's Day

I love Mother's Day.  I will unabashidly admit it.  I really really like it.  I don't really have much of a birthday because it is on Christmas, but on Mother's Day, everyone is super nice to me, and they do not expect a whole lot from me.  

and I get to pick.  Picking feels good!

I like the cards that the kids make, and I like how excited they get about giving them to me.  I recieved this beauty on Friday, but BabyP was too excited to wait until Sunday.  I liked the first line where he says that I always tell them to do their homework.  OH MY GOD, I say that way way more than I really want to.

On Saturday, I decided that I was going to take the kids mountain biking while I ran.  It was close to a disaster.  I like to refer to it as having "lessons learned".  We got the bikes all tuned up, and we learned that someone should not bring her bag.  I also had the lowest pace I have ever had.  We did 18 minute miles.  

It was beautiful.  Babyp's favorite part of this park is the creek.  Urban streams gross me out.  I don't get grossed out very often by very much, but...I digress....  Babyp likes to stop and throw rocks in the creek.  I used to be able to skip rocks pretty well, but it appears I am out of practice.  I need to keep my tricks up to impress my boy!

The kids really wanted to go get pedicures, and because I am a good mother, I took them.  It was super fun, and I like that even BabyP loves it.  

Sunday morning, I was able to get have breakfast in bed.  It was great.  They brought me cards and Peanut bought me some swiss chocolate.  

My Mother's Day present was a trip to the local park for a picnic, and a bike ride with the family.  We ate roasted chicken and cherry pie next to the lake.  It was breezy and beautiful.  A perfect Mother's Day.

Easter

Easter pictures!

Camping over Spring break

Our fist camping trip of the year was a huge success!  Even in the storm, wind, and rain!  Nothing can bring the Tallpeople of the back country down!