Simple

I never, ever tire of simple days spent at home with my family.  Today we logged another cool, gray, and rainy spring day.  So we stayed inside.

At bedtime yesterday, Bee was quite upset that he hadn't done all the fun things he hoped he would during the day.  So when he woke up today, he made what he called a schedule.

His list looked like this:

-Read sister a book
-Play a computer game with dad
-Play mancala with mama
-Watch tv
- Take a shower
-Play with the guinea pigs
-Legos

His sister thought this list-making was a great idea, so she had me write one for her.  Here is what she  told me to put on it:

-Read books in the bed
-Play in the bed
-Playdough
-Watch Rapunzel
-Read more books with mama
-Lay in the bed with daddy

We did all of those things, and also more things, or course.

My guy went and got groceries and we put them away together and kissed in the kitchen.  I made some no-bake cookies, and while the kids and I were patiently waiting for them to harden, my guy ate two of them with a spoon.  I did the thing where I cleaned the kitchen, then used it and made it a mess, so I cleaned it again, and messed it again, and so on.

Really, it was my kind of peaceful hermit day.  I never even put on a bra, but I did put on mascara.  I guess if I made a "schedule" that is what it would say.  Read books to my girl, play a game with my boy, kiss my man,  bake cookies, read a book, put on mascara, and don't wear a bra.

Perfect.



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Piano Feet

The time my guy spends with our kids is so precious.  The other day, he and our daughter played the piano after dinner.

She's so tiny next to him!

His big hands, her tiny hands!  Squee!

Things got a little silly, as they always do when he's involved.  

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Pictures Don't Tell All the Words

Last week was a very rough week for my family.  My son is going through some struggles, and we've  spent a lot of time at home just trying to make it through.  I love him so much, and it's hard not being able to help, or fix things.  I had the idea that maybe getting out of town and doing something really fun would be just the ticket.  Maybe it would reset things, give us all a breather.

We went the the Children's Museum in Indianapolis.

Here are some pictures from that day, last Thursday.

Looks fun, right?  Uh, no.  It wasn't fun.  The pictures do not accurately represent the day.  When I snapped each picture, that particular moment was fine.  Good even.  But those moments only lasted for a minute, tops.  It just wasn't the right time to go there.  It was a good idea, I think, but it didn't have the effect I hoped for.  After barely hanging on through the day, I brought us home where I could cry and my son could go to his room for some peace, and my daughter could have some space to play happily.

When I told my mom about this day, she gave me the gift of a break.  She and Papaw came down to our house on Saturday and took my kids to a hotel in town.  They swam, went to a movie, bought toys at a store, went out to dinner, went to Wonderlab, and so on.  She went all out, and kept them for 26 hours. 

My husband and I wrung every bit of peace and relaxation out of those 26 hours.  We went to the movies too.  Took naps, ate food, spent time together.  It was perfect.  Just what I needed.

My mom came back exhausted, and we were ready to take over, fully recharged.

So no, the pictures do not tell the whole story.  But they do show something to me when I see them.  I see my persistence, my willingness to make myself vulnerable for my children.  I see the way I do not give up.  I see children who I love, doing their very best.  I see my life.


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Hope and Life

March is such a hopeful month for me.  It will contain at least one day when the weather will be nice enough to go to the zoo.  There will probably be one more snow, but I just know that we will have a sunny 60 degree day too.  I will wear flipflops at some point this month, and if that's not hope, I don't know what is.

Our wedding anniversary is in March.  That's uncommon, I think.  But I like March because those first amazing days of spring feel so renewing and joyful. 

We had rather a rough winter, figuring out how to best help our son with his various challenges, illnesses, gray weather.  Just like everyone else, I am more than ready for spring. 

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The Friday Zone

Our city is home to Indiana's local PBS station.  Or one of them.  I'm not really going to do the research, but what I mean is that there is a tv station here where they film several shows that are aired on our PBS station.  Not public access, that's filmed at our library.  This is on PBS and it's pretty neat. 

My son received an invitation (through our homeschool group) to be on one of the children's shows, called The Friday Zone.  He dithered for a while, then decided he wanted to do it.  He said, "Sure, I'll be on tv." 

The taping was this past Wednesday.  That morning, he changed his mind.  He said he felt sick to his stomach and he was sure he didn't want to do it.  I told him that was fine, but that it could be anxiety and I thought he could work through it.  I had him close his eyes and talked him through what would happen.  He realized that if he didn't do it, this spring he'd be watching his friends on tv without him.  So he pulled himself off the couch, put his shoes on, and went to be on tv.

He taped segments for two episodes.  The studio was really neat, and I snapped a few pictures.  They are really terrible pictures, because the lighting everywhere except the set was really low, and I felt like I was in the way so I didn't want to get close.  Once while they weren't taping, I stepped in front of the cameras to get a shot, and another camera came rolling up behind me and I had to scoot out of the way quickly and almost tripped on a cord and I hated that 2 seconds of my life.

Anyway.

Here are some pictures!  We were there for 3 hours.  I felt like I took 327 pictures, but when I came home it was only 23 and most of them were blurry. 

We arrived at Studio 6.

My kiddos on set.

They actually put stage make-up on him!

Here's a shot with the cameras and lights on the ceiling.  And my silly girl too.

This is during taping.  He's on the end of the couch.

I felt pretty proud when he spoke up and asked if he could touch that giant toad.

This was before they started the second segment.  I didn't have a good view during it.

 I think it was great and we all learned a lot.  I was proud of him for not letting his anxiety keep him from having this experience.  I was also proud of my girl for sitting with me quietly for 3 hours!  When we arrived, they offered to let her be on the show too, but she said she wanted to stay sitting by her mama.   I am excited to watch the episodes later in the spring!





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Scorpeen

During school today, I asked my nine year old to write a story.  I told him it could be about anything he wanted, and as long or short as he liked.  He despises handwriting, so I expected it to be three sentences or so.  He has never really liked this kind of exercise.  Often, I ask him to tell me a story while I sit at the computer and type it.  He watches me type each word to verify that I'm doing it exactly as he says.  Those stories are often long, involved, and nonfictional.  He likes doing that, but when it comes to writing it down himself, he resists.  

Anyway, today he was gleeful with the idea.  He sat down and told me not to watch.  Every now and then he would erupt in laughter.  I loved watching him enjoy his writing. 

Here is what he wrote.  The spelling and punctuation is all his.

     There was a boy named Kaster.  He saw a scorpeen, AAAAAH!  It crawled into his mom's cup.  He grabed a club.  He swung the club.  Boom!  He looked down.  AAAAAHHH!  The scorpeen was gon.  The cup was smashed.      

Kaster!

the end

I think that's pretty great.  I love how he didn't feel the need to explain the ending.  He asked me if I would believe him about the scorpion, if this happened in our house.  I told him no, because it's the truth, though I definitely wish I were the type who would believe it. 


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Discoveries

Recently I've discovered two things!  Things that have brought me much joy, so I'm going to share them here.

1.  The Weepies.  Do you know about The Weepies?  They are an awesome singer/songwriter, husband/wife, folksy musical duo.  Songs you should definitely check out:  Gotta Have You and I Was Made For Sunny Days. 

2.  Diana Gabaldon.  She is an author.  You must read her Outlander series.  You must!  The first book, Outlander, grabbed me and sucked me in so hard.  It is over 800 pages long, and I read it in 5 days.  I'm partway through the third book, and it is so good I feel like I can recommend the whole soon-to-be 8 book series even though I haven't read them all yet. 



Today the kids and I are going ice skating with my cousin.  I'm not really sure how I'm going to manage holding hands with two kids and also keep myself from falling, but we'll give it a try. 



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