A Memorial Day Birthday

Poor Megan. 

She simply cannot have a birthday all to herself. 

She's either sharing with the woods or the fallen soldiers. 

Mark and I snuck over to the gym to knock out Murph. It's tradition!

Megan is currently obsessed with Chipotle, so we popped out for a quick birthday lunch date

She MUST decorate her own cake! 

This one reminds me of the Van Gogh exhibit she's currently loving. 

Nothing but sweet potato tacos will do for the birthday dinner!

Look at that darling seventeen year old beauty!

And for an extra surprise, the Flynns made her cotton candy!

Happy Birthday Megan! We love you to the moon and back!

On his terms

Mathew is away at college. 

He's not a frequent caller. 

But he DOES like to send us videos of him cleaning his apartment or taking a little tour of his room while he updates us on his classes, love life or roommate drama. 

And if we're really lucky, he'll treat us to a little video chat while he gets ready for church. 

Those are my favorites. I miss my boy. 

Paddling with pups

I used to deliver Meals on Wheels before the stupid pandemic tried to ruin everything. There was one woman that I needed to call before I got to her house so she could put her dog upstairs. Her name was Rhonda and I saved her name in my phone as Meals on Wheels Rhonda. The other Rhonda I know is a super cool lady from the gym. 

 Crossfit Rhonda has a backyard pool. Crossfit Rhonda also has a big heart and fosters dogs and probably adopts too many of them. She's also seriously funny and a great workout partner. She share's my desire not to work too hard and add another injury to my growing list of broken body parts. 

Today we went over to swim, get some sunshine and play with the pups. 

She just got a teeny tiny little pup in yesterday and he still has puppy breath. 

Never fear...my heart is like stone. He's cute, but he still poops and because of that he shall never be ours. We can't all be a Crossfit Rhonda.

Summer is here and we are sleeping in

 One of the greatest things about summer as the kids get older is they finally appreciate sleep as much as we do! Its seriously fantastic. 

So after we got up when we were good and ready, we invited some friends and headed out to Moon Marble!

Anna's friend, Lincoln thought he could duck out of the picture...clearly, he doesn't know me very well...

 It turns out that they aren't doing the glass blowing demonstrations anymore (thanks, Covid) so even though we had to make an appointment to come, it was just to be able to get in the door and shop, lol. 

Luckily, friends make everything more fun and they really enjoyed playing with the games and looking at all the old fashioned toys. 

I promised them I'd buy them each a mood ring or a top or a big bouncy ball or a cap bomb....

What do all these things have in common? They are all about 3 bucks! My generosity has a ceiling.

As always happens when it's time to leave, there is at least 2 kids experiencing covetous feelings and trying to bargain for an additional souvenir or something more expensive. Can they work it off? Can they pay me back? Can they take it out of next month's allowance? 

Mommas, listen to me. Say no and say no from the beginning or you will never hear the end of it. 

It also helps to have something fun to do after you leave...like, "Time to go get slushies! Make a decision and we're outta here!"  Its all strategery. 

 Summer 2022!

Maycember vol.2

 Onward!

Laney's 8th Grade graduation! She was convinced she wouldn't need to stand or be noticed or attract any attention. If that was her goal, then she shouldn't have worked so hard or been so awesome!

We're so proud of her and all her consistent work! She made middle school look easy!

Anna's 5th grade graduation:

Holy heck! She did it! She's on the middle school next year!

She loves her gaggle of friends! 

We're so proud of her!

The class photo:

Silly String After Party:

The school cancelled the silly string event because of the rain. Apparently this particular group of moms, because they don't mess around. They will get their photo ops, by dang. 

To the park! They spread the word and before you know it, the Silly String Party was back on. 

I cannot tell you how difficult it was for me to walk away from the total destruction we left behind in that park. If I had been able to stretch our hose all the way from our house to spray this down, I would've been there the rest of the night making sure the neighbors don't think I'm a rudebutt.

Oh well. I guess if the weather can knock over a tree, it can wash away some silly string. 

And I think that's it...they school year has come to an end. Megan is going to college, Laney is going to high school, Anna is going to middle school and Everly will finish up our long and storied history with Sunnyside Elementary. We have so much to be thankful for and we are ready to sleep in!

Thrifty Sisters

 Do you think the other customers at Maj-R-Thrift are mad that we are taking up all three fitting rooms?

Without a doubt. 

Maycember. Vol 1

 It's Maycember. 

We kinda need a big felt calendar to keep track of all the awards assemblies, concerts, special occasions and farewell dinners that we will have in the next two weeks. 

Let's do this. *crack the knuckles*

Megan's final band concert:

This girl has loved band. They are her people. And it's finally time for her to walk across that floor and shake Mr. Fila's hand for the last time. 

I'm gonna miss seeing her serious expression as she furiously counts. Coming in on time when you play percussion is a big deal. 

Pops in the Park:

Laney is an 8th grader and this is the last Pops in the Park for her. She rocked the bass clarinet!

The grade-level talent-show (Everly and Anna both qualified!):

Everly sang "Barking at the Moon"

Anna sang "I Do Adore"

Honestly and objectively...they both killed it. They were selected for the whole school talent show on the last day! 

I mean, how does a mama's heart handle all this nervous pride and happiness and nervousness? How are my kids this smart and cool and brave?

Stay tuned for Volume 2!