Weekend Warriors

On this weekend's agenda was a pool party in honor of our friend, Annie's fifth birthday, a trip to the local fair and a birthday dinner for Poppy. The sun was hot {finally}, the water was cool and the fun was, well, non-stop. Our no-nap Saturday began with a walk to our favorite bagel shop and a stop by our local farmer's market before spending the majority of the afternoon at the pool party. The day ended with the three of us passed out together in our bed by 7:30pm {a special treat since G was out of town at my brother's bachelor party weekend}. Poppy's birthday celebration on Sunday followed our morning of carnival rides, a visit to the petting zoo, and hot dogs and lemonade at the fair. The evening party was pool-side and Grammy made sure the celebration was sweet with our favorite cupcakes from Lakeside Farms.

The pattern for Annie's handmade doll came from here.

Home{work}

Considering it's only July, and both of our children are under five, you'd think that homework would be the furthest thing from my mind. But, JB starts kindergarten in September. Typical of my relationship with homework, I feel completely unprepared and have to admit that the whole thing kind of snuck up on me {denial}. And now we have to make a decision that will irrevocably determine the path of the rest of his life {Ok, maybe I'm being dramatic, but that's what it feels like} and pick a school. I have to ask, am I really qualified to make this decision?

Articles like this one are not helping the matter. Homework in kindergarten? Really? At least the author knew to even ask the question!

The truth is that we chose a school in June. I was confident when we made the decision, but I still find myself checking out other options almost daily {Oh, that one has a better lunch program - free range turkey sandwiches with whole grain organic bread?! Wait, what about this one that is closer to home? And this one doesn't require endless hours of parental volunteer work... that would be nice, considering I work full time.}.

Wow. That's a scary glimpse into my clearly misguided priorities. Food. Location. Less work. I told you I wasn't qualified to make this decision.

Last week, we got a letter in the mail from JB's new teacher. It included an introduction, schedules for orientation, a school supply list and...... homework. Due August 1st. Before school even starts {which, incidentally, isn't making it into the mail until today}. All of this has me wishing that I could be home more and work less {or not at all}. Then it would matter less where he went because he'd still be spending most of the day with me. And homework would definitely not be on the agenda.

Strawberry Fields Forever?

This June we decided to take the long-cut and pick-our-own Strawberries...
and braved the hot sun, admired the apple orchards {and looked forward to returning in the fall}, picked berries from an endless field, marveled at the taste, texture and juiciness of the fresh fruit, made new friends, learned about our new favorite local farm and returned home thirsty, but with full bellies.
The following day we filled our cellar shelves with jam and had enough fruit left over to make Mr. Smith a somewhat runny, but still pretty darn good, strawberry-rhubarb pie {note to self: next time account for the extra-juicy fruit}.

Fearless

I remember when I wouldn't think twice about climbing the tallest tree I could find and cartwheels came easily without fear of injury. In fact, it wasn't that long ago that I was simutaneously learning to sail solo and fly a twin prop {with serious intentions to get certified to scuba dive and learn to skydive}. Between meetings, commuting, cleaning, teaching, cooking and a million other things, I sometimes find myself wondering where that person went.

Yesterday at the park JB quickly made his way to the top of one of those metal dome climbers while his sister cheered him on. He didn't even blink until he was almost 12 feet in the sky with his feet dangling towards earth. With a hint of fear in his voice he asked me to stand under him so that he could hang down and jump into my arms.

As soon as I put him safely on solid ground he said, "Mom! That was so scary! BUT, SO COOL!".

Thank you, JB, for reminding me to be fearless.