I grew up with a ton of cousins….15 to be exact. Our family owned a local business so most of us grew up in the same town. We spent holidays together, had a birthday for someone at least once a month and we all had a blast. I was the oldest and the youngest was born when I was 25. To this day I still talk with nearly all of them and those that are closest to me in age still try to get together if we are all in town. They are some of my closest friends. One is even coming down to visit this week!
The boys and Adelaide in Hawaii
When offered some downtime on Sunday afternoon of a terribly busy weekend, eight-year-old Connie chose to play in her room. As her mother, I knew this was the way my little introvert recharges her batteries. She didn’t need her parents, she didn’t need a nap, she just need some quiet and to be in her own head.
Lately on Facebook, I have seen a few lists related to Introverts like “How to Treat an Introvert,” or more recently, “10 Myths about Introverts.” They deal with misconceptions that introverts are shy, weird, or antisocial and encourage those who love them to respect their space, allow them time to adjust to various situations …
Our plans for this summer have been up in the air for some time now. My husband has an unusual Marine Corps story and has for the past 3 years. He has been a reservist but on active duty that entire time. His latest stint has had him in Kansas since last July at Command and Staff. He is due to graduate in June and we have been unsure about our plans after that. That uncertainty ended this past week.
The boys and I will be here in Jacksonville for one more school year. My husband may or may not be here with us, but at this point…..we have made the decision to stay …
Is there anyone else out there whose child asks them to check his/her spelling homework and who may have a hard time doing it? Not like a real hard time, but more than his or her fair share of having to google certain words to confirm speallings. Three of my most recent word searches – ahem, I mean word troubles – have included the following: tomorrow, commitment and banana.
Gosh knows I’ve spelled these words a hundred times, but recently – maybe it’s age, maybe it’s eyesight – I can’t seem to spell anything right.
The other night my exchange with Olivia over spelling homework went a little like this:
“Liv, I think you …
It is that time of year again. Time for moms to have praise and thanks heaped upon them by those they love. While I know I am loved every day, it is nice to have a day when it is vocalized. I also like that I can play my “mothers day card” for 24 hours straight. If the boys start to bicker or act up in any way all I have to say is “just for this one day..Mothers Day…can you please hold it together?” It gets them every time and we are back to peace and quiet :)
Since the boys have been pre school age and old enough to make a gift …
I saw Olivia do something the other day that I wasn’t prepared to see her do. We were at her gymnastics spring show, and she was all prepared to do a cart wheel with no hands. She went to propel her tiny body in the air and she … and she … didn’t make it. She floundered and landed on the mat. And it looked like it hurt. I was shocked. I’ve never seen her not master something athletic. To her credit, she got right back up, laughed and took direction from the coach on how she could do it better and more effectively.
I turned to my wife for feedback …
Like most of my friends, I would like to lose 10 pounds or so. I don’t think I need a total overhaul but shedding a little would do my body good. I try to stay active and I try to eat right but as I close in on 40, I have learned to accept my flaws. I have two kids, work multiple jobs and have a husband who is rarely home. I have learned to cut myself some slack and be pretty happy with what I am working with.
The last few weeks have been stressful here at our house. Work related issues and the usual day to day have taken a slight toll …
On Mother’s Day my 8-year-old Connie treated me to a puppet show. The puppets were paper finger puppets made by her and the show was a day-in-the-life of our family.
I must admit that when the show began, I cringed a little at the thought of my parents watching along. Certain that my puppet would be shown yelling, sleeping in or something else unflattering, I was tickled when the scapegoat of the family turned out to be her big sister.
Even Maggie got a reasonable treatment, merely being portrayed as sluggish in the morning and unenthusiastic about school. Connie’s puppet was a perfect child of course, and the parent puppets were unified …
I cannot believe Jake and Sam will be done with school in 6 weeks! Just yesterday we were at open house for 3rd and 4th grade. Now I will have a 4th and 5th grader in my house. Before they get to move on up to that next level in school, we need to get through yet another summer full of travel, camps and visiting family. Looking at my calender…we are already well on our way to a very full June, July and August.
I have no idea where the time goes. The school year flew by and we already have something on the books nearly every week of break. Granted, the things we …
Olivia celebrated 10 years on Friday with a pajama party with five of her best friends – needless to say, hosting this event in a 100-year-old house had its challenges. Limited space and old creaky floors made for a long night with all the running around. I will say, however, the theme of history was not a bad thing at this event. In fact, we kind of perpetuated it by taking the girls strawberry picking at a nearby farm.
In this time where every kid seems heads down in a smart phone or iPad, it was a pleasant sight to see the girls bouncing around the strawberry fields against the backdrop of sunny …
