Memorial Day Weekend

Taking a day off

Lake time with extended family; kayaking with my man and feeling a little sea-sick with all the wake from the heavy boater traffic

Celebrating with family members who have reached milestone goals

 

Della jumps in the boat first chance she gets; she has taken to water sports

Another attempt at a Saturday morning breakfast date- enjoyed trying something new, but wouldn't repeat the venue

An attempted stroll in Riverfront Park- surprised that the bridges were still out from the October flooding...It was, therefore, a short walk.

Strolling through City Market instead- running into friends who are venders; noticing entrepreneurial young violin players busk the corners, lots of dog-walkers and people carrying boxes of vegetables

Praying together as a class

 

Forced family fitness at the Y and turning deaf ears to grumbling and complaining;

Regular complaints about having no (junky) food in the house. Adding gratitude to the list of family expectations and core values

Trying out the "resolve your differences in a tight space" technique mentioned in the latest book I'm reading. Jury is still out on that one. I think if your kids are extra stubborn, tight spaces just aren't that helpful in working through problems. Back to the drawing board.

Guys have a guys night in Charlotte, girls catch Alice Through the Looking Glass in theaters.

 

Fourth Week in May

I continue in the fourth "week of May" title series as my creative writing juices are drowned out by someone asking me for ideas on her homework. Are we done yet?

Lovely Laurel plays her violin at St Martin's-in-the-Fields. Great acoustics.

Hydrangea envy. Can't get ours to do anything. Must check into this one day when we are not going to daily activities. I realize that I focus on my lack of healthy hydrangeas when I am overwhelmed with bigger things...little details

Della loves to play... and chew up balls....Her storm-drain phobia persists

Loving the unusual spring temperatures. These geraniums will be toast later in the season,

but I love them so now!

My latest audiobook on the carpool trail: Have a New Teenager by Friday- From mouthy and moody to respectful and responsible in five days

Soul Sisters jump on the Bitmoji band wagon as we send up prayer alerts and share parenting griefs, joy, and wisdom; walks and talks are another form of therapy/sisterhood bonding

Celebrating with my sweet friend, Gennie, and all the work that God has done in Ivan's life.

Chorus and recorder end-of-year-celebration

Natalia goes on training runs

Final football games with a strong showing. Bummed that they are out of the play-offs, but the game night / recital night conflict has been eliminated too.

 

Saying goodbye to a loved orchestra teacher. Kind words of affirmation from several of the kids' teachers. The decision of whether or not to audition for keyboards.

 

Which one is the crazy mad man?

Registering for online summer P.E./ health, camp paperwork and sports forms

End-of-school-year Color Run fundraiser...an opportunity to learn lessons in laundering

Lit magazine is published and distributed

Will learned how to help cook chicken Parmesan for dinner. I want them to be able to manage something beyond pizza and cereal when they leave the nest.

Family trying the visual plate method of half our your plate being fruits and veggies, and the other half protein and carbs. One meal at a time. Baby steps. Baby steps. Baby steps interspersed with pizza night. Can we make cookies?

We draw up a list of family responsibility expectations. Trying to get the things we repeatedly say in writing to see if clear expectations will make any difference in the house-keeping that doesn't get kept. Family forum at the round table.

This one wants to play a round of Pretty, Pretty, Princess just when I thought games of chance were through. I didn't mind, though, when her comments earlier in the evening were about wanting to concert surf

Side-by-side in a techie world

Mom got an "all clear" report from MDA!

 

 

Third Week in May

 

First orchestra concert - tuning my ears to hear the cello parts this time

Thankful for family who make the trek to concert halls for recitals and performances.

End of course exams - all that wailing and gnashing of teeth ended up with a score of 100- bless

Field trip to the Whitewater center in Charlotte - N

Movie trailer book report procrastion and the grace of God appearing in a district-wide internet failure - unnamed child learns how difficult it can be to include special effects

Run hard team party- W; plans and requests flooding in for other parties; planning ahead for girls night outs, end-of-the-school- year/ eighth grade "graduation" things, birthday celebrations, memorials, anniversaries, neighborhood babies soon to arrive; feeling glued to my paper calendar but still not feeling comfy with my digital one

Picking up gifts and cards here and there for the many spring celebrations; Ordering random stuff from Amazon- Fathers' Day, showers, sleepover birthday parties, HS graduations, appreciations; carting kids to such celebrations

 

More music lessons and the logistics dance of finding summer times that suit both instructors and pupils

"Secretly" glad when football was rained out and the kids could run around in unorganized exercise in the soggy yard with Della; not-so-glad when the company picnic and NASCAR behind-the-scenes day got cancelled; happy again when the sun came back out

Various kids' embarrassment at the end-of-the-year health and hygiene units; hormones and attitudes testifying to the need for said unit; confiscated privileges and intentional parenting trying to balance grace and discipline; trying not to dig my nails into my palms or grit my teeth in exasperation

Running into moms and teacher friends at the library- everyone feeling the same "Let's end this already" emotion surrounding the school year.

Kids' doctor's appointments to clear up a sinus infection and have sports physical paperwork signed for next year

A newly-inspired runner-girl timing herself each run; sticking with Zumba for my calorie-burn and feeling rather forties; happy that yoga pants are a thing (they shouldn't be for many people, but at least I'm not too far out of the fashion curve when I dart in the grocery after the gym!)

Trying out another vegan recipe with grain-sweetened chocolate chips. Not feeling the $8 a bag health difference yet. Wrestling with the various philosophies- heathly does not equal low-cal, and trying to work around nut-sensitivities and my aversion to wrinkly foods like raisins and dates; passing them off to our die-hard vegan friend and wondering if that is a bad gift - to give something away that no one in your family will eat!

Thumbing through the school yearbook and finalizing family photobooks; fretting over groupon fine print and expiration dates

 

Having my rings repaired and delighting in how sparkly they are without the seventeen years of grime

 

Watching TED talks and reading books on grace, perfectionism, and failure management- getting excited about speaking with high school girls later this summer

Trying for a last-minute get-away, but being content with a stay-cation- no lessons on the books this Saturday! Brunch at DiPrato's and an evening stroll (not ten-mile run) with my fitness-inspired man

Choosing not to run to the sub-call rescue, but to stay in one morning and listen to the torrential rain fall through the chimney; practicing sabbath rest when the rest of this season screams at me to get up and take care of things

Helping host a little for a friend's bridal shower, hoping I ordered the right number of petit-fours

A little lake-time for some of us. A little closet-cleaning and Chinese take-out for others. Smiling that our fortune cookies actually made sense: (1) If you aspire to something great, start with something small, and (2) Failures are opportunities in disguise.

Saying goodbye to one of our military families with a picnic in the park. Our Sunday School will miss them.

Finding humor in Scripture "But the disciples forgot to pack a lunch..." (Mark 8:14) - Jesus understands my mama-struggles down to the last detail, chasing after my kids with peanut butter toast in hand or shoving leftovers into their backpacks as they fly out the door.

A jolt of happiness when a new apropos Bitmoji shows up in my app

Taking a moment to sniff the fresh scent of little bottles of hotel lotion

A resolve to no longer feed Della table treats after an explosive bout of digestive issues sealed the debate

Reading aloud to my man at the end of the day instead of searching for a show

Praying for my friend who went to see her dad at MDAnderson and wishing my mom well as she travels back for her six month check-up.

 

Second week in May

 

Mary Jayne's architectural project...much nicer than anything I ever made in fourth grade

Will made it to regionals for the Run Hard team - much faster than I'll ever run

Post AP exam dinner out with the girls

MJ as a hamster

Bookman Blast with school friends

She chose to sing and did a great job!

Sixth grade dissecting sea critters, tour of historical Savannah, and a dinner dance cruise

Conquering fears

Della's first trip to the lake- happy sun dog!

 

May has begun

Will ran his first Run Hard 5k in 23:35 minutes. He's the speediest Davis. We love that he's found his stride.

As the events begin to roll in, my Biblestudy girls and I have prayed for a spirit of perseverance and joy in the May parenthood race, and not to fall into the sheer grit and determination of just not fainting. As I spend five hours a day in the car, may I feel gratitude on days when the air is working.

Laurel received a superior rating in her solo violin competition. I love this look of joy after moments of trepidation.

Birthday party sleepovers nestled between piano lessons and AP exam review sessions

My bibliophile wrestles with the self-control of not reading her brand new book when she needs to be studying. She generously gives me a library card to her private (not for sharing) library.

 

 

Lovely flowers from my family, and a chance to love our moms as well.

"A little mouse" nibbles all the caramel icing off my cake in the middle of the night

Natalia whipped up some petit vanilla scones à la Starbucks and a lemon poppyseed bread for tea time.

Guy tee time

 

 

Andy and Will headed to the golf tournament and Carowinds father-son-bonding day.

Andy and Brennan ventured out for Five Guys and Captain America.

One week down...I mean enjoyed!