High Score

Isaac bowled a near-perfect game!

Outdoor living

I've wanted a picnic table for years. But, either there was no money, or I couldn't find what I wanted. Well, I still couldn't find exactly what I had in mind, but I decided something was better than nothing. So a trip to IKEA and some DIY furniture later, we can finally enjoy eating on the patio. I bought some little lanterns to light up the table too.

But the best part is just hanging outside in the evening and enjoying each others' company.

Muffin tin lunch

Hazel's been in a rut lunchwise for the last little bit. So the other day, after having all the options offered to her refused, I just put all the parts of her lunch in a muffin tin, and suddenly lunch was interesting again.

Crawfish Boil

We had our annual crawfish boil a couple weekends ago. Lots of yummy fun, as always. This year we invited all our neighbors and some friends to join us. We had a great time. The weather was windy but not hot or rainy. We played some bocce, ate crawfish, corn and potates, (the less adventurous had hotdogs and hamburgers), and talked and ate some more. We had a lot of crawfish left over. (I guess we overestimated everyone's crawfish consumption.)
The kids played the live ones for hours.

Sand + water + kids = a happy mom

Most people, especially other moms, cringe when their kids ask for a sandbox. Kids inevitably add water; which leads to wet sand, wet kids, and ultimately, a wet, sandy house and lots of extra showers and laundry. But I love my kids; I love that they love to play in our sandbox (even as teenagers). I love that the sandbox allows them to be creative and it will keep them occupied for hours. I love that they cooperate with each other to create new worlds for their animals, dinosaurs, cars and trucks, and the unfortunate bug or two.

I must confess, my favorite part is hosing them off with the spinkler before they come back in. I take my little joys where I can.

How does your garden grow?

All the rain we've been receiving has made my garden really take off. The squash, zucchini and pumpkins are getting set to take over everything. I've got more radishes than I know what to do with, and the lettuces and spinach are plentiful and super tasty. (If anyone would like me to share, stop on by and pick some up - I've got more than we can eat.) Everything else is blooming and I'm so excited to try out all the produce.

When pigs fly

By now I'm sure you've all heard about the swine flu going around, right? Well, here in Texas, it's getting everyone in an uproar worrying about it. In our school district, even though there haven't been any document/reported cases, they have cancelled all publicly attended school activities. They've restricted visits to the school by anyone not a teacher, student, or staff to the office, foyer, and cafeterias. And if you do visit, you'll be required to use hand sanitizer before entering. (Needless to say, the shelves at the store are empty of any hand sanitizer.) Aspen's band competition was cancelled, as are all assemblies, award ceremonies, PTO meetings, and school carnivals.

According to someone I was talking to today, the governor has pardoned all schools that have already had to close - which means they won't have to make up the missed days.

The kids just finished their TAKS tests, so there's really no reason to hang around. I let Isaac stay home today. We woke up late and he was going to be tardy anyway. The school has already sent me hate mail for his numerous tardies (18 - oops) over the past year. (7:30 am is way too early for school to start for elementary school in my opinion.) But he's still got lots of absent days left, so I let him stay home to "recover" from two days of testing.

We're in the home stretch school-wise. I've been counting down the days since before spring break. I can't wait for everyone to be home with me. I miss them. And I hate waking up early and then doing bedtime at night. So I'm crossing my fingers that school will be over sooner, rather than later. Cross your fingers too!

So my suggestion is to just cancel school for everyone in all schools in Texas. Think they'll go for that?