This and That

Lucy sang with a few other girls from the Northwest Girlchoir at the Seattle Homeschool Talent Show last week. She is third from the right in the fancy dress. Check it out!

Lucy just got back from an overnight with Grandma. Jasper took that time to get in touch with his inner (and outer) boyishness, riding his trike madly around Paramount Park in the morning, riding his bike madly around Paramount Park in the evening, with lots of "Momma throw me the ball" requests in between as he (rather skillfully) wielded one of Rob's badminton rackets. The sibs had a joyful reunion tonight, but each seemed to appreciate getting some extended space away from each other. I took the opportunity to deep clean Lucy's room. We all needed that to happen...

My goal is to get the whole house straightened and clean by the beginning of summer: it could happen...

Happiness is....

springtime...

Catching My Breath

Between all the end-of-school-year stuff and the stunning weather which has us on extended outdoorsy outings, we have been busy beavers around here. Today, the kids and I welcomed the chance to be at home all day and catch up a bit with the projects we'd been neglecting (for Lucy and Jasper "projects" actually refers to a fairly extensive series of things they play together that I'd be challenged to succinctly describe and for me "projects" mostly consist of making food and cleaning the kitchen). An enormous and constantly growing pile of laundry still awaits, but otherwise I am feeling a bit more grounded right now than I have in a while. You'd think since Lucy and Jasper don't actually go to school that the end of the school year timing would be irrelevant, but not so... Lucy's (too) many activities also tend to revolve around the traditional school year, so many of them have just finished or are finishing in the next week or two. She's performed in two concerts, one puppet show, had several potluck parties and last classes in the past week or two -- fun yet exhausting for all of us (maybe Jasper and me the most...).
Here are a few pictures from last weekend (before we have a new batch from this weekend - unfortunately, our weekdays generally remain undocumented since I rarely remember to take pictures...).
Love the pic of Jasper at a trendy Seattle coffee shop...

Lucy with concert doo and duds...

Jasper pleased at having his picture taken while waiting for his scoop at Molly Moon's Ice Cream.

Lucy's first dip into Green Lake this year. Love the beach (well lawn, not really beach) at the bathhouse, except for the buckets of goose poop... Yikes! Watch your step...

And a sweet picnic with friends afterwards...

It's all good, folks (and apparently laundry-producing...).

A Movie Review

We ended what must be one of the most lovely, warm, restful, fun, earthy Memorial Day weekends we've ever had watching a soul-wrenching French movie called I've Loved You So Long. If you want to be haunted by a suspenseful, curious and horrifying tale, if you want to have tears streaming down your face for at least 1/2 hour as you watch an amazing acting performance, if you want motivation to lay next to your sleeping child with your hand on their belly and your nose in their hair, so grateful for their breath and life, check it out.

Something for Everyone

Rob had a big ol' smile on his face for most of the weekend. It was a perfectly beautiful weekend and he got to spend a healthy chunk of it looking busy in the garden and the greenhouse, usually with at least one little helper nearby... Good times for the big guy. I got in on the fun when I got to use the power drill to help him put together a new compost tumbler... Now that I've had a shot with the drill, I may start taking on more household fix-it projects...


We did still manage to sneak in a visit to St. Edward Park late Saturday afternoon for a hike, a picnic and a dip in cold Lake Washington (for the kids anyway). It was so fun, we are thinking of starting a Saturday night at St Edward's Park club. Wanna join us?? We were home by 7:30, kids asleep by 8:30, with plenty of time to watch the incredible movie, Slumdog Millionaire.

And for Lucy and Jasper, it just don't get no gooder than making a cozy nest together in the bathtub...

Sunday brought a sweet trip to the park to meet up with Tessa and Jen. After riding bikes a while, playing at the playground and having snacks under a tree, Lucy and Tessa escaped the grown-ups and Jasper and perched on a branch about halfway up the climbing tree, singing songs and telling stories to each other. Later, Rob and kids joined the masses at Carkeek Park so I could host some homeschooling mamas here. It was all very lovely - the only hard part was Monday morning when Rob had to leave us... But the kids and I bucked up, getting to Lucy's art class on time (10:30 am is a bit early for us!) and then spending a marathon four hours playing outside with friends at our own "secret garden" down the street.

The Truth About the Tooth Fairy

From the back of the van the other day, Lucy finally cut to the chase: "Mom, are you the tooth fairy?" Looking at Jasper through the rearview mirror, I asked Lucy if we could talk about it later. She agreed. So, that night, after J. had gone to bed, I brought it up. "Lucy, do you want to talk about the tooth fairy?" She did but she rephrased her question to: "Mom, did you give me the tooth gift?" Yes, Lucy, I did. Lucy eyes well up with tears and sobbing "Please don't do that Mom, because then the tooth fairy doesn't have a chance to come. I thought you had come because the tooth fairy didn't bring me my secret wish: make-up. But she doesn't come to me because you've already brought me a present. So don't do that." Me, baffled and unsure and sad: "Parents are the tooth fairies, Lucy." Lucy, drying her eyes, says, "Oh, I thought that you probably were. I really love the drawing pencils you gave me, but I do wish I had some make-up, especially" and here she pauses to brush on pretend eye shadow. Then, not looking at me, she adds: "Well, at least I know that Santa is real." I love that girl...

Moments Like These

First I want to mention that Rob has started his own blog. To get a Rob fix, check out Of Cabbages and Kids. I'm charmed but I suppose that isn't surprising... I will leave the gardening talk to him, since it is his love, his baby and hours and hours of his work. But back to the moments. We've caught a few sweet ones. The first couple of pictures are candids Rob took of the Careys visiting our house. We hang out with them as much as we can because we love them. Can you guess what common interest Rob and Matt share???

The kids were having a seriously fun swing...

Jasper is up and running on the bike Lucy's former bike with the training wheels back on. The pinker the better...