Life Lately

Yes, I did in fact fall off the face of the earth in May. At least that is what it feels like! It's all good and more on that later...for now, a photo dump of our last few weeks. 

Lila flying at the park. She thought it was very cool that I caught her in mid-air and kept asking to see the picture. 

Lila's class had a special visitor, Dr. Ken from Mad Science, come to her classroom to do some experiments with them. Their class setup a lab this year and did many science units so the kids were so excited to see a real live scientist! Even though Lila technically lives with one. Ha!

I think this was when he was going to do something with expired milk. She didn't think that was too fancy.

Here we are again, waiting for Nate to get out of swim team. Playing finger puppets at the Bread Co.

That same day, Nate mowed the yard for the first time! He did a great job with the sections Scott let him mow and is excited to get paid to do it this summer! I will happily pay him as I don't want to do it and it gets a little high when Scott is on for 7 days.

Can I get an Amen?!? This is totally me. 

Lila's school had a Farmer's Market and she made this stepping stone. Which of course we had to purchase.

Nate and I have had occasion to be in the car with both of the cats lately. It's some fun times. More on that later...

Lila's last day of swim lessons before swim team starts so we celebrated with her choice for lunch. McDonald's. Ick. But she loved it and that's what matters. Her swimming is quite impressive and we are so proud of her. She's a natural and I can't wait to see her racing this summer!

I got the kids Converse tennis shoes a few weeks ago. They are SO cute and are winners to them.

Nate had his awards ceremony last week. He has had a GREAT year and we are so very proud of him. Overall, he has such a fantastic attitude toward going to school and we are so thankful for his work ethic in doing his best.

School is out and now we have a 5th grader and a Kindergartner. Crazy!! 

Mimi & Paka came to visit last weekend and these crazy people did a triathlon. Which is really just another reason to make me worry. They both did well and we are so proud of them for all the hours they put in training for the event. Now please, no more! Somehow I don't think I'm going to get my wish. 

Swim, Bike, Run! 

Bring on Summer!

Rainy Daze

Saturday was a rainy day for us, and it was one of those days that I just didn't have the energy to take the kids to an indoor attraction that was going to be crawling with people. So we hung out at home during the morning. The kids played well in their rooms and I continued my quest to rid our house of unnecessary paper. Why I kept the things I kept I'll never know! 

I decided to take the kids to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, just to get out of the house. It's always a winner. Nate decided last week that he wanted to get his hair cut shorter so that he would be able to style it with hair product. Wasn't he 3 years old just last week?!?! 

I had Scott take him because I've always wanted him to wear his hair a little longer, so I knew I would be sad. I have to say I really like it. But y'all, I am not ready for the pre-teen grooming rituals to begin. The higher the flip in front, the better. Ha! Reminds me of the junior high boys when I was that age. 

I am happy to say that Lila is still very much interested in her Baby Alive she got for Christmas. It went everywhere with us this weekend.

The rain stopped on Saturday afternoon, so we went on a walk.  I've experienced some growth over the last few weeks and I've given up almost all my control of the kids clothes. I was really hanging on to that control for far too long, especially for Nate, and decided it was in all of our best interest to let it go. 

Let's just say some of the outfits and hairdos that have left this house in the last few days would make you laugh. Or cringe. Or both. 

Exhibit A: 

We of course had to take 7 babies with us on the walk. Never a dull moment!

Fifteen

Scott & I celebrated 15 years of marriage last week. 

Gosh, we really were babies back then. I'm sure of that as I processed this comment earlier today...

"Mom? You have dark circles under your eyes. Just wanted to make sure you knew." 

Nate Boyle, age 10

Cheers to many more years to come! 

Good Reads

I go in spurts with my reading. I wish I could be more disciplined about picking up a book but a book either takes me 6 months to read or 6 hours. When I get hooked, I'm hooked. 

Mary let me borrow this book and I loved it! It's by Lady Astor's personal maid. Very interesting and I learned many tidbits about this family that I did not know. I love this kind of writing, it's like you are getting to peek behind the scenes. 

This was a 6 hour book. I cannot even tell you how it grabbed me. Like I was reading on my phone while cooking dinner and stayed up way too late to finish it because I could not look away. The fact that the story is based on real life events is shocking and fascinating and just well, a little insane. I really really enjoyed this book.

If you need me, I'll be off reading everything Diane Chamberlain has ever written.

Spring has Sprung!

We think we are finally out of the danger of the weather killing flowers, so this past Saturday we finally got to work on our yard! Scott and the kids measured and planned, then got to work. 

Nate was a big help and there was talk of him taking over mowing the yard this summer. Yikes! I'm not sure I'm ready for that. 

The hostas in the picture above are massive. They seem to grow bigger every year. When we moved to this house, all of the hostas were in the back yard by the fence. We moved them up to the front beds when we took out the shrubs a few years ago and they have really taken off! I love that we were able to shop our own yard when it came to landscaping these two areas!

Spring has definitely sprung and we love it!

Spring Hike at Babler

Nate has swim team on Saturday mornings and it is at the pool that is the furthest away from our house. Lila and I have been taking him on the weekends that Scott is working and we enjoy our time at Panera while he swims. Since we were already out that way, I decided we would go on a hike at Babler State Park after practice. It is so pretty there. We had done a hike there in the fall and I knew I wanted to come back in the spring. 

Setting off on the Woodbine Trail!

It was such a pretty walk, so many flowers and trees in bloom.

My boy. Who is going to be taller than me like next week.

He was stopping to smell the flowers, doesn't get much better than that!

I thought these tall trees in a line were interesting. Lila looks so small! I wonder if they were planted there like that and for what reason?

We hiked as long as they could then went back to the trail head to play on the playground and eat our lunch. Lila wanted to sit by this tree. There is a perfectly good picnic table right next to the tree. Go figure. So Nate and I joined her for a authentic picnic on the ground.

Good times at Babler! I wish it was a little bit closer to us, but it is fun to get out there in the country and really soak up spring!

My Helper

Lila has recently taken an interest in helping me around the house. Let me just say after I got over my obsessive compulsive tendencies for everything to be perfect, it is a downright gift. She is a happy worker and I am so thankful for her helpful heart. 

When we were at Sam A. Baker a few weeks ago, Sarah grated cheese using a cheese grater. Lila was in awe. She turned to me and said, "Do WE have one of THOSE?" I told her we did, but that I rarely had a reason to use it. I remembered when I was growing up my job on Taco night was to grate the cheese. I enjoyed it. So I told her next time we had tacos, she could grate the cheese. Of course we had to do that as soon as we got home. She liked grating the cheese but quickly told me that Sarah's grater was fancier than mine. Ha! I used to grate cheese all the time years ago instead of buying the pre-grated bags. After doing it this time, I decided I wanted to start grating my own cheese again. I know it's healthier and it just tastes better. 

One day when Lila was home, I was folding laundry and she asked if she could help. Now for those of you that know me well, you know that I love me some laundry. And I'm pretty protective of it. So my kids live in one of those lucky houses where the mother has trouble giving up control of the laundry. Score for them.

I told her that I was so thankful she had asked to help, but that we would find something else for her to do. I needed to empty the dishwasher so I set her to work doing that. She emptied every dish, fork, spoon and cup. And dried the stuff that needed drying. And put it all away. If she couldn't reach the place where it went, she left it on the counter. It was blissful. Truly.

My happy helper!