field trip

Irene and I rode our bikes to meet Anna's class at the park for their field trip. It was a beautiful sunny day. There were activities galore and lots of moms came to help. We grilled hotdogs, played volleyball, shot off balloon rockets, had two pinatas, races down the dune, a sand castle competition on the beach, and lots of fun competitive games, usually the boys against the girls. This was my favorite field trip of the year! These kids have been together since kindergarten and they have a unique bond that has been fun to watch. These are their last few days together before the year ends and they prepare for a new school.

anna and izzy's dancing

This started with Anna making a claim that she can dance to anything...
Then Izzy decided to show us her moves.

sun dog

It was a gorgeous spring day on Tues. I was sitting in a chair on the front porch catching a rare quiet moment. I was looking around me, marveling at God's creativity, which is so obvious in the spring. I leaned back in my chair and my breath was taken away. Show off!!

spring planting

We had a heavy duty day of planting last weekend. I found my gardener. Dottie. I picked up a flat of petunias and she thought they would look nice around the trees at the edge of the woods. Anna and Izzy helped plant some of them the next day.

the police

sting.
rob has his binoculars.
sting.
rob did not need his binoculars.
sting.
5th row.
sting.
5th row!

mother's day 2008

I was first awakened by Caroline with kisses and a "Happy Mother's Day, Mom!"
Then, Anna served me breakfast in bed. See the love in that toast.
Izzy's turn. She came up to me as I was nibbling my toast. "Mom, where are those movies you got at the library?"
Two out of three ain't bad.

Oh, this would be a good time to share Izzy's card:
Happy Mother's Day Mom
I wish there was kid's day!
Izzy

Rob went up to get Irene in the morning. When they came down, I could hear him prompting her to wish me a Happy Mother's day. He brought her over, dumped her in my lap, and stayed to listen. She gave me a big hug and snuggled with me. Then she said, "I love you. I'm so proud of you for having me."
I'm pretty sure that wasn't in the script. But it was perfect.

saturday night margaritas

Em offered to make homemade margaritas...the fresh lime kind. This was a last minute get-together, which can sometimes be the best kind. It had the kids running around outside, the men smoking cigars on the porch, and the girls enjoying margaritas and Ceviche in the kitchen, an appetizer made by Lisa. We had fish tacos for dinner. Quite yummy! And yes, Tim, if it wasn't for you, we may have been eating ramon noodles, although, come to think of it, I didn't see you in the kitchen...

dutch dancers

the big dancersthe little dancers, including Reeny, Dot, Ava, and their friend, Claire

During Tulip Time week, we pick one night to eat junk food and watch Bonnie and Aunt Fran dance. They have been dancing since high school. There are hundreds of dancers. It really is amazing.

tulip time

I (also donning a lovely dutch costume) rode next to Izzy on the school bus to the parade. There was one little girl sitting next to us, not wearing the required costume. This is, by the way, a Dutch Sin. If you are in any of these public events, you must be in costume. If you are one of the dancers, you get your costume inspected, thoroughly. It's all very official. Anyway, she informed us that her mom wouldn't let her wear the dutch costume because she wasn't Dutch (she quoted her mom using a very sarcastic voice). It took me a few seconds. "Hey, I'm not Dutch either and I'm wearing a dutch costume"! She did march anyway. In her regular dress. Although a teacher managed to slip an apron on her.
Rob marched with his class. My mother-in-law, Bonnie, marched with Anna, and Aunt Fran marched with Dottie. After all the grumbling about Tulip Time, getting costumes on all the kids, fighting traffic, etc. It was so worth it. The excitement of the kids as they marched in the parade, waving to all the people they knew and to those who came on buses from afar, the bands, and all the different schools represented. Okay, so maybe I had fun.

Even so, if anyone has interest in making a mockumentary. I have material.

life in 'da sticks

I know you see pictures like this and wonder what is happening to us. I understand your concern. It's quite plain and simple really. Now that we live in the country, we are beginning to embrace our inner country bumpkin-ness.

trenner's game

We went to Trenner's game last Friday night. I'm always surprised at what a social event these games are. The weather was nice and lots of kids were running around. One older girl watched Reeny the whole game. Admittedly, I am more about the socializing than being the spectator. As a kid, I would rather play than watch. As an adult, I'd rather yak than watch. I'm working on yakking and watching at the same time.
All in all, it was jolly fun!

an update on the update:

The express books are due back to the library today. Yes, I did finish my book. It was a very good read. Picoult generally picks a topic that is controversial and makes a good novel out of it. This one is around the death penalty. I would recommend it. If you read it, let me know, so we can discuss it. No, Rob did not finish his book. But, I think he must have read my blog, because he really gave it his all. He started reading in an upright position, instead of his usual prone, which tells me he was really serious. I'm going to return it for him today and since I checked it out with my card, he is going to check it out with his card on his way home from school. We know how to work the system! There is a chance someone could check it out between me dropping it off and him picking it up again.
The first day on the job went well. It was a slower night, which was good for me. I work tonight. In my training experience so far, I noticed that all hell can break loose on the weekend. The kitchen is a madhouse. There is a craziness that vacillates between a good, fun buzz to knives being whipped across the room, often accompanied by much colorful language. As a server, I think my job is to move in between both worlds (the kitchen world and the dining world) with ease and grace. Unnerved by the happenings in the kitchen, I am to enter a peaceful zone as I go tell my table guests that the food will be there shortly and then, of course, I will smile sweetly.

quick update

A quick update: I got a job serving tables twice a week. It's an Italian restaurant, the fine dining sort. I am learning things like how to present a bottle of wine! I've been in training for a couple of weeks and tomorrow night is my first time going it alone.

I also started working in my friend's greenhouse. I did it last year as well. It's just on Mondays in the month of May. I love working outside and getting familiar with the flowers.

Rob and I are both reading express books from the library. We have one week to read them. I'm almost done. It's called 'Change of Heart' by Jodi Picoult. Rob is reading the newest Bourne book. I'm placing bets that he won't get it finished in time. He falls asleep about 2 pages in. Anyone who has watched a movie with Rob can envision this.

There's not much else. We are thinking about getting some chickens and we are excited about getting our hands dirty in the neighbors huge garden. Our neighbor, Tom, aka, the garden master, has tilled the soil and planted the potatoes. Reeny and I might head over soon and help get the onions planted. The rest we'll probably plant memorial weekend. I plan on making and freezing lots of pesto this year.

With it so light in the evenings now, we stay up later and enjoy every minute we can. We are all very much looking forward to school being done!