ROCK paper, scissors

I awoke on the second official day of Summer Vacation™ hearing a chorus of "what are we going to do today?" in three-part harmony with an undertone of whining ... something about "boredom."

I hadn't even had my first cup of coffee so you can imagine how pleasant I was in my response.

Truth be told ... I pretty much used up all my energy (and extra cash) on the first official day of  Summer Vacation™ when, under threat of thunderstorm, we went to the movies, lunch at a Chinese restaurant and to an indoor gym with inflatables. 

So that might have had a little something to do with the fact that I had to peel myself off the ceiling at the mention of the "b" word.

"How could you be bored? Have you already forgotten the Summer Reading Program™? We just got about a bazillionteen books out of the library -- which you begged me for -- so I KNOW you haven't read them already." 

"But mo-om!" 

"But. Mom. Nothing.  

"I mean ... We've also got toys, and games and art supplies. ... 

"Didn't I just buy paper™?
"And glue sticks™?
"And scissors™... with blunt ends so you won't go stabbing anyone in the thigh as you run around the house like maniacs?" 

"Well, yeah ... but ..." 

"But nothing. We're making crafts. Lots and lots of crafts.
"And then we're reading books .... Lots and lots of books.
"In fact, today we're making bookmarks."

And so that's what we did.

We used our paper.

And our scissors.

And we rocked the bookmarks.

And then we rocked a card for the wedding of some friends this summer.

Who knows what will happen tomorrow.

Maybe we'll finally get to read a book.

The Champ's Happy (safety violation) Birthday

The princesses and fairies aren't wearing hardhats.

The bathers aren't wearing life jackets.

The construction workers aren't watching what they're doing, not to mention the fact that they're using two different kinds of cement: royal icing and buttercream.

But I have it on good authority cookies (and cupcakes) lose a ton of calories once they've been cracked open with a jackhammer.

Our library is wild

While your library may have a Dog Days of Summer Reading Program ....

our library has the Canis Lupus Arctos Days of Summer Reading Program.

Just sayin'.

Arrrrr!

Avast ye scurvy dog, ye! Make a wish!






I can't fink of a wish. This is the best birfday ever!

What I learned at dance recital 2012 ...

Eye shadow? Bring it.

Lip gloss. More is not enough.

Blusher? Ran out. C'est la vie. 

But foundation? Bad mojo.

Those freckles?  ....  Do. Not. Mess. With. Them.

They aren't sprinkles of sun damage to her, they are a fine dusting of happiness on her cheeks.

Without them she just isn't herself.

Photographic evidence ...

Cats don't really care if you are living. Their only requirements are that you look like you are trying to read and that you have a lap.

Splash knuckles and surprise parties

The Champ has started planning a "surprise" birthday party.

For himself.

Yes. He's turning five this month and he's planning a party that he hopes will set the world front yard on fire. It's going to be crazy: A water slide. Squirt guns. Splash toys. Girls. Cupcakes. Hot dogs. Girls ... (some boys I invited, *SURPRISE*) and ... more girls.

I'm assuming he expects there to be a literal fire, too, as he was emphatic that the first thing the royal we needed to make for this shindig was some kind of water-sploshing device he saw on a PBS kids' craft show "JUST IN CASE."

Thankfully, SPLONGE BALLS aren't that difficult to make:

Take regular kitchen sponges (the kind without the scrubby layer).




Cut them into strips (about six or so for each sponge).




Gather about six or nine strips together.




Slip an elastic band through a string (or loop it around another elastic band) and tie it tightly around the center of the sponge strips.




Wash, rinse, repeat ... and in no time you'll have a fistful of splash knuckles!




Now I'll just have to remind him: "Toss ... don't punch."

The road isn't less traveled ...

It's just more pot-holed.

Lord of the Flies

The musical.

Breathing room

It's been a long, angsty, nothing-bodes-well kind of week.

But we're all still here and hanging on.

Thursday afternoon offered a pretty good moment. The Champ graduated from the Marilla Cuthbert Academy for Unspeakably Charming Children.

I expected to cry ... and I did ... but not how I'd thought it would happen.

We were leaving and I saw my family skipping up the sidewalk into the afternoon sun. We'd never be in this place again. I wasn't sad so much as relieved. Small days may be over but big days are still ahead. Onward we go.






Perhaps the best part of the week happened near the end of the day today.

A new beginning of sorts.

We went to pick up our first CSA share at a local farm.

After a little walk around the place ... visiting the horses, pigs and sheep ... we found our way back to the gathering barn.

This week's bounty: Squash, zucchini, radishes, turnips, arugula, lettuce, cilantro and something called kohlrabi, which the internets informed me can be eaten raw in salad or cooked in a stir fry.








We did both.

Ittybit ate it by the fistful as we sauteed the remainder with chickpeas, curry sauce and leftover beef.

It feels good to expand our horizons.





And get some breathing room.

Smitten

This is the face of a boy so in lurve he made a painting in a girl's honor.

Then he asked me to ask her to come and see it.

He backed away and pretended he was invisible. Shy.

Unless I'm mistaken, and this is not the face of a boy so smitten but one who sent his mother on a ruse so he could check out a girl's posterior.

I'm just going to pretend it was the former and not the latter.