Monkey Monday…..FINALLY!

The day finally came…Aiden has been waiting for this day all summer.  Actually, he has probably been waiting for it since the last day of school.  Today was the day.  Aiden’s first day of school finally came.  Today was the first day of Preschool for Aiden.  Thank goodness.  Taking Jakob to school last week and having to tell Aiden that he would have to wait a week was just torture.  Absolute torture.  He didn’t understand.

This morning when we all woke up to start the day, I whispered to him “it’s the first day of school for you, do you want to see Teacher Shelley?” , he practically JUMPED out of bed.  He was so excited and so proud. 

Just look at this smile and see….

Could his grin get any bigger?  He had a great first day, full of old friends and new, and happy that he got to go to school, finally, just like his big brother.

Wordless Wednesday….First Day of 1st Grade

Also known as “The Best Day Ever”.

 

Monkey Monday: A Friends List

Yesterday the boys and I went to Priest Pointe Park for the afternoon….to make new friends.  Finally, Amanda and my schedules worked and we were finally getting to meet face to face.  The boys were excited to meet new people and have some fun…my little extroverts. It was a beautiful day, a fun afternoon filled with yummy snacks, sunshine, and new friends.

On the way home Jakob suggested we make a “Friends List” to keep track of all of our friends.  And while that seemed like a good idea for them, it got me thinking about my own “Friends List”.  Are there people on my list that I need to erase?  Are there people who got left off the list that I need to put back on?  Definitely, on both counts.  I need to work harder to put those people back on it….desperately.  And those that need to be erased…need to do that too…don’t need the negativity and stress that comes along with it.  I am exhausted from trying to keep those people on the list when they don’t make the same effort.

Do you have a Friends List?  Do you need to do some housekeeping to your List?  What do you do to help rebuild a damaged friendship?

Wordless Wednesday Silly Boys

 

My Mother took these pics during her visit with her fancy DSLR…..I now desperately want one.

A Pie For Mikey, Jennifer and their Girls

I bake with love.  It is the most important ingredient that I have.  It goes in to everything I make.  And today, it is going in to this Peanut Butter Pie….for Mikey, for Jennifer, for my family, for those who are no longer here to enjoy it.

The pie is chilling. And I am emotionally wiped.  It has been a heartbreaking week.  Hearing of Jennifer losing her husband, Mikey, this past Sunday has left many of us spinning, wondering why?, how?, what now?…an outpouring of love for someone that many of us only know in the virtual world.  I have not had the pleasure of meeting Jennifer in person, though I feel as though I know her.  I wish I could give her a hug, comfort her, FEED her.  I am on the other side of the country, I cannot do any of those things.  There are people there to do it for her, and for those of us who cannot be there, we can do one thing for her today…make a Pie for Mikey, at her request.  Read the pie story here.  I still cannot believe that she was able to string such beautiful words together, but then again that is what we do, we write, we share.

I wanted to share a poem with Jennifer, one that brought me comfort when I lost my Step Father to a sudden heart attack, and then again 10 months later when my Father died.   Today I felt their presence as I made this pie. When I share it later today with my boys I will tell them a story about both of them, as I am sure Jennie will do when sharing this pie with her daughters the next time she makes it. 

 

Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die!

Mary Frye (1932)

I hope you find peace. May your memories and love get you through this incredibly hard time.

Much love.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy National S’Mores Day!

 

Immobile Parenting

I can barely move.  The past couple weeks have been a little stressful. My body is rebelling.  The worst of it is my neck and shoulders.  I woke up this morning in immense pain, to the point that I had to roll out of bed rather than sit up because all my muscles in my neck and shoulders were screaming at me.   Torture.  Literally.  It is now 3pm, I am sitting on the couch stiff as a board, smelling like a wintergreen factory (thank you Icy Hot Rub), with a heating pad across my shoulders, and praying that the boys continue to play nicely upstairs for just a little while longer. 

Jakob has noticed that I am not moving as quickly today…that I seem a little stiff.  He asked, I told him that I was sore, I think he is now upstairs plotting with Aiden for a hostile takeover.  Plotting how to get away with doing all the things that he knows I can’t prevent him from doing.  I am afraid to let them out of the house , as there is no way in hell that I could catch them if they decided to take off on me….which Aiden has a tendency to do if he thinks he can get away with it!

Do you ever feel that when you’re under the weather that your kids are plotting against you?  Can they smell it on you?  No, not the Icy Hot Wintergreen Scent, the weakness – the inability to act as quickly and swiftly as you normally can?

Next time I will be buying the unscented Icy Hot, just in case.