Bueller? Bueller?

These days I can completely relate to the way Ferris Bueller felt when he said, "Life moves pretty fast.  If you don't stop and look around once in awhile you could miss it."

Our life is full - how can it not be with a family of six!  There is nothing earth-shattering or noteworthy going on.  We spend the majority of our days in the ordinary ~ attempting to find balance and remain content with where we are and what we are accomplishing today.

Trust me ordinary is good!  We've lived our shared of extraordinary and those times can be stressful and trying.  I have friends who are in the extraordinary right now, and I am hopeful that I can be a support to them while being thankful to be in the place where I am ~ where we are.

Some things remain constant ~ The kitchen and laundry are my full-time job while I also attempt to keep the remainder of my house reasonable clean and be present for my family and friends. 

I continue to find myself in the kitchen a lot.  This is, in part, because there is always something to be done in the kitchen.  There is always something to plan, prepare, or clean.  The other side of why you find me there is purely selfish.  It is the one place in our life where I feel like I actually accomplish something.  I can, day in and day out, plan a meal, prepare that meal, serve that meal, and then clean up after that meal.  Daily.  Times three.  For six.

If you don't find me in the kitchen, then please head down the hall to the laundry room.  I'll be there washing, folding, or ironing.  If I'm not there I probably should be.  I'll be back soon.

If you really need to find me yet the sink is full of dirty dishes and the laundry hampers are over-flowing then I'm probably taking a moment to play with my babies.  My babies and I are doing fun things like pajama rides, long, leisurely walks around town with unhurried stops to watch all varieties of construction vehicles.  We are making trips to the Tot Lot, the zoo, and the McWane Center.  We're reading lots and having other mamas over for lunch with their babies.  We're building train tracks and playing on the swing set.

The big two are enjoying school.  At least I think they are.  I know Stephen loves it and is doing well.  He came home reading a few weeks ago.  That makes this mama so happy and so thankful that he is in kindergarten and not a 5K program somewhere else. 

Nine weeks into school and I still can't get a good read on Mary Frances.  I think she likes it fine and is doing okay, but she likes her friends and gymnastics more.  I'm particularly looking forward to her conference to visit with her teacher and really know what is going on the classroom.

In Awe

Mary Frances and Frank were invited to go to the UAB football game on Saturday evening. I think they were both surprised by how much fun they had.  They had no idea what they were getting into. 

 

Their evening in pictures: 

 

Tea Time on Tuesday

Good Morning ~
I know I have been a long lost stranger.  But for my report on playing hooky, I've been missing in action.  And let me tell you it is action packed around here.  Maybe one day I can fill you in on that action but not today. 
 

Mary Frances {and whoever else is interested at the moment} and I are reading The Secret Garden.  It has been so fun to have a book that is ours ~ that we both look forward to, that we can get lost in, that we can learn from.

If you have never read the book,  I'll begin by telling you it takes place on a moor in England.  As as the English  do, the characters in the story have afternoon tea.  Mary Frances asked what tea was.  Of course she knew that tea was a drink ~ either served hot or iced!  But in the context of the book it is clear that isn't exactly what they are alluding to.  She was not familiar with the concept of afternoon tea.  Sure, over the years we've had tea parties but they have been called just that "tea parties" not tea.  So yesterday at 4:00 we had our own version of tea.

They were hilarious and it was so much fun!

For the tea time snacks ~
Something healthy...

{via}


...and something a bit sweet.

Next Tuesday I've promised real crumpets using the recipe from our book.

Playing Hooky

We spent a long weekend playing hooky from our everyday lives.  The children had Monday off for a teacher workday.  We checked them out of school on Thursday and went to the beach for an extra long weekend.  This is something we haven't done in a long time and it was oh so much fun.

 

Grab a cup of coffee and sit back and enjoy our time laughing and playing and reading and relaxing.

 



A Blue Angel plane flying past...

Stephen is ready to "scuba dive" ~ not yet but he is almost ready to snorkel in the islands.

The house we rented had two kayaks...

...and lots of sand toys.

One afternoon we journeyed down 30A to Seaside to get a little ice cream treat.

Betsy loves to play "Ring around the Rosie" and her brothers can happily oblige ~ every once in a while.

Mary Frances is learning how to use a camera.  Thank goodness because I need some current pictures of Frank and me.

So fun to see my little ones loving to read.  Mary Frances read 10 books while we were away.  Seeing her get excited about sitting down to read might be worth taking her out of school for two days.

These are the best dam builders I know.  Too bad I don't have pictures of their efforts.  A little ways up the beach there was a canal of sorts where Stephen was entertained for hours building dams.  Who wouldn't be ~ it is amazing how you can redirect the flow of water.

 We only had a few of these moments - thank goodness!

 No Christmas card pictures in the bunch, but lots of fun memories.

 Our Pooka Bear!

 Just the little ones...



...and now the big two but not on the beach.

A big thank you to my sweet family for a fun time at the beach making memories and starting traditions.  Now how long do you think we can get away with taking them out of school for two days?

Howdy

It's been too long, and I'm not going to be here long right now. 

Just want to share a quick picture taken from Frank's phone as the rest of us walked to school...

Yesterday was "Cowpoke Day" in kindergarten.

The instructions were to come dresses as a cowboy.