A few good books

One of these days, I'll catch up on my reading lately posts, but for now here are a couple of memorable books we've been reading: 

Real Friends by Shannon Hale

I picked this up at the library, hoping it was one Ellie might like. It's a childhood memoir, but written as a graphic novel (a combination that I loved!) 

The amazing thing about this book though, is that Landon, Ellie, and Owen all loved it. For example -- I saw Ellie re-reading it one afternoon and said something about it and Landon said from the other room "Oh, I've read that like six times!" I think Ellie read it at least three times, and Owen (who is a great reader, but so far hasn't had much interest in reading) has also read it at least twice! I thought it was just really great to find a book that all three of them enjoyed so much!

Becoming by Michelle Obama (particularly the "Becoming Me" and "Becoming Us" parts)

I started listening to this in New York and finished in the week or so after we returned home. I loved the first half, and was sad to pass the half way mark knowing it would have to end (and this was about a 20 hour audio book, so that was pretty long!) I loved the stories of her childhood, and her young adult life (As she met Barack and their relationship continued I was counting the years backwards and surprised as I listened along how late in the story politics became involved). 

I didn't love the White House years ("Becoming More" -- though the 'life in the White House' part was very interesting) - it was just a little too political for me (understandably!)  Had I been reading instead of listening I would have skimmed a lot more through this part and enjoyed it more -- I kept thinking about how much I enjoyed Steve Young's autobiography minus all the football stuff :) What I really missed in this part was some recognition that those who didn't agree with their policies might also be good, decent people like so many of those who did support them. 

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You

Another library pick, I've been reading this with Porter over the last few days and it is just delightful. It's like "Joyful Noise", but for younger readers, and I've loved reading it with Porter!

Kindergarten Job Fair

I wish I had a picture of the job fair, but since I don't -here's another bit from "take your kids to work day" : )

Yesterday Jordan got to visit Porter's class for the Kindergarten Job Fair. (They've been learning about community helpers and also having an alphabet countdown to the end of school so they hosted a Job Fair for "J" day.)

Porter was happy and proud to have Jordan coming -  "It's the first time Dad has ever been to my class!" I had fun brainstorming ideas for Jordan to answer the question he'd been given - "What did you learn in kindergarten that helps you in your job?" (Reading, writing, using thinking maps, taking risks, practicing, math and numbers, coding...) And Jordan had fun talking with each group of kindergarteners, telling a little bit about what he does and what he loves about his work. 

Also, I'm sure proud of Jordan. He is just a talented guy who does a really amazing job in his profession. We feel pretty lucky for all the great work opportunities he has had, and I feel so grateful too for all the effort he makes to spend so much time with our family and helping us all in so many ways! :)

First campout of the year

This weekend, we had our first campout of the year! Jordan took a couple of the boys early and set up our tent in our favorite Green Canyon spot - beautiful right now with everything turning green! Then we all packed up (with our van just about filled to the brim), picked up our traditional campfire dinner (Panda Express), and off we went. 

We set up our sleeping bags and all, built a fire (mostly Landon!), Ellie and Owen swung in the hammock and played this new riddles game, Porter and Isaac wandered and explored close by, Landon read in another hammock... we had our noodles and orange chicken and made  s'mores... had some last minute sleeping drama and a crazy night of sleep or a few of us (Almost a week later now, I feel like I'm still recovering from the rough night!) Still,  Jordan was up bright and early making s'mores pancakes + bacon & eggs for everyone... 

The next morning,  we were going to drop Landon off at home to start his lawn mowing jobs and use the (clean) bathrooms while we were there. But then on the way back, Jordan remembered another commitment he had, so we just stayed home  and Jordan went back later in the day in between soccer games to pack up camp and bring everything back home!  (Hooray for a lovely camping spot so close to home!)

Apple tree wreath

Yesterday afternoon, Jordan was pruning the apple tree and the kids were helping us pick up all the branches. As I was smooshing a bundle of branches into our green bin, I thought they just looked so pretty! So, I stopped gathering (and even made the kids stop for a few minutes too so they wouldn't pick up all the branches too quickly :) and I made this little wreath! It kind of felt like magic because I started wrapping a couple of branches together just for fun and I didn't really think it would work, but then it just did! A little wild in some spots, and the new little leaves will die, but I hung it up on the front of the house to enjoy at least for a little while, and I love it!

this week

Isaac and I have this same conversation almost every day as we drive to pick up the kids from school and pass the field of construction:

"Did the workers build the new school yet?"
"Not yet, they're still working on it"
"Why are they building a new school?"

Other fun things this week (May is always packed with so many school-related activities coming up before the end of the year!):

International Night --The kids each (with varying levels of willingness) performed a couple of songs and dances from other countries, and we had fun visiting all the stations and watching the other performances. One of the really fun things we got to do when we were in Brazil was attend the International Night of one of the dual language immersion elementary schools there. The older classes put on a Magic School Bus play (in English!) and then it was very much like our event with each of the grades performing, lots of fun food to eat, and displays from other countries around the world. (I remember one group danced to Pharell Williams "Happy" with white t-shirts and red baseball caps to represent the U.S.)

Ellie's orchestra concert -- I loved that she asked me as we were leaving if she could sign up for 2nd year orchestra next year - yay!

A funny young women's activity -- the older girls 'kidnapped' the younger girls and we went out for doughnuts. (I can remember something similar from when I was 12 and how I think I anticipated it was going to happen on a Saturday morning, so I tried to wear my favorite pjs to bed each Friday night 'just in case'!)

Soccer practices and games...

A neighborhood spring social at the church last night -- with scones and bounce houses that the kids (even Isaac!) loved.

A birthday party for Owen - with a super fun game I made up (programmed by Jordan) that was an electronic-scavenger hunt-clue solving-beat the time sort of game. I was excited for it and the kids loved it, so that was a win! :)

Another lego robotics demo by Jordan and Owen in Portuguese + practice and prep for that.

And now, happy weekend!

On PTA

A winter time picture at the school (though we did have a decent amount of snow yesterday too!)

(This is one of those posts that I can already tell is true for me now, but hasn't always been, and probably won't always be...) 

As I was walking to Porter's classroom yesterday, I saw one of the early teacher appreciation door decorations up - cute and clever -  and I felt this huge wave of relief -- I have no doors to decorate!!

Last Fall at back to school night as I finished visiting classrooms and talking with teachers, I headed to the sign-up tables by the main office. And then I decided to just walk past the tables and out the doors! It felt almost a little rebellious, while at the same time I sort of planned to just sign up later...

The first time I saw a reminder about the monthly PTA meeting at the school, I pictured myself there with the boys (as I had been over the last couple of years) with Isaac running around and me trying to juggle snacks/ipads/books/toddler/preschooler and also half-way listen in, feeling guilty about all of the things I wasn't signing up to help with while everyone else seemed happy to raise their hands again and again... and all I could think was 'Why did I do that? What felt so important that I put myself through the stress of all that?! So, no meetings for me! 

I still helped out this year, just in ways that felt more manageable and enjoyable - Jordan and I did lego robotics so I spent time every week planning and prepping and coaching. I've helped in Porter's class with STEAM bins each week, and spent the last 30 minutes in Owen's class that day helping with whatever comes up. I went to our SCC meetings and some meetings with the architects for the new school (like one I'm leaving for in a few minutes) - and those felt like they gave me a good enough idea of what things were going on at the school.  

Only about a month ago I was having some email issue and after checking with a friend about it, I realized I hadn't been getting any of the PTA emails for the year...I hadn't even noticed (or missed...) these! :) Only in the last couple weeks as I've gotten a few emails did I realize how nice it was to just not even have to think about or choose if I was going to help with one more thing or not...

(And really, I think that I've probably done as much as I would have if I had signed up, gone to monthly meetings, gotten emails all through the year... I just would have felt a lot more guilt/inadequacy if I'd been more aware of all the things I was saying no to...)

This is all not to say how terrible PTA is. We've benefited through the year from the hard work of all the great volunteers and the fun activities they've put on, and I'm grateful for all the people willing to help out in all those ways! I've enjoyed getting involved at the school with PTA in the past, and I'll probably enjoy it again in the future.  I've just also really enjoyed not getting involved in those ways this year! 

April paint with me Challenge

Here are a bunch of the little pictures I made in April for the paint with me challenge! This was so fun for me. Sometimes I'd sit down and paint something for whatever the prompt was that day, or sometimes I'd go just pick whichever prompt looked most interesting. Other times I'd just paint something that I wanted to paint and later figure out which prompt it was closest to. I missed or skipped some days and then I'd go back and do a couple pictures in one day, and all together I did about 24 of the 30 days. And almost all of these are first drafts. :)  Here they are!

blue

Inspiration here

morning

"I'm a sleepy head momma, don't want to wake up,  want to stay in bed some more. But the day's breaking early as always, so we get up, we get out the door. A new day again - so much to do, to comprehend. I'll show you my way, and you can show me your way, and if in doubt, we'll just pretend"

(This is one that I tried again and again and never could quite get right, but it was all good practice :)

grow

I drew this cute Isaac when we were in New York.

family

We had this perfect afternoon with Porter, Ellie, and Owen playing and swinging in the hammocks. Jordan went to grab the camera at the same time that I went to grab some paper to try to draw the sweet scene.

in my bag

I decided to try this April painting challenge, and then we were leaving for New York, so I packed a few of my watercolor supplies and took them along! I ended up just getting them out once or twice, but it was still fun. I had this painting half finished on the table next to the bag,  and when I came back, the stripes had been drawn in for me by one of the kids :)

light

Porter still remembers that this was his lullaby I'd sing to him each night when he was little.

book

Ellie's favorite cookbook with her favorite blueberry muffin recipe (almost memorized) inside.

pink

I realized pinks are kind of tricky for me to get the way I want, so this was a fun practice in color mixing.

travel

The carpet pattern of our hotel room in NYC.

flower

Peony practice (with help from this video too)

quote

This was actually the last one I painted (just yesterday).I  have been loving the forsythia in our neighborhood the last few weeks, and yesterday I thought of this quote by Anne Lindberg and wanted to paint it. I hurried to get everything ready for Owen's birthday party and in the 10 minutes left before I needed to pick up the kids I was hurrying to get my supplies out - how fun to have found this new little hobby!

breakfast

everyday oatmeal. Here's a funny thing: when we went to Brazil I wanted to make sure we would have enough familiar food for the kids and for me, so I packed an extra suitcase just full of food -- including our everyday oatmeal ingredients: oats, cinnamon, raisins, brown sugar & pecans)!

stripes

A first try and a second try (I love the second!) The first was just trying to paint what I was imagining (I do like those orange triangle-ish flowers). For the second I used this image as an example and it turned out much better!

shoes

Isaac loves his light up shoes!

play

I took a picture of this Hope sculpture on my day off (my day only own to just play) in New York. I sat by Ellie at the kitchen table at home while we both painted our own versions. 

nature

My watercolor version of this print I love

easter

This one makes me happy :)

treat

green

I am just loving our beautiful green world right now. Ellie said the other day as we were driving along a tree lined street something about how much she loves to see one color with so many different shades (me too -- the trees are amazing in all their bursting and almost bursting stages!)

happy

My watercolor version of this print - I saw an advertisement for Women's Conference and they had a little bulletin board display with this notecard pinned up, and I knew right away it must be a rifle paper print (I love their style! :) And I loved that I could recreate it on my own too!

home

My watercolor version of this. And a funny thing - I searched the house for a glue stick but couldn't find one, so I just took a picture of all the little houses set out and then scooped the pieces I had made into a baggie to finish another time!

yellow

The daffodils have been so lovely in our neighborhood these last few weeks too! (Also, when we were in NYC, the daffodils in Central Park were so beautiful!) I tried this one twice without success, then remembered Ellie had a "how to draw flowers" book and then my picture turned out much better!

in the kitchen

celebrate

In honor of Owen's birthday celebration yesterday :) Also, Porter said today "That cupcake one looks like a real artist made it!" I used this tutorial for help.