insta.friday

monday

Probably the most momentous event all week, all month even! I washed Hard Puppy. Danny finally gave his consent. Somebody peed the bed and Hard Puppy got soaked. That puppy hadn't been washed in ages. I've never been so happy for a peed bed. 

The kidlets and I went to The Farm. It was sunny and warm and just a perfect day for baby animal watching. Are you ever going to get tired of pictures of Cate riding the pony? I'm not. She loves it. Ray Ray freaked out when I had to put him down to load his big cousins on the ponies though. Freaked out big time. It's ok though. I just save his ticket and Cate gets to ride twice. Danny wanted a spot on the wagon ride as close as possible to the horse bums. He didn't really say that. He just wanted to be up front. Those bums belong to Bob and Barney in case you wondered.

tuesday

Cate drew a picture for me. That's me with the circle on my head (my messy messy fun bun since I never take the time to do my hair) holding hands with her. The cuteness just about kills me dead. Every time.

We went swimming. I wore my swimsuit and tried to not give a hoot if anyone looked at me funny. We were there pretty early in the morning so it was almost empty. That was nice. A little girl swam past and told me that she liked my swimsuit though. That was nice too. I think that one session of swim lessons gave my kids oodles of confidence in the pool. This was the first time I've taken them that I didn't have to lug them around and worry about someone drowning. They just played and splashed and went down the slide to their hearts' content. It was lovely. Ha. That's me saying a day at the pool was lovely. I've come a long way.

After lunch we went to the library. This is the first time I've used my library card. I'm a bad mommy. We didn't do a lot of reading there. Just wandering around picking books off the shelves. I'm sure we'll get better if we go more often. I let them each check out 9 books. That was quite a load to carry.

And then I made cookie dough. Peanut butter chocolate chip shortbread cookie dough to be exact. Danny came into the kitchen and saw me.

him: What's that?

me: Cookie dough.

him: What kind?

me: Peanut butter.

him: (in a voice of awe and reverence) That's the bestest kind.

I've taught him well. My work here is done.

wednesday

Back to the pool. Two days in a row. Am I crazy? Yes, I am. This time we brought Ray Ray along. Without his mother. Me and three kids at the pool. I am clearly trying to earn some kind of brownie points. We were in the pool maybe 2 minutes when Cate declared her need to use the restroom. Ahhhhh. Good times. We lasted an hour and a half in the pool. Nobody drowned and I only almost had a heart attack 3 times. I'd count that as a success. I read on Pinterest once that Eleanor Roosevelt said something about doing one thing every day that scares you. Well, that was my one thing. But it was a super big thing so I think it should count as 2.

We came home and played outside. Cate's little friend came over. Danny drew chalk stuff. I love it when he draws chalk stuff because usually he doesn't give a hoot about drawing anything. He said, "Like it, Mommy? I drawed a boy!" So proud of himself. 

And the young women made wedding dresses out of napkins and pins. Not a bad way to end the day.

thursday

My table is in a constant state of mess. If you come to my house and see it, just know that it's not my fault. I'm going to cross stitch a big sign for my dining room wall that says, "Excuse the mess. Cate is making memories here." That just about sums it up.

We headed to the dino museum with Ray Ray in the morning. Our pass (that I won!) expires soonish so I'm trying to get lots of use out of it. I think we might need to renew though. My kiddies love it there. Only problem this day was the middle schoolers there on a field trip. You know who ruins everything? Middle schoolers on field trips. Yuck. I'm glad I didn't pay to get in. I would have asked for my money back. We got our 50 cent ice cream cones before leaving though. I get a 10% discount for food with my pass you know. The first time I used my card for the discount on two 50 cent ice cream cones I was a little embarrassed. But now, I don't even care. Plus, this time it was three cones so it was worth it.

I didn't even attempt to make Ray Ray take a nap so the kids suited up and played in the sprinklers instead. And I made more cookies. This time I added extra dark cocoa and they turned out so pretty.

When Dan got back from work I ran away from home. I hadn't been alone or experienced a drop of quiet all day long. That's a recipe for disaster. I'm glad I have such a kind husband. Really I am.

friday

We woke up to rain! I love rain. Especially in May. It's my favorite. The kids were excited to use an umbrella. Such simple things bring them such joy. And then they fought about who got to hold it.

Danny graduated from Talking Time. His black construction paper mortarboard was tiny and he had to just balance it on top of his head. I told him he better smile up there while he got his certificate (and we gave him 3 hip hip hoorays) because it's his last class and he's happy to be done. He obeyed.

And then preschool graduation. Gah. Look at those two. I'm pleased to report that no tears were shed. I was a little worried about Dan but he held it together.

Cate and I had a little photo shoot on the driveway before bed. She wanted to take my picture so I let her. I'm not sure how many she took, 9 or 10 maybe. Each time she said, "Oh, no. That one's blurry. You moved-ed." And then for this one she said, "Ah, perfect!" She's a hoot. I think I like me all blurry. It hides the wrinkles.

In case you couldn't tell, I'm loving this instagram thing.