This and That

One week from tomorrow my eldest child will be a high school graduate.  This blows my mind!  Just yesterday he was a little baby.  It seems impossible to me that time has passed by so quickly.  I beg all of my children to stop growing up or even worse go back to being my little babies...but do they cooperate?  No, they do not.  I have an 18 yr old, a 16 yr old, a 13 yr old & a soon to be 11 yr old.  I am proud of each of them every day they amaze me & make me smile.  Every day they bring joy, frustration, laughter, love, & wonder to my life.  I'm so grateful to have had this chance to be the mom of such inspiring kids.

Kier age 5- Kindergarten

On Mother's Day, they let me sleep in until 9:30...it was heavenly.  When they did come in I received a plethora of cuddles & giggles.  Nothing better than that.  From the oldest to the youngest they are the best snugglers ever!  Throughout the day they returned to me & gave me cuddles & I Love You's repeatedly.  I was gifted with a brand new Nikon D5500 with zoom lenses.  Yes, dad bought that but with consultation from the kids.  I am still learning how to use my fancy schmancy new camera & it will probably take a while before I really get the hang of it all but I refuse to use the Auto mode.  Of the 1000s of pictures I've taken over the last 2 weeks, I have erased 90%.  Thank goodness for digital pictures.  

With graduation looming it means that the end of the school year is almost upon us & I cannot express how incredibly happy this makes me.  I honestly checked out of school a month ago.  I just stopped caring if anyone got there on time, completed their assignments on time, got in trouble, missed school etc...  Not that they were ever late or had incomplete assignments, they hadn't checked out like I had.  Don't misunderstand they have been counting down the end of the year since Easter but they are too well trained to stop working or trying.  And I have kept my opinions to myself but seriously why when we are all exhausted & just dragging our butts over the finish line towards the end of the year is the school & teachers so determined to cram as much in as they can.  Field trips, field days, projects, testing, concerts & programs & all the sign ups for next year, for summer school, for activities going on at school...???  I am so done.  I couldn't give a crap less about electives for McKenna for next year, for summer school options for any of the kids, I don't want to sign permission slips & remember to go grab cash for said field trips.  I don't keep cash on me.  That's what debit cards are for!  I am proud of their accomplishments, for their hard work, their dedication & I know school is important but seriously 9 months of tight schedules of going going going going going going going....you see where I'm going with this right?  I am burned out!  And I'm just the parent.  Poor kids.  

I am looking forward to sleeping in.  To lazy summer days.  To hanging out at the lake.  To ice cream pit stops in town, to s'mores & camp fires & sunscreen & yes even bug spray.  I know they say kids lose stuff over the summer but what happened to allowing their little brains a break from the hard work of learning & growing?  I am a firm believer in allowing kids freedom to imagine & laze & dream & cloud gaze for the entirety of summer break.  It's their reward for all the hard work the rest of the year.  They aren't adults.  They're kids, let them be kids.  Teach them to sink into the moment & to just breathe.  That is just as valuable a lesson for adulthood as all the math & science.  

Stepping off the soap box now.  No worries.  Only 4 school days left for the senior & only 8 school days left for the younger 3.  Thank heaven.  Now with only these few days left of school, of course, this is when 3 of the 4 decide to catch head colds.  Sigh.  Timing is not our strong suit.  Oh well...summer is coming.  :)

Although it's hard to believe considering it's the end of May & we're still enjoying temperatures in the low 50's & lots of rain & bluster around here...

Luna's favorite hidey hole on cold days is my bed.  

Liam asked me if I believed int he pot of gold at the end of rainbows, my answer was most definitely.  

We have a couple caterpillars nests in the tree in our front yard...because of this we have found multiple caterpillars around our front door on multiple occasions.  The kids love them.

My Mother's Day present.  Looking forward to learning how to use it for our family.  

McKenna's final choir concert of the year.  I swear getting her to smile in public is nearly impossible.  So if you are expecting to see her smile, give up.  It's rare & precious.  She saves it for no witnesses. LOL

And the coolest thing that has happened lately was the annual Spring Formal for the Special Needs Kids at the High School.  It hosts it every year in May for several schools in the area.  And Liam loves it!  This was his second year attending & I love being his date.  So much fun watching him hang out & be a teenager!  

He had a ton of fun & by the end of the night, (9pm) he was ready to go to sleep.  Totally wore him out.  So much fun watching this kid party with his friends.

Today was the first bright sunny dry day we've had all week long so of course that meant yard work & playing with Ruby.  My boys make me smile.  She's too fast & slippery according to the teenager.

Speaking of yard work, I would very much like it if Matt Blashaw & the crew of Yard Crashers on the DIY network would crash my back yard & help us build it into a place we can all go & hang out & make memories.  Right now it's this weird little slab of concrete, oddly & uncomfortably surrounded by a trellis in the sea of wild grass, full of stickers & weeds, don't go barefoot!  There is no ramp to the back yard or deck that goes straight from the back door to the yard so getting Liam in & out is problematic at the least.  I'd like some privacy fencing or natural fencing to give me a sense of privacy from the neighbors, and their dogs who get my dogs all wound up, thereby making us anxious about letting the dogs out to roam their own back yard freely.  And the very public & busy road behind our house. We're using some old wood from a sort of garden the previous tenants used, to start the process of building some above ground gardens, so I don't have to bend & hurt my bad back while trying to grow our own veggies.  But it's expensive & we have a lot of medical bills for Liam's different treatments so saving money up for the back yard will take years, and we'd only be able to do one small section at a time, not that there is anything bad about that but still I'd like to enjoy the yard while my kids are young enough to make memories.  And with Liam we only have a finite amount of time with him. I hate that he spends most of his time indoors. But if someone could call Yard Crashers & let them know how desperate we are we wouldn't complain. ;)  I don't see them coming to Wisconsin or even down here in the sticks of Wisconsin to check out the back yards.  I'll just keep dreaming of fire pits & above ground gardens & walkways for a wheelchair & a deck that allows Liam easy access to the yard in his chair, and pretty flowers & fruit trees and sustainable living & a compost area.  We live on almost 1/2 an acre so there is a lot of room to really build up our dream yard.  Plus, we don't entertain a lot during the winter because of cold & flu season & Liam's health.  And honestly, I'm not a fan of gatherings in the summer months either because all of our entertaining is done inside.  So many germs to make Liam sick.  But if we had a great backyard living space, where people could come & hang out & visit maybe I wouldn't spend so much time alone during the summer.  Picnics, cookouts, parties, games all in the back yard sounds so heavenly.  Sigh... ;)   There that was the extent of my one 'woe is me moment'.

Seriously, no more whining I promise...in fact here are some the pics I've taken with my handy dandy new camera.  I hope you guys are all enjoying beautiful weather & making tons of memories with your loved ones.  You only get each other for a certain amount of time.  Trust me, don't take it for granted, make the most, live in the moment & thoroughly enjoy yourselves & each other.

Hope you like my pics...I know I have a long way to go...

P.S.
No editing was done on any of these pictures.  I haven't figured out how to edit yet. LOL  It's a process.  I'll get there eventually.  :)

P.S.S I also won't be editing this post.  I'm tired, it's almost 10 pm & I need sleep.  :) Sweet dreams.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day!!  Thank you to all the men & women who have fought & defended our country & freedoms.  And to their families for their service too.

All my love,
Jess