Project 365, Week 22

This was our first week of full access to the lake house this year and there was much to be done! The kids are often there with us and we enjoy getting time with them. Its also a wonder to watch blooms appearing

May 25

Happy Memorial Day! It was a lowkey day for us. I got to talk to Avery called from their camper trailer in the mountains of New Hampshire and we found a cousin at the lake.

May 26

Aiden had a swollen, black and blue pinkie, even two days after his soccer game, so I took him to the orthopedic doctor. When the doctor came in to explain the xrays he said, 'yeah this pinkie just has a couple small fractures that will heal on their own. Its this other pinkie that I'm concerned about. Because Aiden dislocated it five months ago, the only fix is surgery, and the sooner the better.' Sigh.

The first watermelon of the season is a rare and precious gift...

...so is the first outdoor meal of the season at the freshly-vacated lakehouse.

May 27

Spring!

Putting the dock together is no small task, especially since we're learning on the fly.

May 28

Ginger and I have been walking in the not-yet-planted cornfield next to our neighborhood. Just me, Ginger, Jesus and the early morning sun. Oh, and also the turkey hunter guywho stepped out of the woods in full garb looking, for all the world, like a swamp monster. Talk about a jump scare! I screamed, he felt bad, and Ginger and I turned and quickly left for home.

May 29

The pool requires daily care and Avery's getting good at all the parts of it.

Last year was a frantic frenzy of work and the garage became the natural dumping ground. Shaun, along with this bit of help, cleaned out the whole thing and is now systematically putting things back such that there's a place for everything and everything has a place.

May 30

Our 32nd Anniversary and we started the day with a 7-year old up at the crack of dawn, and an already-filled day. That Shaun would come down and put on a cartoon for them to watch together is one of the many reasons I love this man. He gets up everyday and lives for the benefit of others.

We got married on this lady's birthday. Happy birthday, Dear Nana.

Nathanael threw Tina a very small, intimate graduation party to recognize her completion of her master's program. He did such a great job pulling resources together and making it special and customized for her.

May 31

Morning snuggles are the best. Sometimes we don't say any words and sometimes, in hushed voices, we talk about really important stuff.

Nature or nurture? Dakota's dad lived with us for 2.5 years and as Dakota ages, we see more and more of his dad, who he doesn't even remember. For instance, he loves to build things. Jack spent some time with him using some scrap pieces of wood to make a table. Dakota's heart was bursting with satisfaction and pride. And my heart was bursting that Jack's going to be such a good dad! 

When I have Dakota, Avery and Jack take the twins. Or more like, when Avery reaches out and asks to take the twins, I get Dakota, too. :)

Project 365, Week 21

May is special! The weather is often great and we are peeking around the corner to all the goodness of summer. My kids are done with school and its nice to have them kicking around. 

May 18

In preparation for our pool guy coming to open the pool, we spent an afternoon cleaning off leaves and water so the cover could be removed. Its officially a not fun job and we made it worse by arguing about the best way to go about it. 

Aiden worked on getting the office signage looking pretty. I went with red, white and "blue" flowers, in anticipation of the USA's big birthday.

May 19

Early morning light and open windows. Delight.

May 20

The farthest I've walked on my walking route in a very long time. 

May 21

Hard-knock life.

May 22

My friend Dawn was celebrating her birthday with dinner and a concert her daughters had gifted her. She invited me to go along and we had such a great time! We ate at Melting Pot and then sat in the 3rd row for Michael W. Smith. He was one of the soundtracks of my teen years and he's still at it!. Clearly, he and his small band not only love making music, they also have a call on their lives and that showed.

I got a fun check-in from the eclectic group Amanda assembled after youth group.

May 23

Graduation time! My niece and nephew had their special day, graduating from high school. A faith-based homeschool group in Rhode Island hosts a graduation ceremony for home schoolers. Its unique in that the parents get to present the diplomas. My brother wrote personal, heart-felt speeches, filled with humor and inspiration. 

My sister-in-law has done an amazing job getting the kids here, from K-12, finding what works for each individual child and maximizing the resources available. No doubt, these diplomas represent lots of tough days and sweet victories. A job well done by all!

Back at the house, there was a party, filled with supportive community made up of family, church friends and neighbors, good food and lots of photos displayed throughout.

The '06 Club, now 19 years old!

May 24

The second day of Aiden's tournament and it rained for both games. One of these outhouses was very unusable and, though I'm not proud of this, I found it highly entertaining to watch people figure that out. 

Project 365, Week 20

This felt like my first week back at real life post-tax season, followed by a quick succession of trips to Alabama, Pennsylvania and then Europe. Who am I? What does my life look like?  It felt great to get back (though I'm still working out the "who am I?" part 😉)!

May 11

My sister, brother and I took our mom out to breakfast for Mother's Day. 

May 12

Avery and I enjoyed lunch together. A year later and we're still trying to adjust and find a rhythm now that she's out of the house.

May 13

Amanda is quite skilled on the ukulele and I got serenaded while cleaning up the kitchen.

Aiden and I are suckers for library days.

May 14

First nap on the porch this season! Some combination of the meds I'm on, having cancer and being over fifty requires me to sleep for 20 minutes in the middle of the day. Not so bad, especially on the porch.

May 15

I know a bare minimum about flowers and have decided to spend some time educating myself a little bit at a time. Proven Winners has a site that helps put container combinations together and its been a treat to look through. 

I hope part of my work assignment in heaven is with flowers. Can you even imagine the colors, fragrances, varieties and weed-less-ness???

May 16

Our annual farmer's market run at dawn. YAY! Amanda made her self available to help carry and load with Amy, while I stood guard of our selections. We left with empty pockets and full hearts.

Z, our first foster child is going to be a dad. His grandmother has always been so gracious about staying in touch, and she extended the invitation to me. For the benefit of not making Z's mom uncomfortable, I hesitated to go, but finally I decided the support would outweighed the awkwardness. I'm glad I went because it was me, mom, grandma and sister there for Z and the other thirty-ish people were on the baby's mom's side.

This was my first time meeting the baby's mom and she is just the sweetest. She was warm and crafty and seemed like she'll be very "motherly". She comes from a large, in-tact family who will offer her a great support system. She also did an incredible job planning and executing the shower, which including a pizza truck that everyone raved about! And is doing a Winnie-the-pooh for the baby so major extra points for that. :)

May 17

Happy 1st Anniversary to these two! 

We spent a couple hours at the lake, enjoying it for the first time of the season. It was good to be back!

Aiden and I got some good car time together on the drive to and from the not-close soccer game. Now that he has his license we don't get that as often and I cherished it.