Dream team

Soccer season ended.  It was a fabulous season!

This, my friends, is the dream team ...

Why?  They loved playing together!  (And kids who love playing together, pass the ball to each other, and passing the ball makes for a good team.)  It was a joy to watch how happy they were to play together!

Many of the kids have played together before.  In fact, Greg had coached half of them before.  It was awesome to see how much they have all improved.  Also, Greg had been the Sunday School teacher of a couple of the kids.  Not surprisingly, he especially enjoyed coaching kids he already knew.

To make it even better, David was on the same team as his BFF, and Bailey's dad agreed to be the assistant coach.

Best of all for me was to realize how much David has improved since his first kindergarten team.  He can hold his own, that's for sure.  He's pretty fast, he's not shy about being aggressive and taking the ball, and he understands the importance of passing and using teamwork.  He scored five goals this season too!

What a fun, fun season.

(Yes, that is Mary on the bleachers with a Turkish flag--what else would you use to cheer on your brother?)

Good friends, good teammates ...

Sigh.  I'm sad it's over.

But I see plenty more soccer games in our future ... and it is nice to have a breather, until the fall season is underway.

Another Montessori night with Mary

Mary took Daddy to school one evening and showed him a few of her lessons.  (Sadly, I was at home with a sick David.)

Mary working on addition ... 

Mary doing a little sewing ...

(She HATES licking the yarn before threading it.  "Disgusting!!")

Mary's class has been OBSESSED with geography this year.  They can't get enough map-making! This is Mary making a map of Australia ...

And nothing like some good old table washing!

Then Greg rushed off to coach a soccer game.  And my sweet Mary came home to me.

By the way, we decided to send Mary to her Montessori school again next year.  Originally it wasn't even an option: The school is moving to a new location half an hour from our house, and Mary would be going full-day so tuition would almost double.  No way!!  But we slowly reconciled ourselves to the fact that it was by far the best thing for Mary and good for our family in ways too, and somehow we could make it work.  So make it work we will.  And I have no doubt that Mary will have another marvelous year.

Grand Solar System Tour begins

Last year we set about pretending to tour Northern Europe.  This summer we are setting our sights even bigger:  The Solar System!

Madison is crisscrossed with bike trails.  And if you take a certain route, you will meet every planet in the solar system.  Starting at the Monona Terrace, which plays the role of Sun, the planets (more specifically, informational signs about the planets) are spaced to scale.

Last weekend we started at the sun, traveled out to Ceres (a dwarf planet past Mars) and returned back to the sun.

THE SUN

MERCURY

VENUS

HOME SWEET HOME

MARS

CERES

And then we returned to the sun.  (That's Frank Lloyd Wright's Monona Terrace.)

The inner planets are pretty close to each other--it was easy to knock them out in a short afternoon.  Next up will be Jupiter.  We're working up to the many miles long journey out to Pluto.  That's our goal this summer.

To conclude, here's a picture of my sweetheart.  We walked out on the dock while Greg was loading up the bikes.  I've said it once (more than once), and I'll say it again ... Love that kid.

Anyway, here's to happy peddling this summer!

Picnic Point forever

We went with a group of friends to Picnic Point on Madison's Lake Mendota for a good old-fashioned cook-out of hot dogs, brats, and s'mores.

(My kind of camping--one meal, no tents.  And, yes, I do try to convince my kids that roasting hot dogs over a camp fire counts as camping.  The longer I live away from the West, the more anti-camping I become.  But perhaps it has more to do with age than being in the Midwest.)

It was so fun, especially the being with friends part.  And the eating part.  And the lovely lake part.  But especially the friends part.

Can we just live in Madison forever?!!  Pleeeease?

Mother's Day gifts

David and Mary were bubbling over with excitement about the gifts they each made for me at school.

Mary made me this sweet bookmark.

She did the painting, the writing, and the drawing herself.  She and her teacher Anna did the braiding together.  Mary is a dedicated, careful worker who thrives on a sense of accomplishment.  Sometimes I think there is nothing in the world she could not conquer.  It is amazing to be her mom.


David made me a whole book.  This is my favorite page.

I fail as a mom in a gazillion ways.  But I have no doubt that my son has no doubt that I love him.  He readily accepts and absorbs and reflects my affection.

Greg hooked me up with a much-needed yoga mat sling and more of the divine from across the backyard.  I would not want to be a mom with anyone else at my side.

Patience

Two ways I am learning patience:

1. Having children
2. Not having children

Brilliant!

Okay, I'm going to make you all jealous again because you don't have my sister-in-law.  (Unless, of course, you do ... this is a big family I married into.)

Mary thoughtfully, carefully picked out some butterfly material for a bulletin board in her room.  (I managed to make the bulletin board this time--WITHOUT stapling it to the kitchen table.  Hooray!)  Of course, within three seconds of its begin hung on the wall it was completely covered with pictures, drawings, medals, certificates, and ribbons.  Mary cried that she couldn't see the butterflies.  (But she also refused to take down some of the crap, ahem, treasures on the board.)

Aunt le to the rescue!

 Mary is in love!  And so happy to see the butterflies.  She carried the pillow around for a week.

Here is a picture of Hello Kitty relaxing with the treasured pillow.

Incidentally, Mary asked me yesterday, "Why is there a Kitty in Hello Kitty's name?"  Mary, dear, we've all been wondering the same thing ever since you named your BEAR Hello Kitty.

Aunt le solved another problem for me.  Way back when, for Christmas, le made these fabulous little baby doll blankets for the the little girls.  They were a hit!  I do believe these two small blankets (so lovely and so simple but so smart) were among the most important play items in our house.  They are just the right size for baby dolls.  (Real baby blankets, even small receiving ones, just don't work for baby dolls--they're too big and your kid just drags them around and trips on them and cries when they won't stay wrapped around the doll.)

Then at Christmas Katie entered our lives.  She is cherished.  And so, as decreed by Mary, she is now the sole owner of the baby doll blankets.  Leaving the five thousand other baby dolls and loveys in our house blanket-less.  This has been something of a conundrum/crisis for Mary (who insists that Katie is NOT willing to share.)

So guess what else Aunt le sent.

Score!!  A thick stack of baby doll blankets AND pillows.  (This isn't even all of them!)

Ahhh.  Don't you just love a stack of material?  Want to know what I love about this stack?

It's finished!! I sometimes buy fabric for this, that, or the other.  And if I don't use it right away, it starts to weigh on my soul.  Lovely raw crafting materials give me STRESS, not inspiration.  Yet another reason I am not a crafter.  So this stack of colors and patterns gives me pure joy. I love a finished product.

Le makes the blankets in a variety of sizes and shapes--because baby dolls come in all different sizes and shapes.  I especially love the rectangles.  A child can wrap the doll her/himself and it will stay wrapped.

Look at this...

Simple and smart.

Two of the blankets were pieced and tied!!  Here is one...

Did you notice the matching pillow too?  Are we spoiled or what??

Look at this comfy little baby doll.

With blankets and pillows to share with her little friends.  (And there are many more friends not shown here. How did we end up with so many baby dolls?!)

I can't tell you how giddy these blankets make me.

But you want to know what was truly BRILLIANT?

Le included a blanket for David.  She told me he'd want one too.  I was skeptical.  But guess what.  EVERY night Teddy has been tightly bundled next to David's pillow.  So sweet.

Boys loves their loveys too--and every lovey deserves a blanket.

Good thing I have a wise sister-in-law.  With a generous heart.  (And a sewing machine.)


P.S.  You can find le's craft blog here.

Ready for attack

We went to the store yesterday.  The kids were dying to spend their allowance.  Mary, not surprisingly, purchased yet another princess.  She was pleased.

"Now my princess army is complete!!"

She declared them ready to take on Bionicles, Pokemon, a giant AT-AT, or what have you.

(Mary might have a lot of princesses. But at least these gals aren't passive.)

The tooth fairy has been busy this week

Two front teeth in two days.  Woo hoo!

Teacher Appreciation Day

This afternoon we celebrated Teacher Appreciation Day in Mr. B's class.  Last week the kids stealthily passed around a card that they all signed.  All the parents chipped in for a gift--a few Brewers fan items.  If those kids have learned anything this year, it's to love the Brewers.  (Having grown up as more of a Cardinals fan myself, I'm not sure how I feel about this.)  Then this afternoon Emily (friend, co-room mom, and mother of David's bff) and I surprised Mr. B with the gift, card, and these treats...

a thank you for helping our kids grow, complete with gummy worms.

Speaking of Mr. B's class.  Here they are--

They are very sweet kids.  What cuties!  I've been fortunate to be in the classroom a lot this year, and I can tell you that these kids give good hugs.

Hooray for first grade!


P.S.  Today also marks exactly one more month left of school.  Thank goodness.  I've never ever looked forward to summer like I have this year.  One more month...I can do it.  I think I can.  I think I can.  I think I can.

Places

I am electronically disorganized.  (The level of organization of my emails--none--horrifies my husband.  And me.)  This disorganization includes, of course, my blog.

I'm (sloooowly...) (but surely!) working on a places page to help a little with this.  The problem is that I've blogged long enough (and enough brain cells have grown rusty with age) that I can't remember when we went where.  It's nice to know when we went where.  Often the kids will ask.  Or other people will ask.  And I can't find those posts as quickly as a I used to.  Anyway, here you go, in its rough, incomplete state.

Late-over

Friday night the kids had some friends over.  They ate pizza and rice crispie treats, played tag and soccer and Just Dance 2, and, when it was dark, they all brushed their teeth and put on their pajamas.  Then they stayed up late watching a movie, cuddled together on the couch. 

 As David pointed out, it was a "late-over" (instead of a sleep over).  When he went to bed that night (very late), he sighed and said, "Having a late-over was my dream come true."

Especially when it's with such fun friends!

Another way my kids are weird

They love, love, LOVE going to the dentist.

Perhaps I should ease up on the threats and try some positive reinforcement.

"If you clean your room, I'll take you to the dentist!!"



P.S.  I don't know why David's dentist-love surprises me every six months.  This is the kid who had a tantrum when he couldn't have a flu shot.  But Mary!  Well, this is the girl who cried so hard at the dentist the first time that she vomited all over him.  She's come a long way.