Tim kept asking me, “Why are you watching that?” while I cried at the most recent new coverage on the screen. I was angry at first, but then I thought about it and then I slept on it, and this morning the first thing I did after getting Michael on the bus was log onto the computer and check the news stories for updates. It is one thing to ache for the families and mourn the losses but another to let it consume you. My family is healthy and happy. I should be celebrating that. If I spend my days wrapped up in other people’s tragedy I am undoubtedly missing out on the good that is in my life. I can’t control a natural disaster or an act of terror, but I can control living in the moment and enjoying what I got right now.

I will still check for updates on the still missing child and I will watch coverage on the families in Oklahoma for information on how I can help and where I can donate but I will not let it consume my every thought, because even now as I am writing this post a beautiful little girl has crawled into my lap asking me to play with her. I am sure the moms who lost their children would want me to walk away from the keyboard and play dollhouse and princess until my baby girl surrenders to exhaustion and curls up in my lap to cuddle.

So on that note. I am choosing to focus on the good, and today was Crazy Hair Day. For those who can’t play dollhouse or build a complicated monster dispenser in Minecraft with my children today, here are some photos to smile at:

the following two photos are snap shots of his “victory dance moves” from when he beats a level in Mario Brothers

Why do silly faces always consist of a tongues sticking out?

profile and done:

And today:

Per suggestion from friends on facebook, I kept the end of year teacher gifts simple; a sincere thank you note, a gift card and then I printed out comic that Tim found.

I think the comic perfectly illustrates what Patrick’s teachers must have felt like on a daily basis. Nice Find Tim.

comic by Jim Benton

Here are the teachers that spent their days trying to shove a glowing ball of knowledge into Patrick’s head.

We started a tradition after Michael’s last day of preschool to go to Barnes and Noble after school and choose a book. This will be our 3rd year repeating this tradition and it is fast becoming one of my favorites.

And this year because I was craving it, we added a trip to Dairy Queen to the tradition. Patrick and Elise didn’t mind. There are no photos of this though because I was too busy consuming 670 calories (I checked the nutrition label on the DQ website after I ate the whole thing) of peanut butter chocolate ice cream goodness. (Mental note: must remember for Michael’s last day of school – it was not worth the calories)

I feel like I said what I needed to say last week on your graduation post so instead of droning on about how the challenge of parenting you is a blessing I think I will go read you a story from your book while doing the plank.

I love you PJ. Happy Summer Vacation!

more photos here

The page will always be linked in the top menu under the header image.

Bittersweet is this whole raising children thing.

Yesterday Michael chose a career path and Patrick was invited to a birthday party. They grow up so quick. All three of them pissed me off to the point of giving me a stress migraine at swim lessons last night but after dinner (which they didn’t like so they went to bed with only a few cherries in their bellies) Michael helped clean up toys without a complaint. Patrick scrubbed the kitchen table and chairs clean, which is helpful for me and fun for him because he gets to use the coveted squirt bottle. He was even kind and generous enough to let Elise work alongside him. Although at one point he said, “I know! How about I squirt and Elise scrubs!” Tim and I both replied “No.” in unison from the kitchen sink where we were finishing up the dishes.

They grow up so quickly.

So today, while looking over the following photos, I am making a pledge to myself. I will do my best to keep perspective about how fleeting this time with them is. Yes they can be little shits but they are our little shits and I want to soak up as much time with them as I can before they realize that I am just a Mom who blogs instead of doing laundry and I am not the all-knowing, Super Woman they think I am. Also… I am going to make myself take even more photos because I seriously  don’t want to forget the day that Elise and I bought flowers for the front yard while wearing a hand-me-down sweatshirt from her brothers.

I also don’t want to forget that she chose a $2 watering can that was pink with purple stars on it as a reward for being such a patient helper while I loaded bags and bags of rock onto a flat-bed. Or how clever she thought she was when she learned how to use the rain barrel I installed.

And boy was she mad when she tried to carry the over flowing watering can over to her newly potted flowers and all the water kept spilling out.

She was concentrating so hard, and was so frustrated that she gave me the stink eye when she saw that I was documenting her trials and tribulations.

In the end there was enough water in the can to get this shot.

But by the time I moved around to the other side of her, the watering can was empty.

She filled her can, frustratingly carried it the 5 feet from the rain barrel to the flower-pot a dozen more times before she was content that her flowers were sufficiently hydrated before she would come inside for lunch.

Yeah. More photo taking, more time with kids because they grow so quick.

While weaving through the racks with the world’s biggest shopping cart that Elise insists on riding in, I saw something that I had never seen at Target before, Minecraft tees. This is huge people. My kids LOVE Minecraft. All three of them. Elise likes to have someone build her pink houses and then fill the pink houses with pigs and sheep. Michael has built condos and explored caves while battling creepers. Patrick… well he likes to build sculptures and blow them up with TNT.

For those who haven’t heard of MInecraft…. Minecraft is like Legos but with a never-ending world to explore. The game is made of blocks and each block can be moved and placed. You have to mine for resources and plant wheat and raise cows for food. It is like pioneering but with zombies. Michael’s school is even offering a few different Minecraft classes this summer for varying age levels. (click and down load the summer Youth program to see classes on everything from video game design to robotics to music and sports classes) It really is a great game.

Of course, I bought shirts for everyone. Even Elise got a boys size XS shirt that she wore with leggings all Saturday. The boys wore their shirts to bed on Friday and then all day Saturday. They only took them off because I promised them that I would wash them and they could wear them on Monday to school.

Fast forward to this morning. Shirts were clean and laid out the night before. Michael already had his on along with his Minecraft sweatshirt I made him for Christmas 2 years ago when I came down stairs. He was PUMPED to show his friends his shirt.

Then as I was loading lunch boxes into backpacks I remembered…. It is  spirit week at both the boys’ schools….Today at Michael’s school it is “Career Day-Dress like what you want to be when you grow up”

SH!T! DOUBLE SH!T!

This lightbulb moment happened at 8:35am and the bus comes at 9am. Awesome. So I braced for the worse and started into a spiel about Spirit Week and started to work some Mom spin/hype magic. If advertising or publishing companies ever wanted to learn from masters they need look no farther than a time crunched Mom trying to sell her kid an idea she knows they will resist. We are spin magicians. Halfway through my impromptu spin campaign I could already see that he was starting to recognise that he would have to change out of his Minecraft shirt but I could also tell that he was coming around to the idea of “wearing a costume all day at school and pretending to be a grown up! How cool is that. You are so lucky!!!”

I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up as soon as I saw him start to get interested in “wearing a costume.” He didn’t answer. I thought I blew my timing and I would have to deal with sad sad tears that were my fault because I promised him something and now I was taking it away. The seconds turned to minutes and let me tell you what…. I had to resist every temptation to start giving him options of careers I knew I could throw together quick. If he said Weather Man (like he did on his first day of Kindergarten) I would be fine. I knew he had a button up shirt and tie hanging in his closet. Done and Done. I began praying- Please say Weather Man. Please God let him say Weather Man. Anything beyond that… well lets just say the creative genius side of me isn’t an early riser… I would have been up shit creek.

He looked around, furrowed his brows, pursed his lips and stood quietly. I was just about to ask him again so I could start the mad dash to dig for some random clothing item when he said, “Can I just play video games when I am grown up?”

I told him no that wasn’t a job and he had to choose a job. Quickly.

It was now 8:39 and I was ready to turn him into a weather man whether he liked it or not and then he said in a hopefull voice, “What if I make the video games? Is that a job?”

I looked at him in his Minecraft t-shirt and his Minecraft sweatshirt and said, “Yes Michael it is. Get your shoes on and I will tell you all about a guy named Notch.”

PARENTING WIN! We were out the door in minutes, on the front lawn talking about Notch and  we had time to spare. TIME TO SPARE. By the time the bus pulled up he had his future all planned out. He will work at Nintendo for a bit because he really likes Super Mario Brothers but when he wants a break from Mario he will go work for Notch at Minecraft.

He is awesome. Tim and I made that kid.

He still has two more days of school before he is officially done but the light at the end of this very dark tunnel is getting brighter. He didn’t get to stand on the square he wanted to while on stage and even though he folded his arms and pouted there was no fit and he snapped out of it relatively quickly.

Progress people.  We are moving in the right direction. Two months ago I would have had to pull him off the stage kicking and screaming. He has come far. I am so proud of him. I am grateful for his teachers. And damn it, I am proud of TIm and me too. This has been the hardest few months of parenting we have experienced and we made it through.

Cue the Alleluia Chorus.

He was one of the most animated kids on that stage. He knew his lyrics and choreography well enough that he was able to look out into the audience instead of just watching his teacher.

Patrick, we love you more than you will ever know. You have taught us patience and resilience. You light up the room and bring so much joy  to our family.  You have gone from refusing to hold scissors to cutting and pasting like it is your job. You still only sign your name PJ but that is okay. I have to admire that you were clever enough to recognise that PJ is easier and  faster to write than Patrick.

You are a charmer and a ham but you are also quiet and shy. That unique combination of traits makes anyone that you show the slightest bit of interest in feel like a million bucks. You have a rare gift. You can make someone feel like the most important person in the world. I hope you use your powers for good and don’t take advantage of your Mommy’s soft spot for you mischievousness smile.

Congrats buddy. You did it. Next year Kindergarten. I say bring it on. You will do great. You are a wonderful kid and there is nowhere else to go but up. I love you.

more pics here

I know… PANELING?! but really it is the most cost-effective option for us. The drywall is in horrible condition with bad patch jobs and nicks everywhere so instead of ripping out all the drywall and replacing it, mudding it, sanding it, mudding it again and then priming and painting we have opted to put up some wainscotting/paneling which will be easily wipeable (seriously – boys pee EVERYWHERE!) and much more durable in the long run.

Now that the contractor is booked we have some decisions to make. I have been pinning every half bath with wainscotting I came across and every style of mudroom bench imaginable.

I am doing my best to respect Tim’s opinions but lets be honest, I get final say. Here are some of the inspiration photos I have pinned.

I like this one even though it is more beachy than I would ever decorate.

I love the idea of this entryway. The kids would hang up their stuff if they had hooks!

Today ‘s  job is to choose a tile. The contractor gets a discount at The Tile Shop so we will be shopping from there.  I hate having to think about resale because I want what I want but eventually we will be selling whether it is because of Tim’s work or to move to a different home in the Twin Cities. Would you buy a house with either of these tiles?

Rox Taupe

Rox Grigio

And yes they are different tile. I love the second but I think it might be too grey for the next owners who may not love my “grey is the new taupe” theory.

I didn’t doubt my decision until she took the first snip…

And there was no turning back after that.

She sat so nicely the whole time.

She earned that sucker and a trip to the park (you know it was so I could take photos but she thinks it is because she sat so nice. win win.)

I love the hair cut. It is so sweet and it will be so nice for all the sand box time and swimming that comes with summer.

Today is a cloudy overcast day with no sun shining at all. We will get rain this afternoon. The low light made catching a clear shot tough and I am so bummed this shot came out fuzzy and that the focus is just a little too far to the right.

She was done smiling at the camera at this point. I had my window of opportunity of happy, smiley Elise and missed the good shot. Oh well, I guess I will just try again some other time.

a couple more photos here. 

update:

Here are a few more I overlooked when I originally uploaded photos. The rest you can find at the link above.

We had a picnic. Elise and Patrick played while my friend and I reminisced. I will miss our play dates.

Patrick picked the seasoned, olive oiled tomatoes off his gourmet sandwich. Elise had so much sand falling out of her hair that I think she ate more sand than sandwich. But it doesn’t matter that I threw most of those sandwiches away. That wasn’t what today was about.

I have really got to make some friends with women that don’t work with or have husbands that work with Tim. I have said far to many goodbyes lately. Maybe we should just move back to ND so I can be closer to my BFFs!