My Little Boy Is All Grown Up

Evan has his first real job interview this afternoon - at Wendy's. Hardly a glamorous job, but it will "pay the bills." Okay, he has no bills yet, but he is itching to get his driver's license which will bring with it some necessary expenses. He also signed up to play his pipes at the Renaissance Festival this fall which will earn him some more $$.

Btw, I hate spelling that word Renaissance. For the life of me I can NEVER remember how to spell it :-(

Why?

This is no news to my immediate family, but it might be to others - I cry really easily. Not the, "oh, my feelings are so hurt" sort of crying. I don't do much of that ever. It's the "that is so touching" sort of crying. I cry at commercials, I cry when I read books, I cry when I read the newspaper, etc. I think I may have blogged on this before, now that I think about it.

Anyway, this week I really puzzled myself. In history we are reading about the Wright Brothers and, yes, I cried when we got to the part about their first airplane actually taking off.

????

I'm beginning to think my emotional wiring is not quite right. But I was just so happy for them! Here they had devoted all this time and energy, working and studying, and then - success. Doesn't that make YOU cry?

Oh well, even if I'm the only person in the world who cries about the Wright Brothers' success, I'm okay with that. It's just one more thing (in the mountain of things) that makes me "different."

Things I Learned This Week

1. I should correct the kids' schoolwork BEFORE they go outside to play because trying to get them back in for corrections is like pulling teeth.

2. Hanging flannel pajamas on the clothes line to dry produces "crunchy" pajamas!

3. I have approximately 10 bins of clothes to go through to do the "change of season" clothes shift.

4. I REALLY like warm weather. (Okay, I didn't really "learn" this this week, but it was definitely reinforced.)

5. You should not paint your nails right before you go out to uncover the rose bushes. It would have been a better idea to do the rose bushes first and then the nails. Ah, well, hindsight is 20/20.

Now I'm Excited

Did you know that there is a website that will take your blog and turn it into a bound book? Now I'm really excited. One of the reasons I blog is to keep a record of our family life for our kids. I want them to know about the day-to-day activites of their childhood as well as the big events. Now if I can get this printed into a book (or books) how great would that be?

My only fear is that it will cost me and arm in a leg since I am so verbose at times :-)

Teach An Old Mom New Tricks?

Since I can't learn to play the hammered dulcimer, due to the fact that we don't own a hammered dulcimer and probably won't be buying one in the near future, I have decided to learn to play the drums instead :-)

Actually, Aidan just started taking drum lessons with the band (MPPB). Since I have to drive him to the lessons and wait for him to finish, I have decided to learn the snare drum with him (they are group lessons). We are having a great time practicing our new skills. It is great mother/son bonding time. I have the advantage of being able to read music. He has the advantage of being young!

Soon, we will both be able to accompany Evan while he pipes. Okay, not so soon, but maybe someday. And maybe, just maybe, this will all make me a better hammered dulcimer player someday :-)

Fashion Plates

This past week has shown the wonderful fashion sense of my children.

First, we have Nina, looking stunning in my lovely black and cream dress - awaiting her ride to the Celtic Woman concert (thanks, Tim & Trudy)...

Doesn't she look great?

Next up we have Zoe in an interesting combination of a flower-print jumper with sweatshirt cover-up and striped tights. This lovely ensemble is finished off with sparkly silver shoes.

You gotta love that girl! She'd wear a dress for every occasion if she could.

Sometime, I will assemble an entire blog post about the strange and bizarre things me kids wear and the fact that, yes, I do let them go out in public like that. I never have been one to be overly concerned with fashion or opinions of others :-)

Can You Tell?

Which one of these children had something done to their hair yesterday?Look carefully. This is a trick question....

Yes, the discerning eye will note that both children did something with their hair. Emily's hair was straightened by Auntie Monica and Evan's hair was cut by someone at the Cole's Salon. At least he tells me they cut it. You see, I was in the lobby area the whole time and for all I know he went back and had a little chat with the stylist for 20 minutes and then came right back out. Maybe he bribed her to say that she cut his hair. Who knows?

Regardless, they are both adorable, as always!