Summer Lovin'

 

Surprise!

Sara and I had the best Minnesota weekend. Just a couple of weeks ago, I bought last-minute tickets so we could be on hand to help Melissa celebrate her Master's graduation from Hamline. I had told her how sorry I was that we weren't going to be able to make it, so you can imagine how shocked she was to see us pull up in front of her house in my parents' car.  We hadn't seen each other since Thanksgiving, so we were waaay overdue. 

 Unfortunately, the weather wasn't super cooperative, so Melissa's outdoor graduation ceremony was moved inside.  She didn't have enough tickets for the indoor event for all of us to attend, so she opted out of the ceremony so we could spend the afternoon together.  We enjoyed hanging out at Melissa and Adam's new house; the sun eventually came out, so we took a walk to the nearby park, and then enjoyed beverages on the patio. 

Of course we couldn't let the day pass without some type of ceremony, so we made Melissa get into her grad garb, and we sang Pomp & Circumstance while she walked down the sidewalk.

I put Melissa's hood over her head, and Adam presented her with a diploma crafted from what was once a cheap window covering.  She pretended to be embarrassed by her big dorky family, but I know deep down she loved every minute.

Sara couldn't get enough of her Auntie this weekend.  She's probably the one person Sara would agree to live with (although I think Melissa and Adam rather enjoy their kid-free home...). 

I say it every time: it was hard to leave Minnesota.  I wish I could click my heals and be back there this minute.  I'm so glad that, although the weekend was too short, we could be there to help Melissa celebrate her accomplishments.  We're so proud of our Melvy!

May has been a busy (stressful) month, which has resulted in an unintended lag in my blogging.  To that end, I think I'll just go ahead and take a real break through the end of this month. 

See you in June!

Ba-he-ball Swoop

I knew there was something missing in the this house,

 but I just couldn't put my finger on it.

Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa knew what it was. 

Check out Sara's brand new "ba-he-ball swoop" ... 

 It has already provided endless entertainment for the whole gang. 

And, fittingly, it arrived just in time for the play-offs!

Go Mavs!

Weekend Sneak Peak

 

 

A Whole Lotta Nothin'

I can't really explain my recent blogging drought ... just busy, I guess.  It's not that I have much to report tonight, but I do feel overdue for an update.  If you're looking for pictures, you won't find any here.  I haven't been keeping up in that area of my life (add it to the list) recently.  Sorry.

Probably the most excitement happening in our lives right now is that fact that the Mavs swept the Lakers in the latest play-off series.  My prediction going into this round was that the Lakers would pound the Mavs, so you can imagine my pleasant surprise when the opposite occurred.  I even opted for a Mavs t-shirt on Mother's Day over the more appropriate spring dress I had originally picked to wear. 

Speaking of Mother's Day, I had a nice day (and hope you did, too).  Sara made me a bookmark with her little fingerprints on it, which you all know I'll use.  She did wish me a Happy Mother's Day; it sounded more like, "Happy Mother's" ... but close enough.  We enjoyed the weather at a local outdoor mall where we perused the book store, of course, ate on the patio at Gloria's (oh-yes-I-did enjoy Mother's Day mojitos), and Sara rode on the train.  It was a really peaceful, relaxing, and enjoyable day with my little family.  I'm so thankful for them.

Today we had a blood drive at school in honor of one of our students who is undergoing twenty-eight weeks of chemo.  I was the lucky organizer of the event, and although the organization itself wasn't hard, I was just so hopeful that the drive would be a success.  Obviously middle school kids can't donate, so the drive was just open to faculty and community members.  We had about sixty people donate between 8:00 and 3:00 today, which turned out to be about twice as many as the drive staff had anticipated.  Huge success!  There was a time in the not-so-distant past when I didn't weigh enough to donate blood, but the years have taken care of that for me, so today I gladly offered up my veins for poking and prodding for a good cause.

Tomorrow night at Sara's school is the spring open house.  In addition to regular open house festivities, they will be offering bounce houses, a petting zoo, and more train rides.  So much excitement on a Tuesday night!  Next week Sara officially moves up to the next class, but she's been doing half days for the past week or so to get used to the new teachers and environment.  Four kids from her current class are moving up, and Sara's teachers said she is doing well with the transition.  While other kids in similar situations may cry about having to spend half days in a new and unfamiliar room, apparently Sara has been crying when it's not her half of the day.  I'm so proud of her independent and confident spirit.  Sara and her three friends, including Audrey, will be the only four in the new class who aren't potty-trained, but I'm hoping that won't be the case for long.

My parents are coming to town this weekend!  There's no particular event happening, but they had some ticket vouchers that needed to be used, so they are spending a long weekend with us.  I plan to make a yummy belated Mother's Day brunch, but beyond that we really have no plans.  Everybody is usually on board for grilling, so that'll probably end up happening at some point (or at more than one point).  I don't really care; I'm just glad they are coming.

I cannot believe this school year is in the home stretch.  My to-do list is growing, but somehow the days are disappearing more quickly than ever.  My goal is just not to stress unnecessarily, and I'm working on taking the end-of-year rush and the inevitable the-sky-is-falling panic in stride (if you have ever worked in a school, you likely know what I mean).  Speaking of school, I have to give a huge shout-out to my sister who just accepted a job for next year.  She'll be teaching 9th and 10th grade Civics and US History.  She'll be so good at this job, and she's so deserving of it.  I couldn't be prouder of her.  In fact, I take back my earlier paragraph about the Mavs being the most exciting part of the past week.  The call from my sister with her job news was by far the best phone call I've gotten in a long time.  Three cheers for Melvy!

Higgins

I don't miss all the stray hair, the hyper-excitement, scooping poop, the desperate begging, muddy paws (from purposely playing in the mud), the occasional cling-ons, the bad breath, or the attitude he gave you when you took his spot on the couch.

And while I certainly don't miss cleaning up messes like the one in this video, I do miss the pup who was either so funny or so stupid (you choose) that this seemed like a good idea to him on multiple occasions during his life in our home.

Thank you, Target.

there's even one for the ladies

Here's the thing: you all know I love a deal.  The only thing better than a deal is something that comes for free.  I recently posted a picture of Steve's new effing shirt (Leigh, by the way, if Louis isn't wearing one of these by Father's Day, I'm not sure Rivers gets to maintain his "man's best friend" status ... just sayin').  Mark Ravis, owner of Effing Gear, found my post and offered to send me a free shirt if I also posted about the women's version.  Yes, please.  I'll even one-up his request ... I'm happy to make a few recommendations for friends.

Melissa, can you rock-chalk-it in this?

Ashley, you probably need to get one of these before you move out of Columbia.  And, Sarah, I know there's a place for this in your household.  Craig and Lisa, represent.

Look, there's even stuff for Baylor kids ... and that's a Baptist school.  What can I say, except that it's twenty-eleven and the times they-are-a-changing.  And, truthfully, though I may not like your school because I didn't go there and because they beat us at everything, you're likely to find yourself an effing shirt (or hat or bag or other accessory), so go take a look.

Minnesota items are coming soon, and I know many of you are in the market for new gear in The Great White North.  But to my truest, dearest, very best Ames friends, it boils down to this: you need one of these shirts come September.  They are bound to be the hit of the football season since we know our poor Cyclones likely won't be.

(Mark, my friends are loyal.  I hope they buy your gear.  I wear a small. xoxo.)