Great Start to the Weekend

We are in the midst of a holiday weekend and boy, is it a good thing there is an extra day this weekend. We'll need it to recover from the first two days of the weekend!

Friday afternoon we had John's preschool graduation, which was wonderful and sentimental (more for me than for him I think) and exhausting. Then that evening we went to Friday Night Live in Herndon, Va for an outdoor concert, picnic dinner, and hanging out with some good friends. We met up with a neighbor family there and just had a great time. It was fun for the kids and the adults and the weather was perfect for it. All in all, it was a great day!

Then Saturday (after I went to the farmers market in the morning) we went down to my in-laws' marina and spent the afternoon on their boat. We opted not to take the boat out due to wind conditions and the crowds reported to be out on the river. But instead we went for a great swim in the marina's pool, where John was thrilled to show off his new swimming skills, and then just relaxed on the boat to enjoy the fabulous day. Afterwards we went back to their house to have a big traditional cookout. A great day all around. The kids did well, staying up late for a second night in a row and Kara only had a short nap in the car. I'm expecting to see some behavior issues today from both of them, but that's certainly understandable. Today I think we'll try to stick closer to a normal schedule for them.

The great thing about a holiday weekend is that even though it already feels like we've had a very full weekend, we still have 2 more full days to enjoy! Yahooo!!!!

1 is Almost Done

With preschool, that is. He finished up the season of swimming lessons yesterday, with the grand result of being "graduated" up to the next level - after a lot of hard work. It was really wonderful, but hard to say goodbye to the wonderful instructor he's had for most of the winter. I'm hopeful Kara may get her when she starts swimming classes in the fall.

The bigger event though is that today is John's last day of preschool. It's so hard to imagine that he's all done with preschool. Our school experience has been SO positive. I just can't say enough to praise our school and teachers and school families for making this be such a wonderful place to start our schooling. John has grown socially and academically there (even though academics truly aren't their main focus). I keep feeling like I'll miss the school, which is just silly since Kara will start there in the fall and I'll continue to be on the board of the school. My involvement is nowhere near being over, but John's is, and for some reason I'm having a bit of a hard time with that.

John is totally ready for kindergarten, and is finally getting pretty excited about going to school too, which is great. Last night I went to a gathering of the preschool class moms with the purpose of assembling scrapbooks for the kids of their year at the preschool. I had so much fun chatting and laughing with these wonderful moms. And the pictures, whoa! These kids have grown and changed so much over the year. I never did a book for John from last year's class, so I was starting at the beginning, 2 years back. It was so funny to look at how young he and his classmates looked from the previous year. Amazingly I got through all of year 1 and started on year 2 before we all got tired and called it a night. But the fun was immense and I'm hopeful that I will actually finish the project with John's help over the summer. I also think we'll have enough room in our book to include a few artwork pieces, of which we have SOOOO many. I'm excited that we'll have this great collection of pictures, projects and memories of his days at the preschool.

Thank you to Hunters Woods Preschool for all that you have given to my son and my family and countless others. It's been a wonderful two years for John and I look forward to the coming years with Kara.

Thankful Today

I woke up this morning feeling very refreshed and thankful, so I thought it'd be a great day to do a "thankful" post. Here goes....

Today I am thankful for:

1. a beautiful spring day (and entire week for that matter)

2. a very restful night's sleep for me and Matt and for the kids

3. a relaxing morning with nowhere to rush off to

4. great friends that we played with at the playground yesterday

5. my yoga class last night

6. the long walk I was able to take yesterday

7. the coming summer break...coming quickly, but I am looking forward to it

8. the great preschool that John has been able to experience for the last 2 years - great teachers, great kids, great families

9. a wonderful and supportive husband

10. the green nail polish that's on Kara's toes and the wonder that it has inspired in her - she keeps being amazed when she sees her own "green pretty toes" - too cute

There are many many more, but I'll save those for another day. Time to go enjoy this fabulous day!

Early Veggie Season is Here

Our Reston Farmers' Market has been open for 3 Saturdays now (at Lake Anne, 8-12 on Saturday mornings). I missed the first week, but made it over the last two weekends and was richly rewarded for my efforts. Kara came with me both times, which made for a nice mother-daughter outing for us. The tents were many and the produce was plentiful. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety I found so early in the season. I was pretty sure it was going to be sparse pickings, but was totally wrong. Over the first two weeks I found salad greens, spinach, asparagus, broccoli, strawberries, cucumbers, snap peas, onions, lettuces, radishes, zucchini, yellow squash, even some early tomatoes, and much more. Many vendors were selling plants - flowers and herbs, and also some veggie plants. Along with the dairy vendors (from which I purchased some fresh feta - heavenly), there were also several vendors selling meat and eggs. It was amazing and inspiring. Both weeks I came home with a full bag of delicious produce for us to feast on and feeling great about the fresh, local, organic food I was going to put on our family's dinner table.

It made me very ready to start getting our veggie bags from the CSA. But that season won't start for another 6 weeks or so. In the meantime, I'll be very happy to frequent the lush farmers' market we are so fortunate to have. Supporting these local farmers is a great side benefit, but the high quality of the food is the best reason to go! So please, oh please, visit your local farmers market. Go often and buy, buy, buy!! And then ENJOY the fruits of your efforts. I promise it will be well worth it!

Our First Crush

There was a girl.... Isn't that how it always starts? I can't believe I'm already starting a statement about my own child that way. But...well, there is this girl...in John's preschool class, named Cristina. She's positively charming and adorable. She was in his class last year and this year and John has been buddies with her all year, but it seems to have stepped up a notch or two over the last couple of months. They're inseparable now, holding hands, hugging, making pictures for each other, and even professing love and planning marriage! It's so sweet. They both have been known to cry and moan for the other when they're apart and awaken before they should in the morning if it's a day when they'll be seeing each other before school. Don't get me wrong, they're not a mushy-gushy-in-love kind of pair. But they are definitely more than the buddies they used to be. They play very well together, are interested in similar things and also respect each other's divergent interests too. They're pretty good about including other kids in their play, but they will also stick together when they're ready to move onto other activities.

The hardest part for me is that this all has developed at the end of the school year. We're a little over a week away from the last day of school. And while they do have a school picnic the following week, their class time together is coming to a close. It's kind of sad for me to think about it. But the positive thing is that Cristina's younger brother will be in Kara's preschool class next year. So our contact with her family is guaranteed to continue and hopefully we'll be able to keep them connected in some way. I can't imagine the relationship will stay at this intensity for long after school's over, but it is good to know that it won't entirely fade away either.

My little boy's growing up. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's scary, and sometimes it's just too darn sweet. Thank you Cristina for seeing the good in my son and being such a good friend to him. He loves you too.

All About the Moms

As usual I started off this Monday morning with a severe energy shortage. We had a very busy and full weekend. But I wouldn't have traded a minute of it.

Friday night I got the chance to hang out with a few of my mom friends (without the kids) and had a great time. We so rarely get to see each other without the little ones around, but when we do get together we laugh, share, dance, drink, and enjoy the time to be adults!

Then Saturday morning I took Kara to the Reston Farmer's Market and was amazed at how many vendors were there with so many yummy things to eat. It was impressive and made me yearn for the summer veggies that I know are in our future. How wonderful. With only limited cash in my pocket I purchased asparagus, strawberries, spinach, a head of romaine, and a bag of mixed baby greens. I also ran into both of John's preschool teachers and relished sharing the experience with Kara on such a gorgeous day.

Kara and I headed home (after a run to the regular grocery store for our staple items) to prepare some food for the evening's meal for which my parents were coming over. We took a break after her nap and all four of us went over to a neighborhood playground social event. The weather was wonderful and many neighbors came out to the meet and greet. The kids enjoyed the time to run and play after all the MANY days of rain we've had lately. Then we headed back home just in time to meet my parents as they arrived to celebrate my dad's birthday (last week) and Mother's Day (a day early). We had a great evening with them - yummy food and great wine and a very nice visit.

Sunday morning I took the chance to sleep in just a bit before we were back at the entertaining thing again. I was up and cooking and preparing for a visit from Matt's parents for brunch/lunch for Mother's Day. Matt and the kids went and got flowers and bagels for our own breakfast while I worked on getting lunch together. Then we had a very enjoyable visit with the Rankins. They even took the kids out on a big walk while Matt and I cleaned up after lunch and had a few moments to rest a bit. After they left, Kara took her nap and I changed clothes and took the opportunity, on another gorgeous day, to take a long walk by myself. It was so nice! When I got home, Matt and John went off to the pet store and I even got a little snooze in. What a Mother's Day! After Kara woke up, we took the kids' bikes outside and spent the rest of the afternoon riding bikes and hanging out with neighbors. Later Matt prepared dinner (cheese fondue - YUMMM!!) and we were all so wiped out. The kids got into bed and we were not far behind them. I think I could have slept all day today I was so tired.

This morning was a little hard to get going, but it was worth the fun and good times we had all weekend long. I am not sure I could handle another weekend like this anytime soon, but I am thankful for all the family and friends I was able to share time with this weekend.

Happy Mother's Day!

Rain, Rain, Go AWAY!!!

It's been raining here for many, many days straight. I'm starting to wonder if the sun will ever come back out. Well, I guess I know that it will, but it's been hard with two young kids to be trapped indoors all this time. Keeping the kids entertained and getting them enough exercise has been a challenge of epic proportions. This afternoon we're supposed to get a bit of a break in the rain and I'm hoping that we'll get out for awhile, for a walk at least. This has made me start thinking about what I'll do this summer when I don't even have preschool time to myself during a rainy day.

The summer has all of a sudden filled up. We now have four weeks of various camps (sports, nature, tennis, oh my!) scheduled and a week at the beach. Starting at the end of June through July and into the start of August we are going to be busy. Well, at least John is going to be busy. I hope he does okay through it all and maintains the excitement he has right now about these camps. Kara and I will have to find ways to get her some activities too. And then I'm hoping to add swim lessons in to the mix as well. We'll see.

And then I'm looking forward to having some free time in early June and in August to just play around and enjoy some lazy summer days before John starts kindergarten. My goal is to make as much of these days as I can. I feel like a chapter is going to come to a close in September and while I'm so ready for school to start, I'm also sad to see our flexible, less scheduled days come to an end. John's been an amazing kid to watch grow and learn. He's funny, curious, loving, and so very enjoyable (well, most of the time).

I had someone recently tell me they thought my kids were so even-tempered all the time. I was surprised, since I see the intensity of their tempers regularly. But I also realized that clearly, while they feel comfortable expressing things with me (which is great), they also know that in the classroom or other public places, other expectations apply. That's a hard thing to learn, even for adults. And it's something that is hard to know whether your kid has learned or not, since they'll always behave differently around their parents. I am crazy for my kids, while they sometimes do make me crazy, but they are mine and I am so proud of them both.

Most summers have come with a sense of dread as to how I was going to fill all those many summer days. This year I'm looking forward to finding new things to learn with John and Kara and the many days of fun with family and friends.