May
19
Three Things That Happened Today
by Leslie
1. Julia and Lucy had a piano recital.

They were just as proud of the number of cookies they ate at the post-recital reception as they were of their performances.
2. I pulled the world’s largest splinter out of the heel of Lucy’s foot.

Look at that thing! And it was straight up in there. We both screamed when it came out.
3. Bee swallowed a penny. Again.
May
13
Love in my family
by Leslie
Mother’s Day was lovely. I was the recipient of a green plant, some brilliant original artwork in my favorite medium (crayon), and a gift card to the spa! The spa!!!!
I was the giver of LOVE, in the form of photographs.
I had seen this idea at The Inadvertent Farmer and knew it was a perfect gift for my mom, so I quickly printed the letters and snapped the photos.




Then I had them printed and framed them – for at home.

And after seeing the idea at I Can Teach My Child, I made them into magnets – for her to take to work.

I also used them to make her a new Facebook timeline cover photo that I fell in love with so hard, I was inspired to update my banner here. Take a look at it. What do you think?
May
8
Guess who made it to a game?
by Leslie
Yep, this girl.

(You know I mean me, right? The one behind the camera.)
She played shortstop.

She had four at bats.

And hit every one.

The kid loves softball. I love that she has Dave to share it with, because I’m not all that sports savvy. (Did you know you aren’t supposed to call them “points” when they score in softball? They’re “runs.” And, of course, I knew they were called runs, but aren’t they also points? Isn’t scoring a run how you get a point?) I don’t know much about the game, but I know my daughter. Playing softball makes her feel good about herself. I absolutely love watching that.
May
7
In praise of “Time Out”
by Leslie
This is what a Time Out looks like.

Also this.

Those photos are of two of my favorite moments from the weekend, probably because they’re one of the few where I wasn’t screaming my face off about something. (Something like Phoebe taking all the containers of yogurt and opening each one – all six of them – and squeezing them just to feel it ooze over her hands and onto the table and chair and floor and rug. Or something like Julia and Lucy wearing boxes and beating each other brainless in a game of “Robot Fight Club.”)
I’ve been yelling too much, lately. It seems to be what I do when I’m sinking. And I know, I know. There’s lots of good advice out there. Take deep breaths. Count to ten. Try whispering! Ask myself, “Who’s the grown up?” (It’s best to ask and answer that question in one’s head. Yelling, “I AM THE GROWN-UP” to the children doesn’t convince anyone.) But when I get in a cycle of going from zero to nuclear explosion in six seconds, what I really need is a Time Out.
So this is what a Time Out looks like.

For me. (Not the kids.)
May
3
Little and Big
by Leslie
Jackson has been pushing himself up.

You can’t tell, but he’s wearing a Superman onesie. I wanted to grab a picture when he pushed himself up high enough that you could see the S on his chest (because he can do that for a few seconds!), but my camera battery died after the first shot.
Julia had her first softball game of the season last night.

She’s playing shortstop this year, and from what I hear, she made some great plays last night.
Yeah, I missed that game, too. I’m also the only coach’s wife that doesn’t handle the team’s paperwork and keep the “business end” organized. But I have a doctor’s appointment today at which the doctor will ask me how things are going and I will burst into tears because GUILT, so much guilt, like I’m being stoned with GUILT, and she will offer me anti-depressants. I will say no. (I’m afraid that if I take them now I’ll be on them forever.) And I’ll wipe my tears and say I just need to exercise. (I do.) Then I’ll eat a King size Snickers on the way home.





