...end of may gratitudes...

Oh, I have a blog, don't I.

Funny how when you go back to work all of a sudden 

your free time involves laundry and dinner and wiping the counter

and falling asleep on the couch while watching the Real Housewives of wherever.

But here we are in late May,

and I'm limping toward the end of school finish line.

{and i am r-e-a-d-y.}

This year has been an adjustment.

Working + mommy-ing has been a game changer.

But we've had some fun.
And I've tried to still look for the beauty in the everyday,
and be grateful for the small miracles all around.

...grateful for breakfasts every day with three hungry little people...

I really, really try to make at least one hot thing for them for breakfast.
It's always bacon.
That's really all they want.
And once I perfected making it in the oven,
it's bacon every day!

And cereal.  Always cereal.

...grateful for a beach that feels more like home everytime we're there...
My husband is a surfer.
In his fantasy world he quits his job and just surfs,
and somehow we are independently wealthy.

I really like that fantasy world.

Every day I look at realtor.com and cross my fingers
that someone is selling a beach house for less than a jillion dollars.
No.  No, they're not.

...grateful for these kids...
Why do they keep growing?
{and someone needs a haircut.}



...grateful for little antique shops...
This is my favorite shop.
The owner knows me,
and I dream of having her job when she decides to retire.
Until that happens I just go in every month or so and wander.
And take selfies in the mirror, obviously.



...grateful for weekends that end in layers and layers of sunscreen...
They really are the best weekends.
With the best nights of sleep...right?



...grateful they'll still wear the in-n-out hats...
I have our in-n-out order down to a science.
"two hamburgers ketchup only, one grilled cheese no onions, tomatoes, or lettuce,
one double meat animal style, one protein style animal style, two fries"

We're a predictable crowd.



...grateful for a girl that looks at home in front of a class...
I wonder if she'll want to be a teacher?
It's in her blood, so....



...grateful for this town we live in...
It's a pretty special place.



...grateful for impromptu naps with my biggest kid...
He'll still cuddle with me.
How great is that?



...grateful for hot rollers...
Girls with super straight hair need all the help they can get.



...grateful for the very best mother's day gift ever...
An espresso machine.
I have a cappuccino every morning.
It's like heaven.



...grateful for warm nights and fire pits after the kids go to bed.
This one is self-explanatory.



...grateful for kids that make their own sandwiches...
The best thing I've done of late is start having the kids make their own lunches.
It's life-changing.



...grateful for new shoes...
Nude color...
peep toe...
sandals...
they're my favorite.
{urban outfitters}



...grateful for track meets...
Just because they're fun.
And I'd rather watch someone else run than run myself, let's face it.



Summer will be here for me in 6.5 more days.
PTL.
Maybe I'll be in this space more frequently over the summer?  Who knows.
I miss documenting our days.
I may even pull out my real camera.



{I am on instagram, though.
Are you?
I'm @foreverfoldinglaundry.}

my new favorite tradition.

You know how when school is winding down
and you are SO ready for the year to be done
because if you have to pack another lunch you are going to cry?

And then school is out and you head home
after the class parties and the goodbyes
and you unpack the backpacks and throw all of the crap
{did i say crap?  i meant treasures}
in the recycling
{did i say recycling?  i meant special archive box}
and twenty minutes later your freshly graduated kindergartner is telling you
she's bored?

Yeah.

And then by God's grace you've reached Summer, Day 8, and you've logged
a lot of togetherness already
{because don't summer days go by at a snails pace?}
and you're just kind of missing those days when the kids are in school
and you can go to Trader Joe's by yourself
and browse the frozen foods section in peace?

Yeah.

This weekend I was mourning my alone time.
But thinking at the same time I love having them home.
I know.  I don't get it either.

And then a little idea was born.
I'm not even sure who spoke it first.
But born it was,
and it was a beautiful thing.

"The Night Before Father's Day Backyard Campout"

Don't you love the ring to that?

It's so simple:
tent + backyard + everyone except mommy
{key words: everyone except mommy}

At first mention of the idea the kids were sold.
Like, so sold they practically set up the tent all by themselves
and couldn't wait to get to sleep in it.







This first annual backyard campout there was nothing fancy.
Just the tent:
Hanging out in the tent.
Reading in the tent.
The dogs in the tent.
The cat in the tent.
Shining the flashlight around the tent.
Selfies in the tent.



And then after the selfies mommy said,
"ok guys, good night!  have fun!  stay warm!  love you!!"

And mommy went inside.
And mommy had the house to herself for the evening.

God bless the Night Before Father's Day Backyard Campout.

Next year - because there WILL be a next year - we'll get fancy:
we'll grill burgers
and roast marshmallows
and sing campfire songs.
{no we won't.}
And then mommy will still go inside
and rejoice in one night of solitude
and watch So You Think You Can Dance all by herself.

And the next morning she'll be happy and refreshed when the crew
comes running back into the house at 7:30.
And then when she has to roll up all of the sleeping bags
she'll vow that next year those kids are going to learn
how to roll up their own dang bags.

spring break 2013.

There are a few more hours of spring break left here
but in my mind I'm already thinking about packing lunches
and getting the coffee ready for the morning.

This break was one of my favorites.
It has been a really good ten days.

We didn't do a lot: no tropical vacays or anything grand,
but what we did do was fun.
And unscheduled.
And we were together.

A get together with friends and all ten of our kids...
spending time with other friends that I've had 25+ years
and talking about our 20th reunion coming up this summer {yikes}...
painting a room...
then repainting that room the next day because I hated the color...
and some beach days.



I hope these kids know how lucky they are to live here.
I love our little town and its bay.



But some days the bay doesn't cut it.
I need to see the span of the ocean
and hear the white noise of the waves
and feel the heat from the sun radiating off the sand.
The kids need it too.
Santa Cruz hits the spot.



Sand.  Everywhere.



The season's first dose of Vitamin D always feels the best.





Such a good day.

The kids spent the next two days with both sets of grandparents.
Let that sink in for a minute.
We had TWO KIDLESS NIGHTS.
Hello, heaven.
I slept like a rock both nights.

And I had Friday all to myself.
Oh the possibilities.
I took Lucy for a run...our first in awhile.
It felt good, even though I was pretty convinced I was going to throw up at one point.
Seriously.  It's been awhile and the hills by our house are a killer.
But the morning was gorgeous.



After my run I headed out to run errands and do just a smidge of shopping.
It's funny how much of a treat it is to casually wander though stores
without an agenda and without a deadline.

Especially when one of those stores is Anthropologie.
It's just a happy, happy place.
{even though the employees all seem just the teensiest bit snotty.  or is it just me?}



After shopping I got to do a little fun sewing while I was waiting for Gary to get home from work.
My little etsy shop is a bit neglected.



Once my cute date got home we headed out for dinner.
Hello, Friday sunset.  You made me smile.



And, in one last moment of greatness,
I broke my wheat fast on Saturday for this:



Zachary's stuffed chicken special.
Holy deliciousness, Batman.
If you live in the bay you likely know Zachary's.
If I'm ever on death row it will be my last meal request.
Totally worth the gluten overload, I might add.

And the leftovers are just as amazing.
Especially on a lazy Saturday night home watching movies,
with the people I love most all in one room.



Best spring break ever.

i have crowded brain syndrome.

My brain has been filled to the brim lately with STUFF.
So much stuff that this space has taken a big back seat.
Sorry.
Hi.
How are you?
What's new?

Me?
Oh, just life stuff.
Nothing bad, just regular life stuff.
Kid stuff.

I think it's funny that when I first became a mom,
I worried about so many things:
...is he getting enough tummy time?
...did she eat vegetables today?
...am i getting him on a schedule?
...am i teaching her to be wary enough of strangers?
...is he learning his abc's slower than his classmates?

All of those little things I worried about seemed so big when the kids were babies.

And now that the kids are getting older,
I'm realizing that was the easy stuff.
As the kids get older, the stuff gets tougher.

Not because he is a tough kid.
He's not.  He's the opposite.
He's lovely and funny and clever and so crazy CRAZY smart.
Way smarter than his mom and dad.
And we want to make sure we make the right decisions for that kid.

And he still wants to dig holes in the dirt.



Oh how I love that he still wants to go outside and dig a hole.



I wish I would have stressed less when he was a baby.
If I had known that the tougher stuff comes later,
I wouldn't have worried about whether he was walking by his first birthday.

Anyway.

This weekend was gorgeous.
If you're ever looking to visit the bay area,
think about doing it in March.
Or September.
It's perfection.



Sunday afternoon we headed out for a little adventure.



And we took a little hike.
My hamstrings are sore to prove it.



There is something about sunshine and green hills
that are good for the soul.



I'm telling you...March here is perfection.





Ohhhhhh...the rope swing.
They could have done it for an hour if there wasn't a big group of teenagers
waiting right behind us for their turn.



Avery swung too,
but I was too nervous to take her picture.
I was sure she was going to fall.
The picture is deceiving,
but it was a pretty big drop from from the rope to the ground!
But she didn't fall.  Unnecessary worrying.
Again.



Perfection.
I won't say it again...promise.

We had to make a decision recently,
and I'm hopeful that my brain will be a little less crowded with 'stuff' now.
{i'm pretty sure there's a joke there somewhere.}
Maybe I'll even blog more than once a week!
Changes are a'coming, and it's all good.
It's all good because God is good and faithful
and He loves those kids of ours even more than we do
and has great plans for them.

That's good stuff.

a family day.

Family days have been few and far between for us lately.
Soccer rules our lives a little between August and November.

But now?
Freeeedoommmmmmm.

Saturday after the boys' games ended
we drove the 90 minutes to a place called Apple Hill.
It's in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas,
just shy of Tahoe.



It's a beautiful series of farms and apple orchards.
One of the farms has a trout pond.

And for the price of a small mortgage,
you can rent fishing poles and catch fish.
The kids were in heaven.



The boys became experts in casting out their lines.



The casted out their lines time and time again.
We fished for about an hour with people catching fish all around us.
Then Gary went to ask the gentleman in charge
if he could help us out.



Five minutes later...thanks to his magic bait...Avery was catching a sturgeon.

IN A TROUT POND.
{?}



A sturgeon is an ugly, ugly fish.
But Avery was pretty proud.
{this guy went back to live in his pond.}

The magic bait worked again for Colin.





Trout.
2 pounds.
$9/pound.
Yep.

And then...boom.  It was Riley's turn.





He was really torn.
He was excited to catch that fish...
and then sad that it had to die.
{there's a $100 charge if you throw it back.  yeah...it had to die.}
If my first choice of engineer doesn't work out for him,
he'd also make a great vet.



That's $27 worth of trout, my friends.
{anyone know a recipe?}

After some soap and water,
we were ready for caramel apples.
Homemade caramel on delicious granny smith apples is hard to beat.



It was so nice spending the day together.
It recharged my batteries,
even though I was exhausted by the time we got home.

This week is going to be a good one.
No soccer practice...beautiful weather...it's going to be a good week.
I only wish I had bought some of that homemade caramel to bring home.
Mmmmmm.