I'm going to take advantage of the few moments of peace I'm experiencing while Damon is rocking, rocking, rocking in the big chair and get this down while it's fresh.
Next week is the last week of school. I believe today is day 8 of the countdown. Carrie's teacher retires this year. I think this is the third teacher she's knocked into retirement, hehe!
I was struck this morning by the sight of Carrie and Liam meandering off to the bus. These will be the last two weeks they'll walk to the bus stop together until her senior year, provided we're in the same place then. Next year Carrie starts middle school, and they'll be on different schedules orbits for years. I'm fairly sure her bus for junior high will come at the ridiculous time of minutes-after-7-AM... which I'm sure will be the cause of much hilarious blogging to come. I've been proclaiming that she'll have to sleep on the couch, in her school clothes, with her backpack hung on the front doorknob, and a PopTart in the mailbox on her way to the bus in order to make it on time. Maybe.
Anyway, it made me sad this morning to think about the comraderie ending. I have no idea what they talk about on the way to the bus, and I don't need to know. It's kind of fun to stay back and watch them be siblings, to have that bond that nobody else has, even as much as they complain about each other. I'm sure that's part of the whole sibling thing, too. Some days they stop to pet the dogs who are out. Some days they leave slightly ahead and behind of each other and tear along the sidewalk in fear of we-might-just-miss-it-this-time. Some days bring the sharing of an umbrella or the steadying of each other so nobody wipes out on the ice. Other days finds them searching for those rolypoly bugs, ladybugs, and praying mantis (mantises? manti?) characters peeking out of the lilies at the bus stop.
I'm sure Carrie won't be thinking of much except how ungodly early it is on her trek next year. I wonder if Liam will notice his sister is not even with him. There will be new, smaller kids to take her seat on the bus. Our beloved Mr. Mike stopped driving the bus at the end of the fall semester, so we've been mourning his absence. It must be time.
And darn it if I'm not sitting here in tears.
Happy Memorial Day and many, many thanks to those who are or have served so that the rest of us can enjoy our picnics and ball games and cookouts and lives in freedom. We really do appreciate it, and we really do have no idea the amount of stress, blood, sweat, tears, sacrifice, time, and heart you've poured out for us. Thank you for everything. You're awesome, and we don't deserve you or your families' sacrifices.
We spent the day goofing off in Waterville, grilling out and playing on the playground. Triskal was hot, but enjoyed the fresh air, sunshine, and seeing everyone out and about. It seems winter is long forgotten...
I did another quote board on the Telling it Like it is blog, so head on over there for some grins and giggles.
Have a super week! Gotta get everything done before school ends, so you may not hear much from us... aaaaaaack!
We have 20 minutes before church and my computer is functioning at dinosaur speed, so this will be be brief.
What have we been up to? How about I tell you what's happening NOW.
Carrie is having hysterics over Lego videos on YouTube where the poor Lego man is trying to go shopping, but can find no parking place, gets the obnoxious shopping cart, causes a shopping cart traffic jam, gets out just in time to find that everything is sold out. Sad.
Liam and Damon are talking about farts, throwing pillows (aHA! So THAT's why they're called "throw pillows") at each other and have been admonished to not injure themselves or each other in the 20 minutes before we head out the door.
Triskal is pretending to be anywhere other than here. Preferably somewhere with snow. She hasn't had her summer haircut yet.
Dada is out playing with his friends. The chicken is bubbling merrily in the crock pot (I don't have to think about dinner, yay!) The kid laundry is in the washer, sudsing away. The lilacs are blooming and making my house smell much better as they waft in the front window. Dada's garden is started, the cilantro looks like it's excited to be taking over, and the garlic is incredibly happy-looking. The kitchen sink is full though the dishwasher is empty, it's been around 80 degrees for three days in a row, and the pollen count is ridiculous. I keep waiting to hang out laundry but the bar graphs for pollens have been either "high" or "very high" pretty much since it stopped snowing. Oh well.
These Lego videos are disturbing.
Anyway, the kids have only 9 (NINE!!!!!!) days left of the school year before they're home for their 10.5 weeks (TEN AND A HALF WEEKS! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKS! Rhymes with "shrieks"!) They are in varying stages of denial and rejoicing. Carrie has been in tears already about not wanting to leave elementary school while Liam can't get out of there fast enough. They've both been blessed with excellent teachers and teams who have been patient, encouraging, and absolutely excellent all year. So blessed.
We painted a bedroom for Carrie. Damon's room had been taupe but it's now "happy camper" which is a dark green. The wall with the window remained taupe as an accent wall, and the trim isn't replaced yet because we're still deciding on flooring options.
The boys' room will be yellow (surprise!) and chocolate. That means dark brown to you non-native Damon speakers. There will be one wall of dark brown while the other three will be bright yellow, there are dark brown curtains on the window already, and we've ordered those colorful dot wall decals to break up some of the yellow. I'm excited to see the finished product and less excited about the mess we need to make before we get there. I think everyone will be out in a tent while we do all this... and then there's the whole switching of closets that needs to be done... *panic*...
Time to rally the troops. Have a wonderful weekend being thankful for our freedoms- thank a vet- enjoy your cheeseburgers and chips and brats and wear sunscreen and don't drink and boat and all that. =)
