I had never heard of Moana until right before Christmas and still haven't watched the whole movie at one time, but I hear about it a lot. We were looking around for some summer fun for Graysen while Kate is in daycare, and I found weekly dance camps at Si View Community Recreation Center. They offer just about anything kids would want to do, grownups too, but I chose the Moana dance camp because, well, no more fairies and princesses right now, please. It turns out Hip-Hop would have been fun for her too, but I didn't know.
She went four days and then had a program yesterday afternoon. During the week, they practiced a dance and made crafts and had snacks and did some outdoor stuff. Lots of fun. The first day, we met a mother and daughter who were early like us. I really hate turning up in a tizzy with no time to spare - or late - and usually am 15 minutes early everywhere. I got lost finding this place at least 3 different ways, and it wasn't until Thursday that I manged to go straight there the first time. Charlotte was dressed beautifully in a cute dance costume, and Graysen had on something similar, a leotard and the skirt from her swimsuit,and they smiled at each other and we got names straight, and they became instant friends. Charlotte is 7 and quiet and sweet, so I was pleased with that. They hugged every day when they parted. So sweet. It turns out they live on the Ridge, so we're going to work on getting them together to play.
Yesterday was hot. It didn't make it to 90, but it was hot when you had to get in and out of cars and walk back and forth. We left dance camp at 12:00 but had to be back for the show at 3:30. The weekly farmer's market was going on there at the same time, so I knew I would have to park a distance away, so we ended up leaving about 2:45. Naturally, at that time of day, Kate fell asleep immediately in her carseat, so I had to wake her up, give her some water and hope she would walk for me. She did, but she was not in the best mood then or during the show and especially not afterwards. The gym was a little warm, surprisingly, so that didn't help. She insisted on being in my lap the whole time.
But the show was cute and fun, and Graysen and Charlotte performed beautifully. They made the flower hairbands and necklaces during the week, and the tutus were furnished. My phone was in it's usual state of not being charged, so Elisabeth, Charlotte's mom promised me some pictures later. She had a serious camera there, not a dead cell phone like me.
Charlotte's twin brother aggravating her. At the time I took this picture, they couldn't find a small enough tutu, so Graysen was wearing another type of skirt. I could tell she was disappointed, but I was so proud of how she just accepted it and didn't fuss about it. They finally found a small one for her.
This is the community center itself taken from the park. It's beautiful there.
Not loving the heat. She was upset that her head was wet. She doesn't remember a day warm enough to sweat, I guess.
On the way home, with all of us hot and sticky, Graysen said, "I remember when it rained. We would have a fire and drink hot chocolate." She's done with summer, I guess.
It will get into the 90s the next couple of days, so I'll probably be done too, but right now at 10:00, it's 68 and breezy. It was a little warm sleeping last night without air-conditioning but okay so far.
These are the hydrangeas that greet us as we go from the car to my apartment. I tried to capture all the different ones.
Graysen has found a use for the old Boggle game. She says she's nervous about starting kindergarten, but I know she'll be fine.
Glad the weekend is approaching so I can read and catch up on things.
I'm not looking any farther out than 15 days because of what I might find. It's finally hot here. Not like it's hot back in the South, but definitely different. For the next 7 days, there are going to be four days with highs in the 80s and three days with highs in the 90s, and I'm talking about 96 degrees one day. With no air conditioner. The good thing is that it cools down into the high 50s and low 60s at night and in the mornings, so that's nice. Window fan is running almost constantly and balcony door stays open to whatever noises might come our way.
After those seven days though, I'm seeing a whole week of 70s temps and a few low 80s. I think I can make it another week, but the strange thing about this area is that it rains a LOT in the fall, winter, and spring, but when June and July get here, it just stops. I mean nothing. Most of the lawns die and come back with the rain. No nice thunderstorms in the evenings. No tornado sirens. It's hard to think in the winter that you will ever miss the rain, but I really do right now.
Emily just came home and took the girls to the pool for a swim. That should cool them off a bit. Kate wanted to make sure she had some "sun scream," another of those baby words I will hate to see disappear one day.
I'd like to say after that earlier complaining post that I would have remedied some of the stresses, but just talking about them seemed to be enough. Things are pretty much like they were, but I'm not worried about it.
I did finish two of my four books and am on the third. The fourth one I was glad to read the back cover and send back. I'm not sure why I was attracted to it in the first place. The World of Tomorrow. Manhattan Beach seems to be the one I'm reading now. It seems promising.
Pictures from this morning, and that's about all I have the energy for.
I won't say how many tries it took to get this one, which is not all that good, but I'll take it.
Katherine picked out every piece of this outfit and was pretty proud of herself. She's just going to daycare/school. I think she did a great job. Graysen's first choice was the clothes she slept in - an orange Mermaid in Training shirt that came in a bag of clothes someone handed down and a bright pink skirt.
I just noticed the quilt hanging on the bed is one that their great-grandmama Ray made for their uncle and aunts in 1971.
I shouldn't be now. At my age and time of life. I do it to myself, and I doubt I will change.
I pretty much do what's on my calendar during the week and fizzle out about Thursday afternoon. I then start looking forward to the weekend as the 2 days that I will work hard, clean, organize, whatever. And then I don't and end up starting Monday morning behind.
Last week was a rough one with Katherine being sick from Wednesday afternoon to Friday night - on my watch. I hear she is a little better. She stayed home from school Friday, and Paige and James came over and played, so she perked up a little. But when she wasn't being distracted, she was just miserable and whining and feverish. No one knows what her problem is. She says her eyebrows hurt and her legs hurt. Sometimes, she will just collapse and cry with her legs hurting. Fever lasted from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning, and no one has been sleeping at their house - except maybe Graysen. Emily and Ryan were supposed to go to a Mariners game with her work people, but she had to cancel just to get some sleep. I'm sorry that happened, but I'm also glad I didn't end up babysitting Friday night.
She's not supposed to sleep during the day - because of staying up all night when she does - but who am I to disturb these few moments of rest for her.
Paige is Graysen's very, very best friend. She's a year older, and therefore Graysen listens to everything she says (although does stand up for herself a little) and loves everything Paige wears or owns. They got out the black tutus and played some sort of fairy game outside for a long time. I didn't ask! Looks like it may have had something to do with cocoons and butterflies, but I don't know.
This is a silly thing, but I feel the stress of having four bestsellers checked out of the library and only three weeks to read them. I have one more week, and I've read 1-1/2 so far. There are more than 50 people waiting for them, so I don't get to renew or keep them past their due dates. The Vineyard ended up being pretty good but not a book I was rushing home to read every day. Now, I'm halfway through Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan, and it's much easier reading and a better story. To me. I'll probably finish it by Tuesday and then have to choose which of the remaining two to read.
I know those aren't serious problems, and it won't even matter if I clean up the clutter in the apartment. I just have so many stacks and meaning-to's.
1. My hutch full of dishes and pictures and whatever else comes to rest there is dusty. But - glass shelves, lots of dishes - and it gets ignored. I need Elise to help me with it, but finding a time when both of us is in a hutch-cleaning mood is almost impossible.
The table is another problem too. There's always a box coming or going and just stacks of things - mail, books, coloring things. In this picture, I actually see a roll of Christmas paper standing in the corner that has been there long enough to become invisible to me.
2. Selling on Ebay. I opened a box in the garage and found a bunch of smocking and embroidery magazines and books that I can probably sell on Ebay or one of my Facebook pages, but it's such a pain.
First I have to take pictures, and lately the glossy surfaces have a glare on them that I hate. I'm not really wanting to edit each one of them.
I just want to take some quick pictures, write a description, and wait and see what happens. It's so not that easy. Even if I do sell them, there's the shipping - addressing the envelopes, figuring out the postage and then going to the post office. Almost not worth it.
3. I need a new computer that doesn't have the four keys missing and other signs of age. On one hand, I hate to spend the money when this one works perfectly fine - just aggravating - but then I really want to change from Windows 7 to Windows 10 before I get too old to learn it. All those decisions though. Then there will be all that learning and changing out files and tiring stuff.
I started to post a picture of it, but then saw how really bad it looks. The girls spent a lot of time with ABC Mouse on it this week. They don't mind the missing keys.
4. Elise has been here for a year, and we do pretty well on space, but we need to make an appointment with each other to look in every kitchen cabinet and figure out what we have and what we need, if anything. Probably a lot of stuff could go to the garage.
Our coffee area could be spruced up a little, it looks like. I'm proud of us for paring down our mug and cup collection to just a few favorite each, most of which seem to be in the dishwasher.
This was Mike's baking cabinet, and I hate to change it around. I keep the girls' snacks here, the ones I don't have to hide from us. But that springform pan on the top shelf has never been used and, it's safe to say, will never be used by me and will probably be finding a new home. I'm curious to see what's in that basket.
There are four of these mystery baskets on the tops of the cabinets. It will be nice to see what I put in them when I moved in, but I imagine most of it can go downstairs if I haven't used it in all this time. Probably cookie cutters and fancy paper plates and napkins.
5. Stella's diabetes is still a problem. The new insulin dose is not doing anything to help her glucose levels, and she's still not happy with low-carb food. She's hanging in there, but we have to decide one day if begging for food the rest of her life is something we need to do to her It's so hard, and no amount of explaining it's for her own good makes her feel any better.
6. All the things I want to do with and for the girls and am either too tired or too old or too lethargic to do. Since the puppet show a couple of weeks ago, I've been promising them we would make some along with a small theater, but so far all we've done is looked at a few books and traced a few puppets. Luckily, they have far too much to do to worry about it, but I'm still guilty. I don't take them to the park or do outside things as much as I should - although I do a lot more than I want to! Their quilts are still not made. I just can't make myself sew. I should be making them doll clothes, pillowcases, and twirly gowns - all of which I COULD do if I would.
Graysen spent a happy afternoon coloring and decorating these Halloween puppets.
7. Donation box in the garage needs to be delivered.
8. Blog never gets written, and I'm two weeks behind on my StoryWorth memories and even more behind on answering emails. I don't even look at FB that often any more, so I hope people don't think I don't "like" them any more.
That's quite a bit of procrastination there, and maybe that will make me feel bad enough to get up and do something about it. Or maybe not take on any new distractions.
Positives just to balance things out.
1. I've been looking for some sort of coffee table or ottoman for our love seat, which is the only size couch that will fit here, something that won't overwhelm it and will fit in a long narrow room. I saw one for sale on the Snoqualmie Buy, Sell, and Trade FB page, asked about it and reserved it. The girl and I played tag over times to pick up and finally managed to get together last weekend. It's perfect. Used enough to I don't have to worry about the girls getting it dirty but in good enough shape for us. It has a cute little removable tray on it that we like a lot and, best of all, storage for those games and toys that end up all over the room. It's easy for them to lift the lid to take things out and makes for a quick cleanup. Best $40 I spent all month.
That flowered love seat though! I loved it when it was a sun room couch or in my sewing room, but it looks silly now. But the 3 or 4 people who visit here a year, which includes the maintenance man, don't care what it looks like.
2. Graysen's long awaited Moana dance camp is next week in North Bend, so I'll have a little more free time while she has fun. I'll still have to entertain Kate on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but there is a park right there at the community center she can play in, hopefully. We're having another heat wave this week, 0% change of rain with highs from 83 to 90 degrees.
3. Nice evenings to read and drink tea on the balcony. This week has been too chilly for that. Maybe even pool time for Emily and Elise and the girls.
4. My experimental online savings account yielded $6.85 this month instead of the usual $.01 it was getting in the regular Chase savings account. I can see that I'll be moving the rest of it soon. I was a little reluctant to do something new, but since Clark Howard recommended it, I thought I would try it. Also, my 401K is creeping back up from it's sad decline in the early months of the year.
This has been a pitifully whiny blog post. I hope I can look back on it and see if I do anything this week to make it better. I really am grateful for all I have and don't take myself seriously on this. I'm just unhappy with my lethargy today.
It's impossible. Every few days I'll think about what it will take to remember everything that's happened that week, and I just give up.
First, everyone seems to be well and happy, and summer is finally here. Finally! I can't say it bothers me though for it to be this late. I miss having warmer weather in April and May, but when June and July get here, and we have cool mornings and evenings with daytime temps in the high 70s and low 80s, I realize this is just what I like. The sky is so blue and the sun is so bright, but I'm sitting here now in my un-air-conditioned apartment without even a fan and feeling very comfortable.
I do love it here. I never DIDN'T like it, but now that I've settled in for 2-1/2 years, I feel like this is where I was always meant to be. I always wish Mike was here to share things with me, but I'm getting okay with just enjoying my own life.
I'll just try to cover this last week or so and see if I get inspired to do more. I guess I should start with what Graysen called the "Best Day of My Life." It wasn't, of course, but for her to think that makes everything I do seem worthwhile. It was a day of surprises, none of which I thought I could pull off! I'm still not that good with driving out of town and finding things and doing new stuff - but - I did.
At breakfast, I told the girls it was going to be a surprise day. They asked all kinds of questions, but I never gave in. They got dressed and ready and looked so sweet. I'm not sure who fixed their hair, Emily or me, but they were very sweet-looking. We packed lunches while they ate breakfast and then about 9:30 headed to Fall City.
The King County Library System has a bunch of libraries, and it's the greatest. We usually wait to see what's going on in our little Snoqualmie Library, but it is tiny, and frankly not much does go on here. I had seen the Fall City and the North Bend Libraries before, so when I was checking out kids' activities, I just wrote all three lists of events on my calendar.
That particular Thursday, there was a puppet show. I had no idea what to expect and whether the girls would enjoy it or not, but we went in and waited and watched a good many kids and their parents show up. I think there may have been around 25 or so. When it was time, we were allowed into this big room where there was a puppet theater set up - shadow puppets. Katherine was a little reluctant to go sit with everyone else, and Graysen had a little shyness too, not knowing anyone.
When Katherine would look over her shoulder to reassure herself that I was still there, Graysen would take her chin and turn her head back around to look at the stage.
I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was just as enthralled with the show as they were. When a lady came into the room playing a violin, they both glanced at me with raised eyebrows, but after that, they never turned around. She was the best. The story was what sounded like an old folk tale with very intricate shadow puppets. I don't even know if the kids followed the story, but they did recognize the various animals that appeared and cavorted around.
When the show was over, all the children were given the opportunity to make their own puppets. I didn't have much hope for this since there were so many there, and I've had experience with little ones making crafts. But it was very successful. They chose owls. They let me cut them out for quickness, but they punched hearts in them and taped them to a stick, and they were off!
Once the puppets were finished, the kids were allowed to go backstage and put on their own plays. The puppeteer would ask questions and have the animals say what they told them. One bear was named Bob, and a fox ate a rabbit and Graysen suggested the fox had to be punished. They got to change the lighting and sound effects. It was such a neat experience.
Graysen's owl is in this scene - and sometimes Katherine's.
The orchestra
Before we left, we got a chance to make owls with movable wings, which the girls have enjoyed so much at home. Naturally, they wanted to have loooong and involved puppet shows, and they've commissioned me to build them a theater from a box. I've checked out some books on shadow puppets and think we can make a nice theater and some simple puppets. The trouble is finding an audience since Ryan and Emily were held much longer than they wished on the last show and probably have lots of other things to do!
So, that was so much funner than anyone thought it would be! Now that we've experienced the Fall City experience, we will go back. Thursday, in fact, for another musical thing.
We had packed a picnic lunch, but even though I asked around, no one could tell us where there was a place to picnic except on the banks of the river, and we didn't bring blankets or anything. So we found a shady parking lot at the school and had a very lovely lunch. They didn't even get unstrapped from their car seats until they were finished eating, and I just went from side to side serving and wiping up. They were so sweet, and you'd think this was the best picnic ever!
They ran around in the shady area under the tree and picked up leaves and looked for bugs since we had some time to waste until the BIG surprise.
It turns out there is a bouncy house, Kidz Bounce, about 5 minutes away, so we headed that way, and they were overwhelmed that Mimi had found one.
Graysen immediately found two friends from Rooster Valley, and they had a ball playing together. Most things were too hard for Kate to get into or too many big kids around, but she did have herself a really good time, sometimes just running like crazy or riding little tricycles and riding toys. Getting some of that energy out!
I must have been standing right by the motor or pump or whatever keeps the things inflated.
We went again this past Thursday, but I don't think they had as good a time. Well, maybe Graysen did, but Katherine tried a climb a ladder that was too big for her and had to be rescued. She did not take that well at ALL. One bonus was that a birthday party was going on, and they had a bubble-blowing visitor to come out and entertain them. I may need one of those.
So, that day was successful, and it's taken an hour to write about it with all the YouTube downloading and finding pictures. But I did have some time at the end of the day. I had a huge pickup on the Hold Shelves at the library. Last Sunday afternoon, I had requested a dozen or so books from the Seattle Times Book section, and they all seemed to come in at once.
I started The Vineyard just because it was on top, and it's pretty good. Not the kind of thing I usually like, and it's slow reading, but I am enjoying it.
Graysen ran into another friend in the library last week, and she got some good ideas of some chapter books, which we checked out. She isn't crazy about not seeing pictures on every page and didn't especially like the Ivy and Bean one, but she found the Ramona one hilarious. I like that she's getting old enough to appreciate humor and plays on words.
We had a funny happen this week when we were driving by an elementary school. Katherine doesn't find any humor in it, but Graysen and I do.
K: Is that your school?
G: No.
K: Well, whose school is it?
G: I don't know. Somebody's school.
K: Some bunny's school? I want to go to the Bunny School.
We're still laughing about that when we think of it.
Since it's finally gotten warm enough to sit on the balcony in the evenings, I've enjoyed reading out there and drinking iced tea instead of coffee. Stella joins me sometimes to keep an eye on the hummingbirds and pretend to be frightened by dogs walking on the street beneath us.
Have to have my quilt out there still though! That old cooler is there because I had to bring up some potting soil from the garage. Gardening is a little harder up here than it is in a yard.
I guess it's been a long time since I've made iced tea, because this was not at all what I remembered Lipton's tea boxes looking like. Fancy! I just remember a bunch of teabags thrown loose in a box.
Emily and Ryan have a beautiful garden in their two plots, but i don't have any pictures. Kale, brussels sprouts, strawberries, carrots, herbs, huge dahlias, gladiola, and ranunculus.
Some ranunculus she picked and put in the kitchen window.
Emily and Graysen tried the pool the other afternoon. I think Emily thought it was going to be warmer than it was, but Graysen didn't seem to mind the cold water.
Emily's expression says it all.
Just a few more pictures of the week. It's been a good one except for the $800 car repair I had. I shouldn't complain though. It's given me a little more time on it and has never been much of a problem
Neighborhood jeep ride in the sunshine.
I found some used Polly Pocket dolls and clothes on Ebay, and it's been the best thing for Graysen. She plays and plays and plays with them.
Found this scene on my nightstand after they left yesterday afternoon.
Kate found this old Fisher-Price record player in the giveaway box in the garage. You just never know what they're going to enjoy playing with.
Katherine reading to Graysen! Graysen has started to read some words now and is SO excited about it. She can read a little book once she's heard it a couple of times. Lots of it memorization, but she loves it. She's also working on making her name small enough not to fill up a page! She kind of balks when you try to teach or show her something, but then she does it herself, and it's amazing. I'm not sure I want them growing up so fast.
She still holds my hand when we walk and spontaneously hugs and kisses me, but then she stands in my parking lot and dreams of the day when she can drive a Jeep just like the one parked next to my car.
I do feel special when I leave after keeping them all day. One kiss and hug is enough for Graysen, but Katherine has started being a drama queen and will wail and hold onto my legs when I leave - "Mimi! I never want you to go home."
I adore them, but I sure do enjoy my weekends!! Elise is making a pot of coffee, and my book and balcony are waiting.
