Friends

The world is just better with good friends. The kind that laugh and scheme...but also do good for others, watch out for others, show kindness to others.

There is no greater wish I could have for my kids in their youthful years...than for them to be kind to others, and to have kindness bestowed upon them.

You don't need to think the same or do the same or be the same.

You can still respect and show grace and mercy.

And you can walk humbly with God.

Go be light, girls... because heaven knows, we need it.

 

For 5 Minutes

Fortunately, for a little longer than five minutes....it's just glorious this time of year. I'll take every ounce of it...because, come February....

 

Softball Done!

Another wonderful season for KK - she really came into her own this fall with Fall Ball in the NorthEast Little League. She's got gumption, that's for sure. Along with nine or ten other girls who will brave rain and sleet and double headers that take ALL DARN DAY on a Sunday...just to play.

I love this.

Go, girl, go.

 

Tennis is Done!

We are done for the season! And he ended with a W! Heck, he ended his last 6 matches going 5-1. Not bad for a kid who only won one match last year.

He tried something new.

He worked at it with decent effort and energy.

And he WON'T STOP GROWING!!!

This one below is him on tip toes...but "it's my life goal" - 

keep growing, kid.

 

Birthday For Bubs

How is it that my sweet boy is 14! How is it that I've been a mom for that long? Wasn't I just in college?!

Regardless, it's here. And he's huge and tall and wonderful and funny and all the things.

So off we go to celebrate...

First -a quick trip to Target to help Sissy buy her brother a present. Complete with a Vanilla Bean Frappacino (a wildly overpriced frozen vanilla milk whip cream thing) from Starbucks.

Seriously though - best $5 to have her chat and talk and scheme and want to spend time with me.

Then home for some pizza and cake with Grandma and Grandpa, plus a treasure hunt to earn his birthday present.

From there, to the Planetarium with YiaYia and Papou - and then a FroYo place for the largest frozen yogurt with cookies you've ever seen. But hey, you get a birthday once every 365 days. It's worth some FroYo.

Because time....it goes by in a blink.

 

Prizing It Up

Before the glorious summer sun fades away to fall, I wanted to sneak my family out to Art Prize. We have this amazing opportunity - and we never go. So...I simply insisted.

We snagged free parking by using our GRPM membership - and once we parked there, the kids asked to go in an explore. Hubs and I loved the idea they wanted to walk through an uncrowded museum.

We then took a stroll across the bridge...and found a few exhibits for Art Prize - totally fun!

 And we ended our adventure with wickedly overprized frozen yogurt. But the natives were hungry and I got my memory...so...it was worth every tasty penny!

Camp Henry

One of the things Bubs missed in Covid School was the overnight field trip to Camp Henry - so when it was time for KK, she was all about it. 

As long as I wasn't the chaperone.

I'm already the Mean Lunch Lady - did I have to go on that trip, too.

Well, apparently yes. For as much as parents have whined about not being able to be in the schools in the last few years, I think they also balked at an overnight with tweens in the rain.

But - because I love my kid - and responded to the pleas from her teachers, I got the chance to hang out with some amazing girls for the night. And they were just delightful. They played and sang and danced like tweens do - and then they read with flashlights and were lights out exactly on time. With no peeps. And then, were the last cabin awake in the morning. So glad to have had this chance to hang with them - and just be Fun Mom instead of Mean Lunch Lady.

As a side note, when KK was explaining it to others - I remarked back that some twerp was playing too aggressively for another kid. And I told him to knock it off - and to that kid, I was mean.

But to the kid who didn't know how to voice to his friend that it was too rough, and that he wanted to save face, he was grateful that I helped. To him, I was safe.

And that's worth all the Mean Lunch Lady titles those kids can throw at me.

The girls agreed.