the wee olympics, part 2

Meanwhile, in second grade...

Or--as it turns out to be the most exciting event I've photographed at Lee Olympics the past three years--the Tug-of-War Files. Put me on the sideline of a soccer or lacrosse game any day of the week, and I'll stand there quietly while my child and his/her teammates run up and down the field. Put me on the sideline of an intense tug-of-war match, however, and I'll be the loudest one out there. Unless Alex happens to be standing next to me...

P.S. Is it me, or does Catcher seem a little too relaxed for the level of intensity that's required in a serious game of tug-of-war?

the wee olympics

On Friday, after a week of heavy downpours and thunderstorms, the sun shone brightly on the campus of Lee Elementary School for its annual Lee Olympics (you might remember such an event as "Field Day" when you were a wee one). In honor of Scout's inaugural year as a Lee Olympian, I give you the many faces of Scout (including excited face, game face, proud face and perhaps a couple other unique expressions):

And then we have our action shots...

chalk it up

One of the better ideas I've had, in my humble opinion, was covering our hideous refrigerator (pictured above) in chalkboard paint. The fridge is old, loud, rusted and the doors stick. There's also a weird spill/stain covering the bottom shelf, which I try to ignore every time I'm in there reaching for something, but buying a refrigerator isn't in the plans right now. Part of the reason is I want to wait until "Phase 2" of our renovation, when we tackle the kitchen, because I will probably change my mind 100 times before we get there. Or rather, I will definitely change my mind 100 times. I simply can't make a commitment to a refrigerator that may or may not fit the design scheme of my future kitchen. In the meantime, I needed and inexpensive fix because starting at that beige box was driving me insane!

It turns out that a simple coat (two actually) of chalkboard paint and the imagination of your children is all you need to spruce up the ugliest appliance in the house. I no longer shudder when I walk into the kitchen, and the sticking doors don't bother me quite as much as they used to. The weird spill still grosses me out, but it's on the bottom shelf, which I never use anyway, and I figure staying the course of ignoring it will eventually make it go away...right?

sporty sunday

Somehow we made it 2/3 of the way into lacrosse season without my having watched a game. By some crazy stroke of luck, Alex was home the one Sunday in March and the one Sunday in April that Catcher had games an hour outside of Austin. Alex took Scout along on the first outing, and I stayed home with Tillie who was sick at the time. The second time around, the boys bonded doing boy things (like hitting each other with sticks) while the girls and I stayed home and bonded doing girl things (like reading quietly and acting otherwise civilized). Last weekend, however, it was a family affair as we trudged out to hill country for a Sunday fun-day of mini lacrosse.

I gave the girls pedicures when they got bored, and then I gave them snacks (mom bribe) so I could actually observe some of the action on the field. Catcher isn't the smallest guy out there this year (he's close), but he does have bright pink shoes so I can always spot him from the sideline. 

down on the farm

Last week when a fellow second-grade mom and I found ourselves with nothing better to do on a Monday morning, we decided to crash our sons' field trip to Crowe's Nest Farm just outside of Austin. It was the best of both worlds: we weren't official chaperones, so we didn't have to come and go within the scheduling confines of the field trip, and we got to surprise our children (Catcher was excited to see me, despite the look on his face in the picture below).

My friend and I ditched the field trip just before lunch in favor of raw oysters at an East side hipster joint over sacked lunches on the farm, but it was funny how the conversation over bloody Marys (it was her birthday--we had to celebrate!) turned to "what was your favorite thing about the farm?" A conversation that I'm sure was mirrored on the picnic tables at Crowe's Nest. For the record, watching the farmer milk a cow was my favorite part. And the baby pig. And the llamas. Llamas are cute. The giant pig was pretty cool, too. Oh...I almost forgot about the turkeys...

sometimes we're fancy

Before we reach the outer limit of time when it becomes inappropriately late to post Easter pictures, here's a few of the little ones and me all dressed up on Easter Sunday. Alex was on a plane returning to Austin when these photos were taken, so he missed our church's annual butterfly release on the Capitol grounds.

Our family's butterfly, which I'm pretty sure was a moth, was quite spritely this year and took off before I could get a decent photo. The little guys are usually stunned when they first come out of their envelopes (I'm still not clear on how that whole process works), but ours was ready to see the world.

always find a stud

Disclaimer: I started this blog post about a week ago. I don't know. I've lost track of time, but when you read "this morning" below, it wasn't actually this morning.

This morning I was feeling quite pleased with myself because it was the first time in my adult life that I had a true walk-in closet (and it happened before I turn 40!). I was so overjoyed and that I had one of those "I feel like a character from Sex in the City" moments, to which only girls of a certain age can relate, as I placed my first pair of shoes in my new closet. With great gusto--and alone with my dramatic devices--I anointed my favorite pair of shoes (white Birkenstocks, obviously) queen of the closet. It was a Carrie Bradshaw meets Austin wannabe hippie mom moment.

Several hours later; however, the moment came crashing down. Literally. But let me back up a for a second. I neglected to tell you that the night before I became a true adult with a closet, Alex and I stayed up until 3:00am assembling that closet. It was someone's brilliant idea to start the project around 10:00pm when the children were sound asleep and the wine was flowing because anyone who has ever tried to renovate a house will tell you you get nothing done with children around. And wine makes home projects more fun. Do you see what a great idea this was?

The only setbacks were 1) we don't have a functioning light in our bedroom, which made reading directions a little tricky and 2) it was 10:00pm and the wine was flowing when someone decided to embark upon this project. I'm that someone, by the way, and I stand by my decision.

Back to the crash the following day: some time around mid-afternoon I heard a suspicious noise from our bedroom. It sounded too loud to be any sort of rodent activity, so I checked it out without hesitation. When I looked in the closet I discovered one of our sturdy hanging units had separated itself from the wall. It could have been a disaster, but luckily the other screws were holding on for dear life and kept the shelves and hanging rod afloat. Apparently Alex and I had missed a stud--even after my big joke of the night where I referred to myself as the true "stud finder"--when we were screwing the hanging thing (that's what you call it at 2:00 in the morning) into the wall.

I should note that the endangered shelves and a hanging rod had already been meticulously organized by me. Even going off three hours of sleep, I can organize a closet; however, my spirit may not have recovered if I had had to witness my day's work strewn recklessly about. That would not have been a Sex in the City moment.