Boring Happenings

Things are pretty crazy around here, but it's all usual boring kind of stuff.

School. Apparently I still know how to get A's. Yippee for me. I still get frustrated by the fact that significant figure rules seem to be randomly applied. Malcolm has struggled on the days I have to go to campus. For the first several weeks our friend spent 11:30 - 2:45 carrying Malcolm in the ergo, usually outside because if he dared to enter his house Malcolm would start screaming again. But last week he finally had a bit of a breakthrough. He still screams when I drop him off, and still won't usually eat anything while there, but he takes a short nap at some point and then wakes up happy and willing to play. It's definitely helped I'm sure that lots of outdoor play has been possible because we've had the most amazing weather of late (especially amazing considering May in Seattle is usually rainy and 50s). Gareth's schoolyear is quickly approaching its final month, which he's pretty excited about. He's very excited for summer break and also excited to be a first grader. They took MAP tests for the third time this year (ugh!) and had a field trip to the zoo. Now he has turned in a report on an animal (cheetah), which he will present to his class on Friday. Apparently this presentation will be graded, which is hilarious since they don't actually get real grades in Kindergarten. Gareth asked me when I was pestering him to get his project done over the weekend what would happen if he didn't do it. I jokingly told him that maybe they wouldn't let him go to first grade, but he knew that was ridiculous. The honest answer - nothing, absolutely nothing.

Ryan's headed down to Albuquerque for his sister's wedding. That's not usual or boring, but we had to buy some clothes for Ryan, which is more boring. I'm staying here with the boys because I have a concert this weekend. New clothes were in order for the wedding, considering none of Ryan's dress shirts fit anymore since he started lifting weights a couple years ago. We ended up going the sports coat route and he looks really, really good when you put the whole ensemble together. I haven't had a chance to take any pictures yet, so we'll have to get some after the wedding. It took a couple of lengthy shopping trips to accomplish the wardrobe, during which the boys were amazingly well-behaved, all things considered.

Despite being incredibly busy with school and music and kids (not housework, because that just isn't happening), we managed to get some time in the yard while the weather was so nice the past couple weeks. I mowed the lawn a couple times, borrowed a weedwacker from a friend to do the edges, got some weeding done, and planted some more seeds in the garden. I found some plastic mats that have prongs sticking out that I placed around the edges of the raised bed. They seem to actually be working and keeping out the cat that was using the garden as a litter box. Maybe we'll get a decent yield from the garden this year. Malcolm loves being in the yard, chewing on dandelions and pinecones. Gareth asked for a picnic one day, so the boys and I enjoyed a sunny lunch.

We've decided that I'll not take classes during the summer. This will give us a couple months to save up for childcare and tuition for the fall. Trying to figure out childcare for both boys during the summer was more than I wanted to hassle with, and it'll be nice to have a little more time to go do things as a family while Gareth is on break. And hopefully I'll make some amazing progress on Gareth's quilt during the summer.