Weekend Words

I'm all about the weekends lately.  I have TIME.  Time to drink way too much coffee each morning, sit and think for a bit.  Enjoy my little people and my guy a bit more.  I love weekends.

Memorial Day weekend has become one of my favorites of all.  Ian gets Monday off which is such an amazing treat.  That extra day helps us relax and squeeze in more.  It's a good juggle.

Yesterday was a most perfect start to the summer season.  Our pool and splash pads open for the summer and we took full advantage.  First stop wast the Farmer's market, the opening day for that too.  I grabbed my sturdy bunch of asparagus and we devoured our 6 donuts (because we're a 6 donut family now).  I dreamt of being able to afford all of the beautiful plants and flowers as is tradition.

On our way home we stopped at one garage sale where I found a $2 handmade throw quilt.  It's finds like these that make me feel like there is some garage sale fairy looking out for me.  Perfection.

We spent the next 45 minutes changing and sun lotioning and lunch making for the pool.  We walked up and for the second year in a row our girls were the first two in our local oak park pool.

After an hour of splashing we ate our picnic lunch, then Ian took Felix home for a nap and I stayed with the girls.  We ran into friends.  The girls swam.  I SAT, no LOUNGED, for most of that time.  There are definitely perks to kids growing up a bit.

I thought about that a lot as I sat there actually.  I have been simply stunned by how much Ainsey in particular has grown this past year.  There were moments of her toddler and preschool years when  I thought we'd never see the light after weeks of behavior problems and tantrums and defiance.  She has matured so much.  I find myself sad to be leaving those baby and young toddler years behind only to be met with so much thankfulness and joy at experiencing life with my big kids.  They are so so great.

After a full 2 hours at the pool the girls and I headed home (so thankful that's a mere block walk at that stage of the game).  We headed out to accomplish some errands, weekend groceries, bakery, coffee and cold drink treats, mega library pick up.

We spent the afternoon getting some much needed relaxation.  We poured over the new books on our new quilt.  Ainsley passed out on the couch in the quiet house for 45 minutes.

More about those books.
Ainsley and Louise are both very excited about summer reading.  Ainsley is reading right on target for kindergarten but has not taken off quite like we thought she would.  She is really exasperated with most leveled readers and I have to agree on most counts.  30+ pages of 3 and four sentence paragraphs is just too much for a beginner reader (having said that she does love this series).  She's bored with the Bob books and Dick and Jane but as far as I can tell the jump from those to Level 1 readers is pretty huge.  I scoured for true first readers and came across these and these.  Out of my price range by a long shot I requested ALL of them from the library and she read two easily and happily on her own yesterday.  She even brought a few to church this morning to read.  I had requested some months ago and she wasn't quite ready.  Now she's flying through them and I know we're on the right path.  That feels really good.
Louise is really picking up speed on the Bob books and loves the phonics books in particular.  She's started her own word book where she write words down that she doesn't know when she's reading.  She's really good at sounding things out and I hope to get her going with some sight words to help her feel more confident with reading.
Oh the summer reading fun we'll have.
I also request some Ubsborne activity/art books that have some great ideas.  I've felt a bit stagnant on that front.

I find as I work on things with the kids it brings to light things that I need to work on.  Patience, perseverance.  There are many things I that I want to be able to do, but don't because it feels too hard.  There are many times when I give up before I should.  Perhaps I'll make a little sticker chart right along with them.

Today has been just as good.  Church this morning, Indian buffet and Indian food induced naps.  Soon we head to friends for a BBQ.
We haven't gone to church consistently since the kids were born.  It was too hard to deal with the nursery for me.  I've always had a hard time leaving them.  Now they're bigger and it's time. For now we're going to our catholic church over the bridge.  It's funny that this non denominational Christian girl and ELCA Lutheran boy feel most at home at the Catholic church here. For me it's about so many things.  Right now it's trusting in something bigger than me that I can't fully understand, knowing that none of us are alone.  That's pretty big right now.

Tomorrow there's the parade (please don't rain!) and lots of family together time.  I can't believe Ainsley only has two weeks left of kindergarten.  There are so many fun things ahead.  I'm trying to let the excitement and joy fill me right up.

Happy Memorial Day weekend to you all!