scenes from a birthday

This is my Mom.

Her birthday is this week.  My sisters and I celebrated with her last weekend.

Each year we plan a birthday tea for her, and gift her with a different tea pot to add to her growing collection.  The locations and activities change annually.  Sometimes the tea is at one of our homes, sometimes at a museum or restaurant, we've even had a tea at the beach.

What doesn't change is importance of the time spent together, just the women of the family.

This year included food and flowers and iced tea in the park, lemon cake, hats and handmade fabric fans to push away the hot hot temperatures.

Oh, and a bit of bare feet in a fountain.

Happy Birthday Mom!  I love you and all of your generous goodness!

morning {updated}

 By 9:00 I
:: played soccer
:: watched some golf
:: checked the flowers
:: sipped coffee while pulling the wagon
:: savored the freedom of a summer day

By 10:00 I
:: herded the kids inside to escape the climbing tempatures
:: made breakfast
:: let the kids cool off with popsicles

By 11:00 I
:: vacuumed the living room floor and quickly wiped the bathroom down with baby wipes (hmm, maybe I can keep a clean house this summer)
:: embraced the enthusiasm to set up the play tents and tubes
:: battled the tent poles, no, really battled the tent poles
:: yelled at the kids for swinging at each other with the tent poles
:: reheated my coffee for the third time

By 11:29 I
:: wondered, amidst the "mama, mama, mama" and tent pole swinging, how in the world I ended up here
:: stepped on a tent pole connector in bare feet (think stepping on a Lego piece in bare feet)


By 11:30 I
:: cried (this is really hard)

By 11:43 I
:: attempted to pick up the kitchen, and surrendered as loser to its overwhelming piles
:: snuck the last brownie from the pan
:: resorted to PBS Kids

Now at 12:16 I
:: am taking some deep breaths
:: forgiving myself for being imperfect (we all are some times, aren't we?)
:: tossing ice cubes in my again lukewarm coffee, just giving in and making it iced coffee
:: am thinking that all of the great ideas I jotted down earlier this week to make it a fantastically fun and smooth summer must seriously, seriously be put into place

How about you other Mamas out there?  What do you do to make it a fantastically fun and smooth summer?



{update}

Then at 2:00 I
:: find some redemption as the littlest ones are napping
:: enjoy teamwork with Buddy as we finally set up the playhouse, no battles, no pole swinging (not much anyway) 
:: get beckoned inside the playhouse for snuggles
:: find my bliss, with my oldest son, who gives me kisses and kisses, and says to me as I am fretting if I have set the playhouse up with the right size tubes in the right spots, "it's not about being the tallest or smallest or biggest, its about being the funnest"
:: marvel at my smart, smart boy

Yes, you are right my dear son, it is the funnest, all of it.

what we've been building

Some of you have been wondering what all of the measuring and cutting and hammering has been about.

We've been doing a little construction project.  With the help of many little, but ever more capable, hands.

For some time, we've wanted a salad table.  And now, we have one!

There is spinach, several types of lettuce, basil, and beets.  Yum!

My hubby says it is to help fulfill one of my summer daydreams.  But I think it is fulfilling one of his as well.

For good measure, and at the insistence of the littlest gardeners, we planted pumpkins and watermelons too!

this moment

Joining SouleMama, and many others, in this weekly ritual of pausing to savor a moment from the week.

Beautifully simple.  Extraordinarily lovely.

I love to see your moments too, so leave a link in the comments!

Wishing you a weekend of wild abandon and pure fun!

Best,
Claudine

postcards from the weekend

Like any real postcard that is sent by snail mail while on a trip, these postcards are coming many days later, once the trip is quite over.  I meant it that way.

Well, that is at least the story I am sticking with.

The real, behind-the-scenes-why-I-haven't-blogged, reason is that I have fallen asleep with the kids around 9:00 pm the past two nights.  My husband claims that I was un-wake-able both evenings.  I think I'm finally caught up on sleep.  For now anyway.

So, it's time to grab a coffee (or an iced tea, it is getting warmer after all) and check your mailbox.  I've sent you some postcards from our weekend.

Dear Friend,
We've had a great weekend here!
We got to enjoy a hometown holiday parade.  From the anticipation, to the fire trucks, to the attractions.  And coming home with a sack full of candy was the bonus!

Bubbles.  Lots and lots of bubbles with cousins.

Flying the new kite with kid power on the wind-less day.  And Baby Sister simply had to join in the run!

We ate Chocolate Dutch Babies.  With homemade butter.  Is that considered breakfast or dessert, do you think?

Fashion was provided by my sister's cowboy boots.  Love 'em.

And we spent time working more on a special garden project.  (More on that later this week.)

The weather is beautiful.  Wish you were here.
Miss you,
Claudine


What would your postcard from the weekend read?