A taste of spring, when mom cooks dinner, a munchkin survey, and frigid baseball fun (7 Quick Takes)

~1~

Our saucer magnolia tree is blooming! Spring is here, and then it’s not, and then it sort of is.

But I do love our tree. And it’s actually not our tree. It is on our neighbors’ property, but the branches spread over our lawn. I’m just a little disappointed that Easter came before the tree and Daniel’s First Communion will come after the flowers are gone. I’ll try to think of a reason to pose people in front of it before all the petals fall.

~2~

This is one of those weeks where I feel overcommitted and unable to fulfill my commitments.

I’m doing some things well, but other things I’m not doing at all.

Spring is always my busiest time, and this year I am way behind.

So when I made dinner—a real dinner—one night, you can bet I photographed it and threw it on Instagram. And I made sure my polka dot teakettle was in the background.

~3~

 

How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions?

I know, I know, same here—except that I am doing well with my goal of eating more avocado toast for breakfast.

I realized this year I’ve been doing resolutions entirely wrong. I should have thought of avocadoes long ago.

Yum.

~4~

Last weekend we went on a triple dinner date with friends and left all the children at our house with a sitter. We had a fantastic time, and so did they. When we got home, I saw the boxes of munchkins Leo and I had picked out at the store that afternoon.

According to our scientific survey of the group, glazed is superior to chocolate.

Next time we’ll have to do a different study: chocolate chip vs. sugar cookies? Orange vs. grape popsicles? The possibilities are endless.

~5~

Did you see this cartoon of Barbara Bush entering Heaven and seeing her daughter Robin? I absolutely love it.

~6~

Our children’s teachers don’t ask us to send in lots of extra supplies, but one day this week I opened an email saying the fourth graders needed to bring in items to make their own instruments. I braced myself.

When I got home, I put on my cheerful voice and said to Leo, “Your teacher emailed and said you need to bring in some supplies for a project! We can run out to the store after dinner!”

He turned and gave me this horrified look. “What? No! I only volunteered for things I knew we already have.”

And he was right. God knew what he was doing when he matched me with a practical planner who understands his mother’s limitations.

~7~

We went to our second grader’s baseball game one evening this week, and it was frigid. I wore a heavy wool coat and a thick scarf, and I was still freezing the whole time. Other people seem to be able to keep track of which inning it is or what the score is, but it’s a struggle for me, especially when I am shivering and thinking about which of my children is going to come down with pneumonia first.

The game lasted five innings, and it was fun, but it was also very, very, very cold. The players were frozen. The spectators were frozen. That night I couldn’t fall asleep because I was still cold.

Before the game, Daniel told me over and over that he did not want to try being the catcher, even though the coach wanted him to catch. But he would never have said no to the coach, of course. So he put all the equipment on and then smiled and laughed his way through two innings as catcher. He put his heart into it, throwing and catching and practicing with his friend who was pitching when they weren’t on the field.

That is his personality—to take even an experience that isn’t ideal and find the fun in it. Someone said to me today, “Every experience is a good one,” and I’m still not sure that’s true, but I realized that’s our younger son’s approach to life.

I hope this is a weekend of good experiences for you.

Meanwhile, you can find more quick takes on Kelly’s blog, This Ain’t the Lyceum.