Keep Calm and Carry On: Round-Up

Some brief highlights from the last week or so...

1. Brighton's Birthday

What a wonderful day. She was so very excited. It was one of those awesome years where her birthday fell on a Saturday and she got to have her party on her actual special day. We had a swim party at our local fitness center and it went beautifully. We had friends from all different 'segments' of our lives and the kids all got along so well and everyone had fun. I had Brighton very quickly open her gifts at the end of the party (I dither on whether to do this or not but I think the kids are getting to an age where they want to see their gift opened) and every time she opened a gift she exclaimed, "It's MINE!" She didn't much mind what the gift actually contained, she was just thrilled it belonged to her. I was reassured when we opened her family gifts later in the day and she was more gracious, saying, "Oh, sank you, sank you!" with each new gift revealed. An utterly fabulous day all around and so gratifying to see your kid so happy.

2. Boats

We joined a boat club! My husband really (really really) wants us to become Boat People. He's been doing a lot of research into buying a boat, new vs. used, dock space vs. pulling it in and out of the water, etc. We revisited something he'd looked into a few months ago though, and decided to join a boat club for the year. You sign up, pay an exorbitant fee, and have unlimited use of a number of boats on different lakes around the state. Staff prepare the boat for you and take care of maintenance after your trip, so it's really just a matter of showing up and getting onboard. We'll have a chance to take out several different types of boats and see which one (if any) will be right for our family. First trip out is this Sunday morning!

3. Mother's Day

I had a really nice day. Chris had presented me with a beautiful ring - well, actually, Pacey presented it to me - earlier in the week and I had the usual collection of gifts made by the kids at school. Lest it sound like I was too spoiled, I was woken for the day at 6:45 by my little sidekick, and the only time I really got to myself was 45 minutes while I mowed the lawn :) Couldn't have asked for a nicer day to celebrate my position in my wonderful little family.

4. School Stuff

I had the final few meetings in preparation for Pacey's transition into kindergarten. I'm still processing some of it and will likely write in more detail later. Once again, I feel fortunate that I have a really supportive team working with us and I feel like we're all really working together to make sure Pacey has as successful a year as possible. The final meeting was a transition conference at the elementary school with the preschool and kindergarten teams present to discuss the IEP we're crafting now that will take him through the end of the next school year. I didn't really think much about it ahead of time and was a bit taken aback to enter a room of 10 professionals, including teachers, therapists, case managers, special education coordinators and the school principal. No time to be nervous though, and I was really proud of the way I advocated for the things I think are most important for him. I still find the process intimidating and largely look to his teachers for guidance as far as setting his IEP goals, but I am VERY confident in my role as Expert on Pacey Graham Harris. It's a good feeling.

5. Summer Plans

We have a lot coming up in the summer months! The kids will both be going to summer preschool for the month of June, three mornings a week. That means...time on my own!! I am hoping to be able to use that time to get chores and errands done so that we have our afternoons free for park adventures and Mondays and Fridays free to go further afield. There are a ton of things to do here in the summer and we'll have no trouble filling time. My mother-in-law and brother-in-law are coming from England the first two weeks of June and haven't seen the kids in two years (or ever been to Minnesota). I'm really excited for the kids to get to know them and to introduce them to our new home state. We'll have a month at home and then are headed over to Northern California to see my sister and her family. Can't wait to get the kiddos together with their cousin, D.

6. Books Galore

C has been really into the show Heroes (on Netflix) and I wasn't super gripped by it so I've been spending a lot of time reading while he watches. I am plowing through book after book - some crap, some not - and should have a good list of recommendations here soon. Some evenings I have actually finished a book and immediately picked up another. Bliss! I am proud to report I have only purchased two books for myself all year and the rest have been library reads. Amazing how a little forward planning makes it possible. I did, however, fail to get to my last book club selection (State of Wonder by Ann Patchett), though I do still want to read it.