Highlights {in full}

* Our latest Scholastic order arrived, so we've been reading a lot of Woolbur, Our Earth, Tea with Ruby, and I Knew You Could! in addition to the 9 books we checked out of the library and the Alphakids Plus series Buby has been borrowing from Miss Adrienne.

* Bleu girl had her first and second play dates with gym pals Ella, Addie, Ava, Sean and Caleb. As we walked toward the car to leave the park, she turned and said, "Bye guys." That was a moment for me. She will have friends. She's not a baby anymore.

* I took the kids to an ice cream social at Buby's school. It started to rain and thunder and they couldn't have cared less.

* We continued swim lessons after three forced weeks off, and Buby and Bleu picked right back up. Currently Buby is working on his side crawl, his back stroke, and his belly whacker front dive. That last one is painful for me to watch. This will be our last 10-week session until Fall, since we do lessons in our own pool over the summer.

* I attended my fourth parent-teacher conference in two years. I was told Buby is a pleasure to have in class and shows cooperation in all areas. He's eager to conquer topics and tasks kids might not normally explore until kindergarten or 1st. He is very interested in completing sentences on paper using what's called "inventive spelling." He likes to hear stories over and over so that he can memorize them and later "read" them on his own. He loves school, and right now that's all that matters.

* The preschool report cards around here use three letters to gauge where a child falls in a particular development category: B for Beginning, D for Developing, S for Secure. Buby was graded (if you can call it that) in 41 categories. He earned an S in 39 of them. The two areas in which he is still improving are scissor skills and pencil grip. He has the wackiest pencil grip. He got that from me, of course, and every one of my teachers tried to correct it, too. Anyway, we have a plan that will hopefully suit everyone.

* We erected our very first rocketship out of a cardboard box we had from two new dining chairs. {By the way, our table seats 8 now. If you love us, please come over for dinner.}

* Buby used all 120 standard unit blocks in his latest village design and announced, "Oh no Mom. Looks like I'll need another set. I have more ideas in my head and things to build." My Sweets said that should be his end-of-school-year gift from us.

* The wee ones ran up to the playroom after breakfast on the weekend. My Sweets and I stayed down for a moment but started to get suspicious when we didn't hear anything. Too quiet. We tip-toed upstairs and there was Bleu lying on her froggy pillow next to Buby reading her a book. Seriously. It was a moment.

* We watched 11 huckleberry seeds flourish in our kitchen and talked about our big organic garden plans for this summer. The seed packet was a gift to Buby from our neighbor Gert. She knows well his gardening ways.

* I'm just as tired but not nearly as nauseous as I was the first trimester. Things are looking up, I heard his/her heartbeat again on Wednesday, I've gained a whopping 13 pounds, and we'll have our first of two ultrasounds on Monday. Hurray!

* Bleu is obsessed with Lady Antebellum's single "Need You Now." She'll sing it for you.

* Lilacs are blooming across the street, and the scent reminds me of the day I said "I Do." Speaking of which, My Sweets and I will celebrate our 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY on May 20.

* Another spontaneous Saturday for us. My Sweets and my father, who lives 5 hours away, planned to meet in the middle somewhere to fish. Then my dad invited Buby. And My Sweets invited me. And Bleu. And at 10 pm the night before I convinced my mom to cancel breakfast plans with her friends and join us. So after t-ball we drove just an hour and a half and met my parents at one of our favorite woodsy fishing holes.

* We set out blankets near the covered bridge and enjoyed a picnic of turkey and provolone, olives and mozzarella, pickles, organic chips, red + green apples, strawberries and mango and kiwi. It was the most relaxing day ever. I felt like I was on vacation playing in the sand with the kiddies, hiking with Bleu, catching up with my mom, watching Buby build his usual rock/stick/grass fort.

* My Sweets caught 5 fish while 3 more got away. I love seeing him all decked out in his fly fishing gear, by the way, standing in the middle of the river wild. Buby fished for a while but decided the shore was much more intriguing. Not a single complaint from anyone. We just hung for 5 1/2 hours. The wee ones could have stayed another 6 I think. We all went to dinner and then back to the our house to sleep very soundly.


* Sunday we spent the day in our jams, per My Sweets' suggestion. I started out with jeans but gave in to the temptation. We never do that. It was awesome. We ate fillet and perfectly cooked eggs and broiled potatoes and English muffins with blackberry jam for breakfast. Then my parents left. Boohoo.

* Tommy put Bleu down for nap while Buby and I made a batch of apricot and blackberry thumbprint cookies. He said he wanted to surprise Daddy and Bleu with them, but I know the truth. When I first turned on the mixer Buby gleamed, "Mommy... that's music to my ears." Then he remembered how messy I am in the kitchen ~ butter, flour, brown sugar flying everywhere ~ and he wisely ducked under the counter until I finished.

* For dinner I made Spinach fettuccine al fredo with grilled chicken tenderloins, steamed broccoli and fresh ground pepper. I wished we'd had some of that warm olive bread from two weeks ago. Hmmm. The kids asked for seconds and thirds. Then we all sampled baked goods from the oven. I'm caught up on laundry and the house is clean enough.


* Several times every day I think how freakishly lucky I am. In love. In family. In friends. In faith. This week I thought a lot about how blessed our children are, too. To have the lives they do. To have us as parents. To be so engaged and creative and wonderfully comedic. To live and experience the way they do, every day, because I am here for them. And My Sweets is here for them. For us. There's no better feeling than feeling like you're doing the best you can. And that your best is just fine.

* During open swim at the Y this week I said to Buby, who already had a long day and was swimming independently for 45 minutes without anything to grab onto, "You must be so exhausted." He showed me the trick where he goes under and pretends to be a shade with his arms straight out. Again I inquired, "Doesn't that make you feel tired?" To which he replied, "No Mom. It makes me feel proud." {I LOVE that kid.}


* While I ran upstairs to gather laundry, I listened through the baby monitor and heard Buby teaching Bleu how to play one of his made-up games. He said, "Good job, Nola, good job! But try it like this next time. Can I have a turn? Okay. Okay. You can go next. Are you having fun? I'm so glad."


* Bleu survived her 2-year well visit, even though a bad nurse we've never met tortured both of her arms trying to find a vein {for the lead test}. Finally I said ENOUGH and we left. She's 35 inches tall and 27.5 pounds. That's roughly 90% for height and 50% for weight. Dr. said her growth chart is beeeeautiful. Of course, they are making us return in a month for that test.


* Earlier this evening I saw Buby more hyper than I've ever seen him. Ever. We met his good friend John at a jump club/bounce place, and they did their happy thing for two full hours. They bounced and hugged and raced and bounced again to their hearts content. Bleu kept right up with them.


* I finally checked on an old workplace retirement account and found it had a lot more mula than I thought. Hurray for forgetting about investments and just letting them grow.


* Bleu got over her no-dress phase, thanks to Aunt Melissa and Uncle Mike. They had two handmade dresses sent over for our girl's birthday, one for her and one for Bitty. Now Bleu and Bitty want to wear nothing else. {Mel, I'll post a photo of her in the dress tomorrow... thank you.}


* Tonight was homemade pizza night, but I was out of a lot of the usual veggies I throw on. And the red pepper, which was new and uncut, smelled funny to me so I threw that away too. Our toppings were limited to sauce, cheese, green pepper, garlic, white onion, and fresh pineapple chunks. It was stinky, but boy was it yum.


* If you made it to the bottom of this list {hi Mom!}, congratulations. You deserve a cookie.