A few of my favorite things...

One of my favorite things is the movie The Sound of Music.  I could probably recite the songs by heart....  When the dog bites.  When the bees sting.  When I'm feeling sad.  I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel so bad. 

I tend to get sad this time of year.  Summer is winding down, and the school year is ticking closer.  My days of lazy fun with the kids will be coming to a screeching halt and the busy year will begin with running out the door at 7 and back by 4:30, scrambling to get dinner made with two hungry ones at my heels while Pat works late.  Minimal time to spend with the kids before bed, and after bed minimal time to relax myself as I clean up the kitchen and correct papers.  Heck, my throat is tightening up just as I type this.  Yuck.

Anyway, I find it helps me to focus on my favorite happy things to enjoy the time I do have left, and gear myself for the transition to come.  Favorite things like...

• Henry learning to meow like a kitty, and do sign language for please.
• Reading Bloom, a memoir by a blogger I follow.  She had a daughter born with Down Syndrome, and she shares her personal story of transformation, along with pictures of their life throughout the book.
• Beautiful trip to Nicollet Commons Park.

• Last minute visits from Grandma, which means a new play partner for Chutes and Ladders, companion for a picnic in the park, someone to show my sewing skills to, and an OT specialist to practice things with Henry like walking, going down stairs, and drinking through a straw.

•  Church festival celebrations, despite the rainy Sunday.  I enjoyed not being tied down to running the pork stand this year, and instead wrote the church six checks this weekend for various things... fresh kolacky, chicken dinner, games for Olivia, rootbeer floats, pork burgers, candy...  It was all so good.  I worked a 2 hour shift in the pork stand and chatted with the regular workers who I really only get a chance to talk to when we work together there.  I had fun bringing the kids around to play games since I have worked so much each festival prior, it was really my first chance to do that.  Of course, Olivia chose to spend 4 tickets to get pink and purple polk-a-dot hair... with orange and pink extensions... and after washing repeatedly her hair still has pink high-lights... but she loved it!

Henry's reaction to Sister getting her hair done.  I'm with ya dude.

Why can I never get a decent picture of the two of them together?  Never.

• Probably my most favorite part of the festival this year is this story:  A few days prior I was busy making a few baby bibs to donate to the church to sell in their craft booth, and making banana bread to sell in their baking booth.  Olivia decided all on her own to make some books to give to the church.  She made several pictures and wrote "words", and taped the pages together to make it a book.  (PS, she used old paper my mom gave us from Kubes Realty that had photocopies of house listings on the back side.)  When we went to the church Saturday morning to drop off our donations, Olivia was SO excited to bring them her books, five in total.  I didn't know if I should jot a note on a post-it that said "My daughter made these for the festival.  She is so proud of them.  Please accept them graciously and recycle them after we leave."  Luckily it was the preschool teacher that was accepting donations at that time, so she totally understood.  She was so touched by what Olivia did she apparently was sharing with others the story.  She also put them on display taped to the front of a table.  Olivia couldn't have been more proud as we walked by and saw that.  She even smiled more when she realized four were hanging up, so they must have sold one!!!

• Henry FINALLY learning to walk.  Although crawling is still his preferred method of travel, he'll walk a great deal more now and it will only be a matter of days before he's a pro, I'm certain.
• Helping my brother film a wedding.  An exhausting day, but it was a wonderful experience that I would be so happy to do again.  I can't wait to see the end results.
• Being entertained by the Teddy Bear Band.

Cheers to more favorite things coming up these next few weeks!  And yes, some school work too, to help me get my brain back in the game.  The dog bite won't be too bad if it's softened with being prepared and inspired.