Starting off with a reminder that simple words of wisdom or encouragement or small acts of kindness matter. ❤ We all have an important role to play!
I ordered Mother's Day cards from Walgreens again this year - yay, Walgreens!
My "gift" to Mom was helping her spray paint the lampstands and picture frames... she's redoing a few things in her living room this summer, so we're in the beginning of project mode on that. So many drop cloths and empty boxes. lol I love that Mom is always well-prepared for this kind of stuff - so many people don't do that part well, and it matters! The spray painting itself was pretty fun. I hadn't done that in a while, and I was surprised how fast it was!
The sports wall frames had been a mix of golds, browns, and blacks... now they're all black and matching. =) Also, check me out up top next to David Robinson. I really fit right in on this wall of professional and college athletes!! lol
I also "helped" with Jace's eye therapy a couple times. Mom recognizes the massive importance of it for his future, and she has been the one helping him 99% of the time, but Jace's apathy and stubbornness make it really difficult work. His siblings have also helped him a few times when he's trying to get it done early at their house. Anyway, I'll be glad for Jace and for Mom's sake when his eye function is totally restored and this season is over. He was in a fun mood at the beginning here... putting on the eye patch then winking at me for a pirate picture.
It's a lot of work to add on to his homework and sports and other stuff, and I wish he didn't have to do it. But it matters dramatically for his vision and who he will be as an adult. He has to use two sets of lenses plus the red and green bars and red and green slip-in lenses as he reads through these telephone numbers. It's intense. There are 7 different things on the daily list for eye therapy right now. If he went through them without fighting it, it would take an hour and five minutes total. But it takes closer to two hours with the constant arguing and "breaks" and hyper-focusing on distractions between and during each session. It's rough.
When he finally finished that, we went outside and swam (my first swim of 2021). We played "shark" (water tag) and a very short round of chicken, and it was fun times hanging out with Triston, Jace, and Kyndal! (Carter spent the night with his friend, Spencer, then they went with Brooke for Mother's Day, so I didn't get to see him this weekend.)
This little flompy-sue puppy grabbed this branch and carted it up to the porch and was chewing it up and tearing it all apart. Gah, she was so CUTE prancing up looking so proud of herself carrying it! lol
We took it away since she was starting to try to eat it, then she heroically fought the broom as Mom was trying to sweep it all up. lol She's the very cutest right now!!
She's also a playful biter with crazy razor-sharp teeth... so Mom got this spatula that we can hold when we're holding her so that she doesn't try to bite our fingers and ears and noses off. lol
In more serious news, my Aunt JoBug (LaJo O'Brien, standing in the middle here) is retiring from her long career as a teacher this year!! They had a party for her and a couple other retiring teachers at Deer Creek on Friday. She has so much fun, playful energy... and she has mainly worked with Special Ed. students and kids with various other learning disabilities. I know she has left a memorable legacy there and made a huge difference in so many lives!! ❤❤
Kyndal: "Mommmm, how much do you weigh?"
Jace, emphatically: "What!? You can't ask a woman that!!" lol
Kyndal: "Well, I guessed 45, but I wasn't sure."
Me: "Such a great guess, Miss!"
Preshface!
(*Also, it's incredibly thoughtless and obnoxious to me that they included weight on this form for moms. I get the vague intent of kids making cute guesses like this, but it could easily go the other way and trigger body shame and insecurities, which are typically more problematic for women anyway. Dumb.)
Finally, I love that she said, "Mom and I love to... ART." And that if she could give Rach something special, it would be a McDonald's gift card! LOL
Saturday morning, we all went to see Babah at Virginia's house. She's actually looking and feeling much better and more coherent lately! Getting stronger, but still not quite able to walk on her own. Thankful for progress. We stayed there and chatted about an hour and a half and gave her our cards and the digital photo frame gift and tried to set it up.
Kyndal Faith brought a lovely homemade Mother's Day card and drawing for all the women there, including me (the only non-mother at this point), saying I'm the best aunt ever! I need to make her a card for being the best niece! ❤❤ =)
Later that night, Aunt Charlene came over for dinner (Billy Sims BBQ to go + ice cream) and a movie (White House Down). It had been a while, and it's always so good to see her and catch up on life and family stuff! I love hearing her stories and all the detail she puts into them. lol
Sunday was obviously Mother's Day. We went to LifeChurch that morning then went to Olive Garden (our family + Rach and the kids + Josh and his mom, "Grandma Tina"). It was the world's slowest service at Olive Garden that day - we got there just after 11, and finally got our food at 12:25. Jace and Kyndal kept us entertained. This = them giving Grandma Tina her gift after lunch (a cup with pics of them and T&C on it). Plus me and Rachael and the Olive Garden sign in her car's reflection. lol
After that, they came home with Mom and Dad and we went through another painful eye therapy extravaganza. Then I played some volleyball with Kyndal in the driveway and watched Jace play basketball for a bit until Josh came and got them around 4. I rested and chatted with Mom a bit, then finally made the drive back home!
My final pic for this post -- Mom ordered this chair thinking she'd have it recovered, then she found one she likes better. I tried this in my room, and it's a great fit! The color and size totally work, and I've wanted to have a little chair in there for a while. So I told Mom thanks for my Mother's Day gift! lol
That's all I've got here for today.
Happy Monday, and hope you have a good week ahead!!
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