June, One Step at a Time

We finally did finish our school year just days before the end of June, despite Opal's best intentions and even despite me taking a tumble down our stairs.  I missed the last three steps of our stairs one morning, while carrying Opal and texting on my phone.  We all know you should never text and drive, but I am also preaching that you should never walk down stairs while texting and holding a baby.  Maybe you shouldn't even walk down stairs while texting even if you aren't holding a baby.  Thankfully, Opal was not hurt, just scared and my leg, although I thought for sure broken, was just badly bruised.  I called Will home from work, and employed all of my natural remedies while waiting to go to the doctor.  I just kept thinking that I had ruined our summer, as Will only had a few days left of work and we look forward to his time off all year.  I am so very grateful that it was minor compared to what it could have been and I am trying to be more mindful and take the steps one at a time.

For our last day of school, I made strawberry shortcake for breakfast, complete with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  The kids could not believe that I was allowing them to have ice cream for breakfast, and I enjoyed wowing them with this celebratory indulgence.  We also ended the school year with a play at the local university, based on the book James and the Giant Peach, which we had finished reading just a day before attending the well-done performance.  Will took one for the team and stayed home with Opal, who would not have sat through the entire performance.

Lucy, Emma and Violet had their dance recitals this past month.  Violet's was first, and took place in her classroom, which is one of the many things I love about the dance studio we go to.  Next year she will perform on the big stage like Lucy and Emma, but this year, she performed in the comfort of her classroom which I believe is just right developmentally.  It was a fun experience, and Violet did great.

Afterward, we had the grandparents back at our house for a picnic lunch and playtime.  The top, left hand photo below is of Violet and her beloved ballet teacher.

Lucy and Emma's recital was the following weekend, and we did a photo shoot in the front yard so that I could have all of my dancers together in their costumes.  I love that Opal and even Charlie knew to get in on the photos.

Lucy and Emma are always so excited to put their own makeup on for their performances.  I hope that someday they will be so skilled that they can put my makeup on too.  I never felt like I had any skills with makeup, and so don't really wear it unless I'm going out for a special occasion.

The girls did an excellent job dancing to An American in Paris.

We also celebrated Father's Day this past month, and the girls and I made homemade cards for Will and bought him one of his favorite snacks - chocolate covered peanuts.  That same weekend we went to Costco to do our bi-monthly stock up, and I couldn't help but have a flashback of our early Costco shopping days when we only had two kids and how Will told me he couldn't wait until the day that we had a full cart in kids and groceries.  Well, it looks like he made it because on that shopping trip, we seriously thought that we may not be able to fit all of the groceries and all of the kids into one car. What we didn't realize back then was the price tag attached to a cart full of groceries and kids!

We took a long-awaited trip to Cincinnati this past month, and visited with Will's brother and his partner, and my college roommate.  We hadn't been to Cincinnati in about six years, and it was so nice to finally visit with family and friends on their home turf, after years of them faithfully coming to see us.  Will's brother is on a radio station morning show, and so the kids got a huge kick out of visiting him while he was on the air.  Opal enjoyed meeting her Uncles' dog Captain Steve for the first time, and Captain Steve took her in cautious stride, but I don't think cared for Opal's interest in his food dish.

We visited an aquarium with Uncle Tim, and enjoyed some gourmet southern food with him as well. While we waited for Will's brother to get off work one day, we explored one of the bridges connecting Cincinnati with Kentucky.

Unfortunately, Opal came down with a super high fever while we were in Ohio, and gave us a bit of a scare when it didn't break after 24 hours.  We ended up cutting the visit with my friend a bit short so that we could take her into the emergency room.  Turns out she just had a virus, but she was definitely not herself for a few days.  The brief time with my friend and her friends and family left me wanting more, and I will not allow another six years to go by without multiple visits back to see them.  They are like family to me.  In the top, left hand picture below is a small water snake the girls spotted in a creek we had been planning on playing in.  The snake put a stop to that idea!

It was extremely hot by Michigan standards while we visited Ohio, and that left our adventure options a bit more limited so that we could ensure Violet was comfortable and safe.  We ended up visiting the Cincinnati Art Museum which was an excellent experience, and also had the kids play all of the video games that Will and I grew up playing when we visited my friend's house.  She and her boyfriend had gotten a retro game console and that was a fun way to spend an air conditioned afternoon.

Our final excitement on our Cincinnati trip was a Kidz Bop concert.  It was crazy hot, but the excitement of the kids attending their first live concert was enough to make it worth it.

I was surprised how well Opal kept the noise cancelling headphones on.  I think she realized it was better that way, as the concert was loud for a one year old.

 When we came home from our Ohio trip, I had exactly two weeks until I would have a booth at the Lavender Festival.  It was go time for me, and I had a to-do list that pretty much took up every free second until the Festival.  I'm thinking of videoing myself right now, as a reminder for next year when I try to decide if I will participate in the festival again.  Liz right now would tell future Liz to not do it, as it is just too much work at a point in my life right now where four kids is about all I can handle, not to mention running the online business selling my products and the classes that I teach.  Here Will is below, taking care of our honeybees - they lived through the winter, and we were able to split them into three hives.  Even splitting them wasn't enough though, and they decided to swarm into a fourth hive that despite my friend and her fiancé who is an arborist best efforts, we could not reach the swarm that had settled about forty feet up in one of our oak trees.  I am considering this my donation to nature, and I hope that the bees found a comfortable new home.

I also met with a woman in my hometown this past month who is doing amazing things for pollinators, and I am super excited to align resources with her.  They say if you want to create change in the world, start where you are.  This woman is doing this with an efficiency and vision that I hope to join and I am excited to see how it plays out in my hometown.  Meadows, bees and butterflies everywhere I hope!  Below is Will's assistance for everything Harding Honey - he organized my workroom for me, and faithfully wraps signs for shipping.

We did have time with friends and family this past month, despite it's busyness.  Below is a vision I came home to one afternoon of my girls snuggling with our beloved babysitter who is home from college for the summer and we are trying to see as much as possible.

We also got to see our neighbor friend dressed up for Eid, which the girls were so impressed by they thought she looked like a real-life princess.  The kids were excited to babysit another friend's hamster while she as on vacation.  To me, pet sitting is the best of all worlds - the pet arrives here in a freshly cleaned cage to be enjoyed for a short time, and then goes back to it's family just a few days later.

We celebrated Will's mom's birthday, and my family had a joint birthday party for myself, my brother and my dad.

We made trips to the chiropractor and even happened upon the bookmobile for an impromptu, but very excited experience.  Violet perfected riding her bike on our walks and for a while, ended them with skinned knees and Will carrying her home while I pushed Opal in the stroller while towing Violet's bike.  In the bottom, left hand picture below is a gorgeous blue bird's egg we found on one of our walks.

 We had park playdates with friends...

...and we also just played in our own backyard.  In the bottom, right hand pictures below is Violet learning to ride her bike without training wheels.

We played together at home and I just loved seeing how Opal is starting to at least play beside her sisters.

We ate chicken basil pesto tomato and fresh mozzarella grilled sandwiches almost every day this past month as they were that good, and enjoyed harvesting strawberries from our garden as well.  Charlie enjoyed our increased time outdoors as well.

Life is never dull, and it seems every month brings more reasons to celebrate and milestones to accomplish.  I was pretty overwhelmed this past month, and to be honest, I had a hard time seeing the blessings while I was just trying to focus on the very next thing that needed to be done.  Writing this blog, and compiling the photos continues to provide such great focus for me - to give me a moment's pause to reflect on all of the great things that are happening, and give me such gratitude for the life that I lead.  I will continue to try and achieve a more healthy balance of doing and resting though, and I'm hoping after the Lavender Festival next month, I can have some rest before Will goes back to work.  In the meantime, here is a small glimpse into the humor that surrounds me every day - I mentioned above that Will organized my workroom for me - complete with a fake mouse in a little drainage hole (that looks so much like a cartoon mouse hole).  It gives me an adrenaline rush each time I startle upon it, but I wouldn't move it for the world as it is just a small reminder of the creativity and humor that is my other half.  For sure I couldn't pull of this life without him and his humor!

Here's to rest and mindfulness, and taking life one step at a time!