I finished my Spring Cleaning! After several days of hard work, I was able to take care of four bedrooms, five book shelves, six closets, and got rid of seven garbage bags full of stuff. We did eight loads of laundry on Saturday, washed several of walls on Monday, and vacuumed myriads of times every day. I still have to tackle the kitchen, but my kitchen is so small that I decided to let it go this time instead of getting frustrated with the little space. I feel liberated, and now I can actually dedicate some time to getting ready for my trip and the whole summer.
Work wasn't the only thing that we did here during these two weeks. In between cleaning, I hosted a little get together for my friend, watched a bunch of movies with the kids and my husband, read some absolutely fabulous books (four in a week and a half), organized and hosted several play dates for my older children, listened to French and German CDs in an attempt to revive whatever is left from those languages in my brain, went on a field trip with my kids, had fun with friends, played several games of soccer, and attended James' graduation. No wonder I haven't had the energy to write on my blog. That, and the trouble with the Internet connection that is driving me crazy.
On May 19th, I left my younger kids with friends (thanks to Tammy and Amy for watching James and Charlton), and drove several of Gillian's classmates and her teacher to their field trip, Lawrence Hall of Science. In addition to being Gillian and Jefferson's mother, I took the role of chaperon, friend, and photographer for the day. All of the three charter school classes had a combined field trip, and I would have random kids from various classes come and ask me if I could take a picture of them with their best friends. It was a lot of fun. I also enjoyed watching Gillian play with her friends reminding me so much of myself at that age. She has the craziest imagination, and her friends, boys and girls, were all ears and had a look of amazement on their faces. I had no doubt Gillian loved that. Here are some of those memories:
On May 20th, some friends of ours, the Websters, invited us to spend a couple of hours with them at their vacation home located on the California Delta. They have people over quite often I heard, and I was happy that they shared their time and home with us. We all had fun, but I have to say the kids had an exceptional time. They went boating, tubing, attempted swimming, blew bubbles, flew kites, had an adventure going down the zip line, built a fire, roasted marshmallows, and had a blast playing with friends on a spacious and quiet backyard. Living in California has only one bad side; we are far away from Elijah's home where peace and quiet is the order of the day. We miss taking time off and driving down to Georgia, and enjoying the quiet life that the countryside has to offer. Everyone needs time off such as that to relax and examine life.
On May 26, Elijah, Gillian, Jefferson, Charlton, and I attended James' graduation from Pre-K. He had told Elijah that he would really appreciate it if his father attended his function. He also told me that he would love it if his older brother and sister were there as well. So, that's what we did. Elijah took a couple of hours off from his job, and I pulled the kids early from school. As I watched the program that James' teacher and class had prepared, I couldn't believe how much my little James had grown. He felt very comfortable singing, talking, and showing his skills.
After some refreshments, James was eager to show us places he played while in preschool, the rabbits they helped raised, the chicks that they named, the tomato plants they planted and took care of, and of course his teacher and the work he had accomplished while at school. Good job, James! You are one smart and fun boy to be around.
