Saturday Morning

No alarm. Ahhhh. Gentle light coming through the window and I lazily lean over to check the time.  I doze a little longer. Sweet children wander in and wake me with their warm smiles and bright eyes.

I love Saturdays.

Hot coffee in my hand, slippers on my feet, I notice a beautiful day is brewing outside. The sun is shining and I hear birds! They are quite boisterous with their songs this morning. It's like they are screaming, "It's Spring!! It's SPRING!!!"

I love Saturdays.

The whole day lies ahead. What will it bring? Lots of outside time, for sure.  The swing set and sand box are just calling for the children.  The chickens might get to move outside today.  The dead mums from last fall/winter are depressing; I should pull them and get the garden ready for fresh, green plants to grow.  It's Pi Day; I will make apple pie for dessert.  The house smells amazing when I bake an apple pie.

I love Saturdays.

It's a day for playing, cuddling children, making pancakes, catching up on laundry and sorting.  It's a day for no absolutes--nothing that HAS to be done, but lots of things that CAN be done.  It's a day for apple pie and playing outside and riding bikes.  It's a day to write with chalk on the sidewalk and grill steaks and notice the grass is just starting to turn green.

I love Saturdays.

What Am I Reading?

The last three books I read...
1. The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher by Dana Alison Levy (A great family book that made me laugh a lot...and touched my heart.)
2. El Deafo by CeCe Bell (I could really relate to this book as I also grew up with hearing loss.)
3. When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds (I love young adult literature.)

I am currently reading...
1. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
2. Read, Write, Lead by Regie Routman

I want to read...
1. Conferring: The Keystone of Reader's Workshop by Patrick Allen
2. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
3. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
4. The Great Green Heist by Varian Johnson
5. Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst

Barnes and Noble

Before I was a mom, I used to LOVE to go to Barnes and Noble (or any bookstore, really).  I would grab a coffee and wander aimlessly, browsing the books.  Once I became a mom, my visits to Barnes and Noble were quick and to the point--grab gift card for this person or look for a book for this person.  Get in and get out before the toddler climbs out of the stroller or I lose my pre-schooler. :-) No time for browsing.

Well, the other day, I rediscovered my love for Barnes and Noble and browsing...and my children were with me. :-) My oldest son, who is 5, recently started reading (!!!!!). It is very exciting for his reading teacher mother.  So, as a right of passage, I decided to take him and my 3 year old son (we left the 1 year old with Grandma) to Barnes and Noble to pick out books.  On the way there we talked about what kinds of books they were interested in looking at.  The primary purpose of the visit was to pick out books my 5 year old could read himself.  In addition, he was looking for books on sharks.  My 3 year old was on the search for cheetahs and dinosaurs.  I was so excited!! I was going to teach them how to love bookstores!! It's not like they have never picked out books before...we go to the library all the time and we pick out books through Scholastic almost every month.  They have had ample opportunity to pick books, but somehow this felt different.

We wandered up to the children's section (which is directly BEHIND the toy section--super fantastic marketing there). We found the early readers and after finding ones I thought he could read, I presented choices and then we were off to find a shark book.  My 3 year old and I started looking for cheetahs (he found a roaring dinosaur book right away).  After looking for a bit, I noticed my 5 year old wasn't right with me.  I looked around, and be still my heart--my child had found a spot for himself and was READING HIS BOOKS...completely unprompted by me, completely on his own.  Definitely a proud mom moment.  I later made him reenact the moment so I take a picture. :-)

Tonight's Playlist

It is day 11 of this Slice of Life adventure...it's time you get a glimpse into the REAL me...the good, the bad, and the ugly...and here it is...my playlist from tonight's run.

Glory by Common and John Legend (a GREAT song to get you pumped to take on the world)
Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars (Just fun...really, really fun)
Billie Jean by Michael Jackson (my favorite Michael Jackson song)
Shut Up by Black Eyed Peas (a good running song)
Baby I Got Your Money by Old Dirty Bastard (I was in college in the late '90s...I can't help it.)
Rock Your Body by Justin Timberlake (another good running song)
Yeah! by Usher (reminds me of college, best friends, and dance floors)
Roses by Outkast (another good running song)

Monday

Yesterday, I was inspired by a fellow Slicer.  She used this format and I thought it was great! So, here goes!

Last night, exhausted, I curled up in bed to read a bit of Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson.
Before that, I caught the tail end of The Bachelor finals and After the Final Rose. I didn't even watch this season, but I was flipping through the channels and got sucked in.
Before that, I kissed my children good night and happily wandered downstairs as my husband prepared to read Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! 
Before that, I snuggled with my sons as my husband tucked in our baby girl.
Before that, I washed, dried and dressed an unhappy three year old, desperately trying not to get water and soap onto his scraped forehead.
Before that, I unsuccessfully tried to convince said three year old to eat his corn and chicken.  His father was partially successful in this attempt.
Before that, I enjoyed dinner with my husband and children--complete with laughs and no milk spills.
Before that, I simultaneously prepared dinner and entertained three children.  Thank you, Blaze and the Monster Machines.
Before that, I enjoyed a play date and outside time with a dear friend and her children.  I also comforted a distraught three year old after he took a digger and scraped his forehead.
Before that, I drove the children home from swimming lessons.
Before that, I caught a little bit of throw-up in a towel when my five year old took in a little too much water on his "magic carpet ride."
Before that, I watched the swimming lesson teacher rightfully give my three year old a time out after a few warnings about splashing. I love days he doesn't nap (enter sarcasm here).
Before that, I picked up the kids from the babysitter to take them to swimming lessons.
Before that, I enjoyed a 2.21 mile run on a beautiful early spring day and managed to dodge most puddles.
Before that, I left work ON TIME!
Before that, I had a great day of work!
Before that, I handed the phone to my five year old so he could call his dad and ask him nicely to bring his backpack...which was still sitting on the couch at home.
Before that, I arrived approximately 4 minutes late to work...it's hard to get up on the first Monday after setting the clocks back an hour.

Reading back through this, it dawns on me how MONDAY my Monday really was. :-)

Early Spring

When I walked into work this morning, it was 28 degrees. The melted puddles from yesterday were frozen and dangerous in the parking lot.  While I was in the school building, spring sprung! I walked out at 1:30 without a coat and it was 55 degrees! Water streamed downhill from melting snow.  The sun was shining brightly and I didn't need to turn on the heat in my van! Yay!

I am not foolish to believe winter is totally over...this is how spring in Wisconsin works. We get a few warm days (in March, warm equals anything over 40 degrees) and everyone bolts for the outdoors.  You will see people in shorts! Because I wanted so badly to take my kiddos outside, I DROVE them across our muddy, snowy, water-logged driveway to get to the road so they could run outside and ride bikes with their friends from up the road.  The grassy ground is still covered with snow, and there are puddles EVERYWHERE. This is early spring.  It will still freeze and it will still probably snow.  We will get a few days of warmer weather and then a few days of winter.  It will rain and most of the remaining snow will get washed away.  It will be very, very wet for awhile.  Eventually, though, the water will seep deep into the earth and grass will grow and tiny buds will begin to open and everything will turn green!

This time is so exciting...the anticipation of the soon to come spring season!! Rather than rush through it, let's enjoy it for what it is...and know that spring is coming!!

Sushi First Timer

I love to eat. I love to try new restaurants and new recipes and I love all kinds of cuisines.  But, I have my limits...there are certain things I just was not interested in trying...like sushi.  It's the raw fish. I just couldn't wrap my mind around eating raw fish; I don't even like my steak rare.

Today, I did something that made me very uncomfortable.  I ate sushi...with raw fish in it and everything. :-) And I liked it!! It didn't taste fishy like I thought it would.  It didn't make me gag like I thought it might.  It wasn't even just "tolerable"...I would choose to eat it again.

I have many friends who eat and enjoy sushi on a regular basis.  People just rave about sushi! Even my brother, who is NOT someone who usually pays money to eat food from a restaurant unless it is a pizza, loves sushi.  This caught me completely off guard and was completely unexpected, but for the last couple of months on many occasions my brother has mentioned how delicious sushi is.  Hmmmm, I thought.  If my brother eats sushi and likes it...maybe it is worth a try.

He and I went and bought five different types of sushi rolls.  I apparently embarrassed him when I asked which one was good for beginners.  Anyway, we went back to our mom and dad's house and spread the packages out on the counter.  "You have to try them all." He said to me.  No way was I eating those rolls with the big ol' pieces of RAW FISH on the top.  I was new to this and I was only trying the California roll and the shrimp tempura.  "You can start there.  But you are trying them all." He said when I informed him I would not be eating THOSE rolls.  Well, I started with the California roll and it was just fine...very tasty.  Next up, the shrimp tempura...VERY tasty.  My favorite of the day.  Sushi was NOT terrible; it was great! And so, I kept eating down the line.  I ate those rolls I had no intention of trying.  They were all good! My brother...and all of those other people were right!

Sometimes we are pleasantly surprised when we try something new.