Hey Girl Hey

I don't know where I've been. Mostly I've been here. We celebrated the kids' summer birthdays at school last Thursday. Claire was thrilled down to her toes and even Landon was still excited to see us in his daytime habitat. I feel like our window is going to start to close on that with him, so I'm soaking up my publicly excited "Mom's here!" faces while I can.

Cora asks us daily "but when is my birthday?" She just turned precisely 3.5, so she has a while. She is the only person sad about this.

I feel like last week was really busy and I know the week ahead is full of crazy, with end of school ceremonies, parties and other shenanigans, and then a Last Day of School party at our house Friday followed by Claire's birthday party Saturday followed by Claire's birthday Sunday. But this past weekend? We barely did a thing.

I went out with the PTA Board Friday night in a new shirt I can't decide if I like because while it's not super flattering and I'm not sure I'm a tassel-person, I do love crazy patterns and colors and this has both. Plus I got in on clearance, but then I wonder- was it on clearance because everyone else accepted it wasn't flattering?

I got home right at bedtime, just in time for goodnight kisses and Cora love. She likes to pet my hair and squish my cheeks and tell me she "just loves me so much mama!" It is an excellent end to a round or two of frozen cucumber margaritas.

The weekend began and I went to yoga class every day while the kids did lots of fancy dancing.

James grew up going to cotillion and is the only one in the house who actually knows how to fancy dance.

We ran a few party-prepping errands Sunday morning while it was raining.

This is how Cora does Costco.

Pretty much every other minute of the other three days was spent in the pool.

Or the kids did. I touched my big toe in once and then settled back in my lounge chair in the shade with my Mother's Day laser monogrammed Rambler. Perfect for keeping your summer beverages chilled, whether it's some refreshing tap water with lemon and/or possibly a cucumber mint vodka soda or watermelon margarita. Depends on the hour and day and which friend you have over at the time.

30 is a lot of ounces

We took some breaks out of the sun for books and games. I introduced Cora to Candyland. She is obsessed with puzzles and takes pretty much everything in her world with due seriousness and extreme attention to detail. It was important that her little plastic man face the correct direction and our hands had to high-five any time we passed each other on the path.

I'm not quite sure she grasped she concept of the game.

Her top priority was getting a card with her favorite color on it. Though the yellow card would have allowed her to win, it was not purple, and thus she quit in a huff and joined the boys playing Super Mario Kart. You'll be glad to know she won that one despite never touching a controller.

Yesterday ended with a semi-progressive dinner with swimming and appetizers at our place and a cookout at a friend's after. James was coaching, but he was able to join at the end and it was all so relaxing. And not just because my Rambler was full of watermelon margarita. Also because all three of our kids are now strong swimmers and I can enjoy the gentle breeze in the new, super cute cover-up I got at Ross for $7 that matches the new, super cute swim suit my mom bought me for Easter that I don't ever actually plan on getting wet. It's like I've evolved to a higher state of summer.

Work is insane- I woke up at 3:17 this morning with my heart racing thinking of my to-do lists and deadlines and after an hour I gave up on sleeping and read the new Ilona Andrews Hidden Legacy book, White Hot, which is EXCELLENT. Though it's probably more excellent when it's not 4-fucking-a.m. They are hands-down my favorite Urban Fantasy author (unless, Pierce Brown's Red Rising series is also classified as Urban Fantasy in which case he might be tied, or at least a close second, but I think he might officially be Science Fiction by whoever decides these things ohmygod I'm so tired you guys).

And so, with a mountain of work yet to be done tomorrow, plus a 1st grade award ceremony and first summer league swim team practice, plus teaching two barre classes on Thursday night and doing some yoga in between, I am off to bed to recapture a few of the many hours I lost to impending testimony deadlines and Mad Rogan and Nevada Baylor's magical powers. Happy end of May to you all.