Creature Report

Our holler is all abuzz with wildlife.  Such a pretty time of year.  We have the loveliest little neighborhood for walking in.  My favorite stretch is the field to the west of our house when the sun setting behind it.  There are so many beautiful flowers popping up everywhere too.  I just love all of the peonies in bloom.  Peonies are right behind zinnias on my list of favorite flowers.  Others on the list include cosmos and Mexican sunflowers.  One of these days I would love to have a cutting garden. 

 

We have a darling little deer living outside the "making things room".  Sometimes he gets all the way up to the window.  I had a stare off with him the other day.  What a beauty....just don't eat my hostas (or "pastas" as Evangeline calls them)!!  We also spotted a little salamander the other day on our porch.  We tried to identify him using Evangeline's Illinois amphibian cards.  We pegged him as a possible Eastern Red Back, but Kyle's not convinced.  



Big Girl

We have a graduate.  My big girl graduated from preschool this week.  I can't believe how fast the time does fly.  We have been talking all about kindergarten lately.  She is excited.  I'm happy she has a nice little group of friends from preschool and church that she'll know at school next year.  I'm also relieved that I'll be right across the hall to hover all day long :)  

 

Evangeline and one of her very good buddies, Anna Karrass.  

 

Here she is on her last day of preschool.  

 

Today was my last day of school too.  I can't even express how much better my second year of teaching was than the first.  It was night and day in comparison.  I loved this past year.  I got weepy when I said goodbye to my kiddos, even the difficult ones.  I was looking through my kid's first grade memory books they made and there is a section where they write what they liked best about Mrs. Hutson.  I was so touched when I noticed that a good handful of them wrote something to the effect of "The best thing about Mrs. Hutson is that she loves me."  Teaching a room full of six year olds is a challenging job for certain and my patients is tested each and every day, but the idea that I succeeded in making at least some of them feel loved is the best reward I can get.  Especially when some of my kids have unimaginable home lives.  What an awesome job I have.   I get to spend my days teaching children how to read and do math.  I get to teach them basic life skills like manners and the Golden Rule.  I get to give them experiences like making apple sauce, carving a pumpkin, planting a seed and knowing what it feels like to have at least one person love and care about them.    It's wonderful job, but now I am ready to spend the summer with my baby.  I also know for certain that I could never do this job without the promise of a nice long break following each school year! 

What a Week!

Last week was a complete whirlwind at school.  Between wrapping up end of the year projects, a field trip, Activity Day, grades due and cleaning up the classroom, it's been totally nuts!  Thankfully we ended the chaotic week with a 3 day weekend. 
Oh, how nice today was.  Warm weather; open windows; coffee on the porch; finishing a quilt and starting a new one; daughter snuggles; giggling child; cooking out; S'mores on a fire.  The kind of day you want to bottle. 
Kyle and I are celebrating 7 years of marriage on May 26th.  Happy Anniversary, Honey Dear.  I surely do love you.

 

Poor Kyle came home one night last week from a stressful day in the courtroom only be stung by a hornet randomly chilling out in his slipper.  After the poor guy sat down to rest his aching foot we were recounting the event.  Evangeline said "I thought he was kidding because he was screaming like a lady".  On Sunday she was still thinking about it.  She asked me why I didn't share anything during the joys and concerns part at church.  She whispered to me, "why don't you tell them Kyle got 'stinged'?" 

Can you spot the mermaid?  The neighbors have all disappeared again until fall when the leaves drop.  It feels like we live all alone out here in a big woods.

 

There she is in her mermaid pose. 

 

Evangeline was chattering away to me one night last week and it was so cute I wrote the conversation down.  
Mommy:  What are some of your favorite things to do?
Evangeline: Eat junk food, watch TV all day, help you make cookies, go to Ms. Linda's for the Rodeo (Mother's Day Round-Up), go to the Bouncing Barn.  I like to make crafts, make a tent and play with you.  Have my birthday party and get all that junk food stuff (i.e. cotton candy maker, cupcake maker, chocolate maker).  Go with you places.
Mommy: What places?
Evangeline: Grandma's to spend the night, have a sleep over.  Bouncing Barn, Java Haute.  I like to get presents from Santa, put up the Christmas tree, get new presents, roast marshmallows and go camping too.  I like to go to the jungle.
Mommy:  You've never been to the jungle.
Evangeline:  I just know it's cool because it has a lot of trees. 
Mommy:  Anything else?
Evangeline:  Snuggle up with you and read books, watch Robin Hood.
Mommy:  What's your favorite thing to do with Daddy?
Evangeline:  Play games, like baseball because I get to hit the ball.



My Tiny Dancer

Evangeline had her dance recital this weekend.  She made her mama very proud.  The girls in her class all did a wonderful job to the shock and surprise of the mothers that watch them each week.  They were taught two very hard dances for 3/4 year-olds.  Even as of last week's practice it wasn't looking like they were retaining much of them.  However, I did know that no matter what it would be adorable.  It was.  I had tears of pride streaming down my face.  After their first routine the mom's had to catch them backstage to change for their tap dance and 2 other mothers aside from myself had tears streaming down their faces as well.  I'm not the only crazy one!  We were all so proud of our "Mini Movers". 

I remember being as excited as she was about getting to wear make up and costumes for recitals.  She had fun pretending to do the things she sees me doing with my makeup after I was finished putting a little bit on her.

I snapped a few quick pictures in the yard before we had to leave.  The purple is her ballet costume and the pink is tap.  Of course I can't weed down my favorites any further, so I'm including them all.

This ones my favorite.  It just makes me smile.  

Practicing the Shirley Temple pout...kidding, she was actually getting cold. 

She really loves this pink costume.  I think the gloves were the selling point.  She spent the whole rest of the day in this costume.  She's excited she can wear them any time she wants to now.  It's been hard for her to wait so long knowing they've just been hanging in her closet.

Front left.

 

Next to the girl in the blue leotard.  

 

Far right, front row. 

 

Far right, front row (the blur). 

 

All of the girls got a medal and a certificate after the recital.  Evangeline was absolutely thrilled to receive a "reward".  She was very proud. 

The family came over for a cookout afterwards.  Colleen gave me a cute cupcake set for a gift and I've just been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it.  Evangeline loved decorating the cupcakes with the fairy ballerinas.   

Mom, Mommy, Mumzie, Mama, Mother of Love and Laughter, and Peggy too

I am so blessed in the mom department.  Not only do I have the best mom and mother-in-law, but I also get to be a mommy!  Good moms run in my family on both sides.  I pray I am living up to the standards that came before me.  What an amazing role.  It's a feeling of intense love, awe, amazement and gratitude that never goes away.  And not only do I get to be a mommy, but I get to be the mother of this precious, sweet, funny, smart, amazing child.  Thank you, Lord.

 

 



We went to the Mother's Day Round Up Saturday morning at Ms. Linda's.  It was a western theme this year.  We had a great time doing crafts together, eating some treats, and potting a plant in the very sweet pot Evangeline decorated for me.  Evangeline had a whole sack of handmade lovelies waiting for me in her cubby.  It was a special time.  

 

This will be the last Mother's Day open house at Ms. Linda's for these two....Chloe and Evangeline will be starting Kindergarten together in the fall.  

And strangely enough, these two sweet friends will be a grade behind even though they are only two months younger.  Evangeline said to me, "that Cooper's a sweetie...Caroline is too."   

 

After the Round Up and Anna Karass' 5th birthday party, (it was a big day) we attended the Mother's Day Banquet at our church.

 

I am so happy that Evangeline will grow up with her cousins and family near by.  I always wanted that when I was little.  I have never once regretted our move back to Marshall.

 

The theme for the Mother/Daughter Banquet was all about purses and handbags.  The table decorations were so sweet.  (The chocolate inside made them extra sweet.)

 

The little girls were called up to do some impromptu singing of "He's Got the Whole World in his Hands".  We always have a nice time at this event each year. 

 

The Mother's Day celebration continued on Sunday, as it should seeing as that was actual Mother's Day.  I awoke to coffee and a card in bed from my two sweeties.  After church we went to Lincoln Trail for our annual Mother's Day picnic.  It was the warmest Mother's Day in years.  We had a lovely picnic, kayaked around the lake in Mom's boats, and did some pedicures and manicures.  

 

Here's Phil and Kristen taking a spin. 

 

Peggy tried it, but didn't make it too far.  She had to wear water proof gloves to keep her nasty dog bite dry. (She was bit by the neighbors dog last week.)

 

Next came the little girlies.  They were all so excited to have a turn.  Evangeline could hardly wait.  I finally got out with her and she instantly became a total diva.  She flipped out if she got water on her: her nose was running and she needed a tissue: I wasn't holding the paddle in the right spot: the life vest did not fit to her specifications.  We didn't make it very far before I brought her back to shore.   Two days without a nap can get scary.

Here we are pre flip-out:

 

 

There are not many rules when it comes to food at the Mother's Day Picnic.

 

I love my mom, I love being a mom.  There is nothing better in the world.