a little weekend whatnot and such

Some seasons of life feel like they are rolling through via slow motion.

Some do not.

Right now everything feels a bit like Fast Forward with the windows rolled down and the radio turned up really loudly.

It’s not bad.  That’s not what I’m saying.

It’s busy.

That’s what I am saying.

(And.  I know it can change faster than I can flip to a new radio station.  So there’s that.)

This week we had a handful of fun family moments that really should each have their own blog post.  (Who knows?  Maybe they still will.)

My brother and his family are visiting from New Zealand and I cannot get enough of the accents on two of my nieces.  (If only they would just keep saying words to me.  All the words.  Any of the words.)

Piper and I saw the musical Matilda this weekend.  It was such a whimsical and fun production with fabulous choreography.  I just love love that little Matilda’s spirit and I just dislike dislike her rotten, stinky parents.

We’ve been listening to Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on audio for the umpteenth time and the kids have been reading Charlie and the Glass Elevator and it’s Dahl overload at our home but he’s really a remarkable author you know.

After the performance of Matilda I was struck by the lunacy of the addiction grown ups have to their cellular phones.  It’s embarrassing, people.  I think I’ll write a rant about that soon too.  I mean.  For.  The.  Love.  People need to look at other people’s faces already.

We celebrated the night Riley moved in with us oh so many years ago and changed the course of family history forever for us.

And somewhere in all this my dad also visited, showering us with peanut m&m’s and Oreo cookies and I think the kids are going to think of Grandpa as the Junk Food Fairy and Grandpa likes that role just fine and so do they.  (I’m glad it was peanut m&m’s and not those mint ones.  Good grief – I can’t control myself around the minty ones.  Who cares about self-control or food dye when a mint m&m is in your presence?)

Two sweet girls (one cousin, one friend) celebrated turning seven this weekend and it was a treasure to rejoice with both of them.  Seven is fun.  Seven on the seventh is magical.

And yes – we also managed to fit in school mostly every day and reading lessons and cutting down trees lessons and a brief education on the birds of New Zealand.  Not to mention the kids have been exposed to far too many – when your mom was younger – stories that my brother has no such business sharing and a couple of sibling showdowns between grown up brother and sister who maybe have forgotten some similar tendencies in both of them to be – er – strong willed and opinionated.  (Not that that’s a strong trait in our family or anything.  Goodness, no.)

Also.  Just so you know.  I think I’ll be using the words “torch” and “mum” and “naughty” and “rubbish” regularly in my vocabulary now.  Don’t bother asking me to stop.