five finds friday (ukuleles & queso)

The task of motherhood is a full time one.

Anyone who has been a parent and anyone who has been a child knows this.

And yet, not any of us, stay at home parent nor 80 hour work week parent, actually has a full time schedule to commit to that one role – the role of parent.

This has been a week of full on parenting tasks.

Swinging back into school routine is painful for all of us. Add in lengthy allergy appointments and big teen discussions/decisions that always occur late into the evening and work deadlines and it’s a sweet little recipe for exhaustion and frustration.

I thought I’d make it all the more fun for everyone by declaring a new (but also an old) policy of no screens during the week.

Cheers to Friday, friends. Happy to see it.

funny

Otto and I were purchasing groceries.

Standing in the check out aisle.

He points to a beverage at his eye level.

It was blue. Some version of a soda. “Blueberry” flavored but electric blue colored.

Obscenely unnatural.

“Mom,” he said, “Why do we even need this in our world?”

I cannot answer him.

fashionable

The latest in baby fashion trends – hats knitted by Mosely.

flavorful

While a portion of my household cannot currently partake of this particular dip this month, you can.

It tastes reminiscent of those horribly unhealthy, sometimes stomach ache inducing, dips served up at football game watching parties (not that I would know) that consist of Velveeta block cheese product and sausage.

This one IS full of cheese, of course, but the authentic cheese variety, not the processed and molded imitation. And it doesn’t call for sausage but you can add it in and achieve that classic dip you’re looking for – I’m looking for.

Also – I think it’s amusing that his website is called “The Average Guy Gourmet”.

faithful

Everyone has a full load. Plates are full. Schedules are stuffed.

We are all busy.

Therefore, it’s something extra special to me when someone takes their time to offer an unnecessary and unexpected kindness.

Right before Christmas (but who has time to record all these sweet moments yet?) a dear aunt spent her time and her resources to create pillowcases for each of my kids – and grandkids too!

She picked out fabric she thought suited them (and she chose so well) and she sewed them herself. And then – a feat I personally find even more impressive due to the fact that it seems impossible to me – she packed them all up and mailed them to us.

It was such a fun surprise.

The kids loved them and were excited to add them to their beds.

I felt loved and noticed and I think it’s a bit of miracle any of us put aside our own agendas and serve someone else’s in any form.

feels

Some years a certain gift just hits the mark right on. It’s hard to know exactly when that will happen, even if you think about it and plan for it.

It’s a fun sort of magic when the moment is just right.

This year that’s how London’s gift of a ukulele turned out.

She had mentioned wanting one but I wasn’t really certain how much she’d actually play or enjoy it.

Turns out – a lot.

It makes me happy to hear it strumming softly. To see her pick it up and spend hours learning chords and practicing.

She’s practically an adult in a handful of ways.

And, of course, in so many other ways she is just a kid trying to figure out who she is and were she fits.

Some days it hurts to watch her adjust and grow and shift.

And some days it’s a joy.

_______________________________