Taking a Breather

Pic from Carter's award ceremony last week. Mrs. Brand is his teacher. We love her. Maddie had her, too.



Here is Maddie after her award ceremony. Hers was on Friday - we checked out a little early.

I just haven't felt like blogging for the past several days. The kids had their last day of school on Friday. We were all so glad to leave for the last time this school year. We went to get a snow cone after school and when I pulled money from my pocket, I realized something was wrong. I had two fives that I received as change earlier in the day. They didn't look alike at all. One looked counterfeit. I paid for the snow cones with the real one and then we walked to the credit union next to the snow cone stand to investigate further. Sure enough, the bill was counterfeit. I asked the bank teller what I was supposed to do with it - she said I should take it to the police station. The police man who took the report said there had been a bust of some people who had been making fake fives and twenties, but there were probably still some floating around. I was lucky enough to get one of them and realize it. The kids now know where the police station is and what happens to counterfeit money (they send it to the Secret Service). We'll call it the first educational field trip of the summer.

Saturday, Greg and I celebrated our 15 year anniversary. We went out to dinner at Paul's Place - it's our favorite steak place in town. When we finished, we both wanted to go to the cemetery. The kids stayed with their Aunt Jan and Uncle Bob. We went to Walmart after leaving the cemetery to get some flowers to take to his grave. I've decided I'm going to have to get over my dislike for artificial flowers. We walked in and went to the Memorial Day aisle - you know the one. I've never had to walk it before. We started down it and I just started crying. Greg took me away from it and said I wouldn't have to go down it again. We bought real flowers and Greg picked out an artificial arrangement so I could use the vase that sticks in the ground. I figure the real flowers will last a little longer if they're in water. I'm planning on going to Hobby Lobby soon to find some realistic-looking flowers to make an arrangement. After that, we came back home and had a pretty somber evening. Maddie took this pic of us before we left for the evening.

Sunday was three months since his death. I tried to stay busy most of the day. Maddie and I went that evening to a dance recital. She and Chloe both started out in dance this school year, but they both stopped before Christmas due everything that was going on. Maddie is ready to start back up next year. She loves to dance. I'm not sure about Chloe. She may or may not.

Here's a pic from one of Carter's recent ball games. He's having a great time.

Monday the kids and I went to the cemetery. Maddie said, "It doesn't even look depressing out here." There were so many flowers. Yes, probably 95% of them were artificial, but they did brighten the place up. We saw a family that had a baby a few plots down from Mav and the mom was making a flower arrangement right there in the vase. There were three other kids there and the mom was actually their great-aunt who had adopted them all. We talked a bit and the baby that died was a twin to one she had there that day. The little girl looked to be about five and the lady was still tearful when she talked about it. Of course I cried when I told her about Mav. I think it just goes to show it doesn't get easier. You just deal with it differently. When we got home, Greg pitched a tent in the backyard and the kids played until late. I cooked out hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill and started cleaning up when we finished. Greg has been talking to me about painting. He knows how much I love it and has been encouraging me to pick it back up. I think he knew I was having a hard time when he saw me flitting about trying to find things to do. He said, "Do you have a canvas?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Go paint for awhile." I got out my paint box, palate, turpenoid and canvas. I looked for my Nora Jones CD, but wasn't able to find it so I borrowed Maddie's ipod and put "Sunrise" by Nora on repeat. That CD is one of my favorites and is the music I used to paint to a lot. Usually I have a sketch or picture or something when I start, but I had nothing. I just started painting how I felt. I cried a while and then was so completely relaxed. Painting has always been almost intoxicating to me. I can completely lose track of time. I was finished with my painting in an hour and a half. I felt much better when I finished. Maddie took this picture of me finishing up.

We went to bed a little late last night, and little Chloe woke up a lot. She was running a fever this morning. Doesn't she know she can't be sick on the first official day of summer break? We just stayed around here. She perked up for a while, but was puny again at bedtime. Carter practiced his Michael Jordan moves outside with his basketball today. Maddie, Chloe and I (when Chloe perked up) made banana bread and went outside in the backyard to tend to Maddie's container garden. We have a few things to finish up then I'll post some pics of it. All her plants are growing really well and she enjoys taking care of them. Oh, and we all read this morning. That's my goal for the summer - to have reading time everyday. So far, so good. Love you all, jc

P.S. I added some more things to the list below - and changed the font on some. They didn't show up in the right-sized font for some reason.