phrases you don't really want to hear

The children had their annual checkup at the orthodontist yesterday. Elise was fine, good spacing so far and all that jazz. When it was Albin's turn, the first thing the orthodontist said was, "Oh, that's interesting." In other words, $$$$$. His back molars are tipping, they look like a ship listing on its side. He'll need braces at least on the bottom to pull those teeth upright. When his top molars erupt, they will then meet their mates down below, instead of coming down further. We go back next week to make the molds and get things started. He wants black braces. That's my boy : )!

There's the boy! We are celebrating his half birthday (really late!) with the traditional half cupcakes. He made the frosting himself. Yummmm! And here's a picture of the Mother's Day lunch table. We tried a new recipe from my new cookbook (catfish with avocado sauce). That was good, too.

Elise did great in Tom Sawyer, and more importantly, she had a good time. All the kids were wonderful, and the show really came together at the end. There is a cast party this afternoon, then she is done with that project. Whew--our busy Tuesdays are almost at an end. Albin has one more chemistry class, then the last week, they will blow stuff up. He's really looking forward to that!

I joined a gym yesterday. If I were dead, I'd be rolling over in my grave. Oh well. I certainly don't get a workout cleaning my house (dust, what dust??)...

We had a lovely day. Albin had physics while Elise and I listened to a Redwall story in the car (time to knit!) and ran an errand. I went with my neighbor to a local gym for the first time. Oh, I'll be sore tomorrow! It was a lot of fun, though, and goodness knows I need to exercise more. I have a card good for one week, and Erika can get me 3 more months free. It's not an expensive gym, either, so if it gets me in shape, it would be worth it to join.

A friend stopped by unexpectedly this afternoon, so I gave her the house tour and we had tea. Spur of the moment is often good for us, as long as we are home!

This evening we cleaned out Albin's garden bed and started getting the structure ready for Elise's climbing peas. I forgot we have the other old drying rack under our futon yet--we should build that and stick it in the other half of the peas, instead of the sticks. We didn't plant anything else yet. There was some thunder and lightning while we pulled weeds, but it seemed like the storm was going to pass us. I pushed Elise on the swing, we counted bleeding heart bushes, ate some onion (forgot I have chive back there, too), then it was getting a bit dark. We weren't inside for five minutes before it started pouring buckets. Little Al was sleeping on the swing, and he was so scared, he hid under the futon. It's too bad we didn't get seeds in, better do it tomorrow!

It's one of our last busy Tuesdays of the "school" year. Albin has chemistry, Elise has her last (and longest) play practice, then straight to violin group lessons. I imagine we'll get home about suppertime. I've got frozen pizza and peas planned for supper, and lunches are packed for all three of us. I even moved the garbage and recycling out to the curb last night--I'm not usually this organized.

I started knitting a bag, the mesh kind that's great for the summer markets. A friend's mother-in-law sent me the pattern, and I found the perfect yarn in my stash yesterday. I have lots of time to wait while the kids are busy today, so we'll see how far I get.

We also get to listen to Kevin Mckinley's On Your Money radio show on WPR while we eat breakfast this morning. It's a fabulous show, lots of money advice with some good humor thrown in as well.

I'm still feeling sad today about not heading south to be with Karl's family, so I had to make something. I crocheted my neighbor two dishclothes with the yarn I just bought on our trip. They look like my daffodils--full of color, spring, and hope. Doing that, and taking a long nap, have helped a little bit.

We go away for three days, and look how much the garden grows! The peas will be looking for support soon, and the ferns are so tall already. Goodness. Here, also, is the last picture of our trip--a picnic lunch in Rice Lake.

I think I will spend the day making things, unpacking, and being sad that we can't join Karl's family in Virginia this week. It just goes to show we need to communicate better, as I really did want to go down and be with them. Sigh! Hope we can visit later this summer. Family should be together in times of sadness!

What a great day! We found lovely places to play on the shore, including Agate Bay at Two Harbors where I found...a few agates. (They were nothing to what I'm sure you would get, Mom!). Elise slipped off a rock and got both her feet wet. Luckily the gift shop had warm, thick fuzzy socks with pictures of moose on them, and her extra shoes were in the van. (When she fell in again later, it was only one foot and we were on our way home by then anyway...)

We bought firewood at the Two Harbor Lumberyard, and found the park on the other side of town with firegrates. The kids scrambled on the shore and carved roasting sticks while my friend started the fire (only one match!). We found out that string cheese roasted on a stick is really good. A lovely, tiring day, and now we are reading, playing LIFE and Magic, and soon to be knitting (we stopped at the yarn store in Knife River, where we yielded to temptation.)