End of school, transitions, Weekend plans, Clothing Improvement Project, Summer Planning.

 I love the energy of transitions.  Yesterday was the last day of school.  Drop off was chaotic and I couldn't get the year-end photo of the kids together, but I got one of Lily and my mom got one of Ezra since we ended up doing separate drop offs.  I looked back on little Lily and Ezra and from September and even without a new photo they look so small!

We had 5 kid friends over after school for ice cream (and 3 sets of parents) and with our 4 kids and 2 parents the garden felt FULL.  Big kids take up so much more space than little ones.

Then we had kids charcuterie board for dinner. Remember like 2 years ago when I wanted to make more kids charcuterie boards?  Maybe I will bring this back, the kids loved it:

I mean yes, it's basically sandwiches for dinner.

This weekend I have Rachel morning today, and I will likely use it to go to the gym and do some logistics.  I keep thinking it would be fun to do a swim on a Rachel morning but not wanting to book anything until I'm sure that's how I want to spend my time... then when I try to book the swimming is full.  I guess there have been enough mornings where I wished I was swimming so maybe I should just go ahead and book?

I am also working AGAIN on clothing improvement project.  l bought this new shirt, please ignore silly face:

I am excited to have another shirt because of the 3 I have been rotating, one now has a stain (waah!).  

This has to be another post on laundry because why are my clothes getting so stained all the time?  What am I doing wrong... besides having lots of kids.  And cooking with Olive Oil.  It's probably the oil.

Planning Summer - Magic is just labour, hidden well

I have mostly figured out the kids summer plans.  Next week my brother is coming to visit, and there are 2 days where I'm in work my mom and brother were watching the big kids while our nanny watches the twins (she could theoretically watch all 4, but that is a lot of kids, and honestly everyone has a better time with more age appropriate days).  

Yesterday I looked through a bunch of local events to draft up what the big kids could do on those days to keep them out of the house (I'm working from home) - they're going to a film (Toy Story 5), taking a boat trip, doing a litter pick from the library, and going to a bouncy castle.  I think the days should go well, but it definitely reminded me of Laura Vanderkam's saying "All magic is just labour, hidden well.  My mom and brother should have a good time, the kids should have a good time, the twins should have a good time, I should be able to get a day of work in.... and all it cost was an hour of my logistical planning during my very scarce childcare hours to make it happen.

And for a very random change of topic - San recently posted about situations where people may or not be... A**holes.  I love this post because I love seeing how people experience the world.  I think San is very similar to me in that she generally gives people the benefit of the doubt in situations, and we have both been told before that maybe others are *not* being their best selves.  Pop over to her post and ponder the question - are people A**holes?  Or very very unaware?