Well, the scene is set . . . Dale wrapped all the presents, and they are laid out on a "Happy Birthday" banner in front of the fireplace. Tinsel decorates the light fixture over the breakfast table, streamers with "Happy Birthday" signs at the ends hang from the fan in the den, and "Happy Birthday" signs hang over the fireplace and in the window in the kitchen. Of course, the curtain of ribbons hangs over the entrance into the kitchen from the living room--I think this is three years in a row for that now, and so far he's been completely delighted with it every time. I have the birthday hats and noisemakers from last year out on the island, and his birthday cards from everyone are at his place at the table. The finishing touch is that after taking him to the bathroom for the last time tonight, I'll tie a bundle of "Happy Birthday" balloons to his doorknob so that he sees them when he wakes up in the morning. Five years--it hardly seems possible!
We're not doing anything major since no one was travelling from another city, and it's turned out that it's a nice thought that we're having a quiet birthday with just family (Jfer will come 'round for cake and ice cream at the end of the day), as it will probably be many years before that happens again now that he's being launched into school. Dale and I are looking forward to sharing this with him tomorrow! He'll be at gymnastics camp from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., and then the rest of the day will probably be spent playing with his presents. I'm giving myself a bye this year on the cake (every other year we have made something together, from scratch) since there's an infant in the house, so the only thing I have to do tomorrow is go buy a cake somewhere & get some ice cream.
It's so hard to believe that he's going to be starting school in four short weeks. I'm not ready for this! Don't want to give him up to others for so many days a week. He beat the pants off of me at Monopoly Jr. today--got an $8 trap (two properties together so that the rent was doubled), and not once but TWICE I landed on the first one, paid my $8, and on the next roll got a "1" and landed on the second one and had to pay him $8 again! Needless to say, I lost through going bankrupt.
It's so busy here it seems, and I rarely get time at the computer with two hands any more--hence so few blog entries these days. I am keeping up with everyone else, as I can do that one-handed, but I have to really want to send an e-mail or post a comment before I do it the old hunt-and-peck method.
Last Sunday I took on my first outing to an event as a solo mum outnumbered by her children. (Still sounds funny to say "my children"--not quite used to it yet.) Jonathan got to go to his first circus! As did Kayleigh, of course, although she won't remember it. It was the 133rd Edition of the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus, and they did a good job. I used to love going when the circus came through town, and my favorite act was always Gunther-Gabel Williams, who did the tigers; now his son, Mark Gebel, does the act. A funny coincidence that Mark was born in Houston the same year as I was. Anyway, Jonathan had a good time. I did notice that he has the same tendencies as I and apparently Dale--often instead of watching the act going on, he likes to watch in the other rings as the backstage crews are setting up the next act.
I am working hard on getting many of the Sprongs into the database as there's a picture from a 1919 Sprong reunion in Potter, Kansas, that I currently have on loan from Mom. I want to scan and magnify each individual face to attach it to a person, but not all the people were in yet. I've also done loads of work converting many of the stories/anecdotes I had into an acceptable version for viewing by others, so hopefully the next time I load a site it will add some more flavor.
Dale had a nice birthday last Tuesday--a good day from the beginning to the end. His friend Tony met us for dinner at Antonio's, and then our friends Kavita & Dana came by the house for birthday cupcakes (from H.E.B.--my standards have fallen so low at the moment I don't think I can really say I have standards any more
Thursday morning we met with the principal of the school that's actually in our neighborhood--as opposed to the one we're assigned to, which is across Hwy 183 from us--and were very pleased with the results. We have decided to get the out-of-district transfer into the Round Rock ISD so that Jonathan can go to North Oaks Elementary next month when he starts kindergarten. The school is smaller than the Austin ISD one that he's supposed to attend, the facility itself is much nicer and covered with shade trees, the principal herself is much more down-to-earth than the other one ("Shelly" instead of "Dr. Hall"), and in the afternoons Kayleigh & I will be able to walk up to school to get Jonathan instead of having to drive.
Jonathan's birthday is coming up this Tuesday, and Dale and I still haven't really decided what to do. I suspect this will be a quiet one since no one is travelling from other cities, and we'll end up with just cake & ice cream on Tuesday evening w/hopefully Jfer & Stepan, and possibly Linda from across the street if she's home. My guess is that his parties will become much more elaborate affairs once he starts school, so I don't mind having a quiet one this year, and I don't think he will either.
On Thursday, Jonathan, Kayleigh, and I met some friends (Jessica, Archie, & Eamon) along with a couple of other mommy + child pairs at a sprinkler park in north Austin, at Brushy Creek Lake Park. We had a great time and finished it off with sandwiches from Thundercloud Subs before going our separate ways in mid-afternoon.
Today was quite a busy day for us--unfortunately filled with about my least favorite activity . . . shopping! Luckily there was some socializing thrown into the mix. After seeing the breakaway group of five finish today's stage of the Tour de France, Kayleigh and I hied ourselves down to Central Market to meet some friends at the playground and also to do some consultation with one of the co-hosts of Jennifer's baby shower. We were just completing our purchases at the Paper Place when I looked at my watch and realized I had intended to be leaving there in five minutes to pick up Jonathan, but we still had to go back to the playground to get my diaper bag I'd left in Archie's capable hands and I had to change Kayleigh's dirty nappy she'd had while looking at the pretty paper. Eeeek! So we quickly did that and I wasn't too terribly late in picking up Jonathan.
So, from Central Market in midtown up to north Austin to get Jonathan, and from there we went to Barton Creek Mall, which is south of the river. There we got a late lunch for me (by now it was 2:45 p.m.), some ice cream for Jonathan, and then we did some shopping for Dale's birthday. While there I figured I might as well go in the kids' shops to try to get some clothes for Jonathan that actually fit him (I think he's put on a growth spurt lately--Dale's been getting him dressed in the morning and pointed out to me the other day that most of his shorts no longer fit his waist, and I've seen him recently in some shirts that were a little small too), and then we popped into a Radio Shack to get a present for Dale from Jonathan, and before I knew it, it was FIVE o'clock and we had to go home through the traffic (not before nursing Kayleigh in the back of the Odyssey, of course).
Much to my great chagrin, when we got to the mall we entered it on the second level, and what did I hear my son utter when I asked him why he was so insistent on making sure we'd be going to the first level while we were there? He said, and I quote, "I want to see what shops are down there." Aaargh! So I told him he could go there with his Nanny and Grandad next time they visit
So, there are three parts to the warm feeling of being a mummy: first was the gentle warmth of the wee that escaped Kayleigh's nappy at the Central Park playground and ran from the middle of my thigh down to my feet. Luckily Jessica and I both found it funny. Next was the excess milk that came back up from her little (or not so little) tummy when she was on me in the sling--that got both the chest and the left arm (and of course it got her too, and I ended up acquiring a little T-shirt to change her into b/c she didn't think much of cold wet clothes being pressed against her chest, and frankly I didn't blame her). Finally was the ever-so-fashionable look and feel of the warm milk that was decorating my shirt every now and then . . . I forgot to put nursing pads in my bra this morning after my shower b/c I was in a rush to get on down to meet my friends. Oops!
I just read in today's Parade magazine that Liev Schreiber, one of my favorite actors, wrote the screenplay for & is going to direct a movie based on the book Everything is Illuminated, and that Elijah Wood (he was Frodo in the Lord of the Rings series) is going to play the lead role. How exciting! This was a book suggested but not picked by our book group one month; I read it anyway and loved it. I look forward to seeing the movie whenever it comes out.
On another subject, Dale and I are thrilled that the Tour de France is on again. Even Jonathan is watching a lot of it. I think the OLN coverage is superb and their commentators are very interesting to listen to, not boring like the networks. Best of luck to Lance--I sure hope he wins his sixth Tour and will be on edge all month until it's decided one way or another.
Over the last week or so, Kayleigh has really started smiling! It is so fun to see it spread across her face. She likes to smile at Dale and me, as well as at the little bear/music box toy by her changing table. (And as commented on Theresa's blog, she also likes to smile at Stepan.) On Saturday morning, she went with me down to the Wildflower Center to attend a baby shower for a good friend of ours who is due with her first baby nine days before Jennifer; they actually took the Hypnobirthing class at the same time as Jfer & Stepan. Kayleigh was a big hit at the party and managed not to spit up on the guest of honor, for which I was quite thankful.
I have been watching *lots* of movies since Kayleigh was born. It's great having a DVR! I poke around on the HBO channels and any others that don't have commercials and record movies to watch later, or I just jump in the middle of something that's already on. So far I've seen Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Basic, Muriel's Wedding, City by the Sea, True Lies, Groundhog Day, In and Out, The Banger Sisters, Pretty Woman, Daybreak (Cuba Gooding Jr.), Spiderman . . . there are others but too many to keep listing them. Most are pretty average, but it's been a long time (probably since the first few months after Jonathan's birth) since I watched so many movies in such a short time. It's kind of nice! I've also seen lots of them without sound (Trainspotting and First Time Felon come to mind immediately)--I watched those when up in the middle of the night with Kayleigh, nursing--and that was actually really fun to do. You pay a lot more attention to what the actors are doing, as opposed to what they're saying, as well as to the camera angles, sets, scene editing, etc. It's interesting to see how much of a movie one can understand without hearing the dialogue.
Today I was able to mow the back yard, which desperately needed it since it had not been done since Daddy did it right before leaving at the end of May. I still haven't done the front, but hopefully I'll get the chance to do that tomorrow. I put out fresh birdseed for all the birds and yet another bird house in the hopes of getting a family of wrens or other small birds. There is a family of tufted titmice which nested in our neighbor's yard that visits the bird feeder outside the kitchen windows--I love watching them because the babies still haven't figured out what's best to perch on, and they land on the wind chimes, plants that don't support them, etc. Very cute.
I just saw that Marlon Brando has died. How coincidental that we had already planned a viewing of The Godfather tonight with a friend of Dale's from Salion; she's never seen any of the movies, so what better place than on our giant telly? Dale and I were discussing him recently (came across Apocalypse Now Redux on cable one evening) and both agreed that even when his body sort of blew up at the end of his life, he still had incredible power on the screen. There was a not-very-good movie he did with Val Kilmer a while ago (IMDB tells me it's The Island of Dr. Moreau, and even all painted up and old and fat, you still couldn't take your eyes off him when he was in a scene. Good luck to him, wherever he may be.