Ten on Tuesday.

1. This girl, on her birthday eve. Twelve tomorrow. Sheesh.

2. The weather was amazing over the weekend, and now it's pouring and temperatures are dropping into the 40s (if we're lucky) for the next few days. Really ready for just short sleeves.

3. Tonight was supposed to be Fisher's first baseball game of the season, and he was on the roster as a pitcher! We got an unexpected night off because #2.

4. Ah, well, no baseball meant an early night, which meant several chapters of A Night Divided.

5. Fisher is looking forward to the district chess tournament on Saturday morning.

6. The birds (robins and doves) have been flying around looking to settle in for weeks, but, sadly, we don't see any nests. I wish the bunnies weren't getting cozy. They are eating my hostas, which was not a problem before last year. I have no idea what to do.

7. The nice weather over the weekend caused us to feel like we should be doing something with our yard instead of just sitting there reading books. So Ron thatched and I cleaned out beds and raked up all the dead grass. We are starting to wake up our gardening muscles.

8. I picked up a very cute book yesterday that Alla read in two hours - A Boy Called Bat. I am now reading this one along with Unbroken, though not nearly as quickly.

9. We haven't watched the previous seasons of American Crime, but this season is very good.

10. We also watched CNN's new series, Soundtracks, which is terrific.

Ten on Tuesday.

I am unable to stop with the beautiful Florida floral photographs. We have nothing like this here. The locals probably thought I was nuts going around and photographing their very everyday, expected flowers.

1. Fisher got Unbroken for his birthday (the young adult adaptation), and is now insisting that we all read it. It's been on my list (and my actual bookshelf) for years, so I'm glad for the push to get to it.

2. A book I recommend to absolutely everyone, and the book I read on spring break - The Hate U Give. Don't say I don't read YA, or this subject doesn't interest me. If you are a human living in our world today, this is required reading. It is easily one of the best books I have ever read.

3. Alla has found a new series - The Keeper of the Lost Cities. If you have a voracious reader who also loves Harry Potter and The Land of Stories, this may get you a stack that will last a few days!

4. Fisher has earned the number one spot in his school chess tournament, and is very much looking forward to the district-wide tournament in a couple of weeks.

5. Lately we are having a heck of a time finding kid movies for our Friday nights. The library's movies are picked-over and scratched up, and Netflix's pickings are slim at best.

6. A favorite easy recipe: 2 bananas, 1 cup quick oats, 1/4 cup chocolate chips. Mash it, form it into cookies, bake at 350 for 15 minutes. You can even serve them for breakfast.

7. We have a small living room/entry way by American standards, so you'd think it'd be super easy to find a company who could rip out our mish mash of carpeting and tile and put in something else. But, as I have found with almost every other aspect of home improvement, it is not easy.

8. I am eager for it to warm up quicker, for the temperature to warm to that easy feel where you can sit outside and wear flip flops and not grab a sweatshirt. I think what I'm wanting is, Florida on spring break temperatures. But all the cool is bringing rain, and the rain is bringing green, and that at least gives some hope that warmth might be on the way.

9. Fisher is growing as fast as the grass, and is in dire need of new pants. I took some fleece sweat pants from Alla's closet that were 5 inches too short on her, set them in his closet, and now he has two new pairs. Sometimes, even with a girl and a boy, you can do this. If you don't let on.

10. Today I am enjoying the fact that we have a nothing-night. No activities, meetings, baseball, nothing. Going to make a real dinner. A hot dinner.

Missing Anna Maria.

Have you stepped into the spring chaos yet? I feel like as soon as we stepped off the plane after Spring Break, that chaos greeted us at baggage claim. Spring is fun, the best part of the school year, when there are ALL THE ACTIVITIES to look forward to, and the summer just so close, but also, ALL THE ACTIVITIES. A trade-off, I suppose, for reliable warmth, the ease of shorts and a t-shirt, and even a bike ride or two to school.

We had an incredible spring break on Anna Maria Island, Florida, where there were no trade-offs, one hundred percent reliable weather, a wonderful boy turned 9, and I read a whole book. There were no activities to look forward to, dread, or figure out how to get to.

Just palm trees, ibis, white sand, turquoise water, and a trolley.

So, to warm up this rainy Friday and provide some lush green, the first half of Anna Maria Island.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Let it be known that January 2017 was the month that the Killins family caught the HAMILTON bug. Actually, Alla brought it home with her. They are listening at school.

2. We are now basically only listening to that. Ever. It is amazing.

3. We are also wondering when Fisher will be old enough to go see it.

4. I just finished Homegoing, which was phenomenal.

5. Now Fisher has me reading The Boys Who Challenged Hitler, which is also great.

6. Alla is only reading The Selection series, over and over and over and over.

7.  This white chicken chili is so easy and so good. My only suggestion if you make it, and you should, is to add another chicken breast and maybe decrease the stock by a cup. Otherwise you will have a whole bunch of liquid and not much stuff. It's a winner in our house because it's a "chips and cheese meal."

8. Is it winter where you are? If by winter, we're talking about temperatures in the teens, then tomorrow it will be winter here. But our snow pack is almost non-existent, which is not the best for February.

9. Also not the best for February - freezing rain. That crap nipped my run in the bud this morning.

10. Our family still hasn't seen Hidden Figures! Definitely have to change that soon.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. I woke up on Saturday morning with the cold that Fisher came down with on Friday afternoon. No warning. I am all done with this and ready to have my nose back.

2. It would be great if the sun would make an appearance. I know it's been hiding for at least 5 days.

3. Got a clean bill of health from the dermatologist today. I don't know about anyone else, but if I could change one thing about my childhood it would be my lack of sun protection.

4. It seems our family needs a whole cupboard just for water bottles, as they are multiplying. Unfortunately the cupboards are not.

5. Middle schoolers still have cute mispronunciations. Sadly, I think we're past the days of her saying liblary and callepitter, but just last week I got "persipate" instead of perspire, and I didn't even try to correct that.

6. Yesterday Minnesota Kelly Barnhill won the day by picking up the prestigious Newbery award for The Girl Who Drank the Moon! My very own daughter won the day by not only watching the awards live with me for the umpteenth year in a row, but by suggesting she'd like to miss school so we could be at the presentation in person. I mean, how do I make that happen? Do I have to be a librarian?

7. Currently reading = Homegoing. I am only 50ish pages in, but I can tell you this is one amazing book. Layered, generational, important, well done. I'm not a fast reader, but I don't mind savoring this one. (As long as I can renew it.)

8. Currently wrapped in a blanket while the kids play outside in the mild temperatures and taco meat simmers on the stove.

9. Kids get Thursday and Friday off this week!

10. We have been waiting for a free weekend to take the kids to see Hidden Figures, maybe this is the one.

The big 4-0.

Big birthday, come and gone.

Lunch with my husband.

Dinner with everyone. So very glad I could spend my 40th with my Mom!!

Then, Ron had a 40-balloon bouquet waiting when we all arrived at the Radisson Blu on Saturday afternoon. 40 balloons is a lot, let me tell you. Kids listed the balloons on their favorite list from the weekend.

Weekend fun:

Mani with Alla
Pool for the kids
Hanging up my coat for a full 24 hours
Fisher beating us at mini golf in the Mall of AmericaBurger Burger
Breakfast at the hotel
Not cooking for two days
Finishing a book, starting another
Sleeping in the hotel with all of my loves and my 40 38 balloons (pop)
Coming home to sunshine and thirty degrees

I would love to impart some wisdom upon turning 40, but all I can say is that it feels like New Year's Day, very fresh and at the beginning and appreciative and full. There is something that happens from the day you're 39 and 364 days to the day you turn 40, and maybe it's perspective. Maybe gratitude. Maybe understanding. Probably it's simpler than that. In our family we practice gratitude everyday, but this feels a little bigger, a bigger thank you. 40 years is a lot. 40 might be the new 30 or whatever garbage they are spewing in Hollywood, but it is a lot of years. A lot of earned years.

I am so thankful for so much, for my family and for health and for love and for these awesome balloons.

Ten on Tuesday.

Trying to get back to making a habit of this, so...

1. My big 4-0 is now 3 days away!

2. It's Tuesday, which means Fisher and I started our day at Chess Club.

3. Looking forward to leftovers of last night's Lentil Soup. This is an absolute family favorite.

4. Just finished The Sun is Also a Star - very enjoyable. Alla seems to be in a lull when it comes to handing off books to me, so that means I get to get back to my wonderful friend Katherine's book, Very Married! Katherine is a gifted writer; you'll want to savor these words.

5.The two novels I didn't get to from my 2016 list are Christodora and Homegoing. I will be getting to those very soon, as I'm sure Alla will start thrusting books at me if I don't. And also she truly wants me to read The Land of Stories. And also if the final Penderwicks book comes out this year, I pledge to purchase the set and devote the time to all five in a row.

6. I am getting near the end of Amy Poehler's (audio)book, and admit I am eager to be done with it. I'm too far in to quit now, but the problem is I kinda don't care. If you love SNL or Parks and Rec or AP herself, this is the book for you and there are definitely some hilarious parts. But. I don't care that much, and I'm going to have to remember that before the next audio book I pick out.

7. We got a tiny bit of snow yesterday and it's still snowing today, which is lovely, because prior to this we just had the deep freeze and a dwindling snow pack. The snow is so so pretty.

8. This may be the first winter on record that I haven't complained that my face is so dry. Success! Now if only I could figure out my poor cracking hands.

9. We were treated to Alla playing in the orchestra concert last night. I love to see her growth, am so impressed that she has learned to play the violin, and cannot believe how wonderful the high school orchestra sounds. I am hoping and hoping that she plays all through high school.

10. My awesome daughter also helped me greatly this weekend by sitting here at the computer and creating a 2017 calendar for our family so I could finally order it. She can't wait for it to come so she can show the family.

So glad it's the weekend.

I woke up this morning already looking forward to going back to bed. Not because the day was going to be too depressing and I couldn't bear it, just because sleep is so great.

And our bed is so great.

And on weekend mornings, one or both kids will often come down and join us for a reading-snuggle party until we're hungry enough to get up.

And, it's been bitterly cold, so tucking in with good books is what you do this time of year.

I'm reading The Sun is Also a Star, and listening to Amy Poehler.

Happy weekend!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Happy New Year!

2. It's 2017. That's a big year. We are officially ten days away from 4-0. I am not sure why the use of we. Perhaps it's going to take me these ten days to get a grip.

3. In the meantime, this is the state of my living room. Just keepin it real, yo.

4. Kids went back to school today after a swell winter break. No one was very excited, but Alla seemed great when I picked her up, and Fisher said it was such a fun day. Perhaps they missed their routines more than they thought.

5. I wanted to go for a run today, outside, but was thwarted by a treacherous glaze on every running surface available to me. I hate the treadmill, but today was grateful for it.

6. Ron and I have both recently finished our read-alouds with the kids. He finished the Percy Jackson series, and I just finished The Land Without Color, which Alla and I picked up at the Twin Cities book festival in the fall. Local author!

7. I read Adam Gidwitz' wonderful The Inquisitor's Tale, and would not be mad if this wins the Newbery. It's that good.

8. Strangely enough, I did not set a reading goal for the year. I am deeming this the catch-up year, moving to the top of the list all those books that I've been pushing aside for newer ones. I'm intrigued by re-reading Harry Potter. I know Alla wants me to read The Land of Stories. We shall see. I have yet to take all of the books off of my library list, so not sure how successful I'll be "catching up."

9. We are looking forward to seeing Hidden Figures, maybe this weekend.

10. For Christmas I got a Vitamix from my very lovely husband, so I am back on a smoothie kick (kids still call them moo-moos), drinking lots of green smoothies.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. The World Series starts tonight! I have no skin in this game, and I think it would be sweet for either side to finally win this, so I'll just sit back and enjoy the best and last baseball of the year. May they drag it out to seven!

2. Last week I ran with temperatures around 70. This week around 45. Fall weather makes for lovely runs - no chance of overheating - but I need to remember what to wear. Two shirts in 45 was too much. Noted.

3. We have had a spat of Daddy traveling, which means for me I return to newborn rules: keep it simple. Put a few things on your list and call it a day. Yes the kids are in school all day, but I can't wear myself out for the evenings with them. That said, it probably wasn't the simplest idea to attempt the great seasonal clothes switch-out this week.

4. A more simple idea: catch up on Grey's Anatomy. I am finally up to the last episode of last season!

5. Alla starts Chamber Orchestra this week. That one day of the week she will have to be at school at 7AM. For the love.

6. Speaking of Alla, tomorrow is her half birthday!

7. Does anyone have a dust buster that lasts more than a year?

8. If you follow me on Goodreads, you will note that I am currently reading way too many books at the same time. This occasionally happens, and makes me insane. It is usually Alla's fault, as she thrusts whatever new find she has finished into my to-read pile. So at the moment I have three books going for myself, and one with the kids. And so many more to read.

9. I saw this on the interwebs yesterday and just adored it.

10. Just a new pic of my babes. Love 'em!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Wow. Last Tuesday of September.

2. Fisher and I went on his half birthday date over the weekend, to a movie (The Secret Life of Pets) and lunch (Red Robin). I love that kid. And I love this tradition. (Thanks, Stahrs!)

3. We also watched the Twins lose their 100th game of the season. No matter. We are not fair weather fans. There's always next season.

4. A lesson I learned last week: Don't buy the two bag package of riced cauliflower from Costco unless you can use it that very same day. It's a good idea in theory, but a few days later you just have a smelly fridge.

5. Did you watch the debate last night? Oh my goodness.

6. I just finished listening to Raymie Nightingale on audio this week while running, while grocery shopping. I don't usually listen to audiobooks without the kids; that's kind of our thing over the summer when we road trip or just schlep to activities. But I truly enjoyed this and am going to see what else the library has for me!

7. Alla and I went to the new Goodwill yesterday and scored an amazing Halloween costume for her, as well as a costume for her part in the school musical Beauty and the Beast! Not sure what that place will be like in a few weeks, but right now you can have your pick of the cool costumey stuff! She declared it her favorite store and said she would like to shop there for her prom dress. I wrote that down. Should make her sign it.

8. I am desperately trying to catch up on my own personal editing in between client sessions and editing. I looked back through my 2015 pictures and wondered why they were so disorganized, and then remembered that oh yes we were remodeling our house for the first three quarters of this year, and for the first three months at least there was dust everywhere and plastic covering our stairs. So I guess I had other things to do.

9. Started a new book with the kids, The League and the Lantern, which so far is a hit all around!

10. I did a very adult thing this week and planted some mums. I don't know, are mums a Minnesota thing? In Costco last week I saw women walking out with those flat bed carts full of toddler-sized containers of them, for $14.99 each, and while I recognized this as a good deal, I couldn't for the life of me understand what to do with them. But then I came home and saw how sad my annuals were doing so the very next day I ripped them out, got some (smaller) mums from Trader Joe's and plopped them in my big planters. Voila! Planters updated for fall. I am an adult.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Alright, before Halloween is here already, I better put up some pictures of the kids' first day of school. Sixth and third, for the love.

2. Though apple season is upon us, we are actually swimming in tomatoes. This is the first year I've ever done anything but cherry tomatoes - one cherry, one Early Girl - and it has been quite the few weeks of constant harvesting and constant consuming. Two tomatoes at each meal isn't even quite cutting it.

3. With the kids back in school I am attempting to increase my running miles after the decline that comes every summer with the heat and kid activities. Fall is my [running] jam. Forget 90 degrees, tomorrow morning will barely be fifty. Love.

4. With the kids back in school I am back to menus - for breakfast and dinner. Menus are saving me.

5. Fisher is playing fall soccer. Still trying to figure out what's going to save me from that.

6. The remodel is done here! We are still living with quite a few bare walls and no nightstands, but these things are quite livable compared to the amount of drywall dust that was settling daily.

7. This weekend we took the kids to dinner and a movie - Brasa and Star Trek.

8. Lots of reading going on lately. Alla is pleased that there is considerably less math homework in sixth grade, so she is taking full advantage of those hours and reading many, many books. The new Raina Telgemeier came today, which she tore through, and she's in the middle of Paper Wishes. I am reading Love Warrior and Ms. Bixby's Last Day.

9. Ron took Fisher to soccer practice yesterday, so Alla and I took advantage of the free hour and went for a seven mile bike ride, which was so wonderful. My middle schooler, so far, is just lovely.

10. Today is September 13th, which marks four months until the big 4-0!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. It's the 2nd of August, which means that Ron and I have officially been together for 19 years. 19 years today.

2. Tomorrow marks 14 years of marriage!

3. So excited that next week we will be heading to Hilton Head, where we will get to show the kids exactly where we got married.

4. August means baseball is over. Fisher is definitely not ready to let that go and is still out in the street hitting and pitching all afternoon, but as much as we love baseball, we were ready for a break. It was pretty cool to see him pitch during extended season, though, and know how much he is looking forward to a whole season of that next year.

5. What Alla does during games at fields with no playground: devour books, either actual books or audio.

6. Our July blog circle is live over at the photography website.

7. This is the last of four weeks in a row of swimming. Also ready to be done with that. And orchestra. Basically done with all commitments.

8. Seems so near the end of summer, but we don't go back to school until after Labor Day, thank goodness! So, lots left. Including vacation, and camp, and state fair, and lots more neighborhood happy hours and books to read.

9. Speaking of books, highly recommend I Will Always Write Back to both middle grade and up, as well as their parents! Such an inspiring read, eye-opening for children especially. This book does what books should do - expand our worlds.

10. I almost never change my profile or cover picture on facebook, but have done it a few times in the past two days, which means only that I am actually sitting down at my computer working on photos!

Summer is a whirlwind.

Summer is going by like it's a race to the first day of school, is it not?

IT IS NOT.

I have been a mother now for eleven years, and yet I cannot figure out how to slow it down. It is in fact my biggest failing of the summer season, especially of the uniquely short Minnesota summer season.

Summer is all, What have you done? What are you checking off your list? Where have you been?

And I'm all, Not a lot. Maybe three items. And, Oooh! Oooh! I have a good answer for this one! Ohio!

We will get to the end of summer at some point in the very very distant future I am sure, and perhaps some of the boxes will be checked and we will have done more of the things, probably. And if not, then it is A-Okay because of Ohio, because my kids rocked a 12 hour day to make it there in one shot, and then back home in the same fashion. Because we got to spend four days with our dearest friends and their kids and our kids were dearest friends for those four days.

And I even got to be in a picture, thanks to my great husband, with my dears Catie (right) and Amy (left, obviously). Amy joined us from her epic road trip and we were so excited that our trips to Ohio managed to meet up on the very same day at Catie's house! Somewhere around the circles of friends there is another picture of the three of us from the reunion picnic of '09 but I have no idea where. Perhaps comparing isn't best anyhow?

Summer is a whirlwind from the moment the kids chuck their messy backpacks on the last day of school. So thankful for the camera's ability to freeze time with dear friends.

Welcome to Summer!

Thoughts on this Monday morning-first official day of summer vacation:

It is 9:35 am and my kids are still sleeping.

I am patiently waiting for them to wake up so I can shove some food in their mouths and head out for a run while it's still tolerable out there for me.

They must be tired from all the summer-ing this weekend.

I am so glad they are upstairs and not at school.

It's summer!!

Be slow, Summer.

Summer Reading Lists: Alla, entering 6th grade.

A cold this week has resulted in me staying in, actually getting some stuff done at home versus running to the gym, the garden store, Costco, and all the other errands that await me on another day. One of those BIG projects here has been getting the kids' summer reading lists ready for them, as school officially ends on Friday. Unofficially, this is just a fun week, practically garbage in terms of actual learning, so the kids get their lists early so they can start choosing what they'd like to start with!

Anne Frank // I Will Always Write Back // The Penderwicks on Gardam Street // Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom // Anne of Green Gables // Farmer Boy // The Underground Abductor // Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill // Moon Over Manifest // Samurai Rising // Wolf Hollow // Hour of the Bees // Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story // To Kill A Mockingbird // Where the Red Fern Grows

View Fisher's reading list here!

Summer Reading Lists: Fisher, entering 3rd grade.

Fisher was very excited to receive his summer reading list and immediately started looking at the library website to see which ones they have (he might have trouble at checkout, however, as he has racked up a nice fine). So far he seems most excited to read Battle in the Arctic Sea, but is starting with Winn-Dixie because that's the only one from his list that we own!

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales // Nine, Ten: A September 11th Story //  Into the Killing Seas // A Whole New Ballgame // Battle in the Arctic Sea // Brooklyn Bat Boy //  The Way Home Looks Now // Cakes in Space // The Great Fire // Middle School // Because of Winn-Dixie // Courage Has No Color //  Kinda Like Brothers // Samurai Rising // Heat

View Alla's reading list here!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. It's May, so that means every household with school-age children across America is crazed. It is truly difficult to remember that just a few weeks ago we had literally no activities on the calendar, and now we are celebrating when we get one free night to eat dinner before nine. But these are not complaints. May is busy but perhaps the best month of the school year. Best weather, field trips, the end of testing, baseball, track, orchestra concert, birthdays, and a four day weekend.

2. It's May, so I've ordered summer math books for the kiddos. This is maybe the fifth summer we'll be using these, and I swear by them. They cover all the things they learned during the year in no more than 12-13 problems, ten minutes tops a few times a week and they are done. The books are called Summer Math Skills Sharpeners and that is exactly what they do. Highly recommend.

3. Speaking of summer, pretty soon I'm going to have to sit down and make summer reading lists for the kids! One of my favorite activities, and the kids look forward to receiving their lists. They are perfectly capable of choosing their own reading, of course, but summer is a great time to challenge and introduce them to books outside of their comfort zones and favorite genres.

4. Since summer is so very close, my days alone shall soon go on hiatus. Now I start thinking, what else do I  really want to do before summer starts? Shops I want to visit, paths I want to run on, hours I want to spend editing. Seems that before the Summer List is made, I should quickly make a Spring List, just for me, and start checking things off.

5. Track season is here, and baseball season is here. Often times I am picking up the track girl with the baseball boy already in uniform and heading straight to the field. Tonight, though, just track, so we let the kids play outside so much longer than normal dinner time. It was just so lovely, and they had all the little(r) kids in tow, all playing tag and laughing and I could see summer, how it will be here soon and they will all wake up [and do math and chores] and rush out there to greet the day and each other, and no matter the "things" we do to fill our days, they will probably remember the running around so much more.

6. Except. They cannot stop talking about going back to Fawn-doe-Rosa, a summer favorite, and earlier this year since we changed when we normally do swim lessons to coincide with orchestra lessons. Anyway. A friend reported seeing baby goats and a baby hedgehog, and that was it for them. They can't wait.

7. I am in the midst of Catherine Newman's lovely book, which is just so true and dear being in the middle season of parenting myself but not so far away that I can't remember two and five and in between. Trust me, if you are a parent, you will love it.

8. Looking to the week ahead, I am immensely excited for Fisher's baseball game tomorrow and Alla's track meet on Thursday. I love seeing them do these things they are good at and love.

9. Looking to the weekend ahead, Ron is turning 39 and we are going to a Twins game to hear Alla and the rest of the performing arts crew sing the National Anthem and  the Canadian National Anthem since we're playing the Blue Jays. Both of these things happen on Sunday.

10. My two-cent parenting advice for the day: when you get to bedtime prayers, sing them! My grandmother Nanny always said singing is praying twice, so even though my sung prayer tonight was much closer to Beavis and Butthead than Amazing Grace, it did the job. Amen.

Baseball is back.

It's back!

We've been following the Twins since Spring Training.

We've been practicing for a few weeks.

But tonight was the first game of the season, and my goodness is Fisher excited. He came home and made a chart of all his stats for the night.

Tell me if you think this is how they calculate On Base Percentage: he had 5 at-bats, was tagged out on 2 of them, so three of them landed him on base. He gave each of those times on base 50%, multiplied by the three times he landed on base and came up with .150 for his OBP.

Works for me.

Looking forward to a season of beautiful nights.

(He's fun to watch. If you're local, come to a game!)

It's very Wednesday.

I'm tired today! We are in the middle of the busiest week of the school year so far. Baseball has started, allergies have started, the school musical opens tomorrow, we are still very much in the throes of house remodeling, and I'm just glad we have one more night of leftovers. It's very Wednesday, which must be a fraternal twin to Monday. So, this little image of Fisher and I on his birthday is what I'm up for today. Forget all the 2015 pictures to edit, or the rest of the Harry Potters. I picked one image I loved and stuck it up here. Amen.