Alla and the bunny.

This girl can find any creature great or small and get it to love her and she will love it fiercely in an instant. On Friday she rescued a bunny from a neighbor's garage and I've never held a baby bunny this small! It made no attempt to hop out of our hands and hardly hopped even when she found a safe place for it to go. She has a big heart for special little ones - furry and not.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. So, there you have it. Ron is 40. I'm sure that's very old to someone, but as someone who's been 40 for a few months now, it feels just about the same.

2. I am in desperate need of some new running shoes. The most recent pair gives me painful tingles in the feet after about two miles, so I've resorted to the older pair that probably has 700 miles on them. Not good either way.

3. So I'll add "go to running store" to my endless list of things I must get to before school lets out but that there currently doesn't seem to be enough time to do.

4. After Memorial Day the kids will have only 8 school days left! Very hard to believe the unofficial start to summer is upon us.

5. Especially since Sunday night we sat through one of the coldest baseball games in Little League history. Multiple layers were worn and coats were pulled out of storage. The players had fun and won their game.

6. Best way to warm up after said freezing cold baseball game? Hot toddy.

7. I am oh so near the end of Unbroken, and getting so excited to get to start a new book soon! What will it be?!

8. With the improving weather, the kids may yet get a chance to bike to school.

9. My daughter is currently outside crafting a fishing pole so she can go fishing with the loveliest 5 year old boy. One of her greatest qualities is her big kind heart.

10. My newest favorite picture of the kids!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. It is 80 degrees here, no joke. And in 48 hours I'll be back in my fleece. I love you, Minnesota.

2. Costco has messed with my morning coffee again, and hopefully for the last time. I have once again brought home a half gallon of whipping cream instead of half and half. Who on earth needs an entire half gallon of whipping cream?

3. I am getting closer to having summer book lists ready!

4. On Saturday morning the kids woke up and brought me A Night Divided in bed and we finished it! Really excellent read aloud, and tonight we can start a new book!

5. Yesterday on my run I started listening to Trevor Noah's Born a Crime, which is truly excellent so far, but I can't recommend unless you'll promise to listen to it. His voice, and all of the languages he speaks, absolutely requires listening.

6. We are down to two more days of school this week, and then three, 4-day weeks.

7. Saturday night Ron and I are getting a date night! (Too bad the weather isn't going to be bright and sunny!)

8. Date nights sometimes mean celebrations and this one is in celebration of Ron's 40th! Yay we'll be the same age.

9. At the beginning of the school year I put some money in Alla's school lunch account in case she wants a few extras during the year. She rations it, and the money is usually gone by the end of the year. This was the first year I put any in Fisher's. Since he can't have school lunch anyway, I've never bothered. But this year I thought he might like a carton of milk here and there. The kid hasn't touched that money all year, and I'm beginning to wonder if it'll still be there in 9 years when he graduates from high school.

10. It feels like this today, so I'm going out to enjoy what's left of it!

Mothering.

Guys, we have made it.

It's Mother's Day weekend.

Are you kicking up your feet yet? I'm not gonna lie, I like to take as much of the weekend as I can. Ron always travels the week before Mother's Day, so as a rule I am always earning my stripes this week. Taking both kids to events, finding friends (thank you!) to get one where she needs to go so I can take the other, watching three baseball games in four days, cooking dinner to eat at 5:00 so we can leave at 5:10, then getting another meal in them at 9:00 pm when we're home. Two months ago there was nothing on my calendar. I was eating bonbons. Now? We are sprinting through the week. Thank you, May. (Just kidding there, I don't like bonbons.)

On top of all that, I've been up til 12:30 every night this week checking blood sugars. Thank you, diabetes and baseball. So all of the above, plus less than six hours of sleep each night. Do any of you know me? Less than six hours of sleep is not my favorite. I don't know if I get Mom of the Year this year, but I am doing my best on less than six hours of sleep each night.

I am over the moon about this weekend. It's going to be 80 degrees. There are zero events we have to be at tomorrow. I might get to read my book. I might get to put flowers in the pots in our front yard. I might get to sleep in. I hope my kids come downstairs to snuggle me. I hope they bring our book. Maybe we will finish it!

I am so lucky that my own Mom lives close enough to celebrate the day with me! As my kids get older, I am baffled by the juggling she had to do raising us. My brother and I did completely separate activities, and never attended the same school! But we did all the things. She made sure of it.

I love being a mom, and often write about the little things being the big things, and take pictures of the day to day.

I also really love Mother's Day, because it's beautiful out and I genuinely feel celebrated and appreciated - thank you, Ron.

Get in the picture with your kids this weekend. But also, kick up your feet. Read a whole book. Plant a garden. Or don't. Do what you want, this ONE day of the year.

Happy Mother's Day!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Baseball season is in full swing. It's quite relaxing once we're there. Fun to watch, and really the first two hours I am able to sit all day.

2. Alla got her first pair of glasses!

3. The kids asked about their summer reading lists. Making those lists is one of my favorite things to do before the kids get out of school - I sit down with my Goodreads list, notes I keep on my phone, and reminders about what they read last summer. Luckily they don't get out of school until June 8th, so I have some time.

4. They have their eyes on the American Ninja Warrior gym as a reward for summer reading.

5. I did manage to order summer math books, so I'm on top of something.

6. Alla and I took a wonderfully fun polymer clay class this weekend (Groupon!) at Clay Squared in Minneapolis. We rolled, mixed, and made amazing designs. Highly recommend!

7. May is a crazy month!

8. That said, there is currently NOTHING on my calendar for Saturday. Nothing. I usually fill in weekend calendars with a few house projects, or a few things we can do on the weekend to make the week ahead a little lighter. I am understandably hesitant to mark up by beautifully clear Saturday.

9. I am halfway through Unbroken, and while I'm enjoying it quite a lot and so very wowed by the story, I'm also quite eager to get on with it and read something else.

10. I am itching to plant some dang flowers. The flower marts are open and tempting but I need more than 5 minutes in there to pick out what I need for my front planters at least. Perhaps I'll revisit #8.

Have a good week!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. The first day of May didn't treat us well at all. It rained, snowed, didn't get much warmer than 40, and was just generally unpleasant. Today the sun is shining and we hear we're being treated to progressively warmer days all week! This weekend we are officially putting away the snow pants. (So go ahead and blame me if it snows again.)

2. The bad weather did, however, prompt me to make one more vat of vegetarian chili and cornbread, and since the recipe makes enough for about 85 bowls, I haven't had to cook for the past couple nights!

3. But. We are really looking forward to grilling weather, shorts and t-shirts, and reading on the deck.

4. Alla turned twelve, and I didn't die. In fact it was quite a lovely day (well, weather-wise, she'd have liked some sun and warmth), a low-key birthday celebrating her. We went out to dinner, then came home for cake and presents. We surprised her by putting a big gift in her room while she was in the shower that night - a desk! She's crafting up a storm there already.

5. She also got Wicked tickets for she and I for TONIGHT! So, I guess the birthday celebration continues!

6. Over the weekend Fisher played in the district chess tournament and won 5th place overall! This is an improvement of more than 20 places from last year, so he is over the moon. To show just how important chess is, he missed a baseball game on Saturday for this tournament, the culmination of chess club for this school year.

7. Alla won a button design contest at school for New Brighton's Stockyard Days! She came home when the contest was announced, and decided she was going to win. She worked so incredibly hard on her design, doing it over and over until it was just right. I was so happy when she told me!

8. We watched a really good movie for family movie night over the weekend - Greater. Highly recommend.

9.  Something to look forward to at the end of this week - Cinco de Mayo! Homemade, non-mix, non-neon margaritas for sure. After the baseball game. Yes, I think Fisher might actually have baseball weather this week.

10. Taking Alla to a fun polymer clay class this weekend at Clay Squared to Infinity! She doesn't know, but since this is right up her alley, she is going to be over the moon!

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.