TWENTY-THREE

 

Last day of the fourth grade team. We went out to Dumpling Queen for lunch. It. was. incredible. They were nice enough to put up with my hooligans. 

2026 week twenty-three

I've spent the week cleaning out and setting up my new 7th grade classroom. I needed to update my "Mrs.  Cole in 4th grade" to "Mrs. Cole in 7th grade." Matt said I look like an adult doing a bad cosplay of a Middle Schooler. I can't believe V and I had the same bangs in 7th grade. Haha. 

With the trampoline, swings, and blow up pool, the kids are fully ready for summer. Now if it could stop raining for a day or two they could go outside and enjoy it. 

Theo's spent all his rainy days building lego creations. Here is a river canyon with a cute little cloud. 

Here are all the guns he bought from Little Brick. He just cleans out their stash whenever we bring him in. 

Aztec temple. 

Matt is on a trip this weekend with his friends. We try to make each other jealous with our good breakfasts. Here's his ham and pesto crepe. 

Here's my focaccia with mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil and some beautiful apricots. 

He tried to make me even more jealous with this pothos. Sometimes I feel so good about my plants and then I see expert level plants and I feel just pathetic. 

On Friday the kids and I went to First Fridays in Old Town Lewisville. The local business owners set up booths to engage with the community and give out samples. V bought some bracelet-style hair ties and Theo inexplicably bought this ring watch. He promptly broke it the next morning... He was devastated and ordered a new one. 

We had a really nice Mexican dinner at a small restaurant and to finish out the "Stars Hollow" feeling of the evening, we stopped at Gilmore's Scoops for ice cream. We were delighted to discover this place because they serve Beth Marie's ice cream -a locally made treat. 

Matt and his friends went to several museums it seems. He fell in love with this hand painted wallpaper map and I wont be surprised if he tries to recreate it in our front room. 

Matt and Travis being weird. 

A year or so ago we were listening to "It's De-lovely" by Cole Porter and Matt said, "It would be a real shame if Andrew doesn't sing this song to Delancey. It's delightful, it's delicious, it's Delancey." Since then "Delancey" has been a synonym for delicious to Theo. When he discovered the "Delicious and Delightful" on the Chick-fil-A sauce, he new he just HAD to complete the phrase. 

On Sunday we woke up to 70 degrees and a serious thunderstorm. It had rained 2.5 inches overnight. It stopped just in time for us to ride our bikes to the local Maronite parish for Mass. When we were leaving, Theo discovered he had brought a little friend along for the ride in his bell. 

And DELIGHT OF DELIGHTS my gladiolus has finally bloomed. Now only one of my 15 bulbs did anything, but I'll take it because they are some of my favorite flowers of all time.

Quotes:

V- "Oh my god, that's so good."
Me- "Don't say 'oh my god.'"
V- "But it was heavenly!"

Salem jumped on my bed and Theo said, "Here comes drizzilicious." 
Me- "Fo' shizzle, ma drizzle."
Theo absolutely lost his mind laughing hysterically.

Three new Veronica nicknames:

"Verancy sansy"
"Veronchy haunchy"
"Leonardo DaVrincci"
Poor Veronica hates them oh so much. 

TWENTY-TWO

 

2026 week twenty-two

This week felt rather busy. The kids and I spent most of the week on campus moving out of my old classroom and into my new classroom in the middle school. We've started up early morning swim team again this summer and we're all getting used to that new schedule. On Tuesday evening we went to a local concert in downtown Lewisville and saw many friends and classmates and V said she felt like she was in Gilmore Girls at a Stars Hollow event. On Friday we celebrated my niece graduating high school at a big party. On Saturday Matt, his mom and dad, and I went to see Jerry Seinfeld do stand up. It was a really fun evening. It was a good week. 

Also the kids wanted to get a trampoline so they picked in for 2/3 of the cost. 

 

TWENTY-ONE

 

Theo climbing a tree on the last day of school. 

2026 week twenty-one

The ninth graders came in to do a couple dissection demonstrations. 

Matching during carline and looking ready for summer. 

Summer officially starts with crawfish. 

Beautiful Dr. Pepper red crawfish. 

Matthew being a menace. 

Quotes:

Me- "I don't why it bothers me so much but I can't stand it when you roller skate in the house."
V- "Are you just jealous of my gracefulness?"

TWENTY

 

I caught a rare moment of these two just chatting after school while brushing out the American Girl Dolls' hair. 

2026 week twenty

We found frog eggs in the creek at school.

End of Year Awards Ceremony. Theo got A Honor Roll for the year. 

We celebrated afterwards with ice cream.

The whole school had the same idea so V ran into one of her best friends. 

These are the glorious days of dinner outside in the soft green light -even though your mom makes you eat borscht. 

We ended up having an unexpected breakfast visitor when a Blackburnian Warbler hit our window. 

V sat outside with him until he recovered and flew away. 

V is learning the art of practical effects wound make up. It all started with a concerned email home from her teacher when she was drawing bruises on her arms with a highlighter. 

Quotes:

V- "Ahhhhhh! Mosquito bites! They're all over me uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh!."
Me- "You're so pathetic."
V- "I know -but I'm also so delicious!"

V- "You're not my boss!"
T- "But I am your advisor."

At the End of Year Scouts activity Matt caught the turtle that was eating all the hot dogs off the fishing lines. Theo named it "The Glizzard."

NINETEEN

 

Cinco de Mayo was Salem's 6th birthday. Happy birthday to the best of cats. 

2025 week nineteen

American girl re-released their classic dolls for their 40th anniversary. I no longer have my original Kirsten so I treated myself to the new one. The first thing V did was unbraid the perfect braids. Ugh. I have to keep reminding myself: Dolls are to be played with... 

V had her 13th birthday party at the asian food court at the mall. Everone got some cash to go buy themselves dinner or treats. They had a lot of fun using real money and weighing the cost of things. Classic skills. 

It has been such a garden week. With this beautiful bouquet of chard, I made a chard potato gratin to go with our steak for Mother's Day. 

Just thinning a little bit of kale so the melon sprouts can see some daylight. 

Turnips which became a teacher appreciation gift - probably the weirdest one...

On Mother's Day morning, Matt went to a local bagel shop to try their iimitd edition "Alliyum" bagel. Onion bagel with ramp cream cheese and crispy fried onions. It was pretty good and was worth the fact that we all had pretty awful breath for the rest of the morning. 

As a gift to me for Mother's Day, V begged to watch endless episodes of Gilmore Girls. 

Italian almond cake for dessert. 

EIGHTEEN

 

The girl is officially a teenager. 

2026 week eighteen

Veronica turned 13 on Monday. Matt, Theo, and I ate lunch with her in the cafeteria and then we all went out to sushi for dinner. 

Theo had his last baseball game of the season. 

Veronica asked for pony beads for her birthday and has been making complex beaded bracelets. 

Then I taught her the ways of the 90s and 00s middle schoolers and she's been making lizards and other creatures non stop. 

It's not a party unless someone is shirtless on the roof and then vomiting in the street. Wait, both of those were my kid. Sorry. 

The garden is looking extra lush this year. 

It is such a pleasure every time I go outside. 

Our driveway was redone this week by the crew redoing our street. This is the before. 

After. 

Matt and the brothers-in-law all went on a trip to Turner Falls for the weekend. 

Quotes:

Me- "Why is there a belt on the side of the bed?"

V- "You said I kick you when I get to sleep in your bed so I belted my ankles so I wouldn't kick you." 

The kids always get to sleep in the big bed on the night before their birthday.