Hand Made Evening

Max - Made bracelet for teacher Lisa. The beads are mostly made by me - somehow he made them look good. 

Max and I had a crafting extravaganza tonight. In the middle of it all Coleman got up and went to bed. Max and I were working into the night. Fueled by chocolate chip cookies and the euphoria of the end of the school year (and possibly the Prednezone he's on for a bad reaction to poison oak). One day of school left. Yippie!

Bracelet by Me (clasp was actually made by Max last summer - his first soldering job - at 5).

little book and bracelet. 

Max is going to a birthday party on Saturday for his friend, Yenisei (pronounced Yen-i-say, short i). They are very good friends and I hope they stay friends even if they end up in different schools next year. They have good energy together. I enjoyed making a bracelet for Yen today and personalizing a little book the guys and I made a while ago.

Yesterday was also a crafting day, though Max mostly directed the making of a necklace from the sofa while he had some R&R from a possible sinus infection. Today he was feeling a lot better, but I took him to the doctors, of course just to be sure, because that's who I am. Anyhow, our collaborative project is pictured below.

Of course Rome was burning while this was going down, however I managed to feed us a reasonable dinner at a reasonable hour. And I had a super craft-a-licious day! More of these days, pretty please.

Coleman's Belt Graduation

A couple weeks ago "{this moment}" was a shot of a karate class. You couldn't really see Coleman clearly, but he was there among the other graduating students, some younger some quite a bit older. Every three months or so (if you've been going to class regularly and show respect and work hard) you graduate to the next belt level. Everyone starts out a white belt, a beginner. Then; yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, brown I, brown II, brown III, junior black belt...etc...This was Coleman's first belt graduation at this dojo. We are so proud of him. He continues to love going and looks forward to karate mornings. This has been such a good thing for him, I know there will be a time that he will have to push harder to get there. There will be ups and downs, but I can see this being a big part of his life into his adulthood.

This Week in Images

Trip to the Tech Museum

This Tuesday Coleman and I went to the Tech Museum in San Jose while Mr Max went with his class to the beach. I love being in the city, even if it is little ol' San Jose. There's an energy, a buzz. I can get recharged from being in the city or country alike. Just a slightly different re-charge. Mm, I just can't tell if I'm a city girl or a country girl. Will I ever figure this out?

Anyhow - We had fun. Learned a little. Smiled a lot. Enjoy the pictures:

Max's "New" Bike

I've been searching CraigsList for weeks now for just the right bike for Max. Just the right bike for Max has to be just the right price for mum. It has hand brakes and gears! I surprised him after school on Monday with it. And guess what? He hated it the moment he laid eyes it. Hm. How did I mess that one up so badly? It's blue, it looks like a bmx bike, it's for big kids. Okay, so it's used. But really, c'mon. It had weird stickers on it, I guess. We peeled off the stickers and Chris shined it up a bit. Coleman told him he thought it was cool. This helped. A lot. He climbed on and sped off down the road, stopped fast and made an awesome skid mark. Sold! Skid marks are cool. Now, so is his "new" blue bike. Phew.

Max woke at 6:30 in the morning on Tuesday so he could get to the bike park before school! Which didn't really work out because Coleman was still asleep and Max wouldn't go without Coleman. So he settled for riding around the neighborhood. Later that day the three boys (Max, Coleman, Chris) made it to the bike park and had a blast there together.

Rain, Chickens, Baking

I was going to title this post "Rain, Rain, Go Away". But I've decided to complain less. Be more positive. It has to be good for you and the people around you. Karma. I saw a quote recently online: "You become what you think", or something like that. I think that is somewhat true. True enough to think more good things than bad. We can think ourselves into such a tizzy. I'm working on getting my Zen on. That's really what I want to share with my wild children. Calm, compassion, love, happiness. Therefor, less complaining. I've got to start somewhere.

During this rainy weekend I've spent some time baking. I hiked in the rain with Kitty yesterday, awesome hike. The boys have built a cool Lego world and continue to perfect it. I've spent a little too much time on my computer. Chris is going to try to fit a bike ride in before the rain starts up again this afternoon. We've had a good weekend. Tonight we're going to a pot luck with Max's class. We were supposed to be camping this weekend with them, but the rain was significant enough to change plans.

I baked Nana's blueberry muffins (a Jordan Marsh recipe I think) only we used strawberries because that's what we had. Slightly less fabulous than the blueberry version. We'll do a re-do on those later this week. I love those darn muffins! Find the recipe here!

For dinner last night I made the guys a calzone each and I had a much craved for pizza with caramelized onions, ricotta and sun dried tomatoes. Dinner was yummy for all. I have to work on getting them all out at once, because by the time I sat down for dinner Coleman was finished and ready to leave the table. Ah, social graces. We're all in need of some over here at Tese's Place. We're a pack of wolves ripe and ready to for finishing school.

There was a break in the rain today and Max chased around some of our chickens - just to give them some much needed love, mind you.

What did you all cook up for dinner and do for fun this weekend? Post me a comment!

This Week in Images

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

inspired by soulemama.com 

Max's First Business

While Max isn't the only one who participates in the egg selling, he is the most consistent. It seems he is always up for a walk around the neighborhood to collect money. I mean sell our kind neighbors some fresh eggs. He also just loves those chickens. They are his pals. He's Chicken Boy, after all. We sell the eggs for $4/doz and Max gets to keep $2 and the rest of the money goes toward chicken feed and care. Ah, the life!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

inspired by soulemama.com