Staying Outdoors Longer

We are spending all our time outdoors on every single warm day, soaking up every drop of sunshine, slowly mustering up tans and freckles and ignoring the dirty floors and the poor, sad houseplants.On cold days we feel dejected and don't even look out the windows, we curl up with good books and drink more tea and pretend it isn't spring yet, refusing to go out in the bitter chill and feel cheated when the wind is way colder than it looked and a hoodie isn't warm enough. Its that mid-ground season. Mentally we are living in full on spring but in truth its sometimes bitter and then randomly so warm you break a sweat walking across the yard.

Its whip-lash season. Time to make green juices, roast the last of the big cuts in the freezer, dream up spring soups for the cold days, check your stock of vases and make time for walks every single.darn.day.

I am trying to remind myself to go hard in the garden, pushing myself until my bones ache because I am feverish to stay outside on these sunny days and because I know once the weather really turns and its blazing June I'll feel like nothing but sitting in the shade with a lemonade. Now is the time to lay mulch like a crazy woman, divide plants, sprinkle grass seed, assemble the raised beds, put peas in the ground and dig up the email address of the lady I bought amazing tomato plants from last year. Time to go, go, go outdoors. I'll regret it later if I don't.

The boys and I found a pair of wooly bear caterpillars out in the garden who promptly spun cocoons on the glass sides of the mason jar they call home. They are now incubating on the kitchen window sill, next to a jar with a praying mantis egg case in it that we found two days ago. We are assembling  a small zoo, as we love to do. My next goal is to score some frogs eggs. Dee was asking me hopefully if we might be able to hunt up some turtle nests and raise baby turtles, this morning at breakfast. I explained that turtle eggs are a little more fussy to raise than frog's eggs and that there are laws protecting them but I loved his optimistic, sky's the limit outlook. Shoot for the moon! Raise turtles! Why not?!? Those little bits make me feel like a great mama.

The two blow-out diapers and one peeing all over the car by accident episode that also happened this week, not so much. Real life over here folks, don't get any funny ideas! 

Reading, Writing and Skateboarding

This week we learned that Ru's favorite skateboarding instructor is moving to Florida. Sending out a tribute to Burton for all of his laughter, unruffled coolness, his persistence, and his example of rubberized bravery.  I am so excited about the things I am watching the boys learn at the skate park. I am really grateful for Burton's hand in it all and hoping for a grand future for him in his big leap towards his print shop dreams in the land of sunshine down south.

Skateboarding is a fabulous way to learn to belong to a group, to embrace failure as useful and expected and to learn creativity in a kinesthetic form. Ru has always been a mover and shaker. I remember catching him trying to ride his scooter off a wooden chair balanced in our Lazy Boy recliner when he was just a toddler. I love being able to press into those proclivities and direct him into a place where he can flex who he is and grow wiser and more savvy in the process. I kinda thought the idea of skateboard "lessons" sounded ridiculous at first, it seemed like a really upper class, poser kind of idea. I have to say though that it basically amounts to open gym time in a skate park with a big brother or two on hand to give you pointers whenever you want them, low pressure, expansive, and whatever speed the kids who show up need at the moment. Sometimes there are games of tag and "double dog dare ya's" happening and sometimes everybody's lining up to try a new trick together single file. Its as playful or organized as people want and I appreciate that. Its been such a great release in the middle of this frigid, endless winter to have a place where my 7 year old could go blow off steam. He goes to sleep like an angel on the night of his skate class. Love it.

I'm kind of intimidated by being a skate mom but I'm really excited to see my boy take off so avidly towards something he loves. I want to get over my own worry about coolness and his ability to push past his bumped knees and keep going. I am expecting to spend a lot of time at the outdoor skate park in town and I think having a board or two in the trunk is kind of a given now.

Now if I can only figure out how to safely allow Pom to learn. He sobs when Ru skates because he's so jealous and spends all his time trying to climb on the board whenever he gets the chance. Hey. I'm watchin' yard sales this summer y'all! Time to get him a board of his own. If this kid can do it, then so can Pom.