Hope it was a fun Memorial Day weekend for all of you! We went to Lake Wilson on Sunday and came back yesterday. We have a bit of a tradition of going there on Memorial Day weekend so the kids can fish with Grandpa. They caught a few fish this year but not as many as in previous years. It was really neat to see the half dozen pelicans on the lake. I don't think I've ever seen pelicans in person before. The kids loved watched them land on the water.

It was a hard weekend in some ways - especially for Cory - since this is probably the last time we'll spend the weekend in Lake Wilson at his childhood home. Myron is getting married August 1 and is moving to his future wife's home about an hour from Lake Wilson in Okabena. He's not going to sell his house but talked about renting it out. At the same time, he's planning to use his garage for storage and is still going to plant a garden and tend it after he's moved, so I have no idea what's actually going to happen. There are a lot of changes that will be happening over the summer, and I just hope it all goes smoothly.

Schools are out for the summer here in Yankton. Last Friday was the last day. I was preparing myself for the doorbell to start ringing at 9 a.m., but the neighbor girls are not around right now. So far our day hasn't been too exciting. We bought some groceries this morning, and now everyone's doing their own thing. My "thing" should include laundry, but I'm being lazy about that right now.

I should stop being lazy about that now and actually do a few things. Off to be domestic!

Around 20 minutes ago, I was sitting at the computer when I heard this incredibly loud roar/rumbling that was almost shaking our house and surprisingly didn't wake up Ella. So I ran outside with Tylan in my arms to see what was going on (yes, of course I run toward potential disaster with my youngest along side), and I could see the lights of a jet a few miles to the northeast. That's very strange because Yankton doesn't have an airport large enough to handle huge jets, so we certainly shouldn't have one flying low enough to buzz us like that. I'm so curious to know what's going on...

Cole had his final soccer game of the spring tonight. It was incredibly hot - 90s - and windy, so it wasn't an especially pleasant day to sit outside. I suppose it was better than being incredibly cold and windy like it was for his soccer game last Saturday. Cole had a lot of fun with his first year of soccer and shed a few tears tonight because he already misses it. I'm sure he'll want to sign up again in the fall.

Turned on the air conditioning for the first time this year. Spent much of the day inside, except for the time spent having the oil changed and having the tires rotated so our van will be ready for our short visit to Lake Wilson Sunday and Monday. Tomorrow I hope we won't go anywhere at all. That would be nice. Perhaps I'm just getting annoyed by being out in public and having so many people make the same comment to me when I have all four kids along: "Got your hands full, don't ya?" My children could be standing perfectly still and be absolutely quiet, and someone would still say this to me. It drives me nuts! My usual reply is a big smile and a positive "Yes, I certainly do!" so they don't get the impression that I want to moan and groan about having four children. I suppose four children is considered a large family by many people, but I don't always think of us that way. Maybe if we had gone into the five or more children range.

Tylan's almost back to sleep, so I'm going to relax a little before bed and read. Replying to email can wait until tomorrow.

Hope all you mothers out there had a great Mother's Day! We had a really nice day but didn't do anything extraordinary. Cory went out to get me breakfast and a coffee. The kids gave me a gift card to Starbucks (notice the coffee theme?) and the latest Indigo Girls cd. Yay! I had wanted to do something that I knew the kids would enjoy, so after lunch we drove over to the library in Vermillion to check out the traveling interactive math related exhibit in the children's area. The kids had fun with that, and we spent a little more time in town before heading back home. If it had been a warmer day, I think we would have gone to a park, too.

Soon Cory and I will watch Rescue Me, but for now he's playing a Lego Star Wars Wii game while Accalia and Cole cheer him on. Tylan's snoozing in the sling, and Ella's been asleep since around 7:30. Tomorrow is Cole's final soccer practice. He has a game on Saturday and a game next Tuesday, and that's it.

I need to spend some time organizing this desk so I can make room for the materials I'll be using now that I'm starting my work as the Area Coordinator of Leaders (ACL) for La Leche League of MN/DAs (Minnesota, North and South Dakota). I'll be going through some orientation soon, which is good since I've never worked in the Leader Department before. I'm still continuing my work as the Coordinator of Leader Accreditation (CLA) for Iowa, but that shouldn't be a problem since it's not very time intensive. That reminds me that I need to finish up a report...

It is quite windy and cool outside. It's rained on and off throughout the day, so we haven't been hanging around outside. No neighbor girls or boys around today. I don't mind, but I know Accalia and Cole were hoping to play with them after school. Cory's working, and I'm feeling rather aimless. I want to be inspired and motivated but have just found myself sitting around online while the three older kids watch a cartoon they had missed out on last weekend. Tylan is sleeping in my arms.

This weekend will hopefully be nice. Cole has a soccer game tomorrow. I'm looking forward to that but wondering if I should feel out of place because I don't own a cute little track suit like the ones most moms seem to favor around here. Yikes! Please don't run out and buy me one so I can fit in. Mother's Day will probably bring some attention my way. I told Cory I wanted to go over to a public library about 30 minutes away to check out an interactive exhibit in the kids' section. The kids and I could do that any day, but it would be nice to hang out with Cory, and frankly, I want to go when my kids most likely won't be the only kids around and their normal kid noises won't seem to be amplified by 100 and people won't stare and wonder why they aren't in school. I think I've been feeling on display a little too much lately.

Once again, we procrastinate with planting the garden. Our tiller is broken, so that delays things a bit. I've done little parts by hand, but there's only so long that Tylan wants to be on the ground or in a sibling's arms, and it's a little too hard to till with an 8-month-old in arms to make much progress. Most days I wonder how productive I might actually be when I no longer have a baby to hold. Don't want to disappoint myself, though, with how little I'll probably actually do! We have managed to plant sunflowers and morning glories and swiss chard, and we now just have to get to the big garden.

Here is what the kids are up to:

Accalia is buy on the computer or choreographing dances or planning what she and her bff T. will do later in the day. She's hanging out with Cole and holding Tylan and being a little mother to Ella. She's also watching Bones with me and requested that we start watching from Season 1.

Cole just needs some sort of malleable material - clay, playdough, sand, dirt - and figures of some kind. Indoors or outdoors, it doesn't matter. It's even better with a friend to accompany him on his adventures. He's asking Ella if she'll play with him outside, and he's holding Tylan "like a big tuna." He stands and talks to me with his hands in his pockets, and he looks so much older and gives me glimpses of what he may look like some day. He's also so emotional, especially at the end of the day, crying in bed because he's sad if a friend lost a toy.

Ella loves swinging and being alone out in the yard and coloring and playing with Tylan. She is almost always talking, and her vocabulary has increased so much over the past month. She still refuses to use the toilet, though. Wonder why she's resisting that, especially with two older siblings as examples.

Tylan is scooting all over the place, and I can just see it in her eyes that she will soon discover stairs and try to maneuver up those. Even though she's having a blast on the ground, she also needs to be in my arms more urgently than before. She's amazingly quick with her hands and grabs at everything. She's also showing more of an interest in solids but has yet to pop through any teeth to actually chew things.

I just took on a major new responsibility in my life but will probably wait to say more until an official announcement has been made. I think I'm a little nuts for doing it, but I have my reasons.

I'm here for another blog post, so obviously I survived last week! It was odd getting up today and not having any dance rehearsals on the calendar, and once again I'm washing dance clothes and putting everything up for the next month until the summer session starts. Both Accalia and Cole want to continue with classes during the summer.

Both recitals went so well. Accalia looked like she was having so much fun with her gymnastics routine (done to Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid) in the first recital, and she looked so serious and proper with her ballet routine in the second recital. Cole had a blast with his tumbling routine (done to Old Time Rock and Roll) in the second recital and didn't seem phased at all by being on stage for the first time. Cory helped with Cole's group, so maybe that helped put him at ease, too. Ella and Tylan did amazing considering there were four hours of recital to sit through. Ella spent most of the time sitting in my mom's lap, falling asleep for a short time during the second recital. I had to leave the auditorium a few times with Tylan when she got restless or fussy, and she fell asleep toward the end of the first recital and slept until nearly the start of the second. I was so proud of myself for being able to do up Accalia's hair in the bun for the second recital while Tylan slept in my arms (in the sling).

Cory's 37th birthday was also Sunday, so we tried to celebrate as much as possible on a day filled with the recitals. I think we succeeded fairly well! Cory took today off since he didn't need to take off his actual birthday, and that was nice having him at home and being able to do some things around the house and take care of some errands.

Now that the recital is finished, we're looking ahead to Accalia's 10th birthday next month and our annual camp out. Hooray! Once June hits, all of the summer activities will start, too, so I think we'll enjoy the quiet of May until then. We'll probably head out of town to visit Myron for part of Memorial Day weekend, but that will probably be it.

Speaking of Myron, he proposed to his girlfriend Joan a couple weeks ago and she accepted. No date has been set, but it will probably be later in the summer. He's planning to rent his house in Lake Wilson and move to Joan's house about an hour away.

I've been trying to catch up on LLL work throughout the day and did accomplish a few things. There's always more to do, though. Better get to it!