Easter, fun with the baseball guys, making memories along Crab Creek

Church was wonderful Easter Sunday

Our weather was gorgeous and our Easter egg hunt was so much fun! 

We made a big dinner and enjoyed the day!

A really fun surprise was having my brother Phil here for part of the afternoon and the evening! 

a bunch of the baseball guys came over for stir fry, games and fun

This boy!!! 

He is so adventurous, caring and curious

Wonderful Wednesday

Busy days are good for me. Sometimes the night before a busy day is not so good. I organize, re-organize and spin everything around in my head. 
But the day of, it's good. 

Today is super busy and very fun!

Merit drove himself to school and Vance drove Will. I made blueberry pancakes for H and O. I dropped Hazel off at school at 8:50. I texted a teacher who might need a tea to get her through the day. We got the tea and delivered it. Oren and I got delicious, thick, frosted sugar cookie at the stand where we purchased Francine's tea. Shannon texted me inquiring about an hour walk before we had to pick up our middle schoolers at 11:30. 
Today and tomorrow are half days because of conferences.
Oren, Shannon, and I walked. Then I got Willem. We ran an errand, grabbed Hazel at noon and dropped Oren off to pre-school at 12:15.
Willem's student led conference was at 12:30. I like student led conferences! Your child needs to tell you what they are doing right and what they could do better. They can explain their grade. We can visit with their first period teacher. Willem works hard! His notebook looked SO good!! And his penmanship beautiful. 
Okay so we got this day about halfway done!
The baby chicks are "caged" in the front yard so they can peck at the grass, enjoy the sunshine and sort of learn to be chickens.
Next, laundry, dishes, watering flowers. Pick Oren up at 3. Willem has 3 on 3 basketball practice tonight. I might get another walk in. 
All the while the sun is shining and we encounter so many smiling faces. 

There are bumps and there are bruises. 

I have a group of friends that gather for brunch, for birthdays and for prayer. Within the group we are praying for a son, a  senior in high school who broke his foot and had surgery in Seattle. We are praying for a father who has cancer that has spread quickly. We are praying for our kids. We are confiding in each other about some of the hard stuff our kids encounter. Sometimes we and our spouses are communicating poorly, sometimes we are quick to re-act, sometimes our kids aren't letting us in on hard stuff or questions.

I was bummed last night about several things. I felt worried about friends and family who are struggling with their health, but I stopped and "grabbed" ten things that were so great within the day;
1) Teaching 5th grade yesterday afternoon - awesome kids
2) Merit joining Kurt on the radio show again!
3) Hazel and a buddy eating lunch in the classroom I was in
4) Willem's awesome game! 
5) The sunshine!
6) Oren's learning
7) Friends who pray
8) Vance made a delicious pot of soup last night (and I got Easter candy 50 percent off!)
9) God's grace
10) F-A-M-I-L-Y

50 min. left of picking up and cleaning up and then I am off to get Oren Paul

A BUG hunt!

My friend Maria and I hid 85 plastic creepy crawlies around here! 

The "bug hunt" was a HIT! 

 Enjoying the beauty of God's creation!!
And the newness of SPRING!

3 WINS for the Jansen boys so far this week!

 Well, baseball is in full swing! 
This gold team is on fire! 

I LOVE baseball. Not as much as much as basketball but almost as much -

Benji, Merit and Royce

This #7! 

This #7! 

These guys are awesome. 

Young men, really.

I can't believe they are growing so fast.

Tis the Season

This is the season of 
sunflower seeds in the pockets of baseball pants
going through gallons of shout in a few short months 
 a layer of dust and dirt over your teeth and skin as a result of windy baseball games
SBAC and NWEA tests (if you have school aged kids)
It is a season of spring flowers coming to life, garden centers blooming (or booming) and kids wanting to play outside until dark
Kids begin the countdown of "how many school days are left"
Hazel will get back to a little horse back riding after a very late, somewhat long winter
I register Oren Paul for kinder on Thursday night - or any time after if I can't handle doing it Thursday night. 




Through my years of parenting and also subbing I have heard sad stories, funny stories, stories that made no sense and stories I will remember forever. I have been so pleased to witness wonderful acts of kindness and sweet moments of friendship.

Tears sneak into my eyeballs a little more quickly than they once did. 

And because I have a high schooler, a middle schooler, an elementary student and a pre-schooler, I see that every stage is FUN!, very important, trying in its own way, beautiful and fragile.

When I think of Oren going to kindergarten in the fall, full time kinder, the tears sneak in. But what I want to do next year is venture out a bit when it comes to substitute teaching and teach a little junior high and high school. New, good challenges

Years ago I was subbing in Umatilla, Oregon. I remember the classroom so well. It was second grade and the teacher left me great plans. A student, a young boy, shared that his parents had gottten in a big fight the night before. He was sharing in front of the entire class. Someone asked "what was it about?" And a separate child, not the child sharing, said "probably insurance."

Why is that so funny to me? Or not funny. 
The truth is, I bet a lot of people fight about insurance. Vance and I were both wound super tight about insurance this morning. 

So whether you are stressed about insurance, losing twenty pounds, trying to make it to your kids 10 activities this week or how to get baseball pants white again, chances are you are not alone.

And on the days things really seem to feel overwhelming, 
bring a teacher or a friend a coffee
buy a great book for an elementary classroom
breathe deeply
go for a walk with a friend
and PRAY

 I was really in the mood for some throw backs today!