High Five for Friday (6.13.14)

1. Our lovely neighbors have stellar season tickets to - and a parking pass for - Aggie baseball games. Once each spring since we moved into our house three years ago, they've given us their tickets and we've enjoyed a game sitting just a few rows behind home plate. (They never let us pay them for the tickets, so I always bake for them after the games.)

The game we attended this year (which was actually three weeks ago - I'm a little behind on my High Fives) fell on the most beautiful night for baseball, and as always, the four of us had a wonderful time.

Heading out in our Aggie gear.

A rare photo of all four Ferri.

Watching warm-ups as the sun sets, 2014.

And just for fun, watching warm-ups as the sun sets, 2012.

2. Our Monday afternoon plans - a trip to the swimming pool - felt apart when thunder and lightening began to strike, so we changed course and headed to the afternoon at the children's museum. I wasn't particularly excited about the outing...the children's museums we visit most regularly (Lincoln, Nebraska and Madison, Wisconsin) are two of the nicest in the country - each makes its home in a three-story building taking up nearly an entire city block, and upon entry it's immediately clear that the exhibits collectively cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to build and maintain - and our local museum doesn't quite measure up. But as it turns out, all that didn't matter one iota to my kiddos. They flew a rocket ship, worked on an art project, put on puppet shows, went grocery shopping, sold lemonade, evaluated my health, broadcasted the news, and reported on the weather for more than two hours. Oh, and Will CREAMED me at giant chess. Not bad for a rainy Monday afternoon!

Hallie put on a Frozen (Elsa, Anna, and Olaf - played by an African 

American astronaut in a white spacesuit - made an appearance) puppet 

show while Will lounged in and watched from a beanbag chair.

The camera inside the rocket ship allowed parents to see what their kids were up to. 

My kids were up to making ridiculous faces and waving for minutes on end.

This is my favorite picture of Hallie. I imagine she'd look exactly like this if she were 

trapped in space - all Gravity-like - and speaking to Houston via video phone.

Here's Will, pondering his next move…and then celebrating his victory.

 After the museum we rang the bell across the street. Super fun. Super loud.

3. The World Cup kicked off yesterday! I played competitive soccer throughout high school and club soccer during my first two years of college, and even though I no longer own cleats or a pair of shinguards, I still love the game. I'm looking forward to watching the U.S. Men take on (and hopefully beat, but I'm not holding my breath) some of the world's best teams.

4. Did you see The Fault in Our Stars?! I went with two friends on Sunday night, and I LOVED it. Yes, my "ugly cry" made an appearance. Tears - and mascara - running down my face. Snot dripping from my nose. Breath caught in my throat long enough to induce hiccups. (I wasn't the only one though - the collective sobbing in the theater reached a volume loud enough to drown out the movie's dialog.) But oh. Oh. OH. So good.

Side note: my friends and I had a good 10 years on the rest of the moviegoers in the theater. We laughed at different parts of the movie than they did. We cried at different parts of the movie - and for different reasons - than they did. It was interesting to experience a movie so disparately than the rest of the audience members sitting around us. 

5. Happiness Highlights:

There's Little Library in College Station! This is the first Little
Library we've seen outside of Madison, Wisconsin...hopefully
this book-sharing trend will spread throughout our community!

I love it when I reach 10,000 steps by 9am.

Tom brought me back this gorgeous blown-glass wine stopper
from Montreal. It matches my favorite blue bottle of wine perfectly.

Will and Hallie scored new shirts from our gym (thanks,
Jill!) and loved the shirts so much that they rocked them -
in combination with their swimsuits - for three days straight.

Will started taking Yoga and Cardio Hip Hop classes at
the gym and has been showing off his new skills at home.
This pose is called "The Thinker"…appropriate for my boy.

Happy Friday, friends!

The Sweetest Boy

I felt like I needed to write a brief follow-up to Monday's post (about the matchy-matchy little girl cousins), not so much because all of you are wondering about the boy kiddos, but because someday, when the boy kiddos (hopefully) read this, I want them to know that Sara and I cared about the development of their relationship - with each other and with the girls - as well.

When I announced Carter's (he's now 16 months old) birth to Will, Will exclaimed, "great! I'm going to play baseball with him, and teach him karate, and build Legos with him, and…" I gently interrupted Will to inform him that while I adored how excited he was to jump right into a relationship with Carter, all those activities would have to wait a few years. "But why?" Will asked. "How old is he?!"

Clearly Will missed the fact that being born = being a teeny, tiny baby sack of potatoes.

Down the road, when the approximately six years that separate Will and Carter carry less significance than they do today, Sara and I will help them build a relationship. (Will loves reading to Carter and can play with him for a few minutes at a time, but Will loses interest in "baby games" and moves on to big kid activities fairly quickly.) In the meantime, I love watching him work out how to best interact with Lily. He's heartwarmingly sweet to and patient with her.

This one's my favorite. There's a lot of love between those two hands.

Now if only he'd treat his sister similarly...

Occasionally I need to remind myself that when it comes to my kids developing and strengthening relationships with their cousins who live far from Texas, it's not just about the girls. These four kiddos will need each other someday, and it's our - the parents/aunts/uncles - job to make sure that when that day comes, they'll step up to the plate.

The Next Best Thing

A couple of weeks ago, my mom (Grandma Brenda) and niece (Lily, who you may remember from these - here, here - posts about embarrassing, Hallie-esque situations) came to visit. They only stayed for four days, but during that time they attended Will's elementary school's Field Day, Hallie's preschool graduation, Will's elementary school's spirit night at McDonald's, Will's last baseball game, Will's end-of-the-baseball-season wrap-up party, Will's end-of-the-year field trip, and a good friend's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. They also went with Hallie and me on three long walks, to four garage sales, to lunch at Chick-fil-a, and two trips to the park. Tagging along with your cousins is tough work for a three-year-old! At least she didn't poop on floor next to the Macy's Clinique Counter on this visit...

Everywhere we went, people assumed Hallie and Lily were sisters, which made sense because even though they look nothing alike, 1) there was only one mom and one grandma with them, 2) Lily looks as much like me (or as much NOT like me) as Hallie does, 3) they have similar personalities, and 4) I dressed them identically every day.

I can't help myself. I loved growing up with a sister, and because neither Hallie nor Lily will every have a sister, my sister Sara and I are trying our best to make sure Hallie and Lily grow up close in relationship, if not in proximity.

Here's the story of Hallie and Lily's visit, told through their matching outfits.

On the morning of Grandma and Lily's flight,
in Illinois, Sara dressed Lily in this outfit.

And in Texas, I dressed Hallie in the same outfit.

Lily told EVERYONE on the plane that she was visiting her cousins and, as a
result, many travelers enjoyed watching this matchy matchy reunion in the airport

They even wore matching pajamas.

They tried out their new 4th of July outfits for the field trip.

And their unicorn rainbow outfits coordinated nicely with their
matching Knuffle Bunnies for garage sale-ing and playing at the park.

They matched at Hallie's preschool graduation, though Lily
WOULD NOT wear little shorts to cover up her underwear.

All dressed up for a little shopping, a birthday party, and a photo bomb.

A casual look for the park, along with a second almost-photo bomb.

If you look really closely, you'll notice that their hairstyles, while mirror images of each other (Hallie's hair parts on the right, Lily's hair parts on the left), always matched as well. Yes, I'm a super dork.

I hope that one day these two little girls look back fondly on growing up as cousins. I hope they remember how much fun they had playing princesses and ponies and dress-up. I hope they remember how they loved to sing and dance (while wearing their matching leotards, courtesy of Grandma Brenda, that I missed capturing in photos) and perform duets of all kinds. And yes, I hope they remember that way back when, they actually enjoyed wearing matching outfits.

I also hope Hallie and Lily recognize that, even though they grew up nearly 1,000 miles from one another, their mamas did the very best they could to build the foundation for and then foster a strong, supportive, and life-long relationship between the two of them…that their mamas did the very best they could to give them the next best thing to a true sister.

High Five for Friday (6.6.14)

1. As much as I enjoyed the season, a small part of me feels relieved that spring baseball has come to an end. We need a month or two with fewer evening events on the calendar; a month or two with fewer responsibilities and commitments and competitions. (I'll admit to being the one who needs a break from competition…) And I know that taking this break will make it all the more fun and exciting when we return to the fields/diamonds - Will still hasn't decided which team sport to go with - this fall.

2. I actually remembered to pull Will and Hallie's Class of 2025 and Class of 2027 shirts (which I made last year - thank you, Pinterest) out of the top of my closet, put the shirts on the children, and take pictures of the children in their shirts. Mama Ferris for the win!

(Here are Will's last day of school pics, in his Class of 2025 shirt, from 2013 - I can't believe how much younger he looks!)

3. Our Last Day of School/Happy Summer surprise went perfectly! The kids loved their goodie-filled buckets and the funfetti cookie cake, and Mandi and I adored seeing the looks of surprise and then jubilation on their faces. Let's just hope the season lives up to its celebratory kick-off!

4. Tom came home last night! He'd been gone for almost a week at conferences and meetings in Montreal and Atlanta, and while the kids and I can always establish a pleasant rhythm while he's away (Tom's had the kind of job that requires 60+ hours a week, frequent late nights, and a fair amount of travel since before Will was born so we're all kind of used to it by now), we miss him while he's away and we always count down the days until he returns.

5. Happiness Highlights:

My boy came in fourth (out 40 first grade boys) in his elementary school's
Field Day cross country run. He was devastated. I was ecstatic, both because
he ran so well and because I could tell that his love for running has dramatically
improved his lung function. On that hot, humid morning he sounded wheezy when he finished, but his breathing quickly returned to normal on its own!

While we're on the subject of athletics, check out my
boy's awesome football skills. Catch...

…run... 

…TOUCHDOWN!
(Thanks for the pics, Brittany!

Headed out the door on the way to Will's last day
of first grade. A sweet moment between siblings.

The boy just keeps losing teeth, and that second front-and-center
tooth will fall out any day now. I love his crooked grin, but feeding him
and understanding him when he speaks have become quite challenging.

For the last week, Hallie has slept with our wedding photos. She
wants the albums RIGHT THERE and won't let me put them away. 

Happy Friday, friends!

Jars of Gold

We may have bailed on our Summer Bucket List tradition, but we're certainly not bucking all summer activities and outings (or household organization, order, and responsibility, for that matter) either.

About a month ago I came across an "I'm Bored" jar on Pinterest. I clicked over to the pinner's blog and discovered that her idea - each time a child complained of boredom, s/he randomly selected out of the jar a slip of paper with a "solution" written on it - might work in my house. This woman's jar held slips of paper instructing her children to pick up their playroom or take out the trash or unload the dishwasher, as well as slips of paper allowing her children to watch a cartoon or go out for an ice cream cone.

Will and Hallie don't use the dreaded "b-word" very often, but as a preemptive strike I assembled an "I'm Bored" jar for our house. Midway through explaining the concept of the jar, Will - stinker that he is - found the flaw in the system: if he wanted to go to Spoons, for example, what was stopping him from whining "I'm bored" over and over again until he finally pulled the "Go to Spoons" slip of paper out of the jar? Touché, Will.

They don't look bored...

So back to the drawing board I went.

I created a second jar - the "I've Been Good" jar - and moved all of the special activities and outings from the "Bored" jar to the "Good" jar. The "Bored" jar remained full with a variety of jobs, as well as a couple of quiet, relaxing activities like "read a book" or "paint a picture".

And then, after spending Memorial Day - summer's teaser - at home with two battling children, I created a third jar…the "We've Been Fighting" jar.

The "Fighting" jar is filled with slips of paper that require Will and Hallie to work with or do something for each other: pick up your sibling's room, tackle a job from the "Bored" jar together, read books to each other, hold hands for five minutes, etc.

Interestingly, at this point only the "Fighting" jar has seen any action. Also interestingly, the only slip of paper pulled has been the one "get out of jail free card", which simply requires Will and Hallie to apologize to and hug one another.

So we've registered for camps, signed up for the library's summer reading program, started swimming lessons, thrown our Summer Bucket List out the window, and finished our jars - I guess there's nothing left to do but jump right in and see how it all comes together!

Farewell, Summer Bucket List

Two summers ago the kids and I began a Summer Bucket List tradition. (You can read about our 2012 adventures here and our 2013 adventures here.) We sat down together and talked about all of the places we wanted to visit, activities we wanted to try, games we wanted to play, crafts we wanted to make, and treats we wanted to bake. Then I created a checklist - a visual reminder of that to which we had committed ourselves - and hung it on our refrigerator.

A few of my favorite pics from the last two summers.

 

Yes, the checklist refreshed my memory and helped me shake things up when the kids and I needed a change of pace on long, hot summer afternoons. But it also taunted me from it's place of honor on the refrigerator door. I couldn't appreciate the checkmarks and colorful stars - representing our trips to the zoo, the sandcastles we'd built, the science projects we'd attempted, the books we'd read, the berries we'd picked, and the pies we'd baked - because every time I pulled out the orange juice or put away dinner's leftovers, the empty boxes reminded me that the kids and I still had so much to accomplish before the end of August.

So this year we're not creating an official Summer Bucket List. The kids and I still talked about what we wanted our summer to look like, and after that conversation I signed them up for a few extracurricular activities. Will will continue with Tae Kwon Do lessons, take swimming lessons, and attend day-long baseball and space camps. Hallie will take dance and swimming lessons, and attend a dance camp. And I will write whenever I can, with the goal of staying just far enough ahead that if I want or need to take a day off, I won't miss a deadline or leave my lovely readers wondering what happened to Wednesday's post.

Will and Hallie also want to participate in the public library's summer reading program, and I plan to incorporate regular "academic work" (in the form of fun activity books) and periodic science experiments into our schedule. We want to tend our garden and plant a tree, and the kids want to learn new songs on the piano and open up their first bank accounts. All three of us want to play with friends and go swimming and read books and watch movies.

When it comes down to it (and despite the fact that I almost always feel adrift and anxious when operating without a schedule or when I'm forced to alter my schedule without fair warning), I know for certain that I need a little vagueness - less schedule and more flexibility - in our days this summer. I don't want to spend every afternoon focused on crossing something off a to-do list…I want to spend every afternoon focused on making memories.

I can't wait.

Happy summer friends!