Five Things

And this weekend has gotten away with me…but Five Things!

1. Easter was lovely. The girls and I dyed eggs together on Saturday and on Sunday we went to Chris & Mendy’s with Luke and Sherry and Nana plus all of the kiddos. It was a fun and chill afternoon. The kids did the obligatory egg hunt of course but Mendy put verses in some of the eggs and the kids came inside to have them read by either her or Nana. That was the most meaningful part of my day. The eggs we dyed were from our chickens and they turned out so pretty:

2. This week was Cate’s first Spring Break. I didn’t overthink it too much and it turned out better than I had hoped. She did a mixture of bookshop, Grammy’s house, sports camp at our gym and on Thursday afternoon, I took both girls to the Children’s Museum for four hours. Afterwards I thought I should get a medal and at the very least, a glass of wine. That’s a lot of children’s museum. I tend to drag my feet on going – it’s so fun for the girls but the noise level gets to me. But this time worked out so well. The girls stuck together and checked in with me every few minutes. I read five magazines and made a huge list and drank about 100 cups of play tea. Jane was very attentive. I am going to really try to take them more often…at least a couple times a month.

3. Gresham and Cate spent a few hours with me at the bookshop on Friday morning. Of course we went to the The Bread Peddler. They had such a good time and honestly, this picture is one of the best parts of my week. It just says a lot about both of these kids. Adorable and spunky and slightly terrifying (in the very best way) to be their parents.

4. I have loved the first two Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante. I haven’t really read anything quite like them before. There’s three published currently and I think the fourth and final novel is going to come out this Fall. My flickr feed looks like I have read a lot this week, and I sort of have, but mostly I finished a bunch of books all at once. I have been working a lot in the evenings after the girls go to sleep and then falling into bed too late which means then I don’t get up early enough to have some quiet in the morning. This weekend I am listening to My Fringe Hours while I do laundry and it is reminding me I need to make enough time in my schedule to exercise regularly, to read as much as I can (which is what got me into this wonderful mess in the first place!), and to wake up early enough to have some space in my day. I do an okay job of putting my phone down most of the time but I could be better. I am thinking about using this app for awhile to see if it helps. Anyone else tried it?

5. Another use for a Browsers growler if you are not a beer drinker (and I am not!). I am loving these new tulip varieties I am seeing around this Spring – a mix between a tulip and a peony. So pretty. Friday night Telfer and I got a babysitter again and spent date night cranking it at the bookstore until 11:30 PM. We are replacing bookshelves (cinder blocks and large brown rugs be gone!) in the back and starting in on lighting. My hands hurt from moving books but things are starting to look SO GOOD. Our goal is to be (mostly) done with our little remodel before Spring Arts Walk downtown April 24 & 25. Mixed in this weekend as well was a lovely visit with Michael Scofield and his friend Dawn. Telfer’s worked much of the weekend but I have to say, it’s still been a good mix of restful, fun and getting things done.