Is it summer yet?!

"MOM?!" *said in LOUDEST whisper he can muster.
"Mmm-hmmm?"
"Is it time to wake up yet?"
"....yeah, that's fine, you can get up."
"MOM?!"
"Yes."
"Is it summer yet?"
"No, not yet."
"MOM?!"
"...yes?"
"Can I wear my shorts today?"
"Yes, that's fine."
"AND MOM?!"
"....yes, Linus..."
"And can I wear my flip flops too?"
"Yes, Linus, wear whatever you want."
"MOM?!"
"What, Linus."
"It's not summer yet so I have to wear pants."
"Linus, I tell you this every morning, you can wear shorts in the Spring time as long as it's warm outside."
"BUT MOM! I want to wear my long pants!"
"That will just make you hot today, it's supposed to be hot today."
"BUT MOM! It won't be hot today, I know it! It's not summer yet."
"...it can be hot in Spring too-"
"-BUT MOM! I WANT to wear long pants!"
"Linus, do you want to be really hot today?"
"No."
"Then you need to wear shorts."
"BUT MOM! I really really want to wear my pants today!"
"....okay, fine, you can wear your pants, but don't complain to me if you get too hot, okay?"
"Okay."

....."MOM?!"
"...what Linus..."
"I think I want to wear shorts and my flip flops today. Then I'll look like a super bad guy."
"Okay, Linus, whatever you want."

This happens just about every morning. If only it were just summer, then he would know that it would be hot outside everyday. Come on, summer, hurry up already!
I made up my own sewing project! So I was going through Craig and my closet this season and Craig has a whole slew of shirts in there that he hasn't worn since high school (...and frankly they're so large I wonder how accurate that statement is, I wonder if he ever wore them or just put them in his closet when he got them as hand-me-downs and pretended to think he was going to wear them someday...). I decided I'm going to transform some of said shirts into dresses for the girls. I was at Target the other day and really really wanted to just take every girl's dress off the rack and take it home, but although Target is affordable...they really aren't affordable at all if you are used to filling your closets with thrift store clothes. SO, I'm going to put my creativity to use. Here is my first project: I was finished and was so frustrated that I wanted to throw it away because I messed up in so many spots, but then I counted to ten, took a deep breath, and then sewed some ruffles on the front and Chloe fell in love at first sight. Guess that's all that matters. Here's to better attempts next time. And maybe some patterns? If I get motivated enough...

Having fun out in the sun anyway, though. Even though I'm sort of wincing inside each day it gets hotter this early in the season because I'm worried about how hot and dry it will be around here come July, I just LOVE this extended Spring we are getting. All the flowers bloomed perfectly and didn't get smashed to pieces by a freak snow storm. Our monster crab apple tree in the front yard looked like a Spring scene in a Jane Austen book. The grass is lush and green, and although our poor trees took a beating last fall when we had a really early wet snow, they are leafing quickly and hopefully will last a few more years yet. The coolness of our house in the hot months sort of depends on the shade from those trees, and we already lost a portion of it because our neighbor did what many neighbors around here had to do after the storm in the fall and chopped down the tree in their yard, which helped to shade our house in the summer. But the kids are loving being outside every day and are doing what kids to best, like:
 

Growing up without permission.

Smiling all the time.

Making new friends. This is Winus the worm and the real Winus is smitten.

And being creative.

In other news, I am going to HAWAII in a couple of weeks. I am both terrified and so excited I can't wait another day. It's just my brother and sister and mom and I, the cast list for the trip changed so many times, but in the end, it worked out to be just us and I'm thrilled to spend some time with my siblings and mom, however I get anxious and work up a clammy sweat when I think about being gone from my kids and husband for almost two weeks. Craig is being a wonderful husband, though, and while I'm sure he has his own reservations about the trip, he has not spoken a word to me about them and continues to assure me that it will be good for me to spend some time with my family, good for him to spend some time with the kids, nothing bad will happen, he will be fine, the kids will be fine, he's actually going to cook the whole two weeks, and to try to enjoy myself. And try I will. Finally got a swimsuit ordered last night. And may even get a real tan this year, watchout!