I'm Supposed to be Smarter and Less Stressed

In the past couple of weeks, I have read two articles posted to Facebook. One was about a study that says women that have children are smarter than women without children. The second was that, "three" was the most stressful number of kids and that moms with more that three kids are less stressed. So I should be golden, I'm smarter than other women and less stressed. What's the problem, Kathleen? But this is how I feel right now.

This was the cloud over the Giant yesterday. Right now, I feel like I'm in the middle of the storm before the calm. There is always much anticipation for the end of the school year, the anticipation of summer, hanging out at the pool, vacations, sleeping-in. But to get to that, we still have studying, finals, end of year parties to plan, Ryan's graduation from 5th grade,  orthopedic appointments for two kids (one with a fractured ankle, the other with torn ligaments in his finger) check-up appointments that should have been done 6 months ago, and then there's the planning of our Disney Trip. Once we get to that last day of school, there will be rejoicing. Our June is jammed packed. The boys have basketball camp, Molly and I go to New York to see Matilda, our Disney trip, our drive home with a few stops along the way, one night at home, and then we are off to the Poconos for our Annual Nealon Family Vacation....Whew. But this year, our summer is a bit longer because our school calendar changed. We have 88 days of summer this year. When we get back from all our adventures in June, we will still have all of July and August. That's a lot of days with four kids to fill with summer fun. 

Last night, we started our "Nealon Family Summer Bucket List." We made a bucket list for the first time last year and I have to say, it was great! We didn't do everything on the list, but we referred to it throughout the summer and we did things that we might not have done if we didn't have the list.

But in the mean time, I have other lists that I have to get through in order to get to the good stuff. My entire upstairs has piles of clothes, and suitcases, and the girls decided to clean out their closets, which is a good thing, but now I have to get it out of the hallway. 

This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend and the Nealons having NOTHING on the schedule. But I have a "bucket list" for this weekend. We have to pack, and then clean and organize the upstairs. Then, we are going to plant flowers with Molly, ride our bikes, swim at the pool, attend the neighborhood summer kick-off, watch fireworks, have a neighborhood block party, and make smores in the fire pit...those are the things on my list...because I'm supposed to be smarter and less stressed than other women...yeah, still not feelin' it. But I'm trying.

Show Your Color!

Wow! It's been a month since my last post. Where has the time gone? This spring has been one big blur of activities and trying to get readying for our June summer trips. Only 13 school days left, Molly and I will be in New York to see Matilda in 23 days, the boys will be going to basketball camp on that same day, and then we will be on our way to Disney in 27 days. But in the meantime, we are slowly winding down the school year, CCD has ended, the JV soccer season is over,  uniforms have been handed in, preparations are being made for end of the year parties, SOL testing is almost over for my guys...slowly we can see the summer emerging. 

Today I was at the nursery looking at flowers. I haven't planted anything this year because I just don't seem to have the time, so I wanted to pick out a few hanging baskets. Today feels like summer. The sky is blue, the sun is warm, the azaleas are in bloom and there is color. As I was quietly walking up and down the rows of potted plants and hanging baskets, there was a woman that worked there pruning some plants, carefully paying attention to what she was doing. Then, from behind me I heard in a very loud and excited voice from another woman, "JULIA, JULIA, look at this! Look at this plant showing it's color!" This woman was overjoyed by the color that this bloom was showing. It was beautiful! It was a magnificent yellow bloom that must have been at least 7 inches across. But I never heard or saw such joy from someone over a flower. It just brought a smile to my face, not just because the flower was beautiful, but because this woman was so excited that this flower had finally bloomed and was "showing it's color."

So even though we have another crazy, busy weekend with basketball tournaments and other activities, I need to stop every once in a while and admire the "color" that is all around me, whether it's at one of my kids' games, a kind word from a friend, or singing with my kids in the car with the windows down. This weekend we are going to show our color!

One of my last posts was about being a "roll the window down" kind of mom. Well, this is one of the Nealons' favorite songs right now.

Ryan jumps in the car when I pick him up from school and rolls down the window and sings...he is showing his "color."

Happy Friday!