Farewell, book box! And other nostalgic moments.

With the impending end of the school year, which spells the end of our time at Little River Elementary, I guess I'm feeling more nostalgic than normal.

This week I "retired" our book box. Sure, it was just a plain old plastic bin, but there were years where it was essentially filled with magic. I stocked it with good deals from the preschool's and then the elementary school's Scholastic book orders, picking out things that I thought the kids would like (or that were just really really good deals - you can't beat a $1 book!). A trip to the book box was a coveted treasure, and both kids would sift through before making their selections - "how many books can I get this time?" Sigh, those were the days. Mostly the box was for day to day rewards for good behavior, but prior to road trips I'd grab stashes of new books (ones that were already in the book box, and ones specially purchased [because I am a sucker for books]). The kids would be SO happy to have a pile of new books for a plane ride or a car trip. Ah, it was so easy to make their day then!

Alas, no more. I have completely lost any ability to pick books Reed will like. Well there have been a couple of outliers that he liked, but those are the exception, not the rule like they used to be. The books that have been languishing in the book box for quite a long time have now moved to a pile to be donated. The box will be used for something else. End of an era. *Sigh*

Now that the weather has improved slightly and we've gone at least 2 days without rain, the kids at the Employee Child Care Center are back out at the playground again. It's such a happy sound to hear when you walk out of the office! At the same time it feels like just yesterday and a hundred years ago that those happy sounds were coming from our kids. While I wouldn't wish to go back to those days (not giving up the ability to leave the kids alone for a few hours!), it is wonderful to think about our days at the ECCC.

And today is another sad anniversary. Six years without my Mom. Emotions all over the place. Mom, you're with us in our hearts every single day.

"Why?"

The other night as I was telling Amy good night, I told her that I think she's a pretty awesome kid. She said "Why?" I thought she was just being silly, but she honestly wanted to know why I think she's awesome. So I told her. She's awesome because:

• When she loves something, she really loves it. Really. She doesn't just like Harry Potter or the Warriors, or now Star Wars a little bit. She loves them with her whole heart and wants to learn everything there is to know about them. 
• She works so hard at the things she loves doing, like drawing. It's incredible how her drawings have improved over time – she doesn't give herself enough credit for how good they are. She's done a couple of time lapses of her drawings from start to finish, and it's amazing to watch. She's working on her recording techniques to better capture her work. 
• She's a prolific writer (and artist, too) but likes keeping the things she writes to herself. From what I can tell, she writes a lot of her own versions of Warriors stories. Maybe one day she'll work up to sharing them with us.
• She is kind-hearted and sensitive, and knows herself very well. Sometimes she shows such introspection that it's hard to believe she's just 11. Even her asking me this question - why do I think she's awesome – to me shows her maturity and self-awareness. 

Let's hope she truly heard all these reasons. She's definitely a totally terrific kid!

"Good Golly, Miss Molly!"

Today in the car, Reed said "Hey Mom, on Apple Music I listened to an album of Little Richard's and it was really good."

Well I guess that interest in 50's music hasn't waned just yet!