For serious, this is a fifteen minute post. In fifteen minutes I need to race off to the grocery store to buy a short list of items to celebrate a birthday boy: ice cream, berries, whipping cream, and pizza-making ingredients. I’ve already baked a cake! Our littlest is not so little anymore. Today, he turns eight.

Lately, every time I say I’m going somewhere, both he and his sister (age 10) ask, in a panic: Where are you going??! As if I might be putting on my running shoes and walking out the front door to France. But I will be doing that on Thursday afternoon, so I can understand their anxiety.

I’ve scheduled EVERYTHING out on the chalkboard wall for Kevin’s reference. By everything, I mean all that he will have to be driving children to, coaching children at, or arranging for others to drive children to. Soccer practices and exhibition games, dance rehearsals, theatre rehearsals, debate club, band, picking up equipment for the spring soccer season, piano recitals, piano and violin lessons, and on and on. Grandparents have been recruited for meals, baby-sitting, and driving on particularly challenging days.

I’m a bit overwhelmed and distracted, it must be said. I can’t believe I managed to bake that cake. I hope it tastes ok. I was trying to mix it and bake it (from scratch), while simultaneously arranging one last work-related meeting (tomorrow), sending last-minute soccer messages, signing up for a conference, and trying to fix the washing machine, which simply can’t be broken again, and especially I can’t bear the thought of Kevin having to cope with the mountains of laundry without a working washing machine.

I will try to post photos from abroad, but that’s dependent on my access to wifi.

Above, the photo is a reminder of the weather last week. The kids went out and played soccer despite the ice storm. And then by Easter Sunday all had melted, and it was gorgeous and warm and all six of us went and played soccer outdoors (on an artificial turf field). Kevin has us practicing our dekes and shots. This is what we do for fun. When we came home, I baked up a big batch of paska (Russian Mennonite Easter bread), but have apparently neglected to upload my pretty picture of the results. Ergo, the photo of the ice storm.

This post is a mess. This is what fifteen minutes will get you.

xo, Carrie