No big main post today. Just a mishmash of thoughts and things that are happening.

1. Thanks

You know, I really didn’t expect to be excited about having a FB fan page for Pencil Shavings Studio. Initially it felt repetitive and weird; I didn’t know what the place would be for it. But I’ve gotta admit, I’ve really started to like having that space over on Facebook. It puts a face to the names that I’ve gotten used to seeing here in the comments. So really, I want to say thank you. Thank you for participating, for reading, for encouraging, and for telling your own stories.

2. Get Dressed

Have you checked out Susan’s #getdressed challenge?  She’s encouraging her readers to get dressed every day. Not just yoga pants and flipflops, but real live actual clothes.  I’ve been instagramming my outfits, and posting them on the FB page, and it’s been fun to see what others are getting dressed in everyday too. I’ve always been a firm believer that it takes just as much effort to put on real pants as it does to put on yoga pants. So why not put on the real pants? Plus, if I’m wearing real clothes everyday, I’m also able to better tell if I’m gaining weight. It seems like an unfortunate side effect of yoga pants and leggings that you can pack on a few pounds and not even notice. Womp womp.

3. Fear of Summer

Can I be brutally honest? I’m a little afraid of summer now that I’m a mom because it means our regular schoolyear routine is gone. I LOVE routine in that regard because the days that Jude goes to school are the days that I get to work on Pencil Shavings Studio projects. But now, summer means that I don’t get my usual 2 days of Mother’s Day Out, which means that those 2 days that I use for work are gone. It also means that we can oh-so-easily slide into using the TV for a babysitter so I can accomplish things (blush). I’m not saying it’s right; I’m just telling it like it really truly is. It’s also the unfortunate side effect of working from home. The boundaries get easily blurred and mother guilt creeps in despite my best intentions. I’ve been working on planning out our days for summer, but I’m anxious to know what you fellow moms out there do to stave off the summer doldrums. So far we’ve got Vacation Bible School on our schedule; I’m also going to be adding swimming lessons to the mix.

4. BOYS! UGH!

My precious boy. I love him so. And he’s been a very good artist lately, drawing lovely portraits of our family. But then today I about died laughing on the inside because he brought me another drawing of me, Simon, and himself. “Mom, here’s you. And here’s me. And here’s Dad. Do you want to see where the private parts are?” So without either splitting my gut laughing or overreacting about how “WE DON’T DRAW THOSE THINGS HERE; SAVE IT FOR ART SCHOOL!” I raised an eyebrow and said thoughtfully, even perhaps contemplatively, “Hmm. You know, those things are private. It’s probably best if we keep it to ourselves and not draw private parts. Dontcha think?”  And then I held my breath while he thought for a moment. “Oh. Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Cue the release of whooshing breath. And then furtive snickering.  The further along I get in this mothering business, the more I believe that it’s only by the grace of God that boys grow up to be well-behaved men that don’t pick their noses and act like wild animals. BOYS!