School's out!

When Mei Li got off the bus on Friday and all the other kids were cheering, she ran over to me for a hug and wept.  She was sad that it was the last day of school.  Her teacher, Mrs. Haines, was wonderful and made kindergarten a fun and exciting place to be.

I'm not too sad that school is out.  Mei Li's 11:35-2:35 school schedule interrupted our morning and afternoon, making it hard for us to get anywhere.  

I have so many other things to blog about, but I'm a little overwhelmed by it all.  I keep thinking that I have to write about it all before I write about today, but Steve reminds me that I can't let perfection get in the way of progress.  So true.  It's definitely a weakness of mine.

Last night, we had Rachel and Ken over for dinner to celebrate Mei Li's birthday.  We stayed up pretty late talking, and Steve and I didn't end up getting to bed until 1 AM.  Somehow, Steve managed to get up to swim at 6 AM.  He then came home to install a baby bike seat on my new-to-me free bike, and then went to work.  

It takes so long to get all three kids ready to get out the door.  We didn't start our bike ride until 11:45, much later than I had planned.  We rode to the library.  Stephen was the engineer, Mei Li the passenger car, and Mi Na and I were the caboose.  I had to brake several times so Mei Li could scratch an itch, but other than that we maintained a pretty good pace.  

We arrived at the library just in time to see the professional story teller.  We quickly registered for the summer reading challenge and then walked into the story room.  Mei Li went right up to the front where all the kids were sitting and I sat down on a chair in the back holding Mi Na.  Stephen stood near me wanting to sit next to Mei Li, but feeling scared to go up there by himself.  He stayed by me for about twenty minutes, even though I kept encouraging him to go up there.

Then the storyteller came to a part in his first story that was especially funny to all of the kids.   They all laughed loudly.  Mei Li turned back to face us so we could share this funny moment together, but then she got up and walked over to Stephen.  She said to him, "Stephen, don't you want to sit next to me?"  Stephen nodded.  She then grabbed his hand and led him to the front of the room to where there was enough room for them to sit next to each other.  

Stephen became visibly more relaxed and he enjoyed the rest of the story time.  I loved watching the two look at each other from time to time during the really funny parts.  Funny things are always best enjoyed with people you love, you know?  Towards the end, I had to stand just outside the room because Mi Na was being disruptive.  When the storyteller finished his last story, I watched Mei Li and Stephen walk out together, holding hands.  Between 12 and 1 PM was a particularly beautiful time to be their mother.  

We checked out books and then rode home.  I fed them a late lunch and put Mi Na down for a nap.  I did a reading lesson with Stephen and then had Mei Li read to me.  I dozed off a couple of times in the middle of her reading.

After reading time, I let the kids watch a movie so I could take a nap.  It was beautiful.  I love sleeping so much.  I fed the kids dinner and put Stephen to bed.   Steve had to stay late at work today so he missed dinner. 

My favorite gifts that we gave to Mei Li for her birthday were two Puffin clothbound classics, The Secret Garden and A Little Princess.   I read a chapter in  The Secret Garden to Mei Li tonight.  Steve came home in the middle of our reading.  He put the girls to bed, giving me some time to blog.   So there, that was our Monday.  It was a good one and I'm glad it's now recorded.  Now I'm excited to spend some time with Steve.