What's Up Wednesday: April 2024

Oh April -- you have been a month, and you're not over yet. It's been a full month of dance, school trips, work chaos (some good, some... a little less good), Passover, dance volunteering, and various other things. And I don't think our "spring weather" is helping -- some days are gorgeous and sunny and I want to sit in our back yard with a drink in my hand and other days are cold and rainy and I want to lie under three blankets in bed with a good book. Yay spring?!?!

I love answering the What's Up Wednesday questions every month. I like how they help me reflect on the past month. The questions come from Shay at Mix and Match Mama and Sheaffer at Sheaffer Told Me Too.

image from here

 

What we're eating this week... I find spring is one of the hardest times to cook for. We're busy, we are over the heavy and hearty winter meals, we haven't yet had consistently good BBQing weather -- it's just a bit of everything around here. So while we have had our first BBQ of the season (YAY!!!!!), we've also had charcuterie and the kids convinced me to make spaghetti and meatballs.

And then with Passover this week we've had matzoh and Manischewitz too!

What I'm reminiscing about... As often happens this time of year, I'm reminiscing about previous spring performances which Rachel has been involved in. This is her last year of only dancing in two shows but she has four different pieces she is a part of. Will you indulge me as I walk down "dance memory lane" a little?

Rachel in 2017 as a gem in Aladdin * Rachel in 2018 as a peppermint lollipop in Mary Poppins * Rachel (as a rainbow) and Sam as a flying monkey in 2019 in The Wizard Of Oz (Rachel was also a flying monkey and 2019 is the only year Sam took one class of dance.)

Dance 2022 -- ballet, modern, and jazz

Dance 2023 -- Northern Lights (modern), Clock Fairy (Coppelia ballet), and Spy Kid (jazz)

What I'm loving... When we've had beautiful spring like weather, I've been LOVING it!!! I've been loving hanging laundry on the line and I've been loving drinking Coke with ice and a bit of lime juice. And I've been loving my pansies on the outdoor table! 

 

What we've been up to... Rachel has been busy with dance -- she's had a couple of performances and also completed her RAD exam this past weekend. Last night we got to go see some her RAD skills and enjoy an ice cream sundae party!

We can never take photos during the performances so I always get Rachel to model her costumes for me. These were her costumes for her company show and dance with the Chamber orchestra as well as the children's chamber choir. (Did I mention there's been a lot of dance recently?!?!?)

We all got to see the solar eclipse. We "only" had 99% totality so it wasn't completely dark but it definitely got dimmer and cooler outside so that was really cool to experience as well. 

 Sam enjoyed his first school overnight trip for three days.

We went to Toronto and celebrated my aunt's 80th birthday! I was so happy to spend an afternoon with family and enjoyed catching up with some of my cousins and other aunts as well.

What I'm dreading... My spring allergies are just starting and I'm already irritated by them. I only developed allergies about five years ago so I'm not used to having them yet and they completely ruin spring for me. I don't stop spending time outside, I'm just a lot more sneezy and miserable than I'd like to be.

What I'm working on... I'm working on finding a family solution to cleaning our house. With all the comings and goings, our house is a bit of a disaster right now and really, we all need to take responsibility for it. It might be time to implement the "family housecleaning night" we had a few years ago again.

What I'm excited about... I finally got hired as the Permanent Head Secretary at my school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been working there for just over two years now in a Temporary position and the permanent position finally got posted a few weeks ago! I'm so excited to be at this school for as long as I want now, and I'm also so excited to finally be a Permanent Head Secretary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My co-workers have been really excited with me so it's been a fun week!

 

What I'm watching/reading... I've been watching Blue Jays games whenever I can. Other than that, I've been watching Rachel at dance!

As for reading, I've read some really great books over the past couple of weeks -- Family, Family by Laurie Frankel which I thought was phenomenal! I also read Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree which was slightly ridiculous but oh so enjoyable. And then I read Kristin Hannah's The Women and Rebecca Serle's Expiry Dates. Like I said, I've read some really great books lately.

What I'm listening to... Oh, I don't know what I'm listening to lately... Yeah, I really don't know what sounds define this month. It's okay though -- the quiet makes me happy too :)

 

What I'm wearing... I'm trying to move away from the heavy sweaters and cozy clothes of winter but our weather hasn't been consistently warm enough to wear my favourite t-shirts and capris, so I'm kind of in an in between stage. I've been wearing a lot of cardigans and t-shirts because it's often cold in the morning but nice enough to shed my jacket in the afternoons -- when it isn't raining that is. I have definitely ditched my socks though! Whoooo hoooo! My feet are so happy!!!

 

What I'm doing this weekend... We're going to our first Blue Jays game of the season and I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What I'm looking forward to next month... My birthday is at the beginning of the month, Rachel will be dancing in her spring performance, we're (belatedly) celebrating Sam's birthday, and I'm going to a fun musical with a friend! It's going to be a fun, full, month!

What I bought on Amazon... Dave and I got super excited about disc golf when we played with Willem in Virginia over Easter so we bought ourselves a set of discs! Unfortunately, between the weather and our schedules, we've only been able to play once thus far but I see a lot more disc golf in our future! We bought this set here.

So that's what's up with us this last Wednesday in April. A social media friend refers to May as "May-cemeber" and that's absolutely going to be our May this year so I'm taking a deep breath and trying to enjoy moments of calm before all our May activity hits!