Sunny days...

The sun IS shining today in my life and outside. It's truly "Sun"day. The windows are open, the breeze is blowing and my new favorite playlist on Spotify, Sunny Day is playing in the background. Seriously one of the best collections of songs EVER! Kudos to whoever created. If your Sunday isn't "all that" yet...go put it on and create your own Sunny Day.

I love April. I'm not sure if I can call it my favorite month, but it is one of the loveliest here in Texas. Unpredictable weather...rain, cold, hot, warm, breezy...all the wonders of weather in one month. But outside, the wildflowers and green grass fills you up, especially since we all know those hot summer months to come, just might wipe out everything cool and green. There's a beauty to the newness of April that fills my soul.

 This month I did something different but a little bit life changing...I participated in a 21 Meditation practice offered by Oprah and Deepak Chopra. Each day had a message and thought to meditate on. It was such a nice ritual everyday to sit and reflect and meditate. 21 days does create a habit. With my beautiful new reading room, I can now take time to journal, meditate and just restore my soul. I am feeling renewed.

This beautiful kitty, Smokey, disappeared on us this month. He was fat, sweet and ornery. He got out on a Saturday night, and never returned home. We posted several places, hoping to find him. Unfortunately, with all the predators in our area, I'm afraid one got him. 

We all felt his loss, including his sweet brother Teddy. It's interesting how much Teddy's personality changed after the loss of his brother. Teddy was more aloof and Smokey was the cuddler and people person. Teddy has now become very affectionate and loving. And a little less eager to go outside than he was. It's as if he knows. I still have a tiny flicker of hope that maybe Smokey will show up or that he's living the high life in someone else's house. He is missed here.

Every month is filled with plenty of school events.  A favorite April event for Savannah is her Orchestra Banquet. She loves dressing up and hanging with her people!

Jonas had his big project of the year...his MSIP project for GT. His project was focusing on factory farming and why it's harmful to the environment. I love this smartie pants.

Once again...April showers chased away our chance to race solar cars. Rescheduled for May 11th.

We had our annual field trip to Seaworld with 5th grade. What a fun, fast and furious day!

Easter was much later than usual. Although holidays are changing as my kids all turn into young adults, we still enjoy all the traditions from when they were little. 

It was a glorious day.

This week included two of my favorite school events...our WWII presentation from the Nimitz Museum and Fiesta!

Fiesta means an extra day off to enjoy too! Especially on my back porch swing enjoying our wildflowers.

We also took the opportunity to start shopping for Lorelei's 12th birthday with our extra day off. My baby is turning 12. She promises me though, she will always be my baby. My sweet girl is growing up. She took advantage of her Kendra Scott 50% off birthday, like any soon to be teen girl would! Watching her build her perfect piece of jewelry made my heart ache just a bit.

And you may not believe this, but yesterday, I had so much fun at the...wait for it...LAUNDROMAT! Yes...I do love doing laundry and have said that before, somewhere. There's something soothing and satisfying about being able to take dirty, crumpled clothes, wash, dry and fold them into tiny packages of clean perfection. Weird right? Last week, after a month of making a really LOUD noise during the spin cycle, our washer of nearly 14 years, finally died. We found a new washer, same brand, GE front loader, with Steam for a great price at Lowe's. The only problem...it couldn't be delivered until Wednesday this week. The Boyen's can't go that long without some clean clothes, so I searched for a solution. You can imagine I was in heaven, when I found this dreamy laundromat. I dragged Lorelei and Jonas along for the experience. When Savannah saw the picture she was confused...she thought we were shopping for washers at IKEA! Ha! I told her no, that was a very fancy laundromat. It's called The Outdoor Clothesline/Lavanderia Laundromat on Babcock. The place was clean, cute and the staff was delightful too. I highly recommend it. I may go back just for fun! 

May is here this week and I'm excited for Lorelei's and John's birthdays, Mother's day, and the many extraordinary adventures to come for the Boyen Bunch!

Happy Spring friends!