The Fair

I have already put in my request to sit next to my nephew Eliot at the rodeo again next year because it is quite fun to sit next to someone who so fully enjoys something and so heartily laughs at every joke.

My favorite moment of the fair was as we walked through the fried foods and Elias said, "I 'mell somepin'. It 'mell good!"

First Day of Pre-School

When it came time for pre-school registration last spring, I did not feel at all like Elias was ready for pre-school. He seemed so small and I was worried he couldn't communicate well enough to be on his own. But, my friend counseled me to sign him up anyway in case he seemed ready in the fall. Good thing, because in the last few weeks he has seemed so ready for something of his own. He's never really cared about what Sydney was up to and was completely content to pal around with me until the past few weeks when he caught a case of the "me too"s. He too wanted a backpack, he too wanted to go to school, he too wanted to sign up for soccer and he too wanted me to sew something special for his first day. He asked for a shirt, but I don't know how to make a little man shirt, so we went with a new hat (that he of course chose not to wear after all).

It's so strange that my baby is already hitting the pre-school mark. It seems like it was just last summer that I was coming to terms with Sydney going to pre-school. My mom told me that the letting go started really early, but I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed by all of these firsts in such a short time. all which point to the fact that my babies are growing up.

 He told me that this is his "exkited face"

When I picked him up today, he came running to the door yelling "Mommy!" with a big smile. On our little walk home he already seemed so much older than when I'd dropped him off, since he was experiencing things without me and reporting back. As soon as we got home, he plopped down on the front steps to open his beloved backpack and unpack his treasures from the day. So, here we go on our next little adventure!

First Day of School

This summer while we were watching the women’s Olympic  gymnastics, Sydney said with a furrowed little brow, “Mom, I don’t think those girls have mommies and daddies.” I guess she was envisioning this as some sad show of orphaned girls performing for audiences. I asked her why she thought they didn’t have parents and she replied, “Because they aren’t there! I don’t see them anywhere!” For Sydney’s first 5 ½ years, her reality was that Mom or Dad was always there. Yes, she went to pre-school two, then three times a week and we left her with Grandma or a babysitter from time to time, but her main reality was our presence. Last spring, she didn’t like ballet because she went into the studio alone, behind closed doors. She said she just wanted to be with her family. So, with starting kindergarten this week, even though it’s only 3 hours a day, her world has shifted to one more like those gymnasts; mommy and daddy aren’t quite as visibly present.

On the big day, she was dressed and ready to go, backpack on, by 8:30, even though we didn’t need to leave until 12:30 or so. Luckily, our good friends came over with first day of school treats for the kids and they had new school supplies, big fun cones and treats to distract them for a few hours.

We were able to walk to school together the first day, just the two of us, and the teacher was kind enough to have parents stay for that first short day. As we walked along hand-in-hand, her little grip getting tighter and tighter as we neared the building, I told her that part of the reason I make her a first day of school dress is so if she feels a little bit scared or sad, she can look down at her dress and remember how much her mommy loves her. She brought our hands to her cheek and said, “awh. Mom, you’re going to make me cry.” Of course, I barely made it through that sentence without my own voice cracking.

A few minutes later, we ran into her little buddy on the walking path beside the school and they literally ran into each other’s arms, backpacks flying behind them and I finally got a first day of school picture with her big, real smile. After that she was fine, even when the parents all went into a different room for info and she played sorting games. (I could write a whole other essay about how much I love her teacher, especially because she answered every little question that had been rolling around in my head, without me ever having to ask and she coached us all on getting through the first drop off. But I’ll save my love note to Mrs. B. for another day.)

We walked home hand in hand again, but she was so excited that as we neared home, she took off running and flying her arms ahead of me. That’s the picture I want to keep in my mind about her first day of school. Her gleefully letting go of my hand and trying to fly.

Last Days of Summer

Everyone says that summer goes too fast every year, but I think this may be the first summer that I didn't feel that. It felt just right, maybe since we had Sydney finish pre-school early, so summer began on May 1st in our house. It's nice to end a season feeling full, like we packed in a lot of fun, a lot of relaxing and a lot of sun.

These last two weeks of summer we were more intentional about it since it was the finale. Every day began with, "So, guys, what should we do today?" We met Heather, Micah and Levi in Moses Lake at the water park for probably my favorite day of summer (mostly because I got to be with my sis all day!); we went bike riding along the path and got hot chocolate since the mornings have already cooled so much; we got together with Willma, Connor and Victoria several days in a row since Victoria will be starting 1st grade in Moscow and will be much harder to get together with during the week; we played down at the "secret fort" and in the creek beside Reaney Park with Beth, Carli Joey, Kiran, Adey and Jyoti; we ran in the sprinklers and invited Nellie to play too; we rode bikes with Scott, Brayden & Bailey in the church parking lot a few blocks away; we ate and baked from the garden almost daily; we walked down to the Lentil Festival for the first time and I ran in the Lentil 5k and was able to walk to the starting point, meet Teal, and run; we went blackberry picking with Teal, Isaac and Caleb and came home to make jam and cobbler; we bbq'd with the Lahmers at the Moscow water park as a final sendoff to summer and swimsuits; we went to a baby shower/potluck/game night and pretended we were part of the History department at WSU for a night and it was all exactly as we'd hoped it would be!



So, farewell summer. Thank you for all the goodness, especially from our garden. We will greet you joyfully next June (or more likely around the 4th of July when the weather is consistently wonderful).

10:10 August 2012 Warm Lake

Road Trip

A few weeks back the kids and I piled into the Subaru and drove to my parents' house in California for our summer visit. Yes, I am just now uploading the pics off my camera after a week of recovery. Airline tickets were silly expensive and I took home a plastic tub to load up the rest of my childhood memorabilia to bring back with us. My parents' house is on the market, which is cause for many conflicting emotions on my part. I'm excited that the plan is for them to move closer to us, but sad that our beautiful home will belong to someone else and that I'll never feel that rush of "homeness" as I see the house come into view at the end of the culdesac and as I walk in the backdoor to the fresh, cool, clean smell of home. sigh.

We stopped in Bend for the night and had dinner with one of my oldest friends. It was wonderful. She is one of those friends that years can go by, but once we're on the phone or together, the time is gone. We had the great joy of finally seeing our kids together in her backyard, just as we had planned decades ago.

Once home (after slogging through the dreaded Sacramento Valley in 107 degrees), we relaxed, cleaned out, and went on some of our usual fun excursions to Fairy Tale Town, the Jelly Belly Factory, the Train Museum... But my favorite day was the one we spent at home all day in the backyard. I read, the kids played and "helped" Grampa Jim in the yard and we had a bbq feast for a late lunch. I kept telling myself to take good mental pictures of that day to keep tucked away for those cold, February grey days when it feels like it will never be warm again.

We also got to overlap our visit a few days with my sis and her boys, so that was crazy fun. I say crazy fun because there were four very excited cousins wanting to play with all of our old toys in one house on the market that was shown every day we were there but one, at least once a day. phew! We are master repackers and quick vacuumers, I tell ya. But, there isn't a much happier sound than four happy cousins playing at Gramma's house!

One of the last nights we were there, Elias took a late nap and then would not go to bed. He finally ended up in bed with my dad, telling him about the coyotes and how they were washing their hands in the fountain outside. I woke up in the morning to find him still asleep with my mom.

We learned an important thing on this trip: if you travel by car for more than one day, a pool must be available at your stoppong points. There is nothing better than the cool feeling of weightlessness at the end of a long, hot day in the car listening to Adele over and over and over again..

the best sick week(s) ever

Maybe you are familiar with the Richard Scary book about Huckle going to the store for his mom for things like oranges and milk and Lowly talks him into buying orange soda and ice cream, so they end up throwing a party? For some reason that story comes to mind when I think of the past few weeks around here.

To recap: Elias had roseola with a 105.5 fever that had his mama hyperventilating; Sydney and I got a nasty bug that has us both on antibiotics and Sydney fighting off a double ear infection. I still can't quite kick whatever I have and I've been laying low for almost two weeks now.

This wasn't exactly how I was picturing our June, but it's oddly turned out to be a good thing for us. Lots of snuggle time. Lots of wandering about the yard in our pjs or bathing suits deep in imaginary play. I'm on my 3rd epic novel and we've become big fans of essential oils and natural remedies over here. We've all hugged and kissed a lot more, despite our germs, and generally seemed to cherish each other with a little more fervor. I wish I would have tallied how many times Elias has turned to me in the middle of something to say, "Mama, I wuf you."