September sunshine

Can you tell I am back to work??  Blog posting seems an insurmountable task at the close of these past few weekdays.  And weekends, actually.  We've gone into a bit of survival mode around here as we all adjust our norms from the high of a vacation-full summer to the intensity of the school year.  It's not always been pretty.  In fact, its been so not-pretty (when it comes to my relationship with my eldest child) that I've been unable to complete  a planned post in honor of his 6th birthday.  I've saved that one in draft mode til I am in a better frame of mind about the child.  Or until he (just after I've given up hope) finally swings into equilibrium about this change of routine, and morphs back into a person I can spend time with again.  Sigh.

In the meantime....

Today, I am loving the September sunshine.  We had weather in the nineties two days ago (!) but thankfully it's settled back to a seasonal 70, with just a hint of chill in the breeze. The trees are tipped with red, reminding me to stop and breathe and savor this, the fastest of the seasons, and all its yellow-hued glory.

Just breathe.

Ivy and I walked Corydon around the block tonight, while boy and dad went off to Martial Arts.  I am thankful that my children take turns with their phases.  It seems that when one of them wanders into shadow, the other will be pure light.  Ivy's taking her turn in the light right now and it was good for the soul to walk, unhurried, through the hazy-glow sun of evening, while my girl pattered on about her imaginary babies in their "carriagers" and took us on trips to the park, the store, the movies... all in the space of a block.  The neighborhood was quiet and I had nothing to attend to but her and it reminded me that I need to do this more often.  Just be, with just one child.  Just soak them in and pay attention to who they are, right now, without trying to do the dishes at the same time.

To stop and savor this season of their lives.  This fast, fast season.

As my daughter reminds me, she's not a baby anymore.  We have her imaginary babies for that, tiny ones, and she assures me that they will stay babies. She is crazy about babies these days.  She asks, "Who will be my baby and children when I am a mama?"  and pantomimes careful care of at least one little one, almost all the time.   If she hands them off to one of us, we must hold them just so, and woe to the adult who does not remember where that imaginary baby is, and what they were supposed to do with it.  This girl is nurturing and sweet and intensely demanding.

 She is also delightfully literal and her speech patterns are so perfect right now. She says things like, "Be careful to don't touch my eyes, mama,  they're too sharp.  Good I have sharp eyes!"  or "Oh!  I pregot! (forgot)"   It is pretty much impossible not to smile when she is around.

This funny little girl, and the September sunshine.... and everything is right with the world again.

Also, tomorrow is Friday.  Which helps a lot.

Picture post this weekend!

And an apologetic post to my wonderful son.  Soon.  When we're not both so tired.

Milestone not-quite-Monday

Note:  This post was actually written this past Sunday.  Hence making the title make a lot more sense. 

That's apparently a thing in blogland, Milestone Monday. Cute, eh?

I have this sinking feeling that Monday might be too busy for a blog post, so I'm doing it today.

Today, incidentally, has been a lovely, lovely day.

Perfect summer.  Sun.  Warm-but-not-too-hot.  A morning spent at the pool.  Happy meals and ice cream.  Me and my kids, soaking up one last day together before the mad rush begins.

And, some milestones!

Jack:  He's got his first loose tooth, as I may have mentioned. Today, it got LOOSE.  Really, fully, wiggle-it-around-with-your-tongue-nostop loose.  The boy has sworn off of all but "really really soft food" and now gets a faraway look in his eye every so often as he pushes at his tooth.  The ice cream?  It was for his tooth.  He's very excited about the possibility of getting money for this tooth, as you can imagine.  He's also really scared it will fall out at school.  It's one of the few hints that he's a little worried about the start of a new school year.  And that's another milestone, actually.  Thinking about this time last year, our little boy who couldn't eat or sleep for the anxiety.  This confident young man, ready for school to start... who would've thought?  I'm Ok with it!

Ivy:  Our giant three-year-old is now tall enough to touch in the shallow section of the JCC pool.  Once she realized this, it was like a whole new world opened up to her.  The look on her face!  Pride, excitement, thrill, adventure.  Her eyes alight, she just started paddling, splashing, dunking under.  Plenty of sputtering but always a smile-- and little bits of actual swimming!  Terrifically exciting.  And to add to the list, she opened her straw and put it in the juice pouch on her own today.   Once she can open granola bars too, she'll be ready for college.

Love to all!

Update:  Before I got a chance to post this, Jack added to his list.  On Monday, he decided he was ready to ride his bike without training wheels. And so he did it.   Like, as soon as Nat got him moving, off he went.  He's kind of unstoppable now.  On Tuesday we went to Wade Oval to let him ride the circle and he went around 6 times.  5 of which were in the rain that started shortly after we arrived.  I am not sure why I am surprised by the sudden nature of his learning.  He's done this before.  For just about every milestone, actually.  I must be a goldfish (its a surprise every time...)

Here's some photo evidence:

that faraway look...

Back in the saddle

A few random thoughts after finishing the first week back to school.

1.  Whew.
2. 5:30 am is really early.
3. My son started first grade on Thursday.
4. He had two friends walk home with him for a playdate today.
5. To see his hamster.
6. My son has a hamster.
7. Whew.
8. The leaves are starting to change color.  The pools close on Monday. I feel like I didn't even notice August going by.
9. Ivy met her preschool teacher on Thursday.
10. And came home with a pile of paperwork.
11. Which we put next to Jack's pile of school paperwork.
12.  I guess I need one of those mom-offices with different paper-bins for each child.
13. And another hour in the day for packing all these lunches.
14. Whew.
15.  Oh yeah. Jack turned 6 on Wednesday.  I've had some thoughts about that.  When I've had enough time to think them.
16. I like bedtime better when there are two parents home.
17. I feel pretty good about the fact that we don't have  sink full of dirty dishes right now.
18. Going back to school is not for the faint of heart.


All is going as it should be.  Jack is happy to be back at school and a grumpy, tired, new-hamster-obsessed mess in the evenings.  He reports that "lunch is fun". Nat is back to teaching.  I am back to teaching.  Four days in to that and it kind of feels like summer was just a dream.  My students are sweet and my day is nonstop busy.  Ivy is moody and jealous of her brother and adorable.  Life is busy and breathless and, when I stop to breathe and notice, very very good.

Reflections on my six year old and what its like to be his mom right now: on the way soon.

For now, a deep breath, and some sleep.

Whew.

Pirate Party!

Couldn't have asked for a better day for a our boy's party. Sunshine and blue skies and a quiet breeze to accompany us as we dashed about preparing for the shindig.

Phew.

This may be the last of the big parties.  I love the magic, but it doesn't happen by itself.   Feels like we worked continuously for a good 24 hours to set everything up for four hours of fun. 

But it was.... wait for it.... worth it.

Our group of wee scalliwags dashed about in the yard with glee, sword fighting and zip-lining, munching on snacks and playing in the playhouse.  It was good to see our yard being used, full of friends.  Adults lounged around tables and in the grass.  Nat, ever the pied piper, led the kids in pirate games:  walk the plank, pin the X on the treasure, and the treasure hunt. Sunshine filtered through the trees as the shadows moved across the yard and a good time was certainly had by all. 

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Pirates always have an agenda.  And watermelon pirate ships.

Pirates also love snacks.

Elizabeth (and her family!) arrived in full pirate regalia.  Love them!

Oars imported from a barn in upstate NY....

We paid the sunlight to act like this.  We like to pretend that it is actually heaven in our backyard.  If heaven had lots of mosquitoes, really uneven grass, and overgrown foliage, that is.

The pirate cake and desert island cupcakes.

Auxiliary cupcakes.  I like the "buried treasure" cupcakes with chocolate sprinkles and silver balls.  Tried the technique of dipping the frosted cupcake right into a bowl of sprinkles.  I love the effect.

Our sweet neighbor Rachel was able to come. My kids just love her, and have had the good fortune to have had playdates with her three days in a row now.  She's a total sweetheart, going into 3rd grade, and lives just around the corner.  

Boys!  Arrrgh!  Simon, Matthew, and Tommy in the play area.  Note the moustaches.  Nat had a grand time applying them to at least 15 children.

Brooks in the woods.

Ivy in the treehouse.  Nat put the big ladder up so kids could come and go as they pleased.  It was crawling with little pirates almost the whole time.  I've never seen the treehouse so happy.

Baby Peter!  He's just delicious.  He had a constant circle of admirers in the seating area we created in the shade.

The pied piper at work, about to make Finn walk the plank.  Nat came up with ingenious reasons for punishment for each child (mixing your metaphors, bringing your own sword, inching up in line) and led them through three rounds of increasing difficulty. They loved it!

Melinda, Will, Scott and assorted littles enjoying the shade. 

Treasure hunt time!  We made four teams, led by the kids who got their X closest to the treasure on the previous game, and sent them off around the yard searching for four pieces of a puzzle... (Ethan and Finn are about to head to the door at the back of the yard...)

.... and then they all worked together to assemble the map...

... and dash, en masse, around the house to discover doubloon necklaces and a pinata beating stick hidden in the front woods.  Adventurous sorts got to climb over the fence on the silver ladder to get back home.   The much anticipated pinata, that was homemade, painstakingly, over the period of 3 days?  Demolished on the second hit.  Next year, the little kids go first.  Seven year olds have some mad technique.  It's all OK, though, as kids don't really care about hitting pinatas.  They just want candy.

Here's the front-of-house decor, by the way.

After a pizza break, it was time for cake and presents.  Managed to get no good pictures whatsoever of the singing and candle blowing.  Will try again on the real birthday.  At any rate this is a photo of the recipient  of  the "most creative present ever" award, from Christy and Jamie and their girls.  A bucket, decorated like an island, with a mini-treasure chest full of gold Sacagawea dollars buried inside.  Seriously.  Too cute.

Jack is blessed with thoughtful and generous friends.

 Here are a few more action shots from the wonderful afternoon...

Naomi, sword master.

Elizabeth, zip-lining in a fluffy princess dress.  Perfect.

Happy guests.  :)

Baby Laney.

The mustachioed Princess.  Of course.

Admirers, waiting.

The assembled company. If you look closely you will see that we are all saying "aaaargh."

Our boy is almost 6 and today we celebrated him, and all the people who love him.  We are blessed to be surrounded by enough friends to fill our yard.  And we are blessed that their children are all so cute, and so good!   Our darling Jack only cried 3 times and even told Lulu that he'd had a great party.  Success!

And totally worth it. 

Worth it

We have held on to this summer with both hands.

It has slipped by faster than we could have imagined, in that way that time moves more quickly as the years pass.

It has been lovely.  A blur of water and sun and sand and boats, cousins and family dinners, reading and driving, home and away.

And now it is winding down.  The school year approaches at warp speed and I have been up to my ears in the juggling act of getting my room ready for our first day Monday, finishing summer tutoring, and getting ready for what promises to be a very wild pirate party.

Seriously.  Everyone we invited is coming.  When does THAT happen?

Disclaimer.  My current state of AAAAAAAAGH  may be due, in part, to the fact that we've only been home for 2 days from our most recent junket to the lake.

It's my own damn fault.

And totally worth it.

Our sunset boat ride on Tuesday night, the soft August air rushing by, the red of the sun reflected on the glass calm lake, the harvest mood rising to the east, the smell of water and leaves just starting to turn... that is the moment I will hold on to in January.

Delicious summer.  You've been grand.  I will miss you.

Our first visit to Sauder's Amish market!

The draw of 8mm movies being shown after dark led to several nights of hosting the whole crew in the little cottage.  Cozy and rather wonderful.

Best. Boat dog. Ever.

Stay tuned.  There's a pirate party and a soon-to-be-six-year-old boy and the start of first grade to write about.  I will work on manufacturing more time to do it all justice. ....