Business - Busyness

This is one of those weeks where there just doesn't seem to be enough time to stop (or even slow down) and play.  I am in full swing gearing up for the Holiday Art Star Craft Bazaar and a smaller local fundraiser the weekend before.


The kids are out of sorts - Ella yearning for a pet (more about that later) and Ollie just soaking up all Kindergarten has to offer faster than his little brain can handle.


So I have to remind myself to slow down.  To slow everybody down.


I get carried away at this point in the process.  Where it feels all about production - I think it carries over from the studio into the flow of our days, which really isn't much fun for anyone.


This afternoon we will play, read, and do a little bit of homework.  With my undivided attention, which is really what they want need.



One Last Weekend of Summer


Somehow, on our fall trip to New England, we encountered one last weekend of summer.

 

While mornings had a chill, the days were clear, blue, and hot.


Perfect for a walk to the beach, dipping hands (and feet) into the water, collecting shells, and finding their first live spitting clams.


We ate ice cream and found ourselves sunburned at the end of the day.


We fell into bed salty and exhausted, just as it should be.

Today


Today...

We are heading up to New England for a weekend with family and friends.

There are pumpkin muffins in the oven - the first of the season.

I am re-reading Simplicity Parenting, ready for a re-boot.

I am happy to realize that I can pack for all four of us to go on a 3 night trip (including 14 hours in the car) in under an hour.  It tells me that my house isn't quite as chaotic as it feels sometimes.

I am still wondering how I woke up in Ollie's bed this morning having no recollection of getting there in the middle of the night...

I am fighting the desire to spend just 5 more minutes here. Follow Me on Pinterest

I am drooling over the new Mini Boden catalog and wondering if I should really just try to make some of the things I am looking at since I know I am not going to buy anything.

I am feeling good about being ready for the Holiday Art Star Craft Bazaar just 5 short weeks away.  Or...  I was until I just typed that it was only 5 short weeks away... 

I am wishing for a Kindle Fire or an iPad for my birthday but knowing that I will genuinely be happy just with cake!

And I am loving the quote I just found by William Morris: Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

Have a great holiday weekend.  Enjoy.



Back to Where It All Began

A week and a half ago, The Dad and I finally took the kids up to the camp where we met.  I think it has been 11 years since we've been back. 


An amazing place, it has definitely changed.  There's a giant gym now and a large swimming pool, more new buildings here and there.  Even the remaining cabins are in some ways unrecognizable - winterized with added decking and new entrances, I had to look twice at some of them to orient myself.

Yet the feel of the place is the same.  You can close your eyes and breathe the air and know where you are.  For a moment on the trail between areas of camp, it is exactly the same as it used to be.


The kids, of course, were more interested in the playground and the farm animals (a pig!) than the front steps of Cabin 19 where we had our first kiss.  Ella, though, asked if she could go to camp there in the summer - so I think she caught at least a little of the vibe.  We explained that the camp wasn't appropriate for her but that if she wanted to work there some day she could.  I would love for them to work there.  Those were some of the most valuable, enriching summers of my life.


It's been 14 years since that first kiss.  And like camp, we have changed and grown.  But I like to think that when we close our eyes and breathe, we are still the same.  Just a lot older, a little wiser, and with two monkeys pulling at our shirt telling us to open our eyes and pay attention...