Happy Friday!
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.
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...
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...
The Timmy Plane
About a month ago, Ollie got it in his head that he wanted to make a plane with The Dad. A plane, evidently, that was the size of a wagon - in which he could sit and be pulled down the block. Ummm... Let's draw up a plan first.
So Ollie did the drawings. They scaled it down but maintained the necessary detail: a trunk, a crow's nest (doesn't everything have to have a crow's nest?). The Dad wanted to make it about a foot long. Ollie wanted his stuffed animals to be able to ride in it.
So the Timmy Plane was born. The two of them disappeared out into the garage for a couple hours, scavenging scraps of wood and hardware. Coming out only on a search for wheels - eventually re-purposed from an old garage sale skateboard. When it was all done, Ollie insisted that he needed to paint it. I love the way it turned out. And even more that he believes that we can make anything. Just as comfortable in the garage as he is in my studio, he is a creator through and through.
Striving for Balance
I'm beginning to realize that you can spend your whole life striving for balance. Balance between work and life. Between income and expenses. Between time spent on the computer and everything else you need to get done. Between working and taking care of your house and taking care of your family. Between the attention you give your children and ... There are a lot of balls to juggle in life and I think balance - or near-balance - can only come intentionally.
So the kids have been in school together for two and a half weeks, now. And I know it will take some time to catch up on all that was neglected over summer vacation, but I am still floundering. I think I need a schedule. The two largest pieces of my day should be made up of sewing (I was recently accepted into Art Star's very first Holiday Bazaar! WooHoo!) and cleaning/working on the house. By cleaning, I don't mean just dishes and putting laundry away. I mean deep purging and organizing. This house is messier than it has been in a long time.
I can break the day (really 9-230) in half. I can stagger going back and forth. But really, I just need to do it. And do them both.
So I am going to pick one room each day (on top of the regular dishes, laundry, picking up) and spend two hours on that room - I am deciding this as I am writing it, but let's see how it goes. I will start at the top of the house and work my way down. Since things from the first floor tend to make their way up and stall on stair landings where we look at them everyday when not tripping over them. This way, things can work their way down and then out of the house.
I have more - about what happens after the Holiday Bazaar - but I'm going to save that. Let's see how this goes for starters.
** These pictures have absolutely nothing to do with the post. I can't very well show you pictures of my incredibly messy house, can I? They were taken a couple weeks ago up at a Girl Scout Camp nearby. See the image in the sky in the third photo? We watched, amazed, as a pilot practiced painting smiley faces in the sky. Pretty cool...
So the kids have been in school together for two and a half weeks, now. And I know it will take some time to catch up on all that was neglected over summer vacation, but I am still floundering. I think I need a schedule. The two largest pieces of my day should be made up of sewing (I was recently accepted into Art Star's very first Holiday Bazaar! WooHoo!) and cleaning/working on the house. By cleaning, I don't mean just dishes and putting laundry away. I mean deep purging and organizing. This house is messier than it has been in a long time.
I can break the day (really 9-230) in half. I can stagger going back and forth. But really, I just need to do it. And do them both.
So I am going to pick one room each day (on top of the regular dishes, laundry, picking up) and spend two hours on that room - I am deciding this as I am writing it, but let's see how it goes. I will start at the top of the house and work my way down. Since things from the first floor tend to make their way up and stall on stair landings where we look at them everyday when not tripping over them. This way, things can work their way down and then out of the house.
I have more - about what happens after the Holiday Bazaar - but I'm going to save that. Let's see how this goes for starters.
** These pictures have absolutely nothing to do with the post. I can't very well show you pictures of my incredibly messy house, can I? They were taken a couple weeks ago up at a Girl Scout Camp nearby. See the image in the sky in the third photo? We watched, amazed, as a pilot practiced painting smiley faces in the sky. Pretty cool...
Determination
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| First Day of School, 2008 |
When Ella was three years old, she took her favorite stuffed dog to nursery school for show and tell. The
When I picked her up, her teacher apologized and said she felt really bad for making Ella cry. 'What happened?', I asked.
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| First Day of School, 2009 |
Ella couldn't leave her precious puppy in the basket. She wanted to share nursery school with him. So the teacher gave her a warning, took the puppy, and put it back in the basket. Later, Ella took him from the basket again to play. So the teacher took the puppy back again and put him up high on a shelf where Ella couldn't reach him.
So Ella took a chair, pulled it over to the shelving, and tried to get her puppy down. I don't remember what her punishment was. Honestly, I really think that seeing her puppy up high and not being able to get him back was punishment enough. She was reprimanded. She cried.
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| First Day of School, 2010 |
I don't know why I thought of this story this morning. Maybe because this story is so classic Ella. I'm sure she comes by her strong-willedness (I know that's not really a word - what is the right one?) genetically. And her passion as well. And we struggle with it every day but we also love her more because of it.
She still will do almost anything to get what she wants. We're working on that. But how do you temper that without breaking the piece that will be so important in the future? Our focus right now is teaching her to think about how her actions affect (actually looked up on dictionary.com if that was an a or an e) others.
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| First Day of School, 2011 |
And even though as I drove her home from nursery school that day I talked with her about how important it is to listen to your teachers and follow directions, I still know that she was only three and she wasn't hurting anyone by wanting to hold her puppy.
Summer Is Not Over Yet
Over the last couple days, I have found myself getting sucked back into my studio. This is a good thing - especially since there were many moments over the summer where I believed I was ready to put eieio to bed. I think, though, that that had more to do with the sweltering heat in my studio and close to zero time for work than a lack of desire. For the first time this summer, I've had a babysitter come in for a couple hours just so that I could get some work done. And I have gotten some work done. Now all I want to do is more...
But there is still a little bit of summer vacation left. And I don't want to waste that. Ella starts next Tuesday and Ollie starts the week after that and then there will be plenty of time. I have a little mother/daughter time this morning and as much as I would love to take her fabric shopping, I know that that really isn't the best way to spend our time. Some day it will be, but not today.
So, there is a brand new batch of Lunchbox Napkins in the shop. And hopefully another Reversible Roundabout and some Trick or Treat bags coming soon. And after September 12th things should get a lot more regular around here.
Today I have a lunch date and some hair accessory purchasing to do with my 2nd grader. 2nd grader. That just blows my mind. And a Kindergartener, which blows it even farther. I'll wait until they are both settled in and I am sitting alone in my house to think about everything that comes next...
But there is still a little bit of summer vacation left. And I don't want to waste that. Ella starts next Tuesday and Ollie starts the week after that and then there will be plenty of time. I have a little mother/daughter time this morning and as much as I would love to take her fabric shopping, I know that that really isn't the best way to spend our time. Some day it will be, but not today.
So, there is a brand new batch of Lunchbox Napkins in the shop. And hopefully another Reversible Roundabout and some Trick or Treat bags coming soon. And after September 12th things should get a lot more regular around here.
Today I have a lunch date and some hair accessory purchasing to do with my 2nd grader. 2nd grader. That just blows my mind. And a Kindergartener, which blows it even farther. I'll wait until they are both settled in and I am sitting alone in my house to think about everything that comes next...
This Boy
This boy
who wanted his head shaved but settled for a mohawk,
who has no interest in starting Kindergarten next month because he would love to stay in nursery school forever,
who requires more patience right now than I sometimes feel I have,
who knows exactly how he wants things and cries when his young hands can't comply.
I've said it before - It's so hard to be a little kid...
who wanted his head shaved but settled for a mohawk,
who has no interest in starting Kindergarten next month because he would love to stay in nursery school forever,
who requires more patience right now than I sometimes feel I have,
who knows exactly how he wants things and cries when his young hands can't comply.
I've said it before - It's so hard to be a little kid...
Zealand Falls on the Appalachian Trail
My first year out of undergrad, I applied to grad school. Just one school in a program that I thought would give me what I needed to become a Child Life Specialist. While waiting to hear, I decided that if I didn't get in I was going to Thru-hike the Appalachian Trail.
I actually started buying my supplies (there was an EMS right down the street from work) - a pack, a sleeping bag (that I still use), a 2-person tent. I attended a workshop on what you needed to do to prepare. Then I got into the program I had applied to.
When I graduated high school, my family went on a backpacking trip (my parents, 5 kids age 7-17, and an Irish Setter). We travelled up to the White Mountains and camped somewhere around Zealand Falls or Thoreau Falls. We have some great pictures of us five kids out on a flat rock in the middle of the Falls. I remember it raining. I remember the dog carrying its own food in saddle bags. I remember stopping by the AMC's Zealand Falls Hut and thinking it would be a really cool way to do it.
I've done a couple shorter sections of the AT over the years, including a solo trip in NY state where I camped out on a summit in a thunder and lightning storm (yes, not the brightest idea). I've been excited to take my kids backpacking for a very long time.
This trip didn't let me down. The falls were beautiful. The complaining was kept to a minimum when the kids took the lead. The weather was perfect. The Hut Croo gave us the bunk room for four. With a door. Instead of mixing us into one of the bunk rooms for 16. We only needed to hike 3 miles in to the hut. A nice mix of meandering trail and straight up over rocks and boulders.
Even more importantly, the kids are ready to go again. While backpacking again will need to wait a little while, I think I am going to attempt to take them camping by myself over the next couple weeks. That way I get to start the fire - an ongoing battle between me and The Dad...
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