Monday, August 31, 2009

Roller Coaster

My long hiatus from blogging was mostly due to some big stresses in our family.  Not only was I stressed, but the thought of even writing about the most difficult parts still stresses me out.  I’ve been posting about recent events and working backward, and have nearly reached the place where I need to talk about our roller coaster ride.  I know that a status report is long overdue, but I am starting with more lighthearted things.  I’m working up to it, I promise!

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For now, here is a lame photo (the best I could get on my phone) of the girls’ first roller coaster-type ride.  They absolutely loved it!  It was at a local fair, and Cary and the kids were the only ones riding.  I really think the operator must have given them a few extra times around because he could see how much fun they were having.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Our Favorite Park

When we moved here, one of the first things we did was look on Google Earth for all of the nearby green spaces.  We’ve checked them out, one by one, and found our favorite.  Because we are restricted somewhat in our activities by Lana’s feeding times (which give us about a two-hour window), I have tried to take the kids to a lot of fun places close to home this summer.

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This time we were happy to have Grandma, Great Grandma, and Aunt Jo with us.  We played on the playground for a while, then went down the trail to the stream.  I think the kids could have a ball just throwing rocks in for hours if I let them.  We also waded, and saw a salamander, a frog, and a dead crawfish, so it was an eventful day!

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Lana, Everett, Gwyn, and Maddie  (Everett’s goatee is made of mud.)

Friday, August 28, 2009

Those Sneaky Brassicas

DSC01933 We expanded our garden a bit this year.  This picture was taken about a month ago when everything was still green and flourishing.

I planted tomatoes, broccoli, zucchini, spaghetti squash, green beans, yellow beans, swiss chard, spinach, lettuce, cucumber, onions, eggplant, green peppers, yellow peppers, and red peppers, and I made two unsuccessful attempts at planting cauliflower.  I say unsuccessful because the first time I bought cauliflower plants, they turned out to be collard greens.  So I tried a second time.  I bought what was labeled as “self-blanching cauliflower” and watched with anticipation as they grew into nice large heads.  I cut one off and started peeling back the leaves.  And I peeled back more leaves…and more leaves.  I had grown four beautiful heads of cabbage.

Oh well.  We have had some tasty cabbage dishes, which we never would have tried had I not planted so much “cauliflower”.

I have had some more happy little garden helpers.  They have brought their sand buckets over to collect the harvest, and love to take it in the house and carefully place everything on the kitchen table.  One of their favorite ways to help in the garden is munching on leaves or cherry tomatoes.  Even Lana takes bites and then spits them out in the grass.  If you look carefully at these photos, you might see some tiny trails of green juice on their cute little cheeks.

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The kids also helped me make zucchini bread at least once a week while it was coming in.  The girls especially really love to help me cook.  And it provides some minutes of peace where there might have otherwise been a degree of contention.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

What belts are really for…

11/05  Everett, 2 years old

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8/09  Maddie, 3.5 years old

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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Letting Go

Everett started Kindergarten yesterday.  He has been looking forward to it for months.  “Is it fall yet?”  “When will it be fall?”

More recently, the excitement built as we bought his lunch bag, tool box, and new shoes.  He wore his backpack for most of the three days preceding the start of school.  (We had to ask him to take it off at dinner.)

Here he is at the breakfast table on the first day of school.  This photo is not edited.  That is pure excitement shining in his eyes!

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I have shed tears on a few occasions at the thought of “losing” my little boy.   I know there will be many stages of letting go through the years.  This feels like the first big one.  He will be away from home for 7 of the 12 hours he is awake.  I will miss him.  The time has flown by so fast, and sometimes looking back through our photos I just wonder what happened to the years.

I sometimes wish I could get the time back.  It seems an endless and above all futile struggle trying to keep up with everything.  I continually have a mixed hope and fear—Have I given my children what they need?  The moments slip away so fast.  I wish the dishes and laundry would do themselves so I could spend more time hugging my kids.  But I digress…

 

Walking to the Bus Stop

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Waiting for Everett

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Here he is!

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He had a good first couple of days, and we love his teacher so far.  He probably won’t be learning much in “the three R’s” for a while, being well-prepared at home, but he will be learning a lot about school.  I am really enjoying his enthusiasm.

And I’m proud to say that I didn’t cry until I walked back home from the bus stop with the girls and felt his presence…missing.