Friday, July 31, 2015

All Alone

The older three kids were at at an arts camp this week until 12:30 each day. (more on that later) That left me with just Aaron. At times he was so quiet, I barely remembered he was there. Other times, he clamored for my attention repeatedly. I tried to work out a good mix of productivity and special Aaron time. I think we actually succeeded. yeah!

On Monday, he asked me to take the wooden trains out of the attic. Sure! They kept him busy for a long time. I made the effort to sit and build/play with him and he was thrilled. He also requested the trampoline and gymnastics mat (which were in hiding). He spent nearly an hour jumping and dancing to "funky" music. So happy! I love his decisiveness. 

It was a really fun week for him, even though he was missing out on the activities he heard about from his siblings. He didn't complain once about not being at camp. Thursday, he asked if we could go on a nature walk. Sure!


As I was pushing him on the swings, at his request, he said, 
"I really like being all alone with you Mommy." 


As much as I look forward to all four kids being old enough for this particular camp next year, I  savor this week with my baby. Definitely a reminder to carve out intentional time with EACH of the kids on a more regular basis.

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Apprentices

We're dealing with a pesky summer ant situation over here. 
So far the ants are winning, but that doesn't stop Darin from trying. 
I love that these two boys have a super smart Daddy to learn from. 
They followed him all around the house watching what 
he was doing after he got some tips from an exterminator. 

Top Ten

I've been conveniently avoiding sharing anything revealing about my heart this summer.
I've tried three times and those posts sit in my draft folder.

Top Ten Summer realizations:
1) I miss the schedule of the school year. (gasp!)

2) The kids miss the schedule of the school year. (double gasp!)

3) Lack of clear structure and too much free play is maddening for one of the kids, which in turn becomes maddening for me.

4) We might squeeze out one day a week without sibling conflict, but usually only if we fill the day  with exciting activities. Clearly we can't do that every day.

5) The kids are actually old enough and good enough swimmers for me to relax a bit at the pool! I've even LET myself relax on a few occasions. ;) Thankful for a pool membership.

6) The amazing free time that I thought I was going to have to get all sorts of projects completed is elusive. So far, only one project completed. I re-covered a desk chair. Hooray! Thankful to not be sitting on plywood anymore.

7) I prefer running in 8 degrees rather then 78 degrees with high humidity. I prefer running in rain then in heat.

8) I turn into a lethargic lump after 8:30pm every night and am unable to think clearly. How in the world do I get so much done in the evenings during the school year? Maybe this is my hibernation time?

9) I desperately miss studying the Bible with other women. Definitely need to make that a priority for next summer.

10) Although I LOVE sunshine and warmth, it does not mean I am a bouncing ball of joy (like I hoped!) God seems to be doing a BIG work in my heart, and while it is under construction I'm experiencing some messy emotions. God's work is an ongoing process. I'm struggling to learn to trust Him, keep my eyes fixed on Him, and remember that my identity is in Him alone.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

"Weggies"

The boys always crack up when Irina asks for "weggies." 
She means veggies, but the letter "v" is tricky for her. Someday, she'll get it. ;)
Speaking of veggies...we are actually growing some!! 
Hallelujah! We've had tomatoes, lots of peppers, and cucumbers. 

 Definitely better success on our deck, then IN the garden. There is much more full sun. 
 The fence around the garden is helping a lot. Recently though, we found evidence of an attack in the garden. :( Then Luke spotted a chipmunk sliding through a small gap in the fence. We quickly secured the fence with more staples and we'll see if the chipmunk keeps away from the rest of our ripening tomatoes. In the meantime, I'm thankful for some tasty "weggies." 

Monday, July 27, 2015

Climbing

On Saturday, Irina attended her first birthday party without her brothers. She was SO excited. 
It was at a local YMCA with a climbing wall. She was a fearless natural. You go girl!


Friday, July 24, 2015

Extremely long post about swimming

Swimming... that is all I can think about today. I'm seriously obsessed. Like, seriously.

Before I can explain why, let me sum up our first swim team experience.

My goal in having the kids do swim team was simple:
1) provide a fun way to get exercise every day
2) learn an important life skill
3) see the results of working hard by experiencing improved swimming times

I can say without a doubt, we accomplished every one of those goals and it makes me very happy!!! But besides that, I felt like we were part of something. We have our homeschool community, but many of those folks live 20-30+ minutes away and we only see them weekly. We have our church community, but again, we're not all nearby. It was great to make new friends, have more time with longtime friends, and be warmly welcomed into the nearby swimming community.



This summer, I got to see glimpses of Luke maturing. In many ways, I like what I see. In April, he was adamant that he didn't want to do swim team. ADAMANT. And yet, once we told him it was Mommy and Daddy's final decision, he accepted it and did his best. I saw him work hard nearly every practice. (And I'm a stickler about practice. We sign up for something, we go - no matter what!) He earned a handful of 4th place ribbons in freestyle, and we even got to see special Luke smiles. It took courage for him to get on that starting block with 11-12 year old boys (most of whom have been swimming since they were 6 or younger). It was hard for him to watch Ethan get ribbons in nearly every event, but he told me one morning, "You know, I think God is trying to teach me about my pride having to see Ethan get so many ribbons. It's hard to not be really jealous." Bless his sweet little heart! I will refrain from putting a picture of Luke in his swim suit, at his request. ;)

Last summer was Irina's first experience swimming. In fact, when we went to the beach last May she gripped tightly to Darin in the pool. She was so scared of deep water. Her fears disappeared quickly as the summer went on and we gave her lots of exposure to the pool, but prior to this summer she had no swimming lessons. Fast forward to swim team. She begged to participate. She loves the water, but did not realize all the hard work that accompanied swim team. The lap after lap of swimming was hard for her and she was not expecting that. But she did it!!!! She stood up there on that diving block and jumped in. She swam and she improved. The coaches gave her a good mix of grace, but also challenged her to try harder. At her last meet, she had her very best freestyle time. Thankfully, she is blissfully unaware as to how she compares to the other girls her age. She tells me every time she swims, "Mommy, I was so fast."

Aaron has been quite a character this summer!! He started off in pre-team lessons. He did well, so they quickly bumped him up to the regular practices after the first meet. Those practices are a little more hands-off then the pre-team lessons. The coaches are not always in the pool and will give instructions from the side. He panicked one day, and from there on out would cry at least every other day about how he didn't want to do swim team. The funny thing is that when he practiced cooperatively, it was obvious that he was learning quickly and he could do it. It seems to come naturally to him. He learned how to dive and was diving off the diving block without any trouble. At his first meet, I had to drag (and I mean drag) him to his warm-ups. He stayed glued to me until it was time to jump off the block for his event. Every time he got IN the pool, I sighed a sigh of relief. "Phew, he's in!" Then he would swim really well for his age. Oh, his little ego would be all puffed up after a good swim and he would tell me how much he loves swim team. Two days later, he would be crying. Finally the last week of swim team, he stopped the antics and worked hard (with the help of a little bribery). He earned his first ribbon at the last meet coming in 5th place for the regular division in freestyle. His time was significantly improved and he got his personal best. The last day of swim team, he told me how much he was going to miss it. What a roller coaster! 
Aside from all his tears, the coaches enjoyed this little flirt. He was always grinning at them, shrugging his shoulders, and being coy. He made a special card for coach Lindsey's birthday - the day before his! At the banquet, he received a "paper plate" award that suited him pretty well. Hilarious!

Which brings me to Ethan...  What a great swim season for him! The combination of natural ability, sincere interest, hard work, AND being the oldest in his swimming age group (8 and under) was a recipe for success. He was recognized as swimmer of the week early in the season. I am realizing that swimming is a great way to expend his energy, and the joy it brought him was contagious (well... maybe not to Aaron! ha!) It wasn't just about the ribbons either (although he enjoyed those thoroughly). His goal every morning was to be early to practice so he could help the coaches set up the lane lines. He was so eager to help them. It blessed me to see positive character traits in the midst of daily impulsiveness that needs correction and redirection.  Then to get invited to Champs at the end of the swim season was like icing on the cake. 
And now the story for why I'm obsessed with swimming today.

Ethan was scheduled for one event at Champs on Thursday and two on Friday. Thursday morning, he told me he didn't feel quite right. I gave him a hug and told him he was probably nervous. I was nervous! So off we went. What a treat to have time alone with Ethan. (Well... sort of alone, if you don't count the 1,200 other swimmers in our league and all their families. There were 73 swimmers invited from our pool.)
He did GREAT! Our goal was for him to improve his personal best and be smiling at the end. He succeeded! He has a new personal best in the backstroke and was all smiles.
All smiles until we arrived at my parents to gather the other kids. He kept complaining about being freezing. "It's the wet bathing suit," I assured him. He changed, but was still cold. He bundled up on their porch and fell sound asleep. He had a raging fever. He slept there for at least an hour and then we went home where he slept the rest of the day and all night. I contacted the coaches to let them know there was a chance he wouldn't be swimming his two events on Friday. Somehow though, I had still convinced myself that he would rally and be just fine to swim today. He was determined too.
This morning, I kissed him on his forehead and knew he would not be swimming today. :( He was hot, hot, hot! I was disappointed. He was so disappointed, but he was miserable. He hadn't eaten since Thursday before lunch, and was not interested in drinking anything. I knew he could not get in a pool and swim. It was a hard, but necessary decision to tell the coaches we wouldn't be there. 

And so, all day today I've been quietly obsessed following the Champ events online. How silly I felt for my big emotions over something so small. At lunch time, Ethan finally rallied and asked for food. His fever was gone! Feeling revived a bit, I think it hit him how discouraged he was over missing his events. He even asked if we could hurry and still make it in time for his relay. It was too late by then and he accepted that it wouldn't be fair to his relay team if he couldn't swim his best. And so, we will have to wait until next year. 

To end this really long post on swimming, I must say that I'm thankful that we had this great opportunity. I'm thankful that I got to see joy on my kids faces as they conquered fears, overcame challenges, and learned value in hard work. Is there a swim team for adult moms who were never on a swim team? ;) I want to join!

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Ethan is NINE

This kiddo can exasperate me and then warm my heart all in a matter of minutes! 
Oh how I love my sweet Ethan. Of all three biological kids, he was the most active in utero 
and the most difficult delivery. These days, he continues to keep me on my toes. 
He is passionate, active, fearless, and smart, smart, smart. 
He was walking at nine months, and he hasn't stopped moving since. 
Well, that is unless he is doing his art work. He is a talented artist. 
He is an inventor. In the photo above, we were on a car trip and he decided to string his 
cheerios on the lace of his shoe. Clever boy. No wonder he was so quiet. 
He has grown into his big brown eyes. So handsome. 
I suppose I've reminisced enough. Feeling awfully sentimental as these kids grow up. 
The day before Ethan's birthday, we had a joint party with our long time friends. 
Ethan and Aaron are one day shy of two years apart. Ethan requested homemade ice cream cake. 
A little bed head the morning of his birthday before swim team practice. 
He has LOVED swimming this summer and we have discovered a new talent of his. 
The rest of his birthday was a quiet, around the house kind of day. That evening we were invited to a cookout with some friends. Ethan was eager to go and didn't mind sharing his birthday evening. 
Boat rides, frog collecting, rainbows, skipping rocks at the waters edge...
just what this nature boy loves!


Happy 9th Birthday Ethan!!! You are loved. 

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Aaron is SEVEN

Hard to believe my baby is seven, but it's true! 




He has always had a charming personality. He is a great mix of silly, sweet, and serious. As the "baby" of the family, he has learned how to work the system. He seems to have an on/off button to get his tears to flow. His Daddy has a hard time keeping a straight face when he has to discipline him because he is just so stinkin' cute! :) 

A couple weeks ago, we had a fun time celebrating this little red head.  
After swim practice that morning, we came home to open gifts and eat pancakes. 
 Then we were off to go ice skating with the swim team. A perfect outing on a 99 degree day!


 Aaron warmed up enough to shed his jacket and zipped around without holding
on to the wall. Truth be told, he was trying to stay near his cute 20 year old swim coach. ;)
 After skating, we had some friends over for a simple joint birthday party for Aaron and Ethan.
He requested chocolate and vanilla swirled cupcakes and helped me make them the day before. 
From as early as I can remember, he has loved sports. He is competitive and naturally athletic, with a good sense of his limits. (Thankfully, not as much of a stunt man as his older brother. Phew! I don't think I could handle two risk takers.) This birthday, we finally acquiesced and got a basketball hoop for the driveway. If you want to find Aaron, you will find him there no matter the temperature. 
Can you say sweaty??
Whenever he concentrates his tongue sticks out. 
Some things never change!


We love you, Aaron!