Friday, July 28, 2017

June Bugs

This is me determined to fill in the blanks of our June days - as fast as I can before August 1.

My June Bugs are keeping me busy - or I suppose since I somewhat sort the days, I'm keeping them busy? Or just life is? Existential mothering questions . . . more thoughts on summer in the July post already bubbling.

Shakespeare Festival/Last Day of School
Always amazing to me, the games and food and maypole dance (quite complicated!)
The last day has a late start and we enjoyed some treats and also giving Karis a book that recently captivated her (also an expression of my indulging with delight when anything "young" still captivates her heart), a gift of Mother Goose's Pajama Party. Watched her class recite a sonnet at noon, joined the meadow for games and treats, I think Judah had as much fun as his sis (pillow fighting). Thankful for the year, Karis's teacher is a great gift and her friendships dear. Oh and she learned a lot, too.

traditional by the flowers pic

Bismarck-Summer-Blast-Off

We hit the road early the next day for a reunion in Bismarck, it was a precious day with close and extended family and a whole bonus day with cousin/niece Elodie. The following days held a trip to Washburn to hang with cousins and their children (and ride a huge tractor!), meet ups with old friends (sans my kids), zoo, amusement park, lots of yummy meals (that I didn't make). Refreshing.



Home to house-work (literally) and recital
We had a night at the lake with my parents, and they joined us here to settle in and then go to Karis's first dance recital - beautiful music, creative dances, fun to have some fam join. Such joy to watch exuberant Karis experience life with confidence and grace. Oh and house work. It miraculously mostly happened while we were away, a big attic project that just had to be done. Thankful it's done, thankful we missed the mess.


Thank You Lunch
For volunteers at the church, I had the joy of organizing this year and had great fun putting the pieces together - amazed by all the helpful hands and hearts for the children.

Anniversary
13! There are always little gifts that unfold on days like this . . . we had a sub-satisfactory dinner date at Victory 44 (where we decided we could have a do-over at our traditional Pig Ate My Pizza), picked up some sherry (both had wanted to try it after seeing it sipped on Gilmore Girls), listened to an Andrew Peterson song about being each other's safe place, and watched the Jim/Pam wedding episode of The Office (the laughter! the tears!). Sigh, grateful for this journey together.

That week found me in the middle of a great read: from A Woman of Independent Means
"Remember, marriage is a privilege both husband and wife must earn - not a convenience to be enjoyed by one member at the expense of the other"
"For a marriage to succeed , each partner should be excited by the abilities of the other and not feel threatened by an interest that is not shared. You must not deny all that you are or you will never develop into all you can be"
"One life is simply not enough for all the lessons there are to learn . . . "

Treasure Trevor Tales
Rad Dad (Father's Day): A visit to Grandpa Jim and his dad, he was his dad's date to a wedding at a fancy mansion, a couple sleep in days (oh wait, that's every weekend - it works), Qdoba with cousins, kayak with Karis, samosa & sides dinner on the deck, mad-libs superhero dad, memory lane with pics, baseball with the kids. Rad dad indeed, thankful for this guy. He's our enthusiast, he grounds us, he loves purely, he's quite adored around here.




The Hoops
A couple in our life group spent one of our evenings together to illustrate "hoops" in marriage - complete with 3 hula hoops. Lots to ponder, and a powerfully common language about living together in the most full way that offers ultimate connection while still giving space. This group continues to dig in and wonder together.

KidsCAN (followed by limits-reached-banana-brain)
Well first, KidsCAN - snack lady duties resumed, kids put their hearts full into the week and we managed to squeeze in extra summer fun in the afternoons (to our slight demise). The New Creation theme brought depth, the creative endeavors bloomed every day (drama, dance, gardening, music, poetry, art). By Friday I had a vision migraine and I knew we'd reached our max . . . and still decided to stay for the volunteer-pizza-party . . . to our demise when Judah yelled across a crowded loud room: "MOMMY! I WANT TO EAT ALONE!". On Saturday I realized my max when baking with bananas: it took 3 of them to notice I putting the peel on the plate and the banana in the garbage.



Pootsie Problem/First Party
One night we lost the pootsie in a way we'd never lost it before. I was in a tizzy. Judah was fine. When I found it the next morning, I took a moment to ponder: I need him to need his pootsie more than he needs his pootsie. I might have to put that feeling in its place, i.e. face the fact that my baby is not a baby. As evidenced by going to his first drop-off birthday party. Where he was greeted with a pool noodle horse and lance and commenced hours of slightly rough play and cupcakes for dinner. He said he had fun, our chat on the way home was hilarious ("I said no thank you a lot . . . no, I don't need a snack, my belly's full of cake!")


Hosting Week
Flavoring a June week here was practicing "NBD hosting" - which means, the same meal with different people here 3 times in a week. NBD, it works and brings our fam together too.

More Frog & Toad . . . plus fish
Catching creatures, that is. And this year, keeping them alive (on topic it's worth mentioning that Judah now yells at bugs instead of crying about them). We are also keeping alive two beta fish, Squishy and Squishy. A known fact about me, I have a fear/dislike of any fish (but yes, I eat fish), so this is love, and came about after a lake trip. Karis caught a sunny off the dock and begged to bring it home, my heart went out to her as the words spilled out: "Oh honey, we can get a pet fish!". No going back after such a statement, it was wild fun to go to petsmart and figure it all out together, with help from a dear gal, Tatiana. Trev suggested we put them in the kitchen (!!!!!). They live in the basement.


The songs around here that are stirring my soul:
Come Ye Souls by Sin Afflicted
There is a Land of Pure Delight

Reading Quotables: 
From Lab Girl (such a good read, it moved me)
"I've learned that raising a child is essentially one slow long agony of letting go"
"It takes a long time to turn into what you're supposed to be"

Karis-isms (or: mental exercises for her mother):
- our recent read together is 21 Balloons, some good laughs
- "Hey momma?" (said 1,000 times a day, followed by a question)
- "Hey mom, where did the word 'mom' come from?" (see above)
- "I wonder what part of our ear hears, is it the inside part or the outside part?"
- "Mom, I think you'd make a good podcast someday - I mean, you do like to talk a lot"
- "Mom, those guessing games were really fun"
- "Why were swings invented?"
- "Why were bikes invented?"
- "Was Caesar married? How long was he king?"
- "Well, thanks for the empathy, mom!"
- "Sorry it's not wool, dad" (when giving him a t-shirt for his birthday)

Judah Jabbers:
- "Hey momma, insulating is very bad for us"
- "Look, Willie's on the diving board. He's terrified!" (playing in kiddie pool with Duck Dynasty figurines)
- recent hilarious game: using an ice pack as a cell phone to call his friend Ted
- "It tastes like pine trees!"
- "But momma, I'm full of toys. You will have to carry my pootsie"
- "I said 'no thank you no thank you no thank you' a lot when they asked me if I wanted food"
- "Oh I don't need a snack my belly is full of cake and ice cream!"


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