Sunday, August 14, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Honoring the Kids' Summer
Excited to be in the wood shed
Picking the beans she planted
Helping Daddy stack wood
Picking the beans she planted
Helping Daddy stack wood
We put them to work young here in New Hampshire
Myrick enjoyed it and didn't react too strongly when the Wicked Witch of the West made her big entrance
Past his bedtime, but what a trooper - he loved it!
Waiting for the show
Past his bedtime, but what a trooper - he loved it!
Waiting for the show
Pender before "The Wizard of Oz" in Prescott Park
Berry stained mouth
Nate and Myrick having tent time
First time camping out in the backyard - just a tad excited!
Tub time
Playing among the birches
Pender enjoys the blueberry buffet
Ready for a romp in the berry patch
I was reading an article in today's local paper about how kids these days spend their summers versus kids in the past. The article contrasted today's kids as being over scheduled and overstimulated to those in the past as having hours upon hours of free, unstructured time. I'm leaving out a lot of important details, but the simplified 'moral' of the article was that there is much to be gained from providing kids with both: the structured time and activities do keep them physically and mentally active while the unstructured free time opens up their creativity, self-motivation, and imagination. I liked how the article talked about striking the right balance during the summer with your kids. Looking at how our summer has shaken out, I think we've done a pretty good job with this. We've had lots of family time while away on vacation, Myrick has some structured summer activities like swim lessons and tee-ball/soccer camp, and we've had several playdates to keep her socially engaged. At the same time, I cannot even begin to count the hours we've spent among the wild strawberries, raspberry patches, blueberry bushes, and blackberry patches just wandering, searching, being amazed at the sizes, shapes, smells, and tastes of the things we 'harvest'. Both Pender and Myrick have spent a great deal of time outdoors this summer occupying themselves among the blueberries or playing with sidewalk chalk in the driveway or building canals and castles at our local beach. One thing that has amazed me is how Myrick has managed to occupy herself with books this summer. She started waking up pretty early and was waking up Pender, too - this was not good for Pen, so we devised a strategy to get her out of their room and into ours if/when she woke up early. We made a cozy book-nook on the love seat in our bedroom and leave a stack of books next to it. She has regularly spent an hour reading to herself quietly in our room, and around 7am she will walk over to my side of the bed and kiss me to tell me it's time to get up. Amazing that she can do that and that we get extra sleep! Anyhow, here are some shots of summer around the house.
Ready for a romp in the berry patch
I was reading an article in today's local paper about how kids these days spend their summers versus kids in the past. The article contrasted today's kids as being over scheduled and overstimulated to those in the past as having hours upon hours of free, unstructured time. I'm leaving out a lot of important details, but the simplified 'moral' of the article was that there is much to be gained from providing kids with both: the structured time and activities do keep them physically and mentally active while the unstructured free time opens up their creativity, self-motivation, and imagination. I liked how the article talked about striking the right balance during the summer with your kids. Looking at how our summer has shaken out, I think we've done a pretty good job with this. We've had lots of family time while away on vacation, Myrick has some structured summer activities like swim lessons and tee-ball/soccer camp, and we've had several playdates to keep her socially engaged. At the same time, I cannot even begin to count the hours we've spent among the wild strawberries, raspberry patches, blueberry bushes, and blackberry patches just wandering, searching, being amazed at the sizes, shapes, smells, and tastes of the things we 'harvest'. Both Pender and Myrick have spent a great deal of time outdoors this summer occupying themselves among the blueberries or playing with sidewalk chalk in the driveway or building canals and castles at our local beach. One thing that has amazed me is how Myrick has managed to occupy herself with books this summer. She started waking up pretty early and was waking up Pender, too - this was not good for Pen, so we devised a strategy to get her out of their room and into ours if/when she woke up early. We made a cozy book-nook on the love seat in our bedroom and leave a stack of books next to it. She has regularly spent an hour reading to herself quietly in our room, and around 7am she will walk over to my side of the bed and kiss me to tell me it's time to get up. Amazing that she can do that and that we get extra sleep! Anyhow, here are some shots of summer around the house.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Summer Self/Other Self
Although it has been a wonderful summer, I have been so disconnected from our blog for so long that I have found it a challenge to find a writing rhythm these days. I thought summer would be the cure for that, with all of the extra, unstructured time, and although I think about writing often, it has been intimidating to actually sit down to write.
So, here I am, the last day of July, which in some ways feels like the last day of summer vacation for me. Nate and I have been updating our August family calendar, and as usual, every single day is filled with one thing or another. This pattern happens every year; August looks deceptively blank, but once we get back from vacation travels and look reality in the face, August is truly a short and full month. August always greets me with a new wave of stress-induced worries and preoccupations, mostly related to beginning a new school year. I want so badly to hang onto my summer self, the me I like so much better, but then reality presses in, and there is no time to argue - instead only appointments to make, prep work to be done, and chores to tackle. Ugh.
I wonder if the changes in me are noticed by others as much as they are by me. As soon as school wraps up, 60 hour work weeks fall away, and the summer stretches before me, it only takes a week for my body to fully register this change: my shoulders creep back down below my ears where they belong, tension knots disappear, fatigue takes over, and an exciting list of summer goals gets written down all ready to be satisfyingly crossed off. It takes longer for my sense of humor to recover itself, but eventually even that part of me makes a come-back. I am better able to be in the moment to enjoy my kids and laugh at even their worst moments. Nate and I get to reconnect, finding things to do together that there wasn't time for during the school year. I feel less intense, less apt to argue, less touchy and overly sensitive and dramatic, more able to find my mellow self. I'm less grumpy, less resentful, more patient and forgiving. It's very clear which me I'd rather hang out with if given a choice, and it seems that others must sense this big contrast in me, too.
So of course the question becomes, how do I preserve this better Emily - this part of me that is so obviously healthier than my other self that I morph into during the school year? How do I keep all the qualities about me, about our summer rhythm, and about the quality of our time sustained as the school year zooms at us? How do I set and maintain boundaries between my home and work life? I don't have answers to these questions, only strong desires to do this year better than last - to find that magic balance.
So, here I am, the last day of July, which in some ways feels like the last day of summer vacation for me. Nate and I have been updating our August family calendar, and as usual, every single day is filled with one thing or another. This pattern happens every year; August looks deceptively blank, but once we get back from vacation travels and look reality in the face, August is truly a short and full month. August always greets me with a new wave of stress-induced worries and preoccupations, mostly related to beginning a new school year. I want so badly to hang onto my summer self, the me I like so much better, but then reality presses in, and there is no time to argue - instead only appointments to make, prep work to be done, and chores to tackle. Ugh.
I wonder if the changes in me are noticed by others as much as they are by me. As soon as school wraps up, 60 hour work weeks fall away, and the summer stretches before me, it only takes a week for my body to fully register this change: my shoulders creep back down below my ears where they belong, tension knots disappear, fatigue takes over, and an exciting list of summer goals gets written down all ready to be satisfyingly crossed off. It takes longer for my sense of humor to recover itself, but eventually even that part of me makes a come-back. I am better able to be in the moment to enjoy my kids and laugh at even their worst moments. Nate and I get to reconnect, finding things to do together that there wasn't time for during the school year. I feel less intense, less apt to argue, less touchy and overly sensitive and dramatic, more able to find my mellow self. I'm less grumpy, less resentful, more patient and forgiving. It's very clear which me I'd rather hang out with if given a choice, and it seems that others must sense this big contrast in me, too.
So of course the question becomes, how do I preserve this better Emily - this part of me that is so obviously healthier than my other self that I morph into during the school year? How do I keep all the qualities about me, about our summer rhythm, and about the quality of our time sustained as the school year zooms at us? How do I set and maintain boundaries between my home and work life? I don't have answers to these questions, only strong desires to do this year better than last - to find that magic balance.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Pender Sings
The newest American Idol?! Pender has picked up the timing and one word in the tune "Pop Goes the Weasel".
Myrick's First Riding Lesson
Myrick loved going faster in a trot and didn't seem concerned or nervous in the least!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Easter 2011 Photos
Finally - a beautiful, sunny, warm day! Thankfully we had lovely Easter weather today, and my kiddos looked adorable in their fancy spring duds, compliments of Akie - thanks mom! Pender wasn't a fan of trying to walk in his first pair of real shoes, but he did just fine. And Myrick loved her twirly dress asking me this morning as she put it on if she was a ballerina!
Myrick's highlights: playing with Abigail + enjoying her Easter basket goodies
Pender's highlights: going down the slide + playing with empty Easter eggs
Mom's highlights: eating dinner AND dessert while both kids napped + hearing Nate play his solo trumpet pieces beautifully during church with Myrick saying loudly at the end of each piece "Good job Dad!" I love that everyone nearby in church snickered!
Dad's highlights: Myrick telling him about the new foal and the barn swallows living in the barn + watching Pender's first few trips down the slide into Myrick's arms
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