The summer of the burn

It started innocently enough.  I was having my morning cup of tea, as I always do.  

But we were at the lake, and I was having my morning time alone.  I drove from the coffee shop to the lake, parked, and then noticed that someone was sitting on "my" bench. ;)

I pulled a folding chair out of the van, set it up, and then gathered my tote bag, my cup of baked oatmeal, and my cup of tea. 

I was smart enough to set the tea on the ground next to the chair.  But that presented a problem when I reached over to pick it up, as I really wanted my hand under the cup, supporting it. 

Somewhere in all the maneuvering, the cup of very hot tea spilled onto my stomach.  Skin immediately peeled off a 1" x 2" area.

At a medical appointment (for another reason) a few weeks later, the nurse looked at it and assured me it is healing fine.  

But it's inconvenient, itchy, and as embarrassing of a story as the time I broke my leg reading ... and didn't get an x-ray until over a year later ... and then had to fill out multiple insurance forms. 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 6, #64

631.  our anniversary getaway happened!

632.  Jim found the best place yet ... in the middle of nowhere  (LM said we went "nowhere.")

633.  We came home rested & refreshed!  (Two nights are exponentially better than one.) 

634.  We ate breakfast in ... just as delicious as any restaurant, I think. ;)

635.  finding a really really good restaurant for our evening meals!

636.  reading a lot

637.  reviewing the past, dreaming about the future, and thanking God for His grace these 12 years of marriage

638.  gazing at the space & pastoral scenes

639.  basking in the quiet

640.  happy children while we were away <3

 

School supplies

School starts mid-August here, and this Mom has had all the school supplies purchased, labeled, and in the backpacks ready to go ... since mid-July. Ha!

My first introduction to having a child in school came through LG's three years in an 11-month private special ed school, so I'm late to the game for figuring out what is normal. 

This screenshot would be almost unimaginable to a Japanese person.  The school year there runs from the first week of April to the middle of March with a summer vacation from mid-July until the first of September.  The USA has such a wide range!

I have been surprised by how much of the school supply list is made up of paper products - two boxes facial tissue, one roll paper towels, a box of quart zip-lock bags, a package of baby wipes, etc.  

I guess I am not that surprised by an old adult t-shirt being on the list (for painting) or a bath towel (not sure what that's for, but I sent the oldest, grungiest one in our house. ;)

While I understand teachers listing certain brands, I wonder about families who can't afford them... 

And then there's the all-important (in my mind) question: do I need to label each and every item???  I can still remember the hard work it was for my friends in Japan to label every single crayon, math manipulative, etc. for their school-aged children, not to mention sewing all the required bags.  

I posed the question in our district's parents' FB group and a teacher replied that she prefers to know which child's crayon dropped ... so I pulled out a Sharpie and labeled 12 pencils, 48 crayons, 24 markers, 6 EXPO markers, scissors, 4 folders, 2 bottles glue, and 4 glue sticks.  Whew!  And that was just for LM!

At least I only had to write 5 English letters and not the multitude of katakana ones that a foreign child in Japan has in their name.  (Find your katakana name here.)

Do you label your child's school supplies??? Inquiring minds want to know.

Boredom Busters

Sally Lloyd-Jones (of Jesus Storybook Bible fame) provides a list of over 70 summer boredom busters. 

Link here. 

Scatter-brained mom here just posting it so I don't lose it and can reference when I need it. 

Another suggestion is Unplugged Play, a book I purchased at the beginning of this summer.   I left it out with the library books, sort of as my secret weapon, ready as needed. 

What do you do to bust boredom?

CASLLS

Pronounced like "castles," the CASLLS (the Cottage Acquisition Scales for Listening Language and Speech) is a checklist of speech sounds, language, and grammatical structures.  

Before LG was 2 years old, his speech therapist was charting his progress on the CASLLS.  At a glance, she could see where his gaps were and what goals to set.  At a certain point, he progressed to the next level (& color) of CASLLS.  

Every month for three years at the parent-teacher meeting, I heard about his progress on the CASLLS.

And I wished that LM had a CASLLS checklist.  Alas, CASLLS is designed for children with hearing loss, so none of LM's five (and counting) speech therapists have ever used it with her.

Periodically I googled it, but the order form on the website is designed for schools to order in bulk.  

In a stroke of genius ~ or desperation ~ I emailed and asked if they ever sell single copies.  Yes!!  You can be sure I ordered a CASLLS (or 3 or 4) for LM as soon as I could.  Pre-sentence CASLLS, simple sentence CASLLS, complex sentence CASLLS, & sounds and speech CASLLS.

And if you need me, I'll just be over here charting speech sounds & language structures I hear coming from her mouth. :)  I love data!

This is 5 1/2

LM is 5 1/2!  Wow! Where has the time gone?

LM is tall and fast and strong.  

She is very in tune to others' emotions.  

She is excited to start kindergarten in August!! She would also like to start year-round swim lessons, gymnastics, and American Heritage Girls, plus soccer, softball, and cheer.  :)  She also has aspirations of speaking Spanish.

She loves to cook and is always eager to make something, wondering aloud if we have the ingredients.  

LM is affectionate and thankful, quick to apologize, and rejoicing over forgiveness granted.   

She loves mom and has been having a harder time the past few months being away from mom.

Her favorite foods are anything crunchy ... croutons, steak, etc. She really isn't picky, just as long as it's not soft food (e.g., applesauce, yogurt, ice cream or pudding).  She only drinks water. Period.

She loves all the toddler learning & dance songs, and goes to bed every night listening to mom sing Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, Holy, Holy, Holy, and the Doxology.  If she can remember those, she'll be in good stead!

Sleep is her forte! During the school year, she slept 6.30-6.30.  Summer schedule is skewed a few hours, but still some solid sleep going on!

LM is independent, always trying to be like her big brother.  This summer she has learned how to buckle her car seat (yay!!!) and is learning how to unbuckle it. 

Her favorite things to do are to sit on the floor and read books, to teach school to her stuffed animals, or to watch "learning," aka ABC Mouse.   

We are so thankful for LM, for her 5 1/2 years (!), for her personality, her sweet nature, and her exuberance about life.  We can't wait to see how she learns and grows in Kindergarten, and mostly how she learns more of the Lord and His love for her.  

This is 8 1/2

LM is 8 1/2!  

He is tall and strong, fast and opinionated, and very verbal with an amazing vocabulary.  

He loves to read ... while eating, riding, going to bed, etc.  Graphic novels are his favorite.  He also loves audiobooks ... especially ones he has listened to over and over, such as The Sugar Creek Gang, Toy Story Collection, Charlotte's Web, the Paddington books, and Anne of Green Gables.  He likes podcasts, especially Base Camp Adventures & The Official Average Boy Podcast.  But his all-time favorite listening activity is Your Story Hour and the weekly free dramatized stories!

Baseball, bicycling, swimming, running. He loves them all!

This summer he has mastered the art of sleeping in!

He loves to work on the farm and he comes home each time with increased confidence ...  and smelly clothes!

His favorite song (thanks to camp) is Great God Almighty. 

His favorite foods are pizza and Bosco sticks.  His favorite restaurant is Blaze Pizza.  But he also loves a good meat, potatoes, and vegetables with salad (& Thousand Island dressing) dinner.  He is not a fan of casseroles or meatloaf, eggs, or milk.  Breakfast is usually dry cereal or a granola bar with bacon or sausage if we have it.  Chocolate milk used to be his thing, but now he asks daily for Gatorade (um, no) or Dr. Pepper (same answer). :)

He loves imaginative play. Any object can become anything else he wants it to be!  Sometimes he ropes LM in (hopefully figuratively) and they act out elaborate scenes for what seems like hours. 

He remembers jokes and brightens our van rides with humor.

2nd grade was the year he started loving art & creating.  For his birthday he received an Inventor's Box and it has given him hours of fun!

We are so thankful for LG's life, his 8 1/2 years (!), his creativity & ideas, the things he is learning about God & His world, and his tenderness towards his mom. ;)  Less than 6 months until we reach the halfway point to 18 ...

Taxi

Our oldest is only 8, so I don't feel like I have truly entered the taxi-driving years.  I'm sure once our children enter middle school it will ramp up.  (Our district has only one middle school, so they will be making friends from all over our 377 square miles district which covers parts of five counties!)

But one day this summer was c-r-a-z-y! 

We left at 11.15 to drive 35 minutes to take LM to speech.  While she was there, LG and I went through drive-through to pick up lunch.  We did Subway that day, and I only got chips + a drink (due to being gluten-free). 

Speech was over at 1, picked up our Walmart order, drove more than 30 minutes to the high school for the last day of soccer camp.  Put on her soccer socks, shin guards, and cleats in time for soccer camp at 2.  Waited while all the children put on their camp t-shirts and lined up for a group photo.  

Home. Put away groceries.  Time to leave for the post office & library, before picking up our carpool friend and taking him and LG with me to be there when soccer was over at 3 for the younger kids.  

Each day I waited until 3.30 when the next two boys' group started (3.30-5).  That day, I waited while all the participants changed into their camp t-shirts and lined up for a group photo.  Then I took LM and our youngest carpool friend home, arriving home around 3.50. 

That would have been my lunch time, except at 2.30 I had packed a boiled egg, apple slices, cheese cubes, and some trail mix to eat in my taxi. :) 

Do you have any taxi-driving tips?

12

We recently celebrated 12 years of marriage.  Well, technically we didn't celebrate, because that's on hold until we can go out for a quick meal while the children are at VBS and possibly have a few nights away if our babysitter doesn't have to show up for jury duty.  Let's say the calendar marked 12 years of marriage.  :)

I'm late to the "in this house" decor, but couldn't pass this up when I saw it for BOGO free at Dollar General Saturday.  We certainly need lots of grace for our many mistakes!

 

In the past three days, I have received the following text from a friend, quoting her devotional that day:

“Most marriages have rough spots because humans marry other humans,”

 read this in another friend's anniversary post on FB:

"In any marriage of two humans, there’s gonna be so much sin flying back and forth," 

 and read this in another friend's IG post:

Today marriage looks like

“I want to kill you” in the morning,

and

“There’s no one I more respect, admire, and love” in the evening.

True, all!

Thankful for marriage, forgiveness, and grace!

1000 Gifts, Vol. 6, #63

621.  freshly laundered sheets & mattress pad

622.  all this daylight in the summer!

623.  a house cleaner

624.  making our home more welcoming & under control

625.  motivating me (& freeing up my time) to purge, sort, and organize

626.  simple summer meals

627.  new library book recommendations (Once Upon a Town, Out to Pasture but not over the hill)

628.  word games

629.  encouraging friends

630.  opportunities to serve

Dreams, Part 2

A few years back I wrote about our dreams to move to the country. 

We still dream.  

This summer there was an antebellum brick house not too far away for sale.  Well-kept, immaculate yard, tree-lined drive, good price.  But enough drawbacks that it wasn't for us.  

Jim farms seemingly random 40-80 acre fields scattered around the countryside, and so we drive country roads getting to them.  One field is odd-shaped (due to the road), plus it has a 3.25 acre home site that juts into it.  

It's only about 3/4 mile from a main road, but the road it is on is quite desolate, and turns to gravel just past this house.  The location is perfect for the farm, school, church, etc.

It's the only field of Jim's that has a house jutting into it.  

We've known that the couple living in it is older and would not live there forever. 

5 or 6 years ago, we said, "That would be a great lot to buy and build on when they sell." (The house itself has seen better days.)

And then the price of building skyrocketed, putting it out of reach. 

And now the couple is selling.  

And we are not buying.  

We still dream ... and pray ... and practice contentment.

1000 Gifts, Vol. 6, #62

611.  heritage

612.  laughter

613.  cousins enjoying time together

614.  children sleeping in after many LATE nights

615.  help

616.  summer schedule so I can rest as needed

617.  children playing outside with the boy next door & my comfortable conversations with his babysitter

618.  rejoicing with the angels as three sinners repented

619.  anticipation of fall Bible study

620.  fall extracurriculars (& carpool!) lining up

This moment

What I'm listening to ... "Shu no mae ni" (a Japanese praise song posted on a friend's FB page)

What I'm drinking ... Harney & Sons Scottish Morn

What I'm reading ... Once Upon a Town (about North Platte, NE)

What I'm playing ... NYT Spelling Bee (hopefully preventing Alzheimer's)

What I'm hearing ... Wind Machine fan on HIGH at the bottom of our stairs

What I'm day-dreaming about ... writing & hosting friends

What I'm seeing ... a clean house (thank you, Lord, for a house cleaner!)

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Jim's grandparents (in heaven for over a quarter of a century already) are larger than life in family lore.  I wish I could have met them.  

After they died, the family started having reunions every four years, with each sibling responsible for planning a reunion.  Once every sibling had had their turn, it went to committee. :) 

The committee planned the 2020 2021 2022 reunion.  This introvert (who was not on the committee) is still recovering from the 2-night 3-day reunion with 41 people at a conference center / Bible camp about three hours away.  

The younger set LOVED being together!  We hardly saw our own children, as they were with their cousins (1st, 2nd, or once removed).  :)

The lodge was comfortable, the food seemed better than 10 years ago, and the activities (many activities including boating, archery, beach, & tree swing) were available for us to enjoy.  Others golfed, and some walked the shore path.  The weather was absolutely perfect!

The 80-92 year old brothers' quartet (singing "Face to Face" and "Blessed Assurance") was very meaningful and definitely a highlight! It's possible that some of them may indeed be face to face with Christ their Savior before the next reunion. 

One cousin did a very nice genealogical presentation, including old German Bibles and other realia.  She also did a presentation of her 95-year-old mother's paintings. Different ones brought paintings of hers that are hanging in their home.  And she showed a Shutterfly book of all of her mother's paintings. 

Another cousin had taken a photo of the aunt's painting of the grandparents' farm and someone had made it into a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle, so that was on a table in the meeting room, and people worked on it as they chatted, until it was completed!

At the talent show, two cousins played some piano duets.  A 7 year old sang some songs in Chinese, and a 12 year old played and sang a hymn she has written.  No doubt there were other entries, but I'm not remembering them right now.  Two other farm wives and I didn't get our act together in time to do the requested updated skit of our Farm Wives' Support Club meeting.

On Saturday night, one couple hosted a really fun Newlywed Game.  The wife wore the dress that Jim's Grandma wore to the wedding of her last son to get married!  It was a really fun game, and Jim and I tied for first, amazingly enough!  What do you wish your husband spent more money on?  Were you first attracted to your wife by her appearance, conversation, or desperation?! :)

In the Sunday service, we sang 3 hymns (including O God our Help in Ages Past and Great is Thy Faithfulness), the younger generation read Scripture passages regarding telling the next generation, the cousins' choir sang, "All the Way My Savior Leads Me," and three people each gave a 5-10 minute testimony, with one of Jim's uncles concluding by singing, "Jesus Led Me All the Way."

Someday life's journey will be o'er
And I shall reach that distant shore
I'll sing while ent'ring Heaven's door
Jesus led me all the way

Chorus:
Jesus led me all the way
Led me step by step each day
I will tell the saints and angels
As I lay my burdens down
Jesus led me all the way

Verse 2
If God should let me there review
The winding paths of earth I knew
It would be proven clear and true
Jesus led me all the way (Chorus)

Verse 3
And hither to my Lord has led
Today He guides each step I tread
And soon in Heav'n it will be said
Jesus led me all the way (Chorus)

The Lake

Our summertime trips to the lake have changed over the years. 

10 or 11 years ago we would go as often as we could. No rain in the forecast for a few days?  Let's pack a bag and go!  

Other family members already there in the one bedroom one bath house?  No problem! The more the merrier! That meant there were others to golf with, others to walk the shorepath with, others to go to restaurants with, and others with whom we could play games together until late at night. 

Fast forward 10 or 11 years.  We still try to go multiple times each summer.   But it's different, and sometimes hard to remember those carefree days when I spent hours and hours reading by the picture window. 

We have done the pack & play, the stroller to the ice cream shop or park, the high chairs in restaurants, the staying home with a napping baby, the return to the church office on Monday morning to pick up a toy left behind in the nursery, the bubbles on the back deck with Uncle M, the walks in the neighborhood holding Grandma's hand (& the precious photo to remember it!).

We have adjusted ... 

There were the early mornings with seven of us in the 1-bedroom house when I put LG in the carseat and drove around to give everyone peace.  

Since Jim often golfs in the afternoon while we are there, he takes the breakfast shift while I go to a fabulous coffee shop (where I was introduced to one of my favorite teas - Rishi China Breakfast - & which serves a delicious oatmeal bake).  Some things are better since Covid, and my Wisconsin mornings are better because, instead of secluding myself in a wonderfully decorated coffee shop, I take my tea and oatmeal to the lake and sit on a bench for a few hours reading & writing, thinking & being recharged. 

Our cellular service doesn't work there (except sometimes from 10 pm - 6 am & sometimes at the beach), which is a blessing. 

Pre-pandemic we spent time almost daily in one of two libraries.  (Jim & I even visited one with lakeside views on our second date. :) )

But as the children get older, we now spend hours every afternoon at the beach.  

Simple play is the name of the game - imagination at the house as the sand toys double as restaurant equipment and a broken tennis racket is the tray for delivering food.  Frisbee. Sidewalk chalk. Uno. Coloring. Just being together. 

We might go out to Subway. But more often than not, we have simple meals of sandwiches, veggie sticks, fruit and chips.  Perhaps with a special treat of watermelon eaten outside. 

No air-conditioning means open windows with fans strategically placed in front of the sliding glass doors.  

The time there is still restful, just in a different way.  We are away from home & daily life.  We are together! We are making memories!

1000 Gifts, Vol.6, #61

1000 Gifts, Vol.6, #61

601. Family time
602. Time away
603. Outdoor time
604. Simpler
605. Grace when we get cranky
606. Growth
607. Hours at the beach
608. Reading a "beach read" at the beach for the first time
609. Morning time alone on a bench by the lake with my favorite tea
610. Summer