School days

What do I do all* day?  

A friend answered this question by saying she does all the things she normally does, just with fewer interruptions.  True. 

I spend a lot of time on the phone.  Today's to-do list (after taking a child to an 8.30 AM medical appointment) includes things like dishes, laundry, taking my pills, and tidying.  It also includes: 

• pay property taxes
• prepare a deposit for the bank
• call the couple who owns the pasture surrounding the family cemetery
• call our church office about a Women's Ministry task
• make a business call for my mom
• register & pay online for one of our extra-curriculars, etc. 

This week we have seven appointments (granted two are on Zoom), plus our extra-curriculars start up for fall semester ~ Monday & Wednesday Run Club, Trail Life, and Awana.  (Plus LM's speech therapy at the university clinic, which I counted as an appointment, is sort of an extra-curricular every Thursday afternoon.)

I joined two book launches last week - Midnight Mercies for Mom and a picture book for children, “The Great Big Sad,” on loss & grief.  I haven’t received the picture book yet, but the mom book is ministering deeply to me, reminding me of Truth.  And I want to do a Nancy Guthrie Bible study. 

I have been making our bed every day, which adds a lot of visual peace to our home.  And I sorted through the piles in our room (resulting in $42 worth of items sold on our front porch so far).  But it has also reduced stress, because I know what is there & where it is. It's not weighing on me as much.  I replaced the black sun-blocking curtains with our regular pretty valances, so that helps a bit, too.  

My FB memories showed this verse today:

 

And a friend sent me this song last night: 

* "all day" is 6.75 hours.  

Best Christmas presents

I remember a few of my childhood Christmas gifts ... the calculator in grade school, the lap desk in high school, and the baby doll in a box the year that Santa (a family friend) came to our house.  We received one present from our parents each year plus a gift from the cousin gift exchange.  (One year I received a sheep skin rug.  One year I received a box of cheese crackers.)  And usually something from my aunt in Florida.  She started us each on a collection. Mine was bells. I also remember the year that Grandma was with us for Christmas, so we each received a gift to open from her - a wicker trash basket for our bedroom & a pair of nail clippers. Those were simpler times. 

Last year, BK's best Christmas present was a police officer costume.  LM's was LeapFrog My Story Pal.  Mine was an Olive & June set and Celebrate with Babs cookbook ~ both of which were purportedly from Jim but purchased by me. ;)  After Christmas I received an air fryer from Jim, which was a surprise, and also a surprise in that I have ended up using it multiple times daily!

A gift from a few years back has recently given BK a lot of enjoyment - walkie talkies! LM continues to love a stuffed llama we gave her for Christmas in 2020.  Recently Grandma sewed its leg back on. <3 And the Magnatiles for Christmas 2020 are still played with regularly (& were the first - and only - things our children ever built with).

After marrying Jim, I was unprepared to give a list of Christmas gift ideas to his family around Thanksgiving time, so now I keep a running list on my phone.  It also helps when the children say they want something. "I can put it on your Christmas list." (I type it in the note on my phone right then. Usually by Christmas they have forgotten about it.)

So, what should I put on my list for 2023?

H*O*T!

It is hot!

We set a new record of 121*F heat index yesterday afternoon. 

Lots of after school sports practices & events have been cancelled all week.  

Today is an early release day from school because of the heat, and wanting to reduce the time students are on un-air-conditioned buses. 

Obviously I'm avoiding the oven, but it's hard to even have an appetite in this heat. 

The only thing in my fridge that sounds good for lunch is cantaloupe. :) 

It reminds me of the summer during college that I spent on kitchen crew at my uncle's north Georgia camp. One week was especially hot, and the kitchen (where we were using lots of heat sources) was un-air-conditioned. 

We kitchen staff would eat lunch after the rest of the camp ate.  And that week we ate on the front porch and talked about how much we just wanted to eat fruit & jello.  

It's that hot.  

Thrifting

One of my main school year goals is decluttering.  This week's decluttering resulted in two bags of hand-me-downs to pass on, $27 worth of items sold overnight on my front porch via FB Marketplace, lots of trash, and ...  a bulging box and a huge shopping bag full of donations.  So, the children and I went to our favorite thrift store to drop off our donations ... and to shop! (Insert face palm...)

$12 later we walked out with a (behind the glass because it was $5) Vera Bradley Kindle case, a huge Sam's box full of a Geotrax train set ($3), a stuffed animal and some play kitchen toys (I've never seen a toy colander or a lemon juicer before!), a book on prayer for parents, a festive Hallmark mitten-shaped serving dish, travel Rummikub and a Cranium Matching Madness game.  

 Isn't that mitten so fun?!

The County Library

Imagine you lived anywhere in the USA and started researching your family tree.  You decided to travel to places where your ancestors lived and were buried, and ended up in northeast Tennessee.  One place you went to do research was at the county library, and when you asked if they had any information about a certain family, the librarian said, "Yes, go to such and such an address to see such and such a man."

You pulled out of the library, headed down the road, found the address, rang the bell, and said, "Hello, I'm so-and-so. My 4th great-grandmother was so-and-so."

What kind of response would you expect? Perhaps directions to a family cemetery or copies of a family tree?

Well, I met a woman last week who did that back in 2018, and earlier this month my sister answered  my parents' phone and spoke with a woman who had done that several years ago.  (And I remember it happening many times in my youth.)

The response was: "Come on in. Sit down." Then my dad would proceed to pull out documents related to that particular ancestor [he had info on several branches of the family tree that he could pull from], perhaps photos, obituaries, letters from them (100 years ago or more), diaries, discharge papers from the Civil War, etc!  And later he would say, "Spend the night. We have plenty of room." 

And years later, they would still be in contact by phone or Christmas cards or even visits by my parents to Missouri or Indiana or Florida, and probably return visits from the relatives.

This was totally normal to me growing up. And even last week, we stopped along the interstate driving through Indiana, and my dad's 5th cousin (?) drove 40 minutes to meet us and receive an antique harness that Dad had promised her.  

But it strikes me that most people probably haven't experienced this (either as researcher or archivist/ host).  Have you? ;)

Our Summer in Numbers

Swim lessons (for LM) - 22

Swim team practice (for BK) - 8?

Swim meets (for BK) - 3

Afternoons at the beach - 5 (+ BK & Jim @ a private beach)

Afternoons (or days!) at the pool - countless, but the ones that stick out are the one in TN (which really is comprised of *multiple* pools) and the very nice city pool we went to in WI (+ a motel pool)

Day at a waterpark - 1

Speech therapy (for LM) - 5

Testing appointments - 4

Other appointments for the children - 12

Appointments for Mom (dentist, hair, infusions, lab, etc.) - 14

Dinner out with a friend for Mom - 1

Wedding - 1

Shower - 1

Baseball games - 6 

Books read (by LM) - around 120

Picnics, cookouts, etc. - 5 (baseball league, baseball team, family reunion, foam party & lunch @ church, small group)

Play dates for BK - 3 (cool park, bouldering, and high ropes course)

Times the backyard playhouse fell over - 2 

Days of VBS - 9 

Week of Bible camp - 1

Bible studies attended - 0

Prayer meetings attended - 0

Date nights - 0 (unless 24-hour trip to Chicago doctor counts)

Trips to Wisconsin - 3 (14 days) 

Trips to Tennessee - 1 (7 days)

Trips to Chicago & suburbs - 2 (4 days)

Miles driven - no clue; a lot!

Concession stand food, and drive-through - too much!

Sins committed, forgiveness asked, mercy received - countless 

1 No, not despairingly
Come I to Thee;
No, not distrustingly
Bend I the knee:
Sin hath gone over me,
Yet is this still my plea,
Jesus hath died.

2 Ah! Mine iniquity
Crimson has been,
Infinite, infinite,
Sin upon sin;
Sin of not loving Thee,
Sin of not trusting Thee,
Infinite sin.

3 Lord, I confess to Thee
Sadly my sin;
All am tell I Thee,
All I have been:
Purge Thou my sin away,
Wash Thou my soul this day;
Lord, make me clean.

4 Faithful and just art Thou,
Forgiving all;
Loving and kind art Thou
When poor ones call:
Lord, let the cleansing blood,
Blood of the Lamb of God,
Pass o'er my soul.

5 Then all is peace and light
This soul within;
Thus shall I walk with Thee,
The loved Unseen;
Leaning on Thee, my God,
Guided along the road,
Nothing between.

Amen.

Source

Sunday afternoon visits

My childhood memories of Sunday afternoons fall into three categories:

• a full dining room table, china & silver, delicious meal with dessert, conversation that lasted for hours & dishwashing that lasted much longer, ;)
• visiting various elderly relatives in their home or nursing home, sitting patiently & as still as a mouse on the couch while the adults talked about history,
• taking Sunday afternoon rides through the countryside (primarily southwestern Virginia).

I remember reading an anecdote in one of Susan Hunt's books.  She had taken her children's Sunday School class to the nursing home to visit someone from their church. The children asked, "Mrs. Hunt, why are you bringing us here?" And she explained about the Body of Christ, ways we show God's love and care for others, etc. And then she wrote, "And one day I'm going to be in the nursing home, and I want them to come visit me, so I'm teaching them." 

My parents definitely did a good job of teaching us that by example!

I remember an Easter lunch (with spoon bread on the menu) when my Dad drove to the city east of us to pick up the Morton sisters and bring them to eat with us. (What time did we eat lunch? 1 PM?! That wasn't convenient.)

I remember a Christmas when my mom brought Aunt Eula to our home from her nursing home over by the airport.  She stayed at least one night. In my memory there were 2 or 3 beds plus a roll-away in the bedroom over the dining room. I think some of the beds might have held two people!  Aunt Eula was in the one closest to the door, and I remember being afraid of her glass eye.  Now that I look back, I'm not sure how she ever got up & down the steps!

I remember a season when I was in middle school or high school (I think h.s.) that my Mom would drop us off at school and then go to Aunt Eula's nursing home by the high school and feed her breakfast.  She would recite Psalm 23 with her.  And she never failed to encourage Aunt Eula's great niece and great nephews to mail her cards, so the staff would know she had a family who cared about her.  

When my own mother-in-law was in the nursing home, I remembered my own Mom's example, and felt we should visit her as often as possible. In that season of my life (BK was commuting 65 miles one-way to school, and her nursing home was 20 minutes away in the opposite direction), that meant once a week. I put it in my schedule, and it wasn't easy with a 13 month old.  But Grandma loved babies, and everyone thought LM was one of her great-grandchildren.  My SIL would always say, "No; she loves babies so much that we spread her grandchildren out!" 

As much as my parents taught me (& Jim's parents modeled this also), we are still working on making this part of our family's lifestyle.  Sigh. 

Nagano - updated

Sipping my afternoon decaf tea from my beloved Nagano mug today, as I ponder all the photos I have seen on FB recently of friends who are at Nojiri Lake. (Nojiri is many things, but to me it is a collection of rustic cabins, some without flush toilets, on the mountainside above a lake. This has long been a vacation spot for missionaries and expats in Japan and has its own culture from the era when expats escaped the city for a month or longer each year.) 

Nagano Prefecture in Japan is perhaps most famous for hosting the 1998 (& upcoming 2026) Winter Olympics.  

I first visited Nagano mere weeks after arriving in Japan as an 18 year old, and mistakenly took the wrong train from Tokyo. Unable to speak a word of Japanese, I found myself at the end of the train line, with all other passengers disembarking and the cleaning crew ushering me off.  The station master could only say, "Karuizawa - one hour - bus," so I had no option but to trust him. To this day no one knows where I was. :) 

I next visited Nagano during the 1990 New Year's holiday on a young adult ski trip with my Japanese church.  (That was my first & next to the last attempt at skiing!)

Over the years, I visited Nagano several times ... at least three times to Nojiri Lake (twice in summer & once in winter), several times to Karuizawa for retreats, conferences, language study, weekends away, and visiting friends, and one wintry weekend in Iiyama. 

To me Nagano represents mountains (not unlike my beloved Appalachians), cooler air, freedom from the city, and the spiritual refreshment of Christian conferences or concentrated Christian community.  Nagano means monkeys, onsen, pine trees, volcano, tunnels, and a reminder of generations of missionaries who went before me. 

Where would you like to have afternoon tea today? (Although at Nojiri Lake, it was always afternoon iced mugicha.)

Posts I have written which mention Karuizawa

Post about the missionary cemetery in Karuizawa

Hymn decor

I treated myself to some hymn decor during the annual seconds sale at Little Things Studio. 

Sign up for their newsletter to be the first to know when they have their next sale. 

Little Things Studio us16.list-manage.com

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Dumpster on Wheels

My goal for this school year is that we never pull up in car line looking like a dumpster on wheels.  The children spent 20 minutes the morning of the first day of school, cleaning out the junk that had accumulated (just in their row!).

Over time a mom develops a unique relationship with the car pool attendants (in our case the librarian and PE teacher). On the first day of school, car line was empty, as most parents parked and were taking photos of their children in front of the school sign.  

So, I chatted with the librarian. She has seen our van every school day morning & afternoon, and seen it in the worst possible condition.  I told her that our new goal is not to look like a dumpster on wheels.  

On the second morning of school, she peeked in the middle seat after the children got out, and gave me two thumbs up. "Good job, Mom!" (My job is not the cleaning; but the motivating.)

We'll see how long this lasts, but it sure would be nice to build a good habit!

Mom hacks ~ like with like

1 - UNIFORMS

I have started keeping certain clothing items in my room. 

We only need them on certain days or occasions.  But on those days we NEED them, and this eliminates the frantic searching on our way out the door. 

• Baseball uniforms (including socks)

• Awana T&T shirt (the Sparks vest lives in the Sparks bag which hangs on our coat rack)

• Swim suits 

• Children's colorful wool socks for playing in the snow live in my sock drawer (so they won't be worn for dress-up)

• Trail Life uniform shirt

2 - GARDEN FLAGS

Several years ago I purchased a garden flag with stand.  And I picked out a Christmas flag, Thanksgiving flag, etc. But I struggled to know where to put these new items that had entered our home.  Do I put the Christmas flag with the Christmas decorations? Which box? Do I store them all in my room? Where? After a number of years, I hit upon what works for me.  I hang them all on a skirt hanger just inside my closet.  

They are all in one place, so I always know where to look to find the next season's and where to put away this season's.  

What life hacks are saving your time & energy these days?

Summer Vacation ~ Day 83

Day 83 ~ Tuesday, August 15th

At times this summer, I wasn't sure I would make it to this day with my sanity intact.  But here we are!  The Lord has sustained us. Thank you, if you were part of that by praying! From this vantage point, it seems like it was FAST! We definitely had a FULL summer and made lots of memories!

After yesterday morning's 7.15 AM Eastern wake-up, we tried a 6.30 AM Central wake-up this morning (Ouch!). No surprise that each child took the offer of "10 more minutes," and then we had a dance party in the living room with Alexa playing songs from the two VBSes they attended this summer.  Hey! Anything to get them up & moving before tomorrow's first day of school. Yikes!

The goal was not too many projects, but to stay awake!  Lots of imaginative play, cleaning up the yard toys in prep for lawn mowing, and a rare morning screentime.  I moved laundry & dishes through, answered some phone calls & rearranged some upcoming appointments.  

After lunch, BK worked on the farm.  LM & I visited the grandparents, and then went to school at 5 PM for Open House.  She is EXCITED!! 

I ordered a second pair of glasses, registered for Awana, tried unsuccessfully to pay school fees & lunch fees online, and emailed both teachers a "We are thankful for you & will fully support you" email.

We aimed for early bedtimes.  Tomorrow morning we'll find out if they were early enough. :) 

Summer Vacation ~ Days 76-82

Day 76 ~ Tuesday, August 8th

After finishing packing, changing the guest bed sheets, and hastily trying to remove any temptations in the kitchen for ants, we left at 9:15 AM, the latest I think we have ever left.

11 hours, various restroom stops, one McDonald's drive-through, multiple playaways (and even some podcasts for the front seat), lots of gum, two grocery stores, and a scenic overlook later, we arrived at my childhood home.

Day 77 ~ Wednesday, August 9th

Visited with mom & did little tasks around the house.

I skipped lunch, and my late-afternoon pimento sandwich was long gone by the time we sat down at a restaurant for meat, potatoes and vegetables. Tomorrow's goal is to eat three solid meals. :)

Day 78 ~ Thursday, August 10th

Jim and the children ran errands (post office, mouse traps, and a treat of gluten free chocolate chip cookies for me). Quintessential southern bbq restaurant for lunch. Carousel. Stopped in to see one of my sisters at work. Then ate dinner out.

I gave both children a double-dose of melatonin!

It doesn't sound like much, but we have crossed lots of items off our lists.

Day 79 ~ Friday, August 11th

Lots of answered prayer today.

Jim fed the children and took them to a State Park. They came home muddy! Success! :)

The children's class assignments were posted online today. Mrs. J for LM and Mrs. S for BK. We're pleased.

Day 80 ~ Saturday, August 12th

Had a nice conversation with Mom, about hymns among other things.

Jim and the children spent 5 hours at a nice pool facility. BK braved the high dive for the first time!!

I joined them the last hour and a half after I went to an anniversary open house for longtime family friends. A very special time!

LM crashed on the way home. I started a little packing while Jim and BK played ball.

Day 81 ~ Sunday, August 13th

Worship at the church I grew up in. Lunch.  Last minute packing up, and then we headed north instead of west, in hopes of enjoying mountain scenery. Jim put it well: "I feel like I have been driving through trees for hours!"

After a horrendous rainstorm on steep curvy mountain roads, we arrived at a favorite motel stop at 10 PM Eastern time. Zzzzzz.

Day 82 ~ Monday, August 14th

The children woke up happily at 7:15 AM Eastern time because there was the promise of swimming after breakfast in the motel pool. Hopefully this will translate to getting up on time for school which starts this week. :)

(We have stayed at this hotel many times, but today's breakfast is the best non-cooked-to-order hotel breakfast I've ever had. The refrigerator held cups of grapes, and there was a basket full of individually wrapped gluten-free blueberry muffins. The children love the pancake maker and, unlike most hotels, the hot tea did not taste like coffee.)

After a rainy day of driving (broken up by Chick-fil-A in Indy and a 30-minute parking lot visit with my dad's 5th cousin to whom we delivered an antique harness), we arrived home around 4:30, feeling completely exhausted!

Supper & baths & then bed!!



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Summer Vacation ~ Day 75

Day 75 ~ Monday, August 6th

Up in time to eat breakfast, keep hydrating, take my IV pole & infusion supply bag & 3 gallon Sharps container to the TV room, and then premedicate before my nurse arrived at 8 AM. 

I spent the first hour reading to LM on the couch, but she's a little too rambunctious for my IV, so she ended up having screen time.  BK worked on the farm all day. 

My nurse left around 12.30 and I cooked two frozen pizzas and some corn on the cob and defrosted a leftover chicken patty for myself.  

Then LM needed a bath from playing in the mud. While she took a bath, I cleaned her room for guests who will be staying in our guest room (aka LM's room).

While doing a few more loads of laundry, I sat down & rested (& drank).  LM worked puzzles very quietly & conscientiously.

Jim & BK were home at 6, so I could leave for an imaging appointment at 7 PM.  I left nachos & veggie sticks for the supper menu. 

Home at 8, and Jim went back to the farm to work until 11.30.

Another full day.  I'm thankful that I could keep going (I got 17,200 steps today!).  The past two months after my infusion, I have been completely wiped out.  

Summer Vacation ~ Day 74

Day 74 ~ Sunday, August 6th

Our hotel reservation via Hotline came with breakfast vouchers at the sit-down restaurant in the hotel. Breakfast is my favorite meal, so I appreciated that.

We made it to College Church in time to visit the book stall and buy books to occupy little ones during worship. ;)

We enjoyed the architecture (especially since our church is meeting in the gym temporarily this summer), the memories, the trombone trio & organ, the congregational singing of solid hymns, and the really excellent sermon. We also enjoyed a chat outside after the service with our sister-in-law's parents!

Home by 4 PM. Hydration time (for tomorrow's infusion). Plus unpack, pick up the messes, and start gathering things to pack for TN.

Thankful the tornadic weather was south of us!

LM played in the mud and then enjoyed a nice warm bath ("This calms me down"). Both children played with play-doh for a long time!

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Summer Vacation ~ Day 73

Day 73 ~ Saturday, August 5th

We accidentally slept late probably due to the rain. That didn't give us as much time to pack, pay bills, turn in summer reading logs, & work on the farm (Jim) as we had anticipated, but around 11:45 we pulled out of the garage.

We made a very quick stop by our hotel to check in early and change into our wedding clothes.

We made it to the 4 pm wedding with plenty of time and enjoyed a God-honoring ceremony and lots of time with family!

I think BK had ten Shirley Temples and did the Photo Booth about 30 times. LM stayed on the dance floor till we left at 10:40. The groom came over to me at one point and asked if she ever runs out of energy. Um, no. :)

We were very thankful that we had a hotel room for the night. Spoiler alert: no melatonin necessary. :)



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Summer Vacation ~ Day 72

Day 72 ~ Friday, August 4th

Super fun play date at a super fun park 32 miles away from 10-noon with the family of a boy whom BK met at summer Bible camp!  The 5 kids all seemed to have fun. (The boys were drenched in sweat within 5 minutes.) And I had the most pleasant time conversing with the mom.  The boys wanted to have another play date tomorrow. :) 

Then free lunch at CFA, using up most of our free points (I didn't realize they expire in September, if I read it right). Walmart to buy a replacement pair of broken metal toy handcuffs. ;) UPS to drop off the two packages of returns. (I just so happened to see a UPS Customer Center as we were driving.) 

And ... wait for it ... ADHD meds!!!! (It only took 19 phone calls & a 96 hour wait.  30 day reprieve til I'm back at it ...) (And a gluten-free scone as my reward for persevering.)

Home to handle medical phone calls, reserve free concert tickets (yay!),  keep pushing laundry through, and create a halfway decent supper (frozen salmon in the air fryer, rice in the instant pot, and frozen veggies). 

Some of today's jobs are still undone (packing for TN, ordering eyeglasses for BK, returning library books & summer reading logs, packing for the wedding, etc.).  Those will either get done tomorrow or Monday ... or we'll survive without them.  (Maybe???)

Summer Vacation ~ Day 71

Day 71 ~ Thursday, August 3rd 

The morning was spent trying (unsuccessfully again) to procure ADHD medication.  Pray for kids going back to school who need it to be successful.  My heart goes out to families who don't have time, a vehicle, or gas money to drive all over looking for it. 

Another part of the day was spent gathering courage to order glasses for BK on Zenni.  Can I accurately measure pupillary distance at home? That is the question.  Praying he has glasses before school starts!

The children played at a friend's house with her children while I had my hair appointment. 

I missed an important business phone call while I was leaning back getting my hair shampooed, and will have to try to call them back today. 

But I did answer the phone when caller ID showed the name of our school. That totally took me back, because school hasn't even started yet! Our kind principal is deciding on class rosters and wanted to see how LM is doing, as that affects her decision. She knows that in April & May LM wasn't doing well, so she wanted an up-to-date summary.  Our family has been praying for our principal that the Lord will guide her, so I was extra thankful that she checked in with us.  

Two returns which I have packaged and with shipping labels affixed have missed two opportunities for me to drop them off at UPS locations. We'll try again today. 

It was a day of tasks ... many of which were not completed.  

But the greatest task of all has been completed. "It is finished," our Lord declared from the cross, and that is our hope, along with the fact that He ever lives to make intercession for us.  

“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me. (Robert Murray M’Cheyne)

1000 Gifts, Vol. 7, #86

Things I'm Loving

851.  such informative, encouraging, stimulating podcasts during my 2 hours of solo drive time all summer ;)

852. outdoor toys

853. the biggest smile I've ever seen on BK's face (taken by his friend's mom at the bouldering gym)

854. a super nice pool (pool, staff, and families) where LM has taken swim lessons

855. our van (it can get crazy dirty inside, but it serves us so well)

856. our church (commitment to God's Word, prayer, reaching the nations, reaching our own youth)

857. sloppy joes recipe (link: here)

858. the summer sun (we lose 60 minutes/day of daylight this month, so I'm soaking it in)

859. the book, "Downsizing the Family Home" (All of us who are drowning in stuff need to read it & live lighter now. Stay tuned to see if I follow it...)

860. the airplane in our backyard that has been played hard on for four summers straight

Summer Vacation ~ Day 70

Day 70 ~ Wednesday, August 2nd

Jim left around 6 to go load hogs for market.  I slept in a while longer.  The children slept in even longer. ;) In fact, Jim was back before they woke up.  

BK went with us to swim lessons, because afterwards we went directly to drop him off at a bouldering gym with a friend.  I can't even remember how LM and I spent our afternoon (other than 5 phone calls trying to track down the all-elusive ADHD medication; still trying!). 

His friend's mom brought him home around 4, and stayed til around 5, while all her children, my children and the neighborhood children ran, scootered, biked, and big-wheeled around the neighborhood. And played with outside toys. (She asked where I found them.  Link here.) 

I was gone from 5.25 - 8.40 for a meeting in town.  The family had sloppy joes, and I had Panera. :)  Solo drive time is my podcast time.  Yesterday I listened to an interview with Sissy Goff about her book, "The Worry-Free Parent," and another excellent one on the ScreenStrong Families podcast, about why 8th grade is the absolute worst time to give a child a smart phone.  (I think they're pushing back on the "Wait Until 8th" campaign.)

Another day, another 24 hours testifying to God's sustaining power!

The Summer that was

This has been the summer that was!

I cannot count how many times on a Tuesday afternoon I have come *this* close to cancelling the Wednesday house cleaner, just because I wasn't sure we could get the house picked up.  It is that lived in!

At the beginning of the summer I threw out my big goals to teach LM to read, to use a struggling learners' program, to have a super structured schedule, etc.  And our goal narrowed to one thing only: keep everyone alive and in my line of sight.  Safety was our number one priority.  I cancelled all extraneous appointments (such as annual orthodontic visit & LM's 6 month follow up with the eye doctor, which probably wasn't that extraneous...).

And, so far, so good! Everyone's alive! Whew! (But I'm exhausted and have PTSD from being hypervigilant.)

(And, part of safety was swim lessons for LM, which took 24 mornings minus 3 we missed [although, looking back, we should have stopped at 16, but hindsight is 20/20], so that was a huge time commitment.)

But bills still have to be paid, eyeglass warranty claims still have to filed, medication still has to be managed (Ai-yai-yai! That's a big one. I have to trigger the shipment of two of my expensive meds each month, and then I have to be home before they get ruined in the sun, store them properly, and remember to take them on time.  And don't get me started on ADHD meds. It's a nationwide crisis which takes more time & patience than I have just to procure.  And then I have to remember to dole them out, which often includes carrying a controlled substance in my tiny belt bag so that when my phone alarm goes off at 3 PM wherever we are -- waiting room, pool, etc. -- I can give it to said child.), etc.

School still had to be registered for (I don't understand that one), school supplies purchased or repurposed, labeled, and ready in a bag.  Appointments that we need in 1, 3, 6 months have to be worked on (read: insane amounts of paperwork). 

I was encouraged today to read the newsletter from The Lazy Genius (link).  Her kids didn't fill out reading logs this summer, and this is what she said:

I have no lessons or wrap-ups here. I'm just saying that my kids haven't read, and that doesn't mean that Kaz and I are bad parents or that I'm a failure or that my kids are doomed for life because they didn't fill out their reading charts in 2023. 

Sometimes things don't happen the way you want them to.

That's it. That's the bow at the end. I need the reminder just as much as you do that one summer without reading or vacations or projects completed or memories or whatever you wanted or expected does not mean that the summer was some kind of moral failure. 

I don't think the goal of life is to succeed at what you set your mind to. I think it's being kind to yourself when you don't.

Another quote:

learning to pivot is better than learning to plan, and sometimes pivoting requires an emotional elasticity and fortitude we don't always have the energy for. But it's still good, beautiful work, even when it feels hard.

And perhaps the one I resonated with the most:

I am so weary.

I'm also living in a season where my typical rhythms of rest and refueling are cast aside because it's the summer. Maybe the same is true of you. During the school year, I take Fridays off and protect them vigilantly so that I can just exist in my own house without any responsibilities. During the school year, I eat lunch like it's a moment, like it's the very emotional center of my day because it kind of is. And I don't have either of those during the summer. 

It's been a different season (and summer with a 9.5 & 6.5 year old is different than the last one I experienced with an 8.5 and 5.5 year old).  And I wasn't really prepared for shifting gears so radically.  

How has your summer been? 

Summer Vacation ~ Day 69

Day 69 ~ Tuesday, August 1st

My body woke up at 5 AM. I finished a lot of the paperwork I started yesterday. Thank you, Lord!

Swim lessons for LM at 10:30 while I had a phone call poolside. BK worked on the farm. LM spent half the afternoon with grandma making applesauce, while BK and I had an appointment.

Today's mail brought my order from the seconds sale at Little Things Studio. It felt like Christmas! Note cards, magnets, and tea towels with hymns on them? Yes, please!!

We are at the point in summer vacation where all meals from here on out will be either cereal or sandwiches. :)

I was the first one in bed… At 8 PM with two Tylenol.

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