Random Summer Thoughts

These days have been long and hot. I have worked hard not to complain about this in type since our summer heat wave started early in June, but it has been really miserable here. The temperature dropped into the 90s this week, though, so I feel that an end may be in sight. There have been some wonderful things about summer though. One thing has been our farmer's C.S.A. share. This was our first summer to purchase a share and I love it. Every week the kids and I go to pick up our bag of vegetables for the week. The produce has been amazingly good and I love having someone give me a bag full of veggies that I need to figure out how to eat! Much better than standing in a large grocery store overwhelmed by the options. This week there is plenty of basil so my freezer is now full of pesto. Only a few more weeks of the CSA left. I will miss being told each week to eat healthy.

There has also been lots of indoor play due to the heat. This week I laughed when I overheard the kids playing "mermaids" (Disney) while dressed in SuperHero costumes (Marvel Comics) and talking about using their lightsabers (Star Wars) to fight the SeaWitch (Disney again). Here is the fort they made to add to this great imaginary landscape.

There has been a lot of boy influence in the house lately. Another birthday with soldiers and pirates and the like. As a girl from a house of girls, it all seems very loud and fast. Caroline and Hannah do a wonderful job of keeping up though, and they actually make it look like a lot of fun. Perhaps I was missing out and didn't know it? This is Henry with his slingshot and duct tape "rock".

Hannah has been quite busy this summer. She is our youngest child to join in on the big kid play so quickly. Here is her other favorite pasttime: taking things out of anything. A cabinet, a bucket, a purse! I have so far lost 4 - $10 pairs of sunglasses to Hannah in 2010. I have quit buying them for this summer and resigned to squinting.

And finally, this is what my children have decided that fine dining means: a smoothie at Panera's. Don't tell them it is not a real restaurant or real food. For right now, we are just pleased that a real meal out is still within reach based on these menu selections. I have a feeling this may change with the colder weather.

Santa Claus

We visit the library about once a week. We fill a large bag with picture books and head out until we are tired of them a week later. Lately we've been going to the library on Fridays and for several Fridays in a row we have seen the same man sitting on the bench under a sheltered area just outside the building. Every week he is wearing the same set of blue hospital scrubs from our local hospital as well as a knitted cap despite the heat wave. He is also always eating some purchased food, Burger King or Wa-wa most recently. He always speaks to us and says hello to the children as we slowly place our books one by one in the book return. Many of the local library folks seem to be familiar with him. Williamsburg has no real homeless population, no soup kitchens, no shelters, so my children have no real concept of "homelessness" yet. This week my observant child, Henry, said to me, "Mommy, I think I know about that man." We were just inside the library doors and after Henry had watched the man very carefully today I was fully prepared for a long discussion on the topic of homelessness. Yes, Henry, I explained, we have seen him several weeks in a row on that same bench. "Yes, but Mommy, I know who he is." What do you mean, Henry? "He is Santa Claus." Did I forget to mention this homeless gentleman has white bushy hair and a white bushy beard? Santa Claus, a man with no clear home or family, just a workshop at the Southpole, is about as close to homelessness as my children can understand. I think we'll have to save the bigger discussion for another day.

He did it!

Today Henry finally realized he could swim! It was so fun to share in his excitement. Over and over again we heard, "Look, (Mommy / Daddy / Caroline) I can do it!" as he dove in the water again and again. The pieces he had worked on all summer came together and once he started he didn't want to stop. As we left tonight he said, "Mommy you said I could swim and I didn't know it, but now I do!". He is most excited to show our lifeguard/swim teacher Miss Amanda. I hope she is prepared for a big afternoon at the pool tomorrow.

Bacon and Popcorn

First, the bacon. I've been reading lots this summer. Recently, I finished Eating Animals and Fast Food Nation. Both books detail the factory farming of poultry, beef and pork. It is overwhelming to read how unethically and with what uncleanliness our food is farmed in order to make a profit. If you think fish are safe, think again. One book describes how many other animals are needlessly killed and wasted by the fishing industry on a daily basis. It's really made my stomach turn to read all of it, and certainly it has caused me to rethink my purchasing and consumption of animal food products. In the past, I've read about the health benefits of a plant-based diet, but this added a whole new dimension to the arguments for a vegetarian diet. That being said, I cooked bacon today. It was the last of a package I had bought pre-disgusting factory farming books (and the pigs were easily the most disgusting part), and while I don't think I can buy bacon anytime soon I did not want to waste it. So I cooked it tonight to put in omelettes and the smell just amazes me. Quickly all thoughts of those poor pigs unable to stand in their own waste just left me. Once again, it was just me and bacon and years of southern comfort food all rolled together. Why is that? If it were not for bacon and it's comforting smell I could have become a vegetarian years ago....

Popcorn is a favorite food of John Mac's. It is also a favorite food of my dad's. My dad makes it almost daily in a pot with oil and kernels, the old-fashioned way. It is so much better than any other type of popcorn. John Mac's daily popcorn habit has been expensive. The microwave bags add up when you make several each afternoon for all the kids, so I had recently invested in a popcorn maker. Of course it broke two months into operation. Today John Mac was desperate for popcorn, nothing else will do. Despite watching my father make popcorn in a pot for years and years, I have never actually done it myself. Today I gave it my first try. It was a little slow at first. It seemed to take a while for the oil to heat up. I was sure the pot wouldn't work, but John Mac kept saying, "It's doing it; it's doing it, Mommy" with such excitement that he made me a believer. Sure enough, it worked. Added some salt and it was delicious. First time try, just like Dad's. So glad the gene was passed down.

Keeping Up

Hannah has had a busy summer keeping up with her older brothers and sisters. As an almost 16 month old, she has quickly transitioned from "I'm the infant" to "I'm one of the pack". There are examples of this in each part of her life right now. For instance, Hannah has decided she should sit at the table like her siblings during meals. She is offended when we try to place her in her high chair. She will carry her booster seat from another part of the house to a kitchen chair herself in order to communicate her wishes clearly. These are some recent pictures showing Hannah's firm desire to be part of the group.

This is us on a recent Lowe's trip. Everyone insisted on riding in the cart somehow. I know one day I will really miss this. It does add a dimension of exercise to your trip however.

Hannah has watched enough swim practice this summer to know that she needs her own pair of goggles. She loves to carry goggles around and is quite good at attempting to "wear" the goggles as well.

This is a recent river day we shared with our cousins. It was so much fun and they were all so busy with the sand for hours. Hannah was just as busy. She kept up with the buckets, shoveling and water just like the big kids.

The "bench" in our kitchen is a favorite place for everyone to sit. Hannah has figured out how to climb up and sit there as well. Everyone has a place at the bench now.

Trapped

I tried to be a good Mommy today and take John Mac and Hannah to the indoor play area at Chick-fil-a. Henry and Caroline were finishing their last morning of camp at Jamestown Settlement, and I thought John Mac needed a special morning after lots of watching swim team and then dropping off siblings for camp. We bought some orange juice and headed to the play area. I will have to admit that I was talking on the phone briefly when it happened. Hannah was toddling around the bottom area and John Mac, because he is not tall enough to climb up the large triangle "steps" in the play area decided to climb up the slide. I didn't think he would get very far, but he quickly made it to the very top of the slide, and then the very top of the play area. That is when he started to cry. I got off the phone (this is after judging lots of young moms in the past for talking on their cell phones because they cannot handle the boredom of watching their kids enjoy the play area). I used my calm voice to explain how if you climbed up to the top by yourself, you can certainly climb down. This rationalization only made him cry more loudly. Hannah was now trying to climb up the bottom of the slide, a rescue attempt of her own. I am dialing my husband over and over; maybe he is in the area, maybe he is driving from the office to get coffee. No answer for three calls in a row. John Mac is louder now. I look around; there is no helpful old lady to hold Hannah, no helpful young man to climb up the play area, no helpful young Mom who has children to coax John Mac down. So I am trapped. I put down my purse and leave Hannah still joyfully attempting to climb up the slide. Five months pregnant I climb those germ-infested blue triangles to the tip top. (Did I mention I do not like heights?). Free entertainment at the Chick-fil-a today: pregnant woman climbing to top of play area to rescue crying three year old. Do you think he knows I love him? I sure hope so.

Fear and Laughter

Fear and Laughter are two very powerful motivators. I've been watching this up close lately in our children and thinking about it for myself. One child has been struggling so much with real and rational fears in learning to swim, to be in the water. It is so tough to watch. You know that he has all the components of swimming down, all the pieces to put together....But he's afraid. He asks good questions; he is thinking it through. But overall, he's afraid of swallowing water and sputtering helplessly. That fear keeps him clutching the kickboard, watching from the shallow end...missing out on lots of what will eventually be so much fun. When he gets over his fear and gives it a try.

Our youngest child has been busy with laughter lately. She tries different things just to make herself laugh. She throws herself on a pillow on the floor and giggles. She wiggles on her back in a big chair, taking up all the space of one big cushion. She quickly turns things upside down to empty them and laugh as the contents fall on the floor. It's not a malicious laugh. It's a "wow, it's so amazing and fun all the things I can do" laugh. She is delightful and it is so fascinating to see all that she will do to make herself smile. And it keeps me smiling while I pick up the pillows, put the shoes back in the basket, place the bottles back in the big bin...again. Laughter is powerful.

I want to help the fearful laugh. I realize though as I seek to bring that freedom to my fearful child that I am just as easily stopped by the power of fear. Maybe it's not in the swimming pool anymore, but I sure hope Hannah's contagious laughter will slowly help to melt away my fears as well. Her laughter hides a truth about the ephemeral nature of life down here, the joy of so many created things, the power of love far deeper than ourselves....May Jesus' love make me laugh and be my real motivator today.