Ramblings on our summer

Okay, the update you’ve been waiting for! It’s been a while so here goes. Be warned it’s long, but I’ve never been accused of brevity when I really get around to writing.


Erick is obsessed with Pokemon and Cub Scouting. The first I could give or take, but I’m so excited he’s loving the second! He has been scouring his book lately for things to pass off, and sometimes what he brings me is kind of a stretch. Most recently he wanted to count the father’s and son’s outing as a daycamp, but I’m not sure it’s quite there. He’s earned his bobcat and should be getting it at our next (ahem, our first, thanks to his forgetful mother) pack meeting. That’s a huge step up from his crying fit a couple of weeks ago about how scouting is dumb and just takes time away from his friends. Apparently he’s had a change of heart and I couldn’t be more grateful. It also probably helps that one of his good friends from school has decided to join his troop even though it’s a church troop. They’re good friends of ours and are excited about it, and I think a little competition with Ethan has already lit the fire under Erick. I found a book the other day I think he needs called “The Dangerous Book for Boys.” If anyone needs christmas ideas, that would be a fun one. ;-)

He’s really doing much better this year with his schoolwork as well, credit largely due to Claymont’s fancy student planners. Every day they write down their homework for that day, after which his teacher initials in the planner that what he’s written is correct. Then, after having done his homework either Justin or I initial it completed and send it back with him. It sounds like a hassle, and it might be if your child is an overachiever who would get the work done anyway, but for me it’s like heaven just knowing what’s going on and that he’s on top of it.

He’s always a good big brother and is so sweet to me. His favorite thing to say is “So, mom, how was your day?” and “Is there anything I can do to help with dinner?” No joke. And he still loves to hug me and Justin and kisses me on the cheek religiously before bed at night. Such a softie.

Izzie and school this year are not doing so well. I haven’t figured it out just yet, but she’s really not been happy. She dawdles in the morning getting ready and whines about going, but the only specific complaint I get is that it’s just too long of a day. I can’t really do anything about that part, so we’re going to give it a few more weeks. I talked with her teacher the other day and made her aware of Izzie’s misgivings, asking her to keep an eye on her a little, and the only thing she said was that Izzie seemed to have a slight speech impediment when she reads. I swear, at home there’s nothing and I listen to her read every day, but I do notice when Izzie doesn’t feel like talking and is forced to she’ll slur her words together. I wonder if that’s what she’s talking about. It could be a long year.

Away from school Izzie is doing great. She and Maeve are two peas in a pod and practically joined at the hip, and when she’s not with Maeve it’s because she’s been invited elsewhere. She’s a sweet girl and LOVES her little brother Matt. She and Audrey struggle a little – and Audrey being the typical little sister interested in all Izzie’s stuff doesn’t help. Izzie got an electronic locking diary the other day she’s thrilled with and spends a lot of time writing in. It even has a little black light and pen for REALLY secret stuff. In fact, we may not have to put that wall up between their beds after all. At least not yet.

Audrey has started preschool this year and I get to be one of her teachers! We’ve organized a co-op preschool between five kids and moms in our ward and have really had a blast with it so far. My first day teaching was yesterday and the lesson and the kids were quite adorable. We’re using a pre-made curriculum called Mother Goose Time Preschool that comes with all the lessons put together and all the crafts and activities, and the total cost for three days a week came out to about $10 per month per child. Amazing, because most preschools around here run closer to $160 per month for the same amount of time. Because we’re trading off teaching every two weeks we each have the kids two weeks in ten which so far is lovely.

She has become a very good and careful colorer lately, too. She’s spent over an hour on her pictures and I’ve been very proud of her! She’s so ready for letters and reading, but we haven’t gotten to that yet. I didn’t push them with Izzie at all though and I’ve kind of regretted it a little. She was ready, too, and although I figured she’d just catch up quickly in school (and she has!), going to school that first day and realizing there was SOMEONE in the class who could read and she couldn’t has had a greater effect on her self-confidence than I would have supposed. So with Audrey we’ll do a little more prep, I think.

Audrey knows as much about Pokemon as anyone in the house these days and I’m often surprised to hear her talk about it with Erick. I guess it’s all about having big brothers. She’s still my imaginative child, though, and spends a lot of time playing alone with her dolls and playing pretend with friends. I used to think all children were like that, but I know now it’s a gift.

Matt’s running and jumping on the trampoline these days, and works his little legs into a frenzy keeping up with his big brother and sisters. He nods and shakes his head reliably now to answer questions, can fetch his own diapers, put clothes down the hamper chute, pick up some messes and says “Audrey, ball, mom, dad, more, bug, eeeeew-ie (when he’s stinky), and roars like a bear. He understands much more than that. He also seems to run from one mess to the next every day around the house. Today as I was picking up the crayons he dumped in one room he ran to the other and pulled all the napkins out of a lower kitchen cupboard, scattering them on the floor. I cleaned those up just to notice how quiet it was and found him driving his car in the toilet bowl. Sunday we were all late to church because minutes before we were to leave I discovered he’d painted himself, his shirt, pants, and my chair and carpet in bright red lipstick. Earlier he’d dropped 25 or so kix into the gallon of milk, making it a little too sugary and lumpy for normal consumption. He’s super busy, but he gives the greatest hugs EVER and is so dang cute it’s hard to be too mad. But the house only ever gets cleaned while he’s asleep.

As for me, I’m so happy this summer in St. Louis is almost over I could cry. It was SO HOT. I pulled out my few autumn decorations a couple of days ago in full-on celebration of the change in the seasons and it seems so far the season has cooperated. It’s finally cooled off and we’ve been sleeping with a few windows open at night. I missed that. I’m also going on three months without buying bread (except for buns). I finally pulled out my wheat grinder and have been baking all our bread – 100% whole wheat. I’m experimenting with vital wheat gluten and lecithin, and was amazed by our most recent batch because the lecithin really does make it softer. I don’t know that I prefer it over bread without, but it’s been a kind of fun hobby. As I’ve also started sending home lunches to school with Erick and Izzie this year that means a lot of bread but I’m so glad they like it and like to think it’s healthier than the bread sold today that doesn’t mold. I think that’s weird. And like I said, it’s been a fun hobby. That's probably the real reason.

I also read a lot and belong to two book groups and feel as though I’ve rediscovered a part of my life I’d been missing. Anyone who knows me knows I have a really hard time reading a book in small sittings, so I tend to read many books in a day and am grateful for a husband patient enough to put up with those days. He really is wonderful. Reading has also given me some fantastic quality time with Izzie. She’s by far the most interested in my reading aloud, and the two of us have been working through Peter and the Starcatchers. She begs me to read and of course I love that, so it works well for us both. Often we’ll hole up in the piano room with the doors closed and read four or so chapters when she gets home from school. It’s a great book! I hope the others in the series are as good. Every so often we’ll get Audrey or Erick in there, but more often than not it’s just Izzie and me, and it’s the only time she really snuggles.

Our garden is growing well and for some reason we’ve only picked off one hornworm this year. They are typically the bane of my tomato plants so while I don’t understand the lack of them I’m not complaining. The heirlooms have been fun and I definitely have a couple of favorites I’ll be planting again next year. Our pepper plants this year have gotten huge, too, which is a change from before. They’re at least waist-high and seem to produce well. My vine plants haven’t done quite as well. We did get some nice cucumbers early on but all the plants have wilted now and are gone. I never have had luck with zucchini out here because of the squash borers, but I think the deer actually ate the flowers this year. The plants looked healthy for a long time but we never got any fruit. They were outside the fence, so now I know. The rest of the yard has been pretty much neglected for care. We have burned spots from swimming pools but that may be all the sign we were out this summer there is. Basic mowing and weeding, but it was too darn hot for anything else.

I'm also going to start watching a little boy from Matt's nursery class three days a week. Wish me luck! It's only during school hours, 7:45-3:30, so it shouldn't be too bad. He's got the cutest dark curly hair, I only hope little Matt isn't too jealous and will play nice!

I’d like to be able to tell you what Justin’s been up to, but really from the time he leaves in the morning to when he comes back at night I’m not as sure as I used to be. I do know he’s been very busy at work and that Purina seems to really like him. He gets calls occasionally from headhunters for different jobs with other companies but seems to be pretty happy where he is for now and is learning a lot. He’s also serving as the ward mission leader in our ward so really we see less of each other right now than we probably ever have in our marriage. The ebb and flow, right? Even with his busy schedule he really does an admirable job balancing all his responsibilities, and my favorite time of day is the moment the kids realize he’s home and all four sets of kid feet go running across the kitchen floor to greet him at the door!

So, I know this is incomplete. But it’s already long and kind of boring. So there we are in a nutshell, and hopefully I’ll be able to take pictures again soon!