Life At The Circus

With temperatures in the nineties this weekend and heat indexes in the hundreds, I’d swear we were celebrating the 4th of July this weekend rather than Memorial Day.  We seemed to have gone from winter to summer, with very little spring in between.    Wasn’t it just a few short weeks ago we were bundled up at baseball practice in our coats and hats?  The kids don’t seem to mind a bit.  This weekend was so refreshing.  We went for a walk/bike ride, we went to the park, we took a little hike, we had a cook out with friends, we went swimming and this morning at 9:30 am the kids were already in their suits and running through the sprinkler!  And while some couldn’t get enough of the cool sprays of water, Others of us are a bit more hesitant when comes to being sprayed in the face… Popsicles have been promised for this afternoon after quiet time.  What are some of your kids favorite summer time activities?

There were moments, many moments, this year when I doubted.  I wondered if I was giving him what he needed, if  he was on par with where the public school was.  I wondered what I was thinking, was it worth the battles, and the mess around my house.   Days when I shoved school work aside as I put dinner on the table before quickly rushing out the door for practice.   Truthfully, the hardest thing for me is the mess… is letting the mess go so we can concentrate on school work.   But, then there are nights like last night.  Nights where we stop and we look back over the year as a whole and I realize how far we’ve grown, how much he’s learned and I realize that it was the right choice for us, for this year.  The sacrifices were worth it.  At the beginning of the year, he could read.  He could read words on a page, but he wasn’t a reader .  Now he reads books.   I love peeking in on him after I’ve kissed him goodnight ...

I am just gonna come out and say it… ya know those cutesie little stick people families you see on the back of minivans these days? I want one. But, I struggle with this for many reasons. 1. I am a tad embarrassed.  Like maybe those little stick people families are too cutesie and my friends will laugh and roll their eyes when they see me pull into the parking lot. 2.  I don’t think I deserve one.  Those cute lil stick people families seem like they belong on the back of a minivan that is clean and organized.  It seems like moms of stick families drive vans free of trash and toys littering the floor.  They’re the moms who arrive to practice on time, with water bottles and a nice big blanket for the family to sit on and watch practice.  Doesn’t seem like they belong to the moms who show up with children wearing mixed matches shoes, who forgot their water bottles and who bring their light sabers to battle while they wait for their sibling to practice....

As I put together my post yesterday, I greatly enjoyed looking back at pictures of the kids at the strawberry patch over the years.  I was struck by so many similarities and differences. Babies sneaking berries… Walking through the rows… Sisters working side by side…. Showing off the fruits of her labor… And perhaps the most striking… (what happened to my little boy?) Here’s to many more fun memories!

When my son was 3, I took him strawberry picking for the first time. It was a special Mommy/Son date prior to the birth of our third child.   The next year, we returned, but this time it was a family affair. 2009 brought us back to the same farm, this time with friends. And 2010 found me once again at the fields pregnant, with many small children in tow. This year we found ourselves returning to the farm for a somewhat spontaneous trip.  I knew I wanted to go this spring.  (it has, after all, become a tradition).  But with rain forecasted and a busy week planned, I wasn’t sure when.  We woke to cloudy skies, but no rain and so I hurried the circus crew out the door before they even finished breakfast!  We were home with our pickings before 10 am!!! What about you?  What are some of your family traditions?

This weekend the family went on a Cub Scout camp out from Friday- Saturday evening.  The kids have been begging to go camping again, and this over nighter was the perfect little get away for us.  As an added convenience it was at a State Park not far from our house, so it was quite easy to pop home if you needed something and made it no big deal when we got a late start on Friday night.   The first thing we did on Saturday morning was take the kids fishing… the girls have been eager to try out the rods their big brother game them for Christmas.  While we didn’t catch anything and we really didn’t stay at it all that long, we did have a good time breaking out the rods for the first time this season.  The boy scouts set up skill stations for the cub scouts to rotate through.  I was really impressed with the leadership and maturity of the boy scouts.  We also got to take a nature hike with the park ranger.  I was truly grateful that they let th...

Before having kids, I used to go to my local Hallmark store and browse the selection of cards.  It seemed there was always SOMEONE who could benefit from a little Hallmark cheer.  I love cards.  LOVE them… and prior to having kids I was pretty good about buying and sending them. Somehow though bringing 2, then 3, now 4 active kids into a card store lost its appeal… something about them reaching out of their strollers and pulling card after card onto the floor while I was trying to find that perfect card made it loose its charm.  Gone are the days I peruse the card store for fun.  Now I seem to avoid it at all costs.  Yesterday as my children eagerly accosted me with their cards, I had an epiphany.  Mothers have been saying it for years, but ya know as a kid, you never fully believe them.  Hallmark no longer has the market on the very best cards.  Nothing, and I mean, N-O-T-H-I-N-G holds a candle to a hand written card from your ch...

I am sure Scott and the kids have something planned for me on Sunday… or at the very least, I am sure by Sunday morning they will have something planned for me on Mother’s Day.  They never fail to make me feel cherished. But the truth is, as I ponder this Mother’s Day, I can’t help but give thanks for the many gifts they’ve already given me… those precious moments each and every day, which I long to bottle up and savor forever… The sound of his giggle when you kiss his neck…. The smile on her face and song in her voice from the minute she wakes up in the morning… The way she walks into the living room and instantly flips into a handstand or flips over the back of the couch… The manner in which he can turn everything, EVERY-SINGLE-THING into something Star Wars related… her total and complete love for her big brother… I do believe she’d follow him to the end of the earth and back… her cartoon character like voice… the look of pure joy and glee on his face when you ...

This spring I have 3 kids in sports.  On 3 different teams.  This in addition to the girls both taking gymnastics twice a week  and Cub Scouts. We are busy, busy, busy with games and practices most every night… some nights we’re even double booked. Many people look at my schedule and call me crazy.    Why do you do this to yourself? The answer is, honestly, two fold.  1.  We love it.  2.  Believe it or not, it actually makes my life easier If I had to drag my kids kicking and screaming to practice, I wouldn’t do it.  It wouldn’t be worth it.  But they love it.   My third child wore cleats and shin guards last year to every one of her brother and sisters games and practices and all she did was sit on the sidelines.  She was so eager to be out there that she dressed like them and practiced on her own off the field.      And truth be told, I love it too.  I am that crazy mom ...