Our days have been jam-packed since we started school on August 2! Most days I'm in fight or flight mode from about 6:30-4:00. No sooner do we clean up our books than the dinner and/or soccer routines begin. As delightful as summer was and as crazy as the fall routine can feel, I must say that it is a relief to be back into our familiar schedule again. I am so blessed by the kids’ diligence and enthusiasm for their schoolwork. The first week was a bit bumpy, but Stella kept me going with the encouraging notes she left on her math pages about how much she LOVES doing school and what a great teacher I am. I was inspired by their positive attitudes and tried to view our days of learning with as much optimism as possible. Baby Tert is my biggest challenge. He is slowly but surely learning that eating play dough and throwing toys at siblings is not an acceptable way to earn our attention. I try to copy all of his big brother's Kindergarten projects so he can feel included as much as possible. He will proudly announce, "I'm yearnin' my yetters!"
We have been enjoying the fruits of our garden SO MUCH this summer! (Tert pointed out the window today and exclaimed, "Yook at that GORGEOUS garden!") I couldn't agree more... Thanks to our friends' generous contribution of chicken poop, this is the most bountiful crop we've ever had. I literally have to harvest every day in order to keep up with the tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini/summer squash! And the fresh herbs, winter squash, green beans, mesclun, and peppers lend some nice variety. Mom taught me how to make zucchini relish (which I canned and set aside for Christmas gifts along with the blueberry and "four generational strawberry jam" we made when Grandma Z. visited). A friend of mine gave me some recipes for creamy garden tomato basil soup and a delicious cilantro soup with fresh veggie “salsa.” I've also expanded my cooking repertoire by experimenting with zucchini and sweet potato muffins. My family is loving these culinary nesting urges, and my kids have become total veggie snobs. They turn up their noses at the grocery store's produce and feel so badly for the underprivileged people who PAY to eat THAT STUFF while we feast on our abundance of fresh, free veggies.
Even though we've had to save most of Stephen's vacation time for Baby's arrival, we have enjoyed more quality time with dear friends and extended family and more special day trips than any other summer I remember. Our school break began with a field trip to York's Wild Kingdom and ended with a delightful afternoon at the lake where the kids led us on a beautiful trail walk they discovered. (Having just reached week 34 of this pregnancy, I was pleased to discover that I could still keep pace with my youngsters as they hiked and scaled their "cliffs" in the woods!). In just over two months, we celebrated a few high school graduations and birthday parties with family, spent several fun-filled days with Great Grandma Z., fed ducks at the park, picnicked and swam, camped in our friends' backyard, ate and laughed with several dear friends who stopped at our home on the way to their family vacations, completed two weeks of swimming lessons and VBS with cousins, played in the waves at the ocean, read mountains of books for our local library program, and spent countless afternoons and evenings walking our trains with Cora and cooling off in our own backyard swimming pool. I’d say without a doubt that we managed to squeeze every ounce of fun from our abbreviated summer break.
The kids are approaching their fourth week of school, excited about all that we have to look forward to in the next month or two (not the least of which is two weeks with Daddy and the arrival of their new baby sister)...
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