Lemony Webbles

A bedtime conversation with Teresa:

T: Did I ever tell you that my favorite colors are a purple sandwich?
Me: You didn't tell me that before. Thank you for telling me.
T: I wuv you.
Me: I love you too.
T: This is when we'll be tickling me.
Me: OK

the summer in pictures

When the pool closed right after Labor Daybor, even though it was 91 degrees the next day, it's the official end of summer. Let's see what we did and took pictures of this summer. Remind me to look at this in February.

I remembered how much I love canoeing. Here's the birthday canoeing with Layli and kids.

We grew tiny cantaloupes and a few veggies and flowers.

Here's one open, looking large, but actually only the size of a baseball.

Had a great Mimosa Festival. Here's Devyn with one of his special guests, the one-man-band guy from the farmer's market.

We had a star party to reward the girls for having earned ten stars. Each star represents a whole day with no misbehaving.

Camp Baker at Clinton Lake while Georgia had Nana Camp. Here's Flipper Bill and Maya

and happy Teresa

and happy me at having found a little pine forest near Clinton Lake.

Georgia learned to ride a bike. Notice the expression of concentration, the death grip on the handle bars, and the fabulous footwear. All very Georgia.

Georgia, Maya, and Billy enjoyed Heartland, where they all got to go to classes for their respective age groups. Look at all these beautiful young people.

We met the cousins at Magic House in St. Louis for Devyn's birthday. Here's Mariah hanging with some statues there.

Then we all went to the zoo. Here's a cousin shot.

There was a great raspberry crop this year at Pontious Berry Farm. When we got there it seemed like they were all ripe and nobody had picked one yet. Billy and I got berry picking fever and picked until the kids whined fiercely. We put about seven pounds in the freezer.

Then there was the ill-fated Montessori school camping trip. Only in terms of weather though. This picture was taken before the rains started. The kids had a great time wet or dry and we came home before anyone had to sleep in a wet sleeping bag. It rained so hard all day Saturday but we all huddled in our yurt and tried to make the best of it, playing gin rummy with Z and Dan and bailing out the water between turns that came in at each seam. After a few hours, though, we were licked and packed up in the downpour. Eventually it seemed like it was raining so hard that it was just silly and it made me laugh and want to dance around, which I did. In the ankle-deep puddles on top of the sodden yurt tarp.

So here's to dancing in the rain and the flowers that love it.

Which reminds me that we also had a great visit from Husayn, Amia, Liz, Nate, and Olivia. But I don't have pictures! Guess I was too busy having fun.

And I just had a dream, night before last, that Nathan and Katie came and visited me. They showed me some beautiful things they had made- Katie had made an amazing quilt (all green embroidered silk and purple and blues in the piecing) and Nathan had made an amazing salad (really- it was new salad technology and looked really yummy). I knew I couldn't keep them though. Later I thought that that dream meant that all you dandongs, and you know who you are, have shown me beautiful, amazing things, but I don't get to keep you here in person. And that's OK. We all have our great works to do.

How we're doing today

Let's see:

Georgia started Montessori school and likes it so far. They've been starting the year with team building things and bonding. Lots of games and fieldtrips and we're about to go on a wet (hopefully not, but the weather report looks soggy) camping trip with all the families from the school. I think that's a great way to start out. She also gets to ride the city bus every day with daddy, which is pretty exciting for her. She uses little tokens for kids- so cute.

Maya started homeschooling officially for her kindergarten year and likes it very well. She's got a playdate with some cousin or friend every day. We'll start up going to gymnastics open gym (called Rugrats) soon. She's such a pleasant person to teach. When I suggest an activity or set out some options for the day, she doesn't yell NO! automatically. She thinks about it and tells her opinion. And her progression toward learning the skills involved in reading is all happening very naturally, without struggle or avoidance. She's eager to learn and good at saying when she's had enough. It's like night and day compared to my last homeschooling experience with Georgia. She had a really hard time having mommy as her teacher. But at this point, Maya's totally fine with it.

Teresa is changing from a toddler to a little kid. She's started telling her own stories at bedtime. And they're interesting, they make sense, and then she'll add some silly/funny twist at the end to make us laugh. I'm very impressed. She started by interrupting my stories to embellish them or add her own plot twist, but now we just say, 'ok, now you tell a story', and without skipping a beat, she starts right in. I love it. One of my most cherished skills, and she's picking it up so early.

Billy and I are reading "How to talk so your kids will listen and listen so your kids will talk" because of Heidi's enthusiatic recommendation. Finally, a book written so that you will understand it and use it right away to connect with your kids emotionally instead of a lot of intellectualizing and complicated stuff that you have no idea how to use. It's a really great reminder to validate kids' feelings so they can work through them instead of all the other things we might do instead when faced with a screaming child.

And right on cue, Teresa's cries are heard in the distant recesses of the upstairs. Later, dear friends!