John the Gardener

This summer John has been able to have a garden of his very own. My parents, who are avid gardeners, have a large property with a variety of gardens and plotted out a small section for John to grow whatever vegetables he chose. Mom put together a catalog for him to choose which veggies he would grow, they helped him plant the seeds, and thanks to some wonderful weather, he's had great success with his first garden. He's harvested potatoes, tomatoes, broccoli, spinach (which he grew because he knew Mommy and Daddy like it), red peppers, and swiss chard. When the veggies come home, he's not always wild about eating what he's grown, but he's been pretty good about at least trying it and he's been thrilled about sharing it with everyone.

We're also doing a share of a CSA (community supported agriculture) farm - Potomac Vegetable Farm. We're splitting it with a neighbor, thank goodness! Since the weather has been so favorable for John's garden, it's also been good for the CSA, so we've been flooded with delicious, local produce. How much fun! I've been having a great time cooking with all the yummy veggies and finding new summer recipes to try. The kids even seem to be enjoying it.

It's been a tasty summer for us and I'm so proud of our little family gardener!

Summer's almost over??

After thinking that the summer would never end, it seems as if it is drawing to a close rather quickly. Two weeks from now John will start his second year of preschool and a steady routine will control our daily lives. I think we're all ready for that consistency again. John's been having some behavior troubles lately and we've been dealing with a lot of sibling squabbles. I know I'm looking forward to having some time to myself during the afternoon preschool/nap time. In the meantime, I've been slowly getting us ready for the fall - buying some cold weather clothing, clearing out old toys and clothes, cleaning projects that have been waiting around all summer, and getting a fall activity schedule lined up. Today we got Kara some new brown fall shoes that she insisted on wearing out of Target. I just finished looking online at some programs from Hooked on Phonics to see what level John needs to be working towards next (after a lot of guilt on my part for not pushing him a little more this summer, but oh well, it's summer, right?). It feels like fall is coming up quickly and I'm absolutely looking forward to it and all the fun and challenges it will bring with it. I'm a little concerned about how John's going to adapt to going back to school. His class will have many familiar faces, but also quite a few new ones, which can make him a bit nervous. He never hesitated last year, and it was an entirely new situation, so hopefully this year will be as smooth as that. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for now.

For the last week or two, every day John keeps saying, "I know what we can do today. We can go to the beach!" I would love nothing more than to return to the beach for a 3rd time this summer, but we can't afford it, don't have the time, and I just can't pack/plan for yet another trip this summer. But the more he says it, the better it sounds to me. I guess maybe I'm not really all that ready for summer to be over....

Busy Busy Busy

I keep thinking that summer is for slow days doing fun outings, nothing too strenuous, just having fun with the kids while school is out and there are few truly scheduled activities. What I'm realizing is that, while we are having lots of fun, it's not slow (for me, at least)! August was supposed to be my month to have lazy mornings, a few fun activities, and just bum around. So far it has been our busiest month yet. I'm exhausted! We've been on the go constantly, with only a few of those slower days I thought I'd be able to enjoy. I guess it's better for the kids this way, they seem to be having a blast. But it makes for a long day for me and I'm practically falling into bed each night after almost falling asleep on the couch wondering where the day went and when I'm going to be able to get around to all those household chores that are going undone. Ah well, I guess it's summer for me too, not just the kids. And I'm trying to give myself the permission to relax on a few of those neurotic needs I have to keep things tidy and relatively clean around the house. Making dinners is still one of the hardest parts of the day, simply because I want to keep everyone outside playing until the last possible minute to come in and eat. It's been too beautiful outside to be indoors, but dinner must be made and the magic "dinner fairy" isn't actually going to come and provide dinner for us, so alas, we must run inside and go through a frenzy of food preparation to put a meal on the table, preferably something the kids will eat at least 5 bites of. And then back outside for more playing, walking, or just chilling with some neighbors. It's been a wonderful summer so far and I'm sad to see it drawing to a close already, but I'm also intending to fully enjoy the last few days and weeks of it before we must succumb to daily routines again.

Little Miss Sunshine

Kara is such a doll. She is an adorable and sweet girl. Lately, she has taken to walking over to her brother and giving him hugs and kisses. John used to try to do that to her, being the very loving child that he is (mostly), and she would push him away. She likes to snuggle, but it’s got to be on her terms, not anyone else’s. But now she has taken to giving out a few more hugs and her brother is the main target. John has been loving it. It’s so cute. He pretty much will stop whatever it is he’s doing and give her a hug back, so they sit there for a few minutes exchanging affections and looking so adorable in the process. It’s been wonderful to watch. I haven’t been able to catch a picture of it yet, but I will be sure to post it when I do.

Maybe it will help me forget about the other moments of their interactions when they are both screaming or crying?? Well, maybe not, but I do enjoy the peace when it is a happy moment!

My Little Artistic Scientist

John has recently decided that he wants to work on his "biggest art project ever." For those of you who don't know John, he is an avid artist. He's constantly cutting, taping, painting, gluing, sticking, drawing, and creating art projects. It's amazing to me, since I am not the world's most creative person myself and he definitely pushes me to find new ways to challenge his artistic interests. Needless to say we have "art projects" hanging all over our house and are overwhelmed with the projects that come home in his bag each day from preschool. It is a wonderful thing to watch him be so creative and see everything as being within reach with a little imagination.

Anyway, his current "biggest art project ever" is a weather-changer. Yes, that's right, a weather-changer. I'm not sure I understand it, or that he even truly understands it, but that is what is being created. Fortunately, the project is on-going out in the garage at my parents' house. So far it has involved painting pieces of wood, hammering nails into the wood, securing lots of bows to other parts of the wood and making a variety of signs to advertise that the "biggest art project ever" is being created (so that everyone will know that it is coming). Last week we spent some time at my parents' house while John's cousins (girls ages 7 and 10) were also visiting from Atlanta and at several points the girls were helping him with his artistic/science endeavor (while giving the adults very skeptical looks). The girls were fortunately willing to humor him and even offered a number of suggestions on improvements he could make and he was thrilled to have their assistance in his creative process. It was quite the scene!

I'll keep you posted as he continues his progress on this amazing project. Maybe he'll succeed in changing the weather?? I guess we can all have some hope for him. He certainly believes that it's possible, so why shouldn't I?