This boy has boundless energy. Yesterday, a full day of school. Came home and played soccer in the backyard, then we WENT to soccer practice where he played his heart out and ran to me afterwards with a smile on his face and sweat on his brow, and then woke up this morning to play MORE soccer before school. Seriously, how can we harness 7-year old’s energy to power the world?
Some weekend reading…
I wonder what my kids will remember from childhood. I wonder if they’ll think of their own childhood as nostalgically as I think about mine. I am sometimes reminded, almost surprised to find out, that I play a huge role in the memory-making for them. The stuff I’m actively doing every day is the very stuff that’s filing itself away, burrowing deep in one of the crevasses of their brains to come out one day in the future in a remember when memory. I hope they have a lot of them, and I hope that when they come to the surface, they’re positively covered in love.
The siren call of the Greek islands is a strong one. Especially now when the sun is beginning to set just after dinner time when it used to be up long after little ones go to bed. Especially now that the school schedule has begun, and we’re shuffling papers in and out of backpacks and making grocery lists and coming and going with so much less fluidity than those late, lazy days of summer. The summer’s haze is beginning to wear off along with our tans and I’m never ready for it, but I feel especially un-ready this year. Oh to be back in Greece (but this time, with my whole family, please).
Labor Day weekend! I, for one, am grateful for the soft opening, if you will, of school this year. This full day transition has been hard on me (harder on me than on the first grader). We plan on soaking up the last of summer this weekend. What are you doing?
Some weekend reading…
We didn’t go mini-golfing! We didn’t get to the beach enough. What about that bike ride to ice cream? Or the lemonade stand! We didn’t do a lemonade stand!! This is the time of year when this chorus starts screaming through my head. The things we didn’t do. The time a-tickin’ that’s now run out. The thief named School that’s got my buddy for several hours of our day. The summer is new, and you make your goals, endless opportunities! The sky is the limit. Make your lists, kids! We’ll check it twice!
Let’s change this narrative. We fully embraced days of sun for hours, sprinklers and popsicles, dirty feet and baths every night. We lolled about on the lake, without a care in the world except for what was for lunch. We sat on the couch and read James and the Giant Peach, laughed at the caterpillar and his many boots. We went for bike rides, and scooter rides, and have a happy strip of photos from the Ocean City boardwalk. We spent mornings together, slow moving, coffee and pancakes.
And as for School. Parker went off with more confidence than ever before. And me, tears in my eyes that were finally allowed to make themselves known once he was out of my sight. I’m never so self-deprecating as I am this moment, “Ha, yes, this is always hard for me!” I say to the teachers who look on. I watched the clock, the minutes tick by as the day passed, and waited eagerly for him at the door when the day was over. There he is! My eyes fill up again. This time, behind my sunglasses. Big hugs and how was your day?! “Great!” He says. Oh my heart was happy. He told us as much as he could muster, light and airy all the while. What lunch was like, and what they did as soon as he sat at his desk for the first time. “We were coloring. And while we were coloring, I really missed you.” When we got home I sat him on the trashcan in the driveway for a long hug. The kind of hug that really matters. In that moment, I saw him as a little baby, standing in his crib in a white onesie, thighs full of rolls. “Parker. I am so, so happy you’re at school and just loving it. I missed you though.” And, for the first time ever, almost an obligatory “I missed you too,” lest he let me think he doesn’t need me entirely. It almost made me laugh.
So, here we go. Another year. A secure boy who’s marching happily into his future, praise the Lord, and his adoring Mom who’s just trying to hang on, but also let him fly.
01. divorce. that is, the tv show. i accidentally stumbled upon it on the plane to athens, and then got hooked. i have loved SJP since her sex and the city days (wait! actually, since her girls just wanna have fun days; tell me you’ve seen that 80s classic), so to see her in something else is so fun. plus, thomas haden church! molly shannon!! such a fun cast. and easy to get caught up–only two seasons so far, and each episode is only 30 minutes! perfect for laundry-folding. side note: i love all of sjp’s coats in it. no surprise there.
02. joanna gaines’ ricotta pancakes. i’ve been making these a lot lately but with yogurt because i never have ricotta on hand. i don’t think it matters (in fact, i think sour cream would work well too). they’re so good, with the perfect crispy edges and fluffy insides that you’re looking for in a pancake. highly recommend. really, her whole cookbook is totally lovely. i think if you google the recipe, you’ll find it.
03. chocolate hummus. sooooo my friend jenny told me, more than once in our friend text thread, “chocolate hummus. guys, try it. it’s really good.” yeah whatever. but i passed the hummus end cap just as her words were running through my head and my eyes landed on the chocolate hummus. for like $3, i figured i could take a risk. she was right. i also bought strawberries and dipped them and the boys and i had quite the treat. think of it as healthier and less sweet nutella. do not think of it as salty or chickpeas-ish. because that plus chocolate is off putting. but as a fruit dip and you’ll jump on board, i promise.
04. this palette. it is crazy pretty guys. perfect pigment, and colors. i plan to do a little more on it in the future. super versatile too–smokier evening colors, and then really nice everyday neutrals in it too. i’m loving basically every color in it. some could definitely double as highlighters too. and i love that it’s clean and i can feel good about using it.
05. ashley’s lake tahoe travelogue. i was just talking to steve about lake tahoe the other day, saying we just had to get there. as someone who loves lakes, this lake looks altogether different than winnipesaukee and i want to visit so badly–really, i want to visit the whole west. i’ve seen so little of it! ashley always does such great travelogues. i love her pictures and her real-life commentary on the place. (her blog is so good.)
I keep getting flashbacks on Facebook to this trip we took when we were abroad for Steve’s sabbatical. Then I found this old Dropbox album I’d forgotten about when loading a different set of pictures, and this shot was in them. Simple gelato stop in Rome, kids all looking much littler than they do now. I just loved it. Time seemed to stand still, and I’m not sure what about it made that so.
I didn’t intend to take quite the break(s) that I ended up taking from blogging this summer. But the guilt that plagued me much of the spring when I felt like I was on my computer too much is gone and for that I am very grateful. I do believe we’ve soaked up this summer. Wait! It’s not over yet. I’m not through with it, and I don’t think it’s through with me. There’s lots of updating to do here, but first things first… back to the lake. In the strange way that time sometimes moves, high speed as you try to chase it down, and then through a thick slow motion, our time at the lake feels somewhat faraway. These pictures will help jog my memory, though.
I love this picture of our last night on the lake. Perfect sunset silhouettes of two boys flexing their very large muscles.
Some weekend reading…
Driving up to this lake, and then catching a first glimpse as we round Route 11 to drive alongside it. She’s undeniably beautiful, serene, full of peace. Its name is disputed–is it The Smile of the Great Spirit or Beautiful Water in a High Place? I think I prefer the first, though either will do. What is certain is how much the Hunt family loves it here. How something inexplicably settles in your heart when you let go at the lake. And letting go is easy.
