my love-hate relationship with summer (plus 300 days of beauty, days 65-82)

summer garden beauty

I confess, I sometimes feel that I hate summer. I also confess that I wrote most of this over one month ago and then disappeared down the rabbit hole that summer schedules tend to be. I've never like Alice In Wonderland.

Each year I walk through the same diagnostic state, evaluating why summer is so very challenging. Several reasons: the randomness of summer activities and options, constant people (I do like people, but need time alone too...), and kids who suddenly see unlimited potential in every moment, every day.

I can be random and spontaneous, but my brain cannot keep track of the amount of outings and appointments that are so far above our normal level. I would consider myself a social introvert—I love people, but need “hermit days” to rest and recharge, which summer does not oblige. And my adorable, wonderful kids, whom I love to death, ask me 50,000 questions before 10 in the morning and have a hard time accepting that fun cannot be 24/7. Real life still exists. I wish Mary Poppins were a real person, but she is not. The house does not clean itself.

I began the summer ridiculously overwhelmed. Burned out from the year, transitioning to summer—like being on a pot-holed highway and hitting a rocky, washed out dirt road. Now (in a flash) I have arrived in August. And I would say that we have lived in a happy-exhausted-flurried-blur of summer scenes. Family, friends, neighbors, food, laughter, pool days, books, gardens, parks, rivers, walks, hikes, bike rides, iced coffees and ice cream cones.

We've had good days, hard days and the messy beautiful sprinkled and scattered throughout. I have not settled down to write in this space, but have been capturing beauty in each day through my camera lens and my phone (Instagram is wonderful, but may have killed my blog...). I also have decided to declare the first three week of June “no man's land”; not belonging to spring or summer, a time to plan, rest, and see what we want our summer to be. I realize not everyone has this flexibility. I can choose my summer because we homeschool, others cannot. However, I think a space with no pressure or expectations, even if just for a week is a sweet gift for a weary heart and frenetic pace of life.

In spite of the layout of my schedule, I've grabbed my moments. Time to be still. Time to savor. Time to breathe. Summer and I have come to a generally peaceful truce. We still have adventures ahead as we plow through August. I'm thankful (and still tired). And I may or may not have been dreaming of winter yesterday...

Here's snapshots of our summer beauty:

swim team, swim meets, and pool days

laughter--meaning she had the grocery store laughing. She has found unique ways to hitch rides in the grocery store since birth. I think I may have finally given up fighting it.

summer sunsets--I know, right? Breath-taking.

My kitchen has looked like this...often. Filters make it look almost artistic. There is a beauty in letting go. This is where we were for awhile and it's okay.

breakfast parfaits and morning devotionals...I do like lazy summer mornings...

river vistas and time with family...the Missouri River...

Costco date with my girl who LOVES hotdogs!

mini-bagels and cream cheese--I kid you not that we have mostly survived on these...devouring bags upon bags and tubs of cream cheese (cooking is at a minimum in the summer)

lots of reading...we read wherever we go... #ohtheplacesweread

visits to my hometown to be with family

when "pop and pizza" place settings look artistic--more than that, this evening was spent with my brother and parents with conversation and laughter (and lots of pizza!)

when my daughter uses the steam from my coffee to warm her hands in the morning...still makes me smile... "It's SOOO toasty warm!"

lots of tree-climbing--all of my kids use the trees to have a quiet space for their hearts...

paddle-boating--laughter and LOTS of geese (geese not shown...;-))

when Jack and Jill went up a hill...cousin time

water balloon baseball...no need for the catcher, D hit nearly EVERY ONE...

I love windmills.

100 books, the finale

D generally uses his picture ledges to display books. I love it. These are favorites and currently reading selections.

I challenged my 11-year-old to read 100 books this last summer. His deadline: September 21st. He did it! [I'm simply slow at marking his feat here on my blog.]

I'm very proud of him. At some points he was reading more than one book each day. And yes, he did leave his room. He was not a summer hermit.

His last book: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (a favorite too!)

Five Favorites:
The Sugarcreek Gang series by Paul Hutchens--all 36 books

Once Upon A Marigold by Jean Ferris 

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes

The Wingfeather Saga (4 books) by Andrew Peterson

 

summer moments...August collage

There is adventure in the form of climbing Mount Everest (I have a decided opinion on this form of adventure), and there is adventure in the every day nothings and everythings. I looked up adventure in the dictionary and was given this definition: "an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity." I may be taking poetic license, but I'd say that parenting and marriage fall under this definition more frequently than not. Just sayin'. As we slowly transition out of summer, I pulled some August snapshots from my phone. It's just life, a bunch of little nothings that make everythings. Not most people's definition of adventure, but mine.

celebrating my mom's birthday...

evening reading time...

pizza and pop on the patio with our neighbor

Spider-belle

D and Cece rocked it also, so to speak...

Princess Belle/Elsa and her patio art...I'm learning to let go and just let her grab whatever supplies she wants to create her "masterpieces." She loves anything hands-on.

The girls had a friend over and can I just say that our girls have a pretty terrific daddy. He gave them designer pedicures. And won over a few hearts too.

D and Cece each made thank you signs for our waitress when we were out to lunch. So sweet.

Ducks! We were crossing our fingers that she wouldn't go swimming with them....

Our sweet neighbors Maggie and Marge had the kids and I over for a movie (in their movie theater) and the real-deal old-fashioned banana splits complete with homemade pineapple, chocolate, and strawberry syrup toppings, and of course whipped cream, pecans and cherries on top. And, as an aside, old movies are awesome. We watched The Castaways with Hayley Mills. I grew up on her movies and they were considered classics at that point too. So fun.

Pure joy...Belle is in the shimmering splash somewhere...

This is how we ended our first day of school. The girls started this week, D starts on Monday. Still more summer left, but it'll be mixed with a bit more structure. And we'll probably still end up at the pool.

summer moments~mountain meadows

summer mish-mash

I know, you haven't heard from me in awhile. I have lots of excuses. Included in those excuses would be the words "crazy" and "freight train." A friend of ours was giving announcements at church and while welcoming everyone said something to the effect of, "Remember when all of those summer things looked like a great idea a month ago? And now it's more like, 'what were we thinking?!'" Yeah. I get that.

starting the morning right...coffee in fresh mountain air tastes better than about anything...

While I'm at it, why do house projects seem like a good idea in the summer? Some people like the process of projects. I don't. I like planning them and I like when they are finished. The rest is Purgatory and I have lines from this book running through my head.

Also, this week we said goodbye to dear friends and sent them with our love and prayers to Tokyo. It was rough. My so very sweet son wanted to cheer me up so he took me to a movie and said he would pay for the movie and whatever snacks I wanted. LOVE HIM. We saw Inside Out. SO good. I was pretty much crying the whole time (I may be a little on edge). I'm not talking silent, peaceful cry. I'm talking silent, super ugly cry. The kind that almost hurts to keep in and the kind where you're glad you are in the very back of the movie theater sitting in the dark. Cece said, "I knew you were crying." Anyway, a great family flick. My husband loved it too. He was cracking up and there is nothing I love so much as to hear him laugh.

What else? We swim, we walk, we read, we don't cook, lots of normal stuff and the days fly. Can it be near August already? We have frolicked in our mountains, kayaked, fished, hiked, ATVed. We took an impromptu detour to the Sand Dunes--spontaneity feeds the soul sometimes. This summer has walked briskly when I've wanted to stroll. We've hit hard and good, stressful and joyful. We'll take it all from the hand of God.

Am I in Africa? Not going to lie, I wished for a camel on several occasions.

Last week, I bought this book simply because it was pretty. Don't judge. I may have a new addiction to Penguin Threads. A copy in hand is even prettier than this picture can portray.

I was craving some teenage angst and grabbed The Stepsister's Tale by Tracy Barrett and Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell. I really liked The Stepsister's Tale (Don't let the cover art discourage you, I felt it to be an inaccurate representation). I don't tire of fairy tale re-tellings, but they are not all created equal by any means. I thought this version to be unique and lovely. The story felt akin to the movie Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister which I enjoy (present tense) greatly. The movie is based on the book by Gregory Macguire which I have not read. I'll read Little Blog on the Prairie next.

free range kids...I saw visions of the Canadian frontier as they ran

The kids and I (D included) devoured When Calls the Heart (season 1). Set in the Canadian frontier, it doesn't much resemble the Janette Oke books that inspired the series, but can call itself a kindred spirit to Christy and Little House on the Prairie. We'll be watching season two shortly (FYI season one is on Netflix.) The kids haven't watched many television series and when D watched the first show and it ended in a "cliffhanger" (new vocabulary word) as shows are wont to do, he was offended. It went something like, "What!?!?" along with another exclamation about how "they" could do such a thing. I was laughing.

Ahhh, unfiltered sunset (from a moving car no less!)

I know all this is random. My brain is a little bit scrambled. Mish-mash, but an ordained mish-mash. Summer has not been what I have thought, but has held great beauty also. I pray that you all take each mish-mash day from God's hand, whatever it brings.