Winding Down

I never thought I would be so sad to see the temperatures drop back down from triple digits, but two days short of sharing and only one shy of beating the heat record of 1980 (42 consecutive days over 100) some big clouds and a "cold" front rolled in and we lost our chance.

I also never thought I would think that 95-100 degrees could feel so pleasant. It's all relative, I guess. Our air conditioner can keep up with 100. 108, not so much.

Summer is winding down here, and I can't decide how I feel about it. For the first time in a few years I am not 100% excited to see the start of school. We've enjoyed these past few months of freedom. Sure, we've had our moments, but overall it's been a sweet time.

I've started to look back and there are many things that I am glad to have been able to witness and share with the kids this summer.

The kids discovered that carrots don't actually grow as little nubbin fingery looking things. They saw a cousin in Idaho eating a big carrot with the leafy tops. "What is that?!" They were surprised by the answer and I was surprised that they hadn't known.



Anyway, these "big carrots" have been all the rage this month. And it kind of makes me wonder what else they don't know.


Ava's reading has improved so much. We spent a lot of time on the couch, close together with a book between us. I am still anxious to see what the school thinks, but at least I know for sure that the only direction she has moved is forward.

She has made so many strides in becoming more independent. She wants to take showers instead of baths. She wants to get ready for bed without help or prodding, she wants to keep her room clean, she wants to have chores. These were all her requests after spending time with her older girl cousins and one episode of Dora the Explorer Girls, the tragic tween version of our old friend Dora. I'm not ready for a tween but I sure won't complain about having a girl whose resume includes the list above.

Max has started saying so many more things. He has an attempt at almost every word. He is fun and loud and knows exactly how to push his brother's buttons, and he makes us laugh every day.

Luke, made headway with his drawing skills this summer as well. I was beside myself to witness his first "person".


In fact he was so excited by my excitement, he dropped his marker, grabbed my face, and said in micro-machine-man fashion : "ILOVEYOUSOMUCHYOU'REMYBESTFRIEND!"


He and Ava have been so different developmentally. Ava was drawing little pictures by 2 and a half but struggled with the alphabet by kindergarten. Luke knows all the letters and many sounds, but hasn't been able to come up with anything recognizable on paper.

It has been interesting to see what will happen next with each of them.

This summer has been a clear reminder to me of how lucky I am to be here with them.


I get to feed them, dress them, clean them, teach them, love them, hug them, kiss them, all day, everyday.




Ava asked me the other day, "Is it fun to be a mom?" The problem with this was that the question was posed right after I had some display of a bad attitude, can't be certain which. I don't remember if it was an ugh, or a sigh, or maybe, possibly a small amount of yelling.



The great part about that question was that it made me realize that not only do I have a little guy who carries around a calculator "phone" like he's married to it, because unfortunately that is the example I set, but I also have a little woman, a future mother, who constantly watches, making her own observations as to what being a mom is all about. And at that moment I realized that I probably don't always do the job justice.

Before I got too down on myself though, I thought back about this summer, this intense mothering session I have just put in. And I figured that there still was some ughing, and some sighing, and maybe some yelling, but man, we sure had some fun!