Fall Time Fun

I don't know why we are sending our kids to a private school when we have Miss Evelyn who is capable (and very willing!) to educate our boys and make them literate!

Each afternoon she asks the boys, "Ok, who wants to learn how to read?" 

There is always a taker (unless they are playing or watching football...and even then sometimes Caleb volunteers) She leads them up to her room, shuts her door and the lessons begin. I smile when I hear her instructing one of the boys to say a letter and then elongate the accompanying phonetic sound. "Levi, A....Aa Aa Aa Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaapple. SAY IT!"

I have to say, the boys obey her instruction, repeating the sounds and learning the words. Often times after one of her sessions the door will suddenly swing open and Evelyn will bound out with a  book and an excited boy following her, "Mom, listen to this. Levi can read!" 

Levi (or whoever her current pupil is) will read through SPOT or another early reader and then both of them will beam.
I've finally come to accept how my daughter was made, and I'm realizing she's exactly right for the "brother situation" she was put in.
I've always wondered (and got so frustrated!) why she never wanted to really play "make believe" for hours by herself with her dolls and toys like I so enjoyed doing when I was a child. Why couldn't (can't) she be satisfied with the stillness and simplicity of herself and being alone?!
I don't understand how she was crafted, but I've learned to accept it and I see the goodness in needing people and engagement. She was born to be with others.
Evelyn thrives in a school setting. She loves the structure and loves the responsibility. She is absolutely THRILLED to be getting homework this year, although because things have always come easy for her, getting challenged by spelling words is something she has had to work though. She gets frustrated if she is not instantly excellent at it.
School will hopefully smooth out some of those rough edges and develop in her a perseverance and humble tenacity.

Being in school now over a month, our fall days have developed a cadence.
We have our morning routine down.
 I still wake early to ready the house and make sure I'm in order before I try to go about and order everyone else. James is the absolute hardest to wake and get out of bed. He is a log, and then when I try to move him against his will he moans and gets mad and puts the pillow over his head.

This picture was not taken in the morning

One time we were eating breakfast and he was still in bed. Missing a good sit down hot breakfast is his only incentive for getting up and that one day when he did miss his sit down breakfast, he realized that there was a reward for actually moving his body so early.

Except for getting them out of bed, having three boys to get ready in the morning is quite easy. I couldn't imagine dealing with more than one female.
Untangling and figuring out one mass of girl hair each day is quite enough, thank you very much. Evelyn's hair is always a battle in the morning, and we usually end up putting it in a pony tail and calling it good.
She's been wearing my huge early nineties hair bows she discovered in my parent's house this summer. I guess they are kind of coming back into style (I have notice people wearing scrunchies!)
It's fun to see her proudly clip the bows in her hair. The other day I said to  her, "Evelyn, your bow matches your dress perfectly." 
She looked at me, and noticing the pronoun I used  responded, "So I guess they are my bows now and not yours?"
"Yes, Evelyn, they are yours."

The boy's kindergarten teacher has a daughter in Evie's class and they have become good friends. Evie was invited over to her house to play this weekend and when I picked her up with the boys in tow, they just couldn't believe that they were at their teacher's house! I do remember the unbelievable realization that in fact teachers do not sleep at school and they do have a life outside their classroom. This, I believe, was their moment.

I started volunteering in the classrooms last week. When I entered the boys room, Caleb accidentally walked right into me as I was coming in the door. He stopped, looked at my legs and when he saw my face looking down at him,  he was in disbelief for a moment. His two worlds were colliding.
Again, it was another moment for him trying to reconcile his two worlds of homelife with Mom and school life with his teacher. Now MOM was in his CLASSROOM at SCHOOL. He just couldn't believe it. He started laughing uncontrollably. It was just about the cutest laugh and reaction I've ever seen.

 I love being in their class, although I feel a little bit like a distraction.
They felt comfortable to casually call me over ("MOM!") when they needed help with something, and Levi reverted to his usual frustrated self when he couldn't get something perfect on his art project. During story time, they all sat on the carpet as the teacher read from a book. In the middle of the story, Levi looked at me from across the room and called out, "Mom, Evie was wrong. She said I didn't have enough to buy the Gatorade but I actually had two dollars and it was enough!" I sheepishly looked at their thankfully understanding teacher and put my finger over my lips and nodded my head at Levi.

I don't know when Evie will outgrow hugging me a school in front of her friends but she hasn't yet. Every time I walk down the hall to her classroom she always runs up to me and gives me the biggest hug. She wants to walk by me and hold me hand. I just soak all this PDA up because it is a gift that my kids appreciate me being apart of their day so much.

Caleb admitted that he did miss me during the day. Since school started he has made it his little habit of sneaking into our bed in the middle of the night to cuddle.
It is the most precious, sweetest thing. John and I have never endorsed or allowed the kids to sleep in our bed with us. We just value sleep way too much and believe everyone should have their own sleeping space. However, I don't have the heart to tell Caleb to stop doing this.
His nightly ritual is however, starting to disrupt John and my sleep, so I've given him certain days when he is allowed to come in. It's amazing to me because on the nights when he is allowed, he somehow wakes up at that exact time in the night. It must be very important to him, so important that he has adopted a little internal alarm clock.

These beautiful fall days are full. Weekends are really starting to become family times. We are having so much fun with soccer. So far we haven't had to sit in the rain. We've been blessed with really nice mornings.
We've been enjoying the outdoors as much as we can.

If you know me and my obsession with fruit picking, we just had to fit in an apple picking afternoon.

I could get used to this type of life.

A memory forever

"Got it Mom!"

"I want you to make apple pie"

Intense concentration pays off

Glorious!

We also paid our annual visit to Chapman School downtown Portland and watched the swift birds do their thing in the sky as they swirled and seemed to preform magic, swooping down into the chimney for the night. We brought a picnic dinner and as James lazily laid on the blanket on the side of hill, eating his roast beef sandwich watching the birds swirl around in the sky, he commented, "I can't believe those birds do that." 

I can't either James. Every I am simply enchanted by the spectacle I witness above the Portland skies.


Afterwards, we paid a visit to good ol' Ruby Jewel for some ice cream sandwich indulgence!

Loved the ice cream, not the photo op

These are good days and good times with our family. I'm treasuring every moment, especially now that not every moment is a moment. :)

This past week the boys had their class trip to the pumpkin patch.

 All these muddy years accompanying my children to their class pumpkin patch trips and this one was my final time.

West Hills Kindergarten!

I expected to be a little sad because I LOVE the pumpkin patch and bringing my kids to these farms to climb on hay bales and run around corn mazes was always a highlight.

But I have to say, as I was walking back to the car loading up their three pumpkins, I felt closure. The words "I've done the pumpkin patch" actually went through my mind and I felt ok about it being over.

It's a good feeling to know you've done something well, to have completed a season fully and be ready to move on.

The teacher said they were allowed to choose a pumpkin the size of their head.

That feeling was the feeling I strive to have throughout my life with every passing season with my kids.

I want to have a feeling of satisfied accomplishment, without regrets and a knowledge that there is more wonderful things ahead.

 I have never ever taken a single moment for granted yet during this school year.
I am truly enjoying every day and savoring the precious family times we get together and the precious times we have apart. :)

A different kind of Fall

My house is different.

My life is different.

                                                  I feel balanced and really really happy.

John and I enjoying some brew in Ireland ; we celebrated together this coming milestone

I feel guilty saying that I'm happier when I have some distance from my kids; but, then when I think about the last few years, I know that my mind and heart needed a change of pace.

Mealtime was such a process

It was truly all consuming all the time

But here I am.

I feel as though I am reaping the reward of having three children at once. Despite the tornado of activity and diapers and all that comes with all of them, I have launched them together at the same time into full time kindergarten.



And I have myself.

Going to the store is so easy compared to what it was five years ago

So far I have been focusing on several things in this new season of life:
1. organizing and order in my home (I totally took apart my kitchen and decluttered, cleaned and rearranged)

2. reconnecting and spending time with friends (found that I like the social lunching thing... ;))
3.  Being more purposeful about my health, what I am eating and exercising (I have the freedom of taking different classes at the gym and I feel like I can stop and chat with friends and acquaintances without rushing off to the next thing; I can prepare and calmly eat a healthy lunch)

I recall this disastrous moment of trying to "walk " the boys outside

4. Figuring out my volunteering schedule at the school (I plan on being in both the boys' and Evie's classrooms weekly as well as being on the PFW executive council board at the school)
5. Taking an online writing class at the community college (my whole life I have felt the draw to write....to really write....and I'm beginning the process of something.......)
6. Enjoying the peace in my home, truly. (sometimes I sit on my couch and stare out the window at my trees for a moment in the quiet)

I am able to prep dinner, fold laundry without interruption and take a little longer shower. :) 

When John is working from home, we can hang out and TALK without interruption. We are even making it a habit to go out to breakfast once a week and schedule in some occasional runs together. 

It's all these small things that give me peace and meaning, and I am relishing them. 

It has been a week now of school and for the first few days I held on to my phone, thinking at any moment it was going to ring because someone was having a problem at school. I just think it was too good to be true.

"You mean someone doesn't NEED me right now?!"

On the third day of school though,  it did ring.
 It was the nurse, trying to determine if Levi's fall at recess was serious. Levi had convinced her that he was seeing double and claimed that his pain was "a 10."

I got on the phone with him and he causally said, "Hi Mom. Can you come pick me up?"

I explained to him that "coming to pick him up" would not be an invitation to spend the afternoon watching TV and playing games.

We hung up; but several minutes later, the phone rang again.

"Hi, this is the nurse again. I just don't know. His left eye looks strange."

The phone conversation ended with me coming to school to get him in the nurses office where he was waving to his friends walking down the hall and triumphantly bidding everyone farewell at his early exit from school.

I knew he was ok. In fact, he was better than ok, and when he got home, John had a stern talk with him about what a pain level of "10" meant.

This was his one pass on this stunt. ;)

I have memories of Evelyn visiting the nurses office frequently at the beginning of her kindergarten year too.
She seemed to always complain of an ailment, requesting band-aids, cough drops and icepacks.

I assume Levi will tire of the extra attention the nurses office brings and cease requesting visits.

In today's litigious society, school nurses are required to fill out a long form upon each visit to email  to the parents.
The assessments are detailed. One I recently received stated, " James is in from recess stating he was laying in the grass playing with his brothers when Caleb accidentally "kicked him in the neck."

They noted that there was no bruising or  temperature and that he didn't seem particularly upset. They gave him an "ice pack" for comfort and he was permitted to stay in the nurses' office for the remainder of the recess and play a quiet game. 😏

I chuckled  when I thought of myself logging all the incidences that take place daily and imagined the thick files I'd have if I tried to record them all like this.

The nurses office is a comforting, soothing space with caring women who sympathize and attend to any ache or pain. It is probably a good mental break from the day. No wonder they put the nurses office right across the hall from the kindergarten classroom.

Not seeing the kids all day I genuinely am excited to pick them up at 3:00. I car pool with one of my friends and neighbors. She has two girls.
With six kids loading up into the mini van, we always have to pull over and spend ten minutes situating and securing safety belts and straps. It's crazy and chaotic, but since I had a whole day without crazy and chaotic, I can do it!

Car Pool Craziness and FUN!

Life after 3:00 is full -on "Mom Mode" again. It's amazing how great your kids are when you haven't seen them all day.

The afternoons have been full of soccer practices and homework!
Evie has spelling words and daily math assignments and reading.
The boys have month STEM projects that truly take the whole month to do.

Saturdays are soccer games, and John and I have a blast with the kids. John has been on the sideline with the boy's coach encouraging and instructing our sons.
There is a HUGE difference between the aggression and energy in the boys game and the girls game.

Our little soccer Squad

All our kids have smiles on their faces the whole time, and the boys are actually passing and using strategy during the game. Levi scored 7 goals last game.
When they are all on the soccer field together I can just see them as teenage boys all hanging out someday.

I always make sure they have time in the woods just being boys 

When I see other Mom's in the grocery store hauling babies and toddlers around, I have a great compassion and empathy for them. I feel an immediate connection and love for them. I want to go over and tell them, "Hang on Mama! It gets better! Your kids will be little independent people and you will get peace in your life again!" 

These years...these hard hard years. :) 

Forever a memory. Forever a part of our story. 

Our Ireland Adventure

I didn't think a greener place existed than where I live in Oregon.
But alas, I have discovered that there is grass that actually glows neon green in a country far away: Presenting Ireland. 

Green....and lots of sheep. 

John was asked to teach at a European summer school conference for work in Dublin at the end of August. We were able to align this trip with our annual Chicago trip; kid-free exploring Ireland?!!...was there any other answer except YES!?!

We got to planning.


It's always a challenge to try to map out where to stay and what to do in a place you've never been.

We always know that our vacations will include a lot of coffee stops.

However, we took our chance with the reviews and pictures online and  booked our hotels, mapped out our agenda and hoped that everything would work out.

Overlooking a perfect little Irish town; it kind of reminds me of  Mr. Rogers Neighborhood!

And it did!

 Everything was so perfect; every detail fell into place and we couldn't dream of better accommodations, weather or agenda.

People watching while eating lunch in the town of Galway. We scored the perfect little table outside.

The pubs and bars in Dublin were nestled amongst churches and  hanging flowers.  So charming.

What I found especially magical about Ireland was the medieval history that was tossed around the landscape. Crumbled rock piles of castles and towers lay in ruin among the farm land and towns. Rock walls lined the roadways; they stood the test of time, yet people seemed to drive right by them without giving much thought.

While driving along the roadway we passed this medieval  structure . 

Dungriere castle 

I loved that we were able to just stop on a whim. We pulled over and explored.

It is truly a magnificent sturdy stone structure.

The true beauty and magic of Ireland was in the countryside and small towns. We rented a car and John managed quite well driving on the opposite side of the road in the opposite side of the car.

The narrow roads, confusing round-abouts and intersections added to our adventure. Many times he had to speak aloud his intentions for turning so his natural instincts wouldn't take over on the road.

We stopped in the most beautiful little towns; they are as charming as their names: Galway, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Cashel, Limerick...
 Yes, there is a town called Limerick!☘😃😃😃
More important than even the food to me was where we could get an available outdoor table to people watch on the streets.

I'll never forget brunch in Galway (yes, my pomegranate mimosa was quite a treat); however, the street musicians and our table in the midst of it all was a moment I will never forget.

And the avocado toast!

Wandering through Galway we came to a little church called St. Nicholas. Apparently, Christopher Columbus attended mass here; supposedly it was here in which he was inspired to again petition the King and Queen of Spain to voyage West, convinced there was more "out there."

Christopher Columbus really got around!

One of the reasons we decided to drive west to Galway was to see the cliffs of Moher. We didn't know how lucky we were to see them on a clear day! Many people told us how foggy they usually were and how poor the visibility.

Breathtaking beauty

There were signs all over the place warning people of the eroding, unstable ledge areas. John and I were amazed at how many people we observed straying off the paths to capture the perfect pictures on the edges of rocks.

Apparently at least two people a year fall off the side to their death; what people will do to capture the perfect selfie!

John and I were careful as we walked along the edge. The evening was unbelievable.

We did find the perfect rock edge to take our perfect picture :) 

After seeing the cliffs, our next stop was the Rock of Cashel. This medieval castle was built in 300. 

This structure has lived through so much of Ireland's history. It was a castle but was mostly a church after it was gifted to the church in 1101. 

It is recorded that St. Patrick baptized King Aengus here in AD 432 and thus he became Ireland's first Christian ruler.  

Wandering around this magnificent structure I was careful to observe all the detail.

 For example, the faces carved into the ceiling and pillars were so detailed, and I was amazed that they could very well be the true faces  of the people who lived here during this medieval time period. 

This face in the corner was the most well preserved carving in the castle. It was faced away from the  path of the wind. 

 

Walking in the grave yard, I'm always struck by the brevity of our existence and our dot in time and history. 

We stayed the night in the surrounding city of Cashel. Our accommodations was  at a little family run inn, established in 1709. Compared to the history we learned about that day, 1709 didn't seem so long ago.  

Bailey's Hotel

Our room was perfect; we even had a view of the castle from our window in the distance.

 We strolled the little streets of Cashel. 

After sunset, we happened upon some old churches and even walked in the graveyard.  

I love how the parts of the old medieval structures are blended with the new. 

The next day we left Cashel and drove to Cahir, a recommendation from a friend. Cahir castle was another beautiful medieval structure. Our tour guide educated us on its long history of defense and survival throughout the ages. Two cannon balls from the siege of 1599 are still lodged in its stone walls.

An overcast day in the town of Cahir

Cahir castle provided protection and order for the city

These solid walls were hard to penetrate

Walking along the cobblestone path, I imagined all the people who walked this same road before me

One of the cannon balls still lodged in the wall from 1599

Our final day was spent here, back in Dublin:

Our final night, thanks to John's work ;) 

John's conference was in this beautiful hotel.  :)

I spent our final morning roaming around solo while John impressed his team with his insights and instruction.
I have to say, I was very proud of him. AND GRATEFUL...so grateful that we were able to take this trip together.
Ireland exceeded all my expectations.
It really couldn't have been any better.

Yep, Guinness and Champagne. It works and it was delicious. 

CHEERS!