summertime joys

We are enjoying these longest days of the year.  I LOVE this time of year.  Its been a cool in the mornings and eves, low humidity, and warm days sorta week.  Our friends sold their house and are letting us keep their slide til they get a new house.  My kids have spent hours on it.  

Catching *Flire Flys*

 Peter was our expert catcher.  Lily liked the idea but not actually doing it.  Big bro to the rescue.

Peter told Lily this week, "Lily, when I'm 6, I"ll still be your big bro."

letting them go

Then a campout on the floor in Peter's room.  Lily was a little afraid of the dark (she has a nightlight in her room).  Peter told her "Don't worry, Lily.  Big bro is here to keep you safe."

70!

My mom is the youngest of four.  I've always *loved* her side of the family.  Everyone was close growing up.  Time together was full of fun cousins, holidays at grandma's, and summer gatherings.  We don't get to see them enough now that everyone is grown and has a family of their own.  And its hard to find a place big enough to accommodate us and the right amount of time that everyone can be there in the busyness of life.  This weekend we almost struck a perfect balance.

The reason for the occasion was my favorite Aunt Bettie's 70th birthday... my mom's sister.  I really love ALL of my aunts.  ;)  We eulogized my grandmother that she had 4 sons and 4 daughters.... and we never were sure who married in and who'd always been there.  My Aunt Bettie has two boys so I always got spoiled by her.  Actually, I am one of only two grandgirls (but lots of grandsons)... another contributor to me being spoiled, of which Mike is always thankful.  ;)

Onto the party.  We gathered at my parents' river house.  But this time we didn't all stay there.  So thankfully, we all had running water the whole time and an occasional dose of peace and quiet (well, except my mom... the party planner and hostess rarely gets to rest).  It was long enough to all have fun but not so long that we got sick of each other.  We all gathered on Friday evening.  And met new little cousins for the first time!

Lily got to hang out with my Uncle Henry.  She adores him.  On the way there, we drove past a boat lot.  Mike told the kids to pick out which boat they'd like and Lily said "I only want a boat if Uncle Henry is on it."  Then after we pulled onto the river house road, Lily said to Peter, "See I have a smiley face.  You know why?  His name starts with an H."  When we couldn't find her, she was usually with Henry.  And as my only other girl cousin said, we adored him too when we were little.  And still do.  So the legacy continues... 

 Dock Beauties...

 Feeling the scales of one of many fish Henry caught... 

 Checking the crab pots, all by herself.

Give me some more of this scene.

A Flythe-Garrison gathering wouldn't be complete without some sailing.

Everyone gathered on the back deck to say something about Aunt Bettie.  My uncle Richard, upper right photo below, is the second born, just 15 mo younger than Bettie, then Henry 2 years and 3 mo after Richard... so my grandmother had 3 children in 3.5 years, with a husband often away in the Army.  My mom surprised her six years later.

Uncle Ray's siblings came from Cape Cod to be there. Ray is one of four boys (!).  His twin brother is on the bottom left.

My mom put together an amazing party.  She is the hostess of the family.
This easy crusty brie was the hit of the appetizers.

 John and Audrey

 Matt and Sonoma

 Megan and Max

 The Birthday Girl.  Has there ever been a younger looking 70 year old?!?  Seriously, Never Ever.

 Maw and Audrey

 Fun with Birthday Balloons

 Part of the Gang.

My cousin, Turner, cooked us a delicious... 

Jeff and Tayloe

Its kinda neat... the little cousins came in waves and each have a buddy or two... Peter & Carson & Loulie, Lily & Max, Audrey & Sonoma, and the babies (thus far) of the bunch, Georgia & Elizabeth. 
We missed you, Molly and Justin, Emily and Will!!  :(

 Jeff was the kid wrangler!  

We fit in some canoeing while we waited for dessert!

 Cake Time!

 Turner couldn't resist a kiss from that face.

 There was a little dance party with Jessica.

Audrey and Peter are our early birds.  They had fun with Mr Potato Head.

Sadly, I was more than annoyed that we had to come back to the city (booo!) early Sunday for something that someone else was willing to do- poor communication (ugh!!)- and then didn't get to go back as I'd also been expecting we would (frustration!!).  Its taken me a while to recover from the disappointment.  I wish I could have spent more time with everyone.  When can we get together again?!  Mark your calendars for Sept 2014 for Richard's 70th!!    But it was so good to see everyone and lots of fun.  Thanks, Mom, for pulling off 95% of the work!!

Girls Night Out

Lily and I headed out for dinner together last weekend!  Being with her can really fill my tank.  Sometimes, I think I need to spend more purposeful time with her.  She is so sweet and excited about life.  We each got smoothies and dinner at one of my favorite places with outdoor seating.  Yum!  I was thinking this could be a really fun mom-daughter tradition with some of our close friends joining us... ???

 Afterwards, we headed out to a fabric store.  I had in mind a little something that I wanted to sew for her for her birthday.  Its good for my mental health.  ;)  And a fun excuse to re-try a couple new "skills" I learned in sewing class this year.  This is the fabric she picked out... cute, huh?!.  She told me earlier that day that she wants a "bird" themed party... so we ran with that.  I love colors and usually feel like I have a hard time narrowing it down when I am deciding on a party theme.  She reminded me of myself in the store b/c she just kept getting excited and saying "Oh, I like it all, Mommy!  Its so hard to decide!"

Its been really fun working on it this week.  :)
4, here we come!

Soaked!

We've made the most of our first three weeks of summer.  We went to the pool daily the first week and have been there TWICE a day for the last two weeks.  At first, I thought it was a little much, but then Mike started giving me a hard time for complaining that we had to go to the pool so much.  True.

Peter is finishing his third week of swim team practice (every afternoon- 45 min) and Lily is finishing her second week of swim lessons (every morning- 30 min).  Since Peter was already there waiting with me at Lily's lessons and I realized I could just put him in and let him swim twice a day, they've both been swimming each morning this week.  We usually end up staying after each session b/c they just put up a fight and want to stay.  And my argument is usually that I need to go do laundry or something, and that just doesn't seem convincing, even to me!  It seems a little weird and ridiculous to be there so much (maybe too luxurious?!) but then the winter was just so long and I look forward to summer so much, I'm trying to embrace it.  B/c it IS fun!  Music, sunshine, water... what's not to love?!  I've been swimming with the kids each time.  Yesterday they went off the diving board for almost 30 min straight.  I like to think that treading was a little of a workout for me.  Today I had Peter swim 4 lengths of the big pool.  

Lily has the same teacher Peter has had the last three summers.

Lily was hesitant the first few days and wouldn't go off the board.  But now that she's done it, she can't get enough.

Mike has met us a couple times to swim laps at lunch.  I hadn't taken swim trunks for Peter one day when only Lily was in the lesson.  But he just couldn't contain himself so I let him get in afterwards.  He was wilting on land in the sun, but put the boy in the water and he comes to life.

The other sweet fleeting benefit of these last three weeks is that kids have still been in school so the pool is nearly empty each day.  And the introvert in me loves that!!  Its SO NICE and our last year to all enjoy it together!

Do you think we can just take Peter out of school next year?!  

Hard summer days and evenings at the pool!! ;)

Ridge Goodbyes

Every Monday or Tuesday morning for the last two years, we've gone up to an elementary school near us for speech or OT.  These ladies have been phenomenal and set the bar really, really high!!  They have been soooo good to us.  They have loved and welcomed us and come to feel more like family and friends.  We have been extremely blessed by them.  Sadly, we are headed to a different school next year so we've had to say goodbye to them.  

Every week, we walk into these ladies.  I dare to say there hasn't been a single week that they haven't been extremely *cheerful* and made each early morning feel more fun.  They have doted on Lily, loved Peter's hugs & silliness, and given the kids a gumball after each session.  I love it that the secretaries give out gum.  ;)  As one of them told me, "We are just old (they are so not old) moms who think all of these kids are our babies".  My heart.  They have set the bar high.

This is Mrs G.  She has been Peter's OT.  

She has encouraged us and helped us understand things better.  Peter has loved his time with her... clearly, he is laying in her lap.  

 This is Mrs K.  She is exceptional.  (And how cute is she?!)  She is oh so special and just has a very calm way with the kids, sees the best in each of them, and makes them feel like they are the most special and smartest kids in the world.  She reminds me of Kathy.  My favorite memory of Mrs K that epitomizes who she is... Her office is off of the teacher workroom.  One morning I was trying to talk with her after speech.  Peter was exploring around the room touching every single thing.  There are so many gadgets in there that are interesting to curious little boys.  I was feeling self conscious and asking Peter to come back over and stop touching things.  She so calmly and lovingly said "He is one of our future engineers."  She walked into her office and grabbed a stuffed animal and asked Peter if he would hold it for her.

Come on, Lily!  Picture time!

 All of Peter's therapists have been so inclusive of Lily too.  I mean, she is a little doll.

Thank you, Ridge helpers!!

Ending of an Era, Beginning of Something New

I'm feeling like we are heading into this new season.  And I have lots of thoughts swirling around in my head.  They haven't all settled out yet into tidy places that I understand how to put exact words to.  But when does that really happen anyway.  

My "babies" are growing up.  And whether I am ready for that or not, its happening.  It feels a little like being on the cusp of parenthood again before you have your first baby. I know we are going there, into this new world of school aged kids and activities but I just don't have a sense of what its really going to be like.  Its the winding down of these days of it being the three of us.  What a ride its been.  Its been sweet and its been good.  But its also been crazy.  And our house has been really messy. ;)  Its been a couple years packed full of raw grief. And also the sense of the blessing that its been to have had this block of time, these years together. We got to {mostly} set our schedules.  We've gotten a lot of time at home and with each other.

 I'm not sure if its true, but I have this sense that we are heading into a season where others have more control over our lives.  Schools will dictate our schedule.  As we've done swim practice for just these first weeks of summer, it already gives me the sense that one day swim team could and activities will dictate our schedules.  (The selfishness in me doesn't like that!  I want to do what I want to do.  And I need the Spirit to help me lay down my desires.)  Soon others will have more influence on my son and then my girl.  And as I have been mulling that over and trying to put words to it in my head, the best I could do was think of it as lack of control.  

But then I came to my senses (the Holy Spirit?) and realized who am I fooling?  I don't really have control.  I haven't had control over these last six years.  All that we have been given, these years, has been a gift from the Father.  Its all grace.  As Peter told another Mom at the pool this morning, after he'd invited everyone over to our house and to his birthday party, "Santa brings grace.  Because gifts are grace."

And who am I fooling that I have done this perfectly so deserve that "control".  Anything but.  And I just want a few minutes hours to myself!  ;)  What are we apart from the grace God brings in to take us to the end of ourselves.  Its there that I most often see His power and His Spirit renew me and give me what I need to keep going.  

As my kids get older, I am praying about what my time should look like on here, as write our story down.  I have a feeling that it may be less.  Partly out of practicality because life isn't really slowing down, as I imagined it might when there were less diapers to change.  And I feel like I've said a lot of what I have to say.  This place has helped me to understand myself better and helped me to see patterns and understand how God is writing our story.   

But also because I want to be respectful of my kids now that we aren't just learning to sit up and roll over.  They are little people who I want to respect by not putting it all out there.

  Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  Eph 3:20-21

Thank you, God, for these kids.  May You be glorified through their sweet lives.