Summer

On Tuesday I submitted final grades for the Technology Tools class I’ve been teaching this year.  I officially finished my first semester of teaching at Mountain Heights Academy! I’ve loved working with the middle and high schoolers in my class. Having a nap time job from home has really been the best.

Tuesday evening I guess I let the idea of summer go to my head because I started reading The War the Saved My Life, then I finished reading it around midnight. I can’t remember the last time I read a book cover to cover without pause.

So now the question is what to do during nap time if it isn’t grading or chatting with students. I love this question. Yesterday the answer was cleaning the fridge! After three months of neglect (thank you morning sickness!) it was time for a good scrub. It was fun to clean out a fridge and put my food back, because I’m not moving away. I don’t think I’ve done that in six years.

Emily and I have been doing the other necessary summer activities. We’ve signed up for the summer reading program, which has always been something I’ve looked forward to. We went to a children’s concert with visiting guitarist Neal Fitzpatrick at the library. I made play dough and we’ve been creating dogs and bunnies, beds for each, and obstacle courses for the animals to do.

Emily loves being outside and brining the things she loves outside with her. She really likes eating outside and drinking her water sitting on our little step. One day she woke up with the very clear idea she wanted to wear her backpack outside, just like daddy, and her rain boots. It was a very warm day but there was no stopping her. After we were playing on the playground she came up with this fun idea to eat her apples on the bench. We also have been enjoying bubbles, digging in the sand, and playing at various playgrounds usually with lots of friends.

Despite all of these fun things, it isn’t really summer vacation as I’ve known it and its a bit of an adjustment to our new reality. I want to go explore and have adventures, visit family and friends, and spend hours at a time reading in my own little corner.  This summer looks a lot like the rest of the year: dishes, laundry, cooking, cleaning, nap times, Andrew working endless hours, routines to follow, and a list of things to take care of before baby number two arrives. These are all wonderful, necessary things coming out of too many months of just barely surviving. I’m craving routine and progress around the home so in many ways it is just perfect we are staying here in Indiana for the majority of the summer. But every once in awhile I long for a week spent at my grandma’s home or a road trip with my little family to a place we’ve never been.  I try not to let those moments last too long and tuck them away for another time. So here’s to enjoying the moment and embracing each season of life.