Spring Catch Up Post

Life has been nuts.  I remember how hard running after toddlers was, and how babies suck up all of your day, but I also remember thinking something easier was just over the horizon if I could just get a little more sleep and make it there.

Yeah, no.  Bigger kids just have different issues that suck up just as much time, and complex problems that can tear at your soul.  Older kids can also be wonderful, and having real conversations with these people you made is amazing, especially when I think back to the days where we spent a lot of time just pointing to colors and that was as stimulating as things got.  I prefer playing Settlers of Catan to Candyland, there are just a lot more rules to remember.

Anyway, lately there has been little time to think, let alone write, so this is a giant catch-all post to sort through some of what we've been doing and to keep my memories anchored in time a bit better.

The Long Way Home

Quinn baiting a hook on shore.

We just had a lovely (if too short) trip to the cottage.  Aden got to bring a friend along which worked out great.  There was swimming and fishing and horseback riding and during the stormy days there were board games and crafts.

For Ian the cottage has become just a big list of out-of-state house projects, but he tackles them one by one and still seems to enjoy himself.  On this trip he fixed the water heater, repaired the sliding door, and cut up a huge fallen branch and stacked the wood out front.  I do not know how he actually knows how to fix any of these problems, but I'm grateful he does because all my solutions would be far more expensive.

I got to read.  I never get to read.  I joined a newly formed book club this summer that has been wonderful for getting me to make time to read, as well as discover books I would not have picked up on my own.  (Plus in September they plan to do my book!  You there, reading this, buy my book!)