I say that every year, and each year it seems even faster. Sometimes I feel like the paint on spin art, just flying off the edge of the paper. I try really hard to stay on the paper; sometimes it's just not possible.
Yet, the resulting designs are beautiful.
Having so much going on at once is a big challenge; at the same time, it's one that we seem to be able to handle, although, on any given day I usually overestimate how much I can get done and underestimate how long each thing is going to take. I have gotten pretty good at filtering up the essentials and making sure those get in. Feeding people is on the top of the list, and darn it, if that doesn't have to happen about three times a day!! I am still living by "The Serenity Prayer" and finding it every bit as relevant today as it was last November,
almost a year ago.
Here are some highlights of the important stuff we did this summer.
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| Celebrating Shanna's 8th Birthday in May |
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| Mary Alice is in her element when visiting a farm. |
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| This was a bit scary for Megan. She did it anyway! |
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| Shanna was all smiles |
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| A few summer piano lessons |
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| Baking for Megan's 8th birthday, in July |
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| Scrumptious Buffet in the Basement |
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| Art projects from birthday gifts |
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| Getting Shanna's ears pierced |
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| Our Garage Sale was a perfect time for the Lemonade Stand |
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| Mary Alice at Middle School Graduation |
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| Proud Parents |
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| Matthew's wonderful orchestra teacher, going to another district in another state |
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| The other terrific teacher, taking over for Mr. H |
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| Mary Alice & Mom |
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| Out with Aunt Linda & Uncle Tom |
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| The giggle girls |
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| A visit from Gramma Judy's friends |
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| Relaxing in the yard with a popsicle and a book. Megan sure knows how to do it. |
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| Notice the babies have matching PJs? But they're switched. They call their babies "blond haired baby" and "black haired baby". They mostly share "blond haired baby". Shanna is the mother, and Megan "blond haired baby's Aunt". They are very fair in their care of her and have equal power of discipline and decision making regarding all of Baby's activities. Megan is often the "voice" of Baby and Shanna frequently asks Baby questions, which Megan dutifully answers, even if she is in the next room! |
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| Shanna still prefers Mommy to Daddy, but that seems to be changing a bit, as she allows Eric to comfort her more and more often. She even called out for him in her sleep one night when she was having a bad dream! We offered her a few opportunities to "feed him" and it seemed to really increase her attachment to him. Eric is such a good Daddy! |
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| Found the girls both in Megan's bed like this! |
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| And, of course, our garden continued to grow all summer. It was so dry, but we were really pleased with our harvest. Just wish we could have shared our success with Marty and Marion. |
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| Every single night this summer, Eric and Megan went out to pick Basil & Tomatoes. |
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| The final product each night, sometimes with smaller tomatoes, but equally as lovely and yummy. |
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| Here is Shanna with our harvest of onions! We have lots of potatoes, too, grown in pots. They are delicious. |
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| Of course, we have had lots of monarch butterflies, too. |
To view more details about our butterfly hatchery,
click here
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| Births happened every few days over the whole summer. After a period of wing drying in an indoor cage (on my dining room table!!) Matthew and Mary Alice let them go. |
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| Some days have more hatching than others. |
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| This was a sad little experience. This bunny was in our garden and got caught by our cat, Jasmine. Shanna screamed "MOMMY!!! JASMINE HAS A BABY BUNNY!!" That girl is an emergency expert. She knew just what to say, in what tone of voice, to get an immediate response! I FLEW outside and we got Jasmine to drop the bunny, but it was in sad shape. We took it to the SPCA and they said it was not good and they gently helped him die. It was good to know that if there was any hope, they would have saved him and provided him treatment and foster care. Who knew? |
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| Dropping Mary Alice off at Camp Weona in July |
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| Two weeks of crazy teens in a cabin! |
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| Camp is so fun. |
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| This little cutie is Gramma Iris' grandson. Megan & Shanna adored having him visit us! He is totally a cutie!! |
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| Shanna with her Summer School teacher. Four days a week for six weeks! Such a great thing. Thank you school system. |
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| We were amazed at all the growth in Megan. Ready for 2nd grade! |
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| Another little cutie, smothered in attention from the girls. Shanna has recently told me that she wants to be a doctor who delivers babies! |
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| Such a tender, loving look. |
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| Annual delicious family dinner at Bill & Janis' |
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| A Praying Mantis, found by Eric (or maybe Matthew) in Bill & Jan's garden. |
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| One day, I spontaneously decided we needed to visit the beach before the summer ended. The girls loved it! |
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| Mary Alice and crazy Jack, who she rides for lessons each week. She is going to be in her first show soon and is very excited. |
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| Mary Alice on Jack |
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| Thought this was pretty cute. |
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| And this.... This is at Megan & Shanna's first soccer practice. They are enjoying the experience, even if they have no idea what they are doing. |
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| Matthew plays on two different teams, the local town league and his school varsity. He loves to be on the field. |
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| Shanna likes to hang out by the field. I like to watch the town league games on Saturdays, after school is just way to hectic for me to see many of Matthew's school games. |
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| A rare moment when Matthew allowed a picture |
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| An even rarer moment when they allowed a photo together. On their first day of school, Mary Alice a HS freshman, Matthew a senior. |
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| And my 2nd graders! Proud of their new messenger bags! |
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| Some of Mary Alice's cookie creations to celebrate summer. |
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| And an amazing Birthday cake she made for a friend. She got this idea off of the internet and made the horse, flowers and butterfly out of Marshmallow Fondant (which she made herself). It covers a 10x3 inch homemade, chocolate, single layer cake, which was terrifically fudgy. Although the whole cake left for her friend's party, she graciously brought me back a piece so I could sample, and it was absolutely delicious. She is amazing. |
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| And here she is. Proud of you, Mary Alice. Good show! |
Wow, no wonder I am tired at the end of each day.
