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| Flower girl preview |
What follows is a little photo walk through some things we've been doing this summer. The days of July have run together so much that it's hard to convey just what we've been DOING exactly. But we've got our trip to NY coming up this week and if I don't get some photos posted soon, the first part of the summer will be a forgotten blur.
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Ben has a lot of time on his hands before the rest of us
wake up in the morning. |
I've genuinely enjoyed so much of the time with Ben and Eliza this summer. After swimming lessons (for both) and farm camp (for Ben) earlier this summer, the rest has been pretty open. I've had an ongoing commitment to being on our church council during a major decision-making process, so that's kept my mind busy. I also committed myself to some house projects--once I started pulling things out of the closet in Eliza's room, there was no turning back. Her room has been in a state of upheaval and chaos for about a month, but I'm so pleased to be getting it done.
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| It's a lion. Roar!! |
With Ben and Eliza this summer, I guess I've prioritized time with them to do art, reading, little outings, time with friends, dentist appointments, etc. But there is a lot of time I need to be doing things around the house or on the computer, so there's also a lot of... well, being bored. Eliza does not ever appear to be bored (she tells "stories" to herself and her critters and stuffed animals for an hour at a time), but the first child is now at that age. We found a picture book in the library called "I'm Bored!" in which a little girl who is bored who finds a potato who is also complaining about being bored. She has to make a defense of how interesting she actually is, but all the potato isn't buying it. It's a cute little book, and now when Ben says he's bored, I throw him a potato : )
There was an article going around for a while about how great boredom is...promoting innovation was the point I think. I would agree with that about half the time. While I'm typing away, the kids are perfecting a somersault slide down the cushions of the couch onto the floor. Does this count as innovation? On the positive side, I have seen boredom lead Ben to get crafty and inventive with paper or other found items. I have also seen it turn into bickering and yelling like you wouldn't believe : )
The following are some pics from a not-boring day we had exploring some new things in downtown Waco:
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Hey Sugar is a cool new candy store. Not to be confused
with an establishment of ill-repute : ) |
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| Eating candy outside a downtown movie theatre after Hey Sugar |
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And then a short walk down to The Provender Store. The delightful owner is
from Australia and very excited about trying to make his little cafe more "kid-friendly."
I was happy to get the best iced tea in town while the kids tested it out. |
For a little while this summer, we had a "word of the week." Ben has been asking me a lot to tell him about a word he doesn't know, so we turned it into a thing. The best one was the word "persistence." Probably a good word to start to understand as we look ahead at starting school. Persistence is actually something that comes naturally and joyfully to us when we are pursuing something we love or something we are naturally gifted in. Ben demonstrates persistence all the time in finishing a difficult book, finishing puzzles, climbing trees, taking something apart. So he can see pretty easily that by pushing through a hard part, he's become better at those things. I hope by experiencing that pattern in things he loves he can see that even things that are really hard--like riding a bike--are worth the effort.
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| Persistence |
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Also hiking in Texas in mid-July requires persistence. It's good to find another
family who makes their kids do it too. |
What else? As I think about sending Ben to kindergarten soon, I've been impressed by his developing independence. For one thing, he's been waking up at 6 or 6:30 every morning this summer, and after moaning and groaning about this for a while, one morning JB and I told Ben to go downstairs and find a book to read so we could sleep a few minutes more. We came down a little later and he had poured himself some juice, taken out some sort of workbook and was working on it happily at the table. He told me out of the blue the other day that morning is his favorite time of day--and we can tell. He's at his happiest and best bright and early. JB gets up with him pretty often, and they spend the time outside together...doing whatever it is they do : ) And sometimes we'll get something set up at the table for Ben the night before so he has something to look forward to doing by himself. I do somewhat regret that I am not up to spend the best time of Ben's day with him--but not generally enough regret to get me out of bed!
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| coloring a picture grammy made |
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| ice painting on a hot-hot day |
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| library story time (Ben's not being anti-social, just camouflaged) |
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| Waco Farmer's Market for tomatoes, purple-hull peas and pretty flowers |
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| Finding the right hardware at Lowes |
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| lots of dress up... |
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| And a little July 4 trip to Lake Meridian State Park |
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| Hiking at Meridian |
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| And then a cool swim in the lake |
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