Big day

Yesterday was the first day of school. I stayed up until the wee hours cleaning the house, setting out everything, and doing a lot of details that probably didn't matter (especially since we missed the bus, anyway--the guy was 7 minutes early!). Oh well. Last year I loved the first-day-of-school photo so much that I blew it up to a 16x20 and hung it on my basement wall; this year's lackluster photo was taken as an afterthought as we rushed back into the house to wake up the younger kids and drive to school:

 After we got there, though, I was glad that we had come. I was happy to see Jacob confidently settle down

 and Zachary manage bravely.

Thus comforted, I dropped off Michael and Adam at a friend's house so that I could meet Max at the children's hospital (Eric had brought him earlier that morning for a scheduled MRI).

 Here he is just about to awaken:

Isn't it funny how much you miss your baby after being apart for just a few hours? Holding him as he woke up was a sweet moment.

Also good: the MRI showed that Max has healed well from his surgery, with no adhesions or cysts. He has a day-long visit to the spina bifida clinic next week, and we hope for more good reports then!

P.S. I much preferred the second-day-of-school photos:
1) brother friends,

2) bus stop buddies,

 3) last glances.

I miss my big boys when they're gone for just a few hours, too! But they're loving school, and I guess that I will, too.

Summer stories

I haven't written a blog post in a month and a half, which is the longest I've neglected the blog since I started it three years ago! I blame the summer--the glorious summer--that keeps us outside more than in. Summer is something to cherish in Wisconsin, but it is also something to record! So here are a few summer stories (from the past 10 days, because I'm out of town and that's what I have on my camera), for the sake of remembering.

1. Rafting the Wisconsin River

Jacob and Eric took our inflatable raft down the Wisconsin River last weekend. They let down a fishing line as they floated down and caught a clam. A thunderstorm came up and they wondered what they were thinking being in the middle of a river! But it didn't last long, and a friend lent a poncho.

They and their buddies set up camp on a sandbar island in the middle of the river. We're trying to figure out how to do this as a family. Eric calls these adventure trips "real vacations."

2. FHE on Lake Wingra
The lakes near our home are often warmer than the swimming pools, and most of them are free! We swam at Lake Wingra one night

and roasted sausages and s'mores for dinner. I taught the home evening lesson in my swimsuit, which is something I've never done before! We told stories about the pioneers who traveled through "Hole in the Rock" in southern Utah and we talked about faith. Of course we played baseball, too.

This was also the night that Zachary had a sudden onset of pain in his legs. He literally could not walk for three days! Some lab tests and doctor's appointments later, we found out that he has HSP, an uncommon vascular condition that affects the joints and intestinal linings. Virtually all the symptoms have resolved over the past several days--but he will have to go in for regular lab work for the next two months to monitor his kidneys. Poor Zach! He has been so patient. 

3. Donut stand
I called my friend the other day to ask if I could bring in a meal--she had just had a baby. "Oh that's so nice," she said. "But what if we make a donut stand instead?" So my darling friend was frying up homemade donuts while bouncing her three-week-old in one arm! I tried to keep up and help the kids get organized. I hope that they will remember this as a perfect summer day, because it truly was.

It was a super bonus that they made $22. Not bad! Don't those just look delectable?

(The only heartache: Zachary was feeling awful from his HSP and lay on my friend's couch for most of the time! I will have to do this again sometime with him.)

4. Biking

Cautious Jacob has been wary of a two-wheeler ever since I tried taking his training wheels off a few months ago. But last week I brought Zachary's smaller bike--sans training wheels--to the park, and Jacob gave it a try. And after a few times of me holding his shoulders, he got it! He has been working at it systematically each day ("Today I think that I'll work on turns at slow speeds"), and now he rides like he's been doing it for years. He keeps saying, "I can't believe that I thought this was hard!"

 

5. Adam is two, or nine, or something

Adam turned two last week, but he will tell you that he's nine. Then he laughs like he's never told the joke before. He is an absolute crack-up! His trademarks are his baseball glove--which he wears nearly all the time--and his sly little smile--which often follows his joking. Here he is with his coconut cake--we ate a coconut cake the night we brought him home from the hospital and at his first birthday, so we figured that we'd continue the tradition.

6. Half-marathon

On Saturday I ran a half-marathon. I didn't know that my friend Rachel and her husband were also running, but we saw each other in the parking garage and ended up running a good portion of the race together. Lucky! The race was delayed 90 minutes because of thunderstorms, and so we ended up running in the muggy mid-day heat. I have never been so relieved to finish a race! It was a good summer goal for me and a satisfying day. 

 

7. Maryland

A few hours after the race, we took off for my parents' house in Maryland. (Advice: sitting in a car for 14 hours just after a race will make you stiff beyond your wildest dreams!) We visited the "big slide" yesterday

 and played at the park.

Maryland is ultimate relaxation for me, mostly because the boys run off with their uncles all day! My kind brothers are always willing to play.

8. The ill-fated D.C. trip

I love, love, love going to D.C. with the family, and so I encouraged everyone to come along today. We drove over this morning and got ready for a monument-admiring, Smithsonian-searching day. I dropped the kids off at the Jefferson Memorial, parked at Hains Point, then jogged down to meet them. My brother took this lovely picture of us there:

Soon after that, however, the beautiful Washington Monument in the background was undergoing seismic damage! We were standing right outside the Department of Agriculture building when we heard a booming crash and witnessed hundreds of people evacuating the building. We eavesdropped on earthquake accounts while we enjoyed our lunch on the Mall.

 

These aren't tourists outside--these are all businesspeople who had been evacuated.

Only a few people were genuinely worried--most seemed relieved for a mid-day social hour on a sunny afternoon. We discovered that the Air and Space Museum hadn't been evacuated, so we went there. Ten minutes later, however, that was closed, too! I was the only one who still wanted to stay in the city. So we headed back.

Conversation in the van:
Zachary: Why are we going home? We didn't even see anything good!
Amy: We saw the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument and the Capitol. And we saw some of the airplanes. But the best part was that we felt an earthquake!
Z: We didn't see anything good, and I didn't even feel that earthquake!

I agreed that it was much ado about not much. But even disappointing days are memories, right? 

A permanent film of summer dirt

Sometimes when kids are playing in the dirt or getting sticky with their food I hear parents say, "Well, I guess it's a bath night." Then I always wonder if there are really any justifiably "non-bath nights" judging by the dirtiness criterion because kids get filthy every day, and especially in the summer, when, in addition to the dirt of everyday playing they are regularly smeared in sunscreen and/or bug spray. This dirtiness is paradoxically both a disgusting and delightful sensation, and thankfully, one that my family has enjoyed almost daily during the past week and a half.

Camping was at the top of our list for the Fourth of July weekend. We recently graduated from our four-man tent and purchased a multi-room one. The entire top is mesh and so you are truly sleeping under the stars, plus the lovely trees! When we woke up in the morning Michael said, "I know that it's morning because the trees are green again. At night they are black."

Every time we camp we have tin foil dinners for dinner; pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast; hot dogs for lunch; and s'mores at every meal. Since I forgot the propane tank for the camp stove, we cooked everything over the fire this time, which made it even tastier.

Yes

 and yes!

If I could get them to eat this much at home, they wouldn't all be hanging out at the bottom of their respective growth charts. Look at those happy campers!

 

They all remained happy throughout the day, especially since our tent could accommodate the nappers:

A silly story: Later we enjoyed a visit from a friendly butterfly that took a liking to Michael and stayed on his index finger for about ten minutes.

 

Zachary, determined to have a similar experience, smeared a roasted marshmallow all over his hands so that a butterfly would stick to him. He soon found a butterfly and it did stick to his marshmallow hands. I did not take a picture because I was busy trying to save the poor insect from becoming a flightless cripple. After rolling off most of the marshmallow, the little butterfly was able to fly away. Phew. Where does he come up with this stuff? 

That afternoon we swam at a nearby state park, and then it was time to go. 

But we felt disappointed to be leaving so soon, and since Eric didn't have to be at the hospital until Tuesday afternoon, we booked another campsite for the following Monday! So after a nice day at church,

we hit the road again, this time for Devil's Lake. I left most of the supplies from Friday's trip in the van so that we wouldn't forget anything. We ended up forgetting plenty of things, including Adam's shoes! He didn't really complain:

Like all of the boys, he was excited to row around in our inflatable boat and do some fishing.

We ate our favorite camp menu again and slept under the stars again, and except for the viciously snorting raccoon that spooked us in the middle of the night, it was practically perfect.

Yesterday we swam at Stewart Lake (our friends call it "mud lake"), where we swam through and around mounds of brilliant green algae. The kids found a cool water spring and built all sorts of dams and waterfalls around it. We picked wild berries and watched some teenagers cannonball off the limb of a pine tree (Adam pointed and said, "Guys! Tree!"). That evening the kids went over to a favorite friends' house to play, and so Eric and I went to a lake again, date-style! We took the smaller boat out on Lake Mendota and ate sandwiches on board while we talked and watched the sailboats.

Summer dirt, I adore you. I'd like more of you, please, and soon!

P.S. My sister Michelle currently does not want anything to do with summer dirt and so did not accompany us on any of these outings. Maybe next time.

Sister support!

My sister Michelle is going off to college this fall--can you believe it? 

Before she goes, though, she agreed to come out to Wisconsin for eight weeks to 1) help me out as a part-time summer job and 2) have the experience of living away from home, but not as far away or detached as Idaho, which is where she's going in the fall. My mom drove out with her and then stayed for a couple days, when we picked strawberries, visited a farmer's market, and enjoyed some baseball. Yes, I had my mom and sister here at the same time! Can you spell a-h y-e-a-h? 

 

(Aside: darling boys picking strawberries. Go, boys, go!)

(Also: Jacob, I am so glad that it is summer vacation so that I can benefit from your sunniness all day. You are such a delight.)

But back to Michelle. Michelle is awesome! She helps me every morning from breakfast until lunch. Here's what's changed:
1. I can exercise every single day! Pre-baby size, I am coming!
2. My house has not been a complete disaster for even one day since she's been here! I once heard housecleaning described as a cycle of cleanliness and chaos; the homemaker's goal is to keep the home situation at the cleanliness portion of the cycle for the greater portion of the time, even though it inevitably must cycle through chaos occasionally. I have gone through DAYS (weeks) in the rut of chaos before returning to cleanliness. But Michelle has helped me keep up with the maintenance, plus she's given me flexibility to do big-scale organizing projects.
3. Summer Camp Brinton is shaping up! Our morning routine is this: exercise, eat, and dress; conduct devotional, scripture reading, and flag raising; complete chores, music time, and reading time. During the week before Michelle came, it took us until noon to finish our morning routine. With her help we're done an hour earlier, and each child has had more attention during it.
4. Field trips are safer and less stressful! Last week I convinced Michelle to come to a waterpark with us, and it was much more manageable with another adult nearby.

That way the big kids could do slides

 and the little 'uns still had someone to chase them around.

Here are Zachary and Jacob with a couple friends that we met there. So fun.

I've realized that my ability to reach my goals as a homemaker and mom are possible at c-1, where c=the number of children that I currently have. Is it always that way? I don't know. But for now Michelle makes up for my inadequacy, and I'm looking forward to the rest of her visit here.

Little League Champs!

Jacob was drafted into an incredible baseball team this season. Not only do these boys look cool, but they can really play ball!

(Also, speaking of looking cool, check out Eric's baseball pants! They were a buck at the little league store--what a steal.)

But back to the important news: tonight the boys finished a perfect season, 20-0, and claimed the Rookie League Little League Champ title!

The boys gave their head coach a good post-game tackle:

We're so grateful for the devoted coaches and players who have really made this season dynamite for Jacob. Jacob's work with the Rays--and countless hours of work on his own--have added up to substantial progress on the field

and at the plate.

We are so proud of you, Jake! And congrats Rays!