What I'm Into and Learning (July 2014 Edition)

Vacation Learning:
We're back from a big road trip. We loaded up the family and drove to San Diego. Why San Diego? I bought badges for Luke and Paul to attend two days of San Diego Comic Con back in March. Honestly, I was a little jealous that I didn't get to go to Comic Con too. It really looked like a lot of fun. We're already thinking about coming back next year for Comic Con, but maybe with just the big boys and without all the driving! We'll see.

 I believe that it's important to have family vacations even when they're not always easy or relaxing. It's not easy to be cramped to the max in a minivan for what seems like endless driving through the desert.(We drove through Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. There's a lot of desert out there, but yet I find those Joshua Trees so amazing.) Yet, we did it, but I think our family is definitely outgrowing our Toyota Sienna. It just felt way too small on this car trip.

I love this picture above. It was truly the one day of the week long vacation that felt the most relaxed. This is the beach near the Coronado Hotel on Coronado Island. This was the day that the kids looked the most relaxed as well. The twins didn't really even want their feet touching the water. So, unfortunately, I didn't get all five of them in the Pacific. The twins did, however, happily play in the sand for hours. It was totally worth it to buy them cheap buckets and shovels.

This Summer has been about all kinds of learning and I especially learned some things on our family road trip this year.

1. I don't think I really like long road trips anymore. I've definitely identified myself as an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) this year. (Until this year, I had no idea that everyone didn't experience the world the way I did.) The car noise, kid noise, and that trapped feeling all contribute to sensory overload in the car for me.

2. I can't read in the car anymore. I don't know what happened, but I can no longer focus on a book while riding in the car. What a huge disappointment for me. When I was a kid, I loved nothing more than sitting in the backseat with a book. Actually, I do realize what happened. I grew up and became a mother. I've also learned that I kind of save my reading time for when I'm alone. It's my treat for the end of a long day. I realize that I only read when everyone's asleep. It has to be quiet. The car was almost never quiet. I suppose reading in the car just didn't feel like my time. I barely read in San Diego either despite having my Kindle and two hardcover books along with me. While I watched the twins at the beach, I did envy some of the people I saw relaxing and reading. I even saw a woman knitting on the beach. I watched the twins delight in putting sand in their buckets and dumping it out.

3. I love eating outside. I'm immediately drawn to any restaurant with outdoor seating. It just feels like Summer. Eating outside makes me want to savor Summer more.

4. I can't believe I really didn't feel like knitting in the car either. I brought along two WIPs and I finished neither. I feel stunned myself that I'm just needing a break from the needles. That's not like me at all.


Other things I've discovered this summer:

1. Zumba is really hard for me. I've struggled all summer. My brain seems to be short-circuiting trying to assimilate all those Latin moves, but there's something cool about making your brain work harder.

2. I lost interest in maintaining a garden at least for now. I realize that's okay. I can take breaks from things. I can pursue other things. It's okay to change because we're always in flux. It's just not the season for me.

3. I don't really like French Fries anymore. That's probably a good thing, but also kind of weird. I only really realized that this year even though I don't even eat fries much.

I borrowed this pic from Modern Mrs Darcy. Since we just got back from San Diego Comic Con International, I figure this image is apropos for July. Super hero reader? That's me! I can read several books at the same time. That's my super power.

July Reading:

July has been a slow month in terms of reading. Like I mentioned earlier, I found it near impossible to read much while we were in San Diego and now, we're gearing up for the new school year. Hence, I'm making slow progress on these books (Super Hero Reader powers fading?)

I'm listening to the audio version of this book. Think Cher from Clueless transplanted from her cushy life in Beverly Hills to almost rural farm in Oklahoma. It's a fun light YA Christian novel.

The Screen:

Honestly, I haven't been watching much more than the Jimmy Fallon monologue here and there. I'm waiting patiently to see The Giver and The Hundred Foot Journey on the big screen later this month.

That's it for now. Click on over to Leigh Kramer to find out what she's into in July.

Friday Morning Book Post

I've been thinking about my little blog space for a long time now. I started blogging in 2007 mostly to highlight family life and our home education adventures. I wrote about home life, our faith, books, and knitting. I wrote about knitting a lot. I wasn't super prolific here, but last year I logged only a paltry 16 posts. That was low even for me. This year, I wanted to return to this place renewed and ready to write more. I also found that I love writing about books. I love reviewing them. I love just talking about books.

What I discovered is that I wanted to talk about books and the reading life more. My oldest child will be starting his sophomore year in August and I'm no longer really homeschooling with the exception of teaching my five year old to read. Life changes quickly and my kids are get older. Luke isn't as excited to be featured on my blog anymore. I'm still heavily invested in the written word and the reading life. So, this year, I could tell that I was moving in a new direction which led me to reevaluate this space. I mean, I still want to write about family life and of course, knitting, but I do think in some ways, I've outgrown this particular blog. I'm thinking about a re-brand of sorts.

After last year's dismal blog post count, I'm not sure if I have any readers left. I never check that stuff. I just write. Anyhow, if I do have any readers, I'm thinking about moving to a new blog platform by the end of the summer. I want a brand new look infused with optimism and the love of words. Stay tuned....

             As for reading, I finished two books this week, but I'm only going to write about one.

I reviewed this book this week on Goodreads yesterday. I mentioned this book in my last post. It took me nearly 200 pages to get into this book. I almost abandoned it. There are eight main characters and not enough time to really get to know any of them really well. At Mount Washington High School, there is a tradition in which The List is posted the Monday before the Homecoming dance. Wielding a lot of power, despite being anonymous, the List simply lists both the ugliest and prettiest girls in each class. Can you even imagine this? I mean, high school is hard enough without some list chipping away at a girl's biggest insecurity, right? The thing is that the list has a huge impact on even those crowned the prettiest. Honestly, it isn't pretty and it turns out to be a curse either way. How can something that is so arbitrary and anonymous and subjective have so much power??

It took me a long time to keep all the girls straight, but once I did, the story picked up some momentum, but really it was the last line of the book that was the humdinger. I was left with lingering thoughts on the perception of beauty and its power especially in the microcosm of a high school. I'm still thinking about it.

I've been reading a lot of YA this year. I find it thought-provoking in ways I don't always expect. Even when I'm reading a re-telling of an Austen novel set in a contemporary high school, I find that it isn't just a silly diversion.

As for my kids' reading:

It's not really happening.

 Sam is reading The Hobbit, albeit very slowly. I don't care. I'm just happy he finally settled on a book. I took him to see How to Train Your Dragon 2 recently. Since Luke owned the collection of these books, I thought Sam might want to try out this series, but it didn't take long to discover that he wasn't really interested. It's more difficult to find books that Sam loves. I can tell that he's going to gravitate more towards graphic novels. At 9 (Sam's age), I could suggest almost anything to Luke and he'd try it, but now, Luke isn't really reading for pleasure right now (He's 14). I did tell him that Summer is the best time to sink into a good novel (or ten) since he's free from school work and other obligations, but so far, it's not happening. The last book he read was The Giver so we could go see the movie in August.

This is the first year that my kids have had an unenthusiastic reaction to the Summer reading program at the library. I decided not to push it. Reading should be fun and I have mixed feelings about rewarding kids for reading. Reading should be its own reward, right?

So, I'm trying really hard to be hands off about the reading. They live in a house with  tons of books and they go to the library regularly. They see me read at every opportunity. I won't worry that they won't turn into lifelong devoted readers just because they're not reading much this Summer. Okay, I'll only worry a little. ;)

A Long Wintry Weekend

I'm not really sure why last week felt extra arduous. I suspect that the whole family was experiencing some burnout and then Tess got sick. The week even ended on a Thursday. There would be no school on Friday, Valentine's Day, making President's Weekend four days instead of three. I had some loose plans for the kids. I planned for some ice skating at Evergreen Lake and maybe some snow shoeing, but then the twins came down with the cough and fever as well. Paul took Sam swimming and he cut his toe badly on something sharp in the pool. Our plans were sidelined. As much as I look forward to weekends, they're not always relaxing.

As an extreme introvert living in a noisy crazy house, there is little time for the quiet I crave all day. On Saturday, I elected to take Luke down the hill to the library so that he could spend a good chunk of the day getting his homework all up to date. It wasn't exciting or anything, but going to the library was calming and refreshing for both of us. The weekend unfolded slowly and I could feel the day moving at a less stressful pace. We both agreed that we may need to make our library date a weekly thing. In the quiet of the library, he realized he could concentrate better than at home and he was less distracted. Well, of course he was less distracted! It's quiet in the library (contented sigh).

On Sunday night, I took Luke to see The Book Thief before it leaves the theaters. I've realized that I cherish one-on-one time with each of my kids. I get to see them outside of their siblings and I discover a whole other side to each of them.

Paul and I were able to carve out two mini-dates this past weekend. After we put the Littles (Tess, Liam, and James) to bed on Saturday night, we left Luke in charge of Sam and headed to a late movie.We find small pockets of time whenever we can. On Monday, we spent a couple of hours at the local Starbucks just talking.

We talked about how hard it is to come up with an activity that's appealing to all the ages in the house. We talked about how I feel every emotion that each of my children feels. All.the.Time.We talked about managing stress. We talked about how our time with Luke is dwindling. We talked about turning points.We talked about boredom and routine. We talked about vacation this year. It sounds so trite, but it was wonderful not being interrupted for more than five minutes. Again, I could feel time moving more slowly. It actually seems weird when time isn't flying by. I'm not even sure if it feels comfortable for time to move slower, but I welcomed it.

Paul treated me to breakfast in bed all weekend. He knows that after making breakfast and packing lunches for the kids all week, the last thing I want to do is cook more eggs on Saturday. So, he took on weekend breakfasts a long time ago. He lets me sleep in, brings me breakfast in bed, and then leaves me alone for a little while longer. It's Heaven and he makes a great poached egg.

Don't get me wrong. The weekend was still loud and somewhat chaotic, but I realized that there was still some peace tucked into a lot of its moments. I did get to relax and I did get to waste some time. I wasn't really productive, but I created little events for the kids and I realized that the weekend doesn't have to be perfect.

It just has to be relaxing. For the whole family.

Family Portrait

Just thought I should start the year with all of us together. (Photo from September 2013.)

The Great Room Shuffle Debate

I've planned a super big, possibly overwhelming, and challenging summer undertaking despite my need for hiatus and renewal, but I think that this change might actually facilitate some good transitions for us all.

Here's the thing: I have 5 kids, 3 bedrooms (on 3 different floors) for said 5 kids, and out of those 5 only 1 girl!! I've been thinking that it's time for a room shuffle for a long time. When the twins first arrived, I knew that I would be losing my guest/sewing room. After the twins moved from their co-sleeper in my room to the guest room in the basement, I just let things be. They slept magnificently in their basement room until recently when they decided to climb out of their cribs. Despite frequent after-midnight trips to the basement bedroom (two flights of stairs), Paul and I continued to let things be. We didn't want to disrupt Luke and Sam and their shared bedroom right across the hall from us. They've shared a bedroom since we moved into this house in 2006 and I just didn't want to break that up until now.

After removing everything (and I mean everything) from the twins' basement room for safety, I realized that their room was going to waste. We recently removed the toddler beds because they kept taking the mattresses off and moving the bed frames around the room. Yup. They do things that my other kids would never dreamed of doing.

As Luke gets older, I decided it might be time for him to have his own room in the basement although my heart breaks a little about it since I think this will impact Sam deeply. I suggested to Paul that we move Luke to the basement, move the twins to Tess's room on the main floor, and move Tess upstairs into Luke's old spot. Tess would now become Sam's roommate. It's a massive change. (Didn't I say change was coming?) I'm still not satisfied with this plan either. Sam said he'd rather have the twins in his room than his sister. I kind of agree with this sentiment. (Currently, Sam and Luke have the biggest room.) It can easily fit 3 kids, but frankly, I don't trust the twins and their crazy whims. I can't remove everything from Sam's room to ensure their safety either. Honestly, I don't think that I will be able to make these changes and have them be optimal. I'm just trying to work with my parameters. I realized that Sam and the twins are the same age spread as Sam and Luke. Luke is five years older than Sam and there's been some growing pains among those two for some time now. I guess it'll never be perfect, but as I feel that change is in order, I'll proceed with the plan.

This plan involves a lot of painting,  packing, and moving furniture. It won't be easy, but it's time for some transition in this house. It just might be the thing to kick start some renewal for everyone in this house.

Suggestions and ideas are welcome.

The Outer Banks

Our first night in the Outer Banks
The humidity and heat were insane the first couple of  days
even so close to the ocean.

After visiting Currituck Lighthouse, we found this little garden that
utterly delighted  me with its beautiful sunflowers. I am, inexplicably, drawn
to sunflowers. 

The Elizabethan Gardens near the Lost Colony on Roanoke Island.
Luke and I found several birds for our Big Summer List here.

These ancient oaks in the Elizabethan Gardens were imposing.

Ancient Oak- over 500 years old, I think.
These trees reminded me of The Two Towers.

After the initial heatwave when we arrived, the weather turned gray and rainy.
This is Cape Hatteras. It was raining when we arrived and I thought I wouldn't get to
climb to the top. We decided to come back after a little more sightseeing. When we returned, the weather had cleared and Luke, Sam, and I climbed to the top. It turns out that Sam is afraid of heights. He cried almost all the way to the top.

Luke and Sammy

The view from the top

Kity Hawk Memorial

This photo has a poignant atmospheric quality. This is at Cape Hatteras  Light Station.

Sunflower garden

The cottage that we rented had a lovely and relaxing porch swing. I spent some time there  looking for birds
or knitting. 

Currituck  Light house in the historic Corolla village.
Can you see both Luke and Sam?

The boys took a tour of the pirate ship in the background.

Can you see the dragonfly here?

The view from the porch swing

Another view of "our" yard

The only picture with me in it

Almost all of these photos appeared on my Facebook page at some point during our trip, but I wanted to put the best ones here.

The flights were grueling. This will be the only time that the twins will fly as lap babies. They turn 2 in October and after that, they will need their own seats on a plane. I'm fine with that. My arms were so sore after several hours wrestling with one of the twins.  I know that although most people are kind regarding small families traveling , they are still hoping that the couple they see boarding the plane with the 1 1/2 year old twins isn't sitting anywhere near them. I get it. I understand.

Traveling isn't easy or always fun with small people, but it's worth it for those precious family memories.

18 Months!

Liam and James

My little guys are a year and a half today. James officially started walking on February 20th (and I wasn't there to see it) and Liam is still crawling. Developmentally, Liam usually follows James by about two weeks. So naturally, I expected to see Liam walking two weeks after James. He didn't. The other day Liam stood, balanced himself, and took seven tentative steps. He's so close, but yet, I savor these crawling days because I know  they're numbered. I'm also realist. I know what will happen when both boys are walking. They'll be heading in different directions all the time and there's only one me! It's not going to get easier with them being so mobile.

Today, I dressed the boys alike because I knew I wanted to photograph them at 18 months. Several times today I actually got them mixed up (something rare), but then James would walk and I'd know. Our time with the twins has gone so quickly. I'm not sure how that happened because this whole twin adventure hasn't been easy. It still isn't easy. I struggle every day hoping that I can meet all of my children's needs and I feel like a failure every day.  As a family, We've definitely experienced some growing pains, but I know that life is much richer with these beautiful little boys in our lives.

Look at that double sweetness! It's hard to resist!

The Snowman

Sammy had to make a snow creature for school. He wanted a traditional snowman. So, Luke, Sam, and I spent a few hours one night creating this snowman. I got all excited and my creative juices started flowing. I envisioned  a tartan kilt for "our" snowman and ice skates, but Sammy restrained me a bit. We had so much fun with all our felt, pipe cleaners, and glitter glue! This whole experience made me want to do more crafts like this with the kids. I want my kids to learn that deep joy can come with unleashing our creativity. I could feel my brain churning with ideas and I knew that something good was happening.  I guess I should go and make my own snowman!

Halloween 2011

The fairy and the court jester



Desperate for a photo of the kids in costume, I settled for this quick pic right before bedtime. Sam stayed home from trick-or-treating tonight since he's got some stomach bug.  I couldn't get him to put on his knight costume even for this photo. So, I realized I'd rather have him in the picture without his costume than not in the picture at all. The babies can't wait to go to bed and it's time to get them out of their of dragon costumes and into their jammies. Paul wears the candy corn hat that I made for one of the twins and little T enjoys her time as a fairy princess. I tell you I really wanted a picture of Sam as the knight with his twin brothers dressed as dragons...maybe tomorrow I can get a picture of that fairy tale. Happy Halloween my friends!



Something Fishy

No. I didn't knit these hats. My Aunt Rosie knit these fun hats for the twins, but James discovered that he can he remove hats making it difficult to get a good picture. I think the orange suits them very well.

A Little Princess

So, the other day, I asked Tessie if she was my little cupcake. She replied, "No. I'm Daddy's princess."

Hello September

Since Luke was 7, We've unofficially started our school year by reading Christopher's Harvest Time. This year was no different.  Even though he will be 12 in a few days, he still sat down with me to listen to me read this. This book ushers in our year and reminds us that summer is over. We eased into the day by baking chocolate chip muffins.  Luke did most of the work. He did a little reading, worked on one of his cartoons, and helped me with the twins. It doesn't sound like much, but I know there's a lot of learning going on even when it isn't super-structured. Like I said, we're easing into the new year. 

I enrolled Sam in first grade and it was a tough decision. It was so difficult that I didn't make the final decision until a couple of days before school started. I miss him every day. We work on our reading lessons together every evening before bed and I cherish that time with just him. I still want to be the one who teaches him to read.

 It's going to be an interesting year. Being mommy to 5 little people is stretching me, molding me and challenging me unlike any other challenge in my life. I have so much hope for this year. Sam is going to read. Tess will potty train and the twins are going to walk soon. There's a lot of learning ahead.

Yarn Along- Knitting in the car

We returned late last Sunday night from an epic driving vacation. We drove to California and spent hours and hours in the car. I know it was ambitious with our minivan filled to capacity and knowing the older three kids didn't have much room in the back row of our Sienna. However, I still looked forward to the time to knit in the car. I eagerly packed several projects' worth of yarn in my knitting bag. On that first incredibly long day in the car, we arrived in Vegas around 10 at night after spending something like twelve hours driving  and I did spend a good chunk of that day knitting. I manged to knit the body of a sweater for Liam, but I didn't feel like digging out the DPNs to work on the sleeves so I started another Eyelet Brim Cotton hat and despite all that time in the car, it's the only project I finished. Here's Tess at the Tamarisk restaurant in Green River, Utah. Of course, she's very serious about those sugar packets! Anyway, this is an easy hat, but picking up the stitches for the brim is tedious. As for reading, I didn't have much time last week. Mostly, I'd sneak in a few pages of Generation Me when I was nursing at night. It's an interesting read.  I'll be reviewing it on Goodreads soon.

Don't forget to head on over to Ginny's for more yarn tales!