July

Whoa - it's AUGUST already. I had my work meeting in mid-July, and while away, Smith went to a UVA soccer camp, same one as last year. This year, though, it was him and 8 other kids from his team, 1 of whom is one of his best buddies. They had a blast. Our meeting was in Baltimore, so it was close but different enough to feel like we got away. Here are some photos of our early to mid-July.

Music at the Courthouse

Tate, sad/mad about me not having a chair for her

Goofball at the Adidas store - she kept running around things and peeking at me.

Tate's note to Smith because she wasn't joining us on our UVA drop off. She had gymnastics later that evening. She even gave him a lollipop! Giving candy away is a big deal for her.

Obligatory lunch in Charlottesville.

Good times - my meeting starting, at our bag stuffing "party." 

Job perk!

Looks gross, but was DELICIOUS - a soft pretzel with crab meat and some sort of cheese sauce.

Watching the World Cup while "working."

Moments

Tate was the first to get into the "over 8" juggle group for soccer - she got a pin from her coach. Big deal for her, and good reward for hard work.

She also is at her first sleep away at her gymnastics place tonight. Her whole group (wide age-range) gets pizza, free time, movie, sleep on the mats, then donuts in the morning. How fun is that? She is the youngest age group there, with I think her being the absolute youngest kid there. She was nervous going in - is my bag the right size, what are the other girls wearing. She was perfect. Would have been perfect even if her bag was different. I get it, though. She wants to fit in. Sometimes she's happy being the crazy, different one, and sometimes, it's easier to be part of the crowd.

Little glimpses into a bigger girl.

I am a worrier.

I am a worrier. I worry over so many things. My current one is my son. Parenting is hard - he is 13, and this is an emotional age, for boys and girls. He's always been sensitive, feeling, thoughtful - so magnify that with hormones, and it can be something.

I worry that the things I say, offhand or repetitively, will come to more significance than I intend. My concern about what he eats, what choices he makes in food. Will that cause him to look at himself more critically than he should? My concern over his grades - he should do his best, and I know what his best looks like, but is my concern spilling over to him and causing stress? Probably. But you need that, too. If his best is a "B" then that's fine. But if his best is an "A" but he doesn't get that because he, hypothetically, forgot to turn a bunch of homework in and didn't retake a test, than that is NOT okay. It's not doing his best.

And I guess the hard part is constantly second guessing yourself to figure out what is the best way to get good things into their heads without causing lifetime damage. You can hope that your intent is what they feel and grasp, but the yelling and frustrations of everyday life seems to send a bigger message sometimes, I fear.

I hope that the relationship we two have together sustains him while having to make hard decisions as he grows. Peer pressure can be hard. He seems to not be as concerned, thankfully, as I was when I was his age - that can only be a good thing. He sometimes reminds me that he's a boy, and he doesn't feel the things I feel and get concerned over what I do ("mom, I'm a BOY.").

I realize, after re-reading this, that being concerned with my overall "mom message" likely puts me ahead in the game - but man. This parenting thing is hard!

The 5th of July

So yesterday was fantastic, and today was just as great! My friend Chris and her husband built a beautiful wooden sea kayak. Today was the day to see if it was sea worthy. So all 8 of us went in 1 canoe, 3 "regular" kayaks, and 1 beautiful wooden one. The day was perfect, the company great.

After the time on the river, we went to a nearby Creamery for ice cream - I got salted caramel pretzel, YUM! Then we rinsed off in our pool, got pizza for dinner, and watched soccer. Really another Best Day!

David, stuck in the muck!

Kids on a stick

The beautiful wooden one

The 4th of July

What a great day! The temperature was perfect. We spent time with some of our very favorite-est people, saw a parade, watched soccer (Go Brazil!), baked a strawberry cake, had a cookout, watched fireworks, lit our own fireworks, had kid sleepovers. Really, could not have been a better day!

A Goal-y Summer

Every summer (EVERY SUMMER) I make these plans - there was the Theme Summer, where each week was going to be a theme, like dinosaurs, or Egypt or blueberries. The entire week, we would do things related to that theme. I think we got half a week of that in. Another was Meals Around the World, so each week would be a country or area of food, and we would also learn cultural things. Not sure we even did more than a day on that one.

So this summer? It's the summer of Goals. It's just vague enough to maybe work. Smith is at an age where he needs to set goals for himself and figure out what things in life he wants to work toward. And it can be fun stuff, too - like my goal (every summer) of riding our bikes 10 miles up the bike path, having a picnic, and riding back. My big goal with Goal Summer is to show how to set yourself up to succeed on a goal, like the planning it takes and the bike rides you have to take to make a ride 10 miles away successful.

Some of their goals are fun things, like going to the zoo two times, geocaching more than once this summer, going to the pool 5-7 times a week. The big one I like so far is they are both doing either a poem or a journal writing each day, 5 days a week, that we can make into a book at the end of summer. (Tate was reading her 2 sentence journal writings from last summer and loved reading them, which is spurring her on to write more this summer.) Another is Tate's juggling plan - this week, she wants to juggle the soccer ball 100 times each day, her idea. Smith's goals are tending toward the "I would like to stay up late each night of summer" variety, but he's taking it seriously some.

The best part of this plan? I think my goal for success this time around may be met. Every time they come up with something they want to do, it reminds me that it's a Goal Summer, and I can remind them, and it looks like I've been ON THIS all along. And THAT is one of my goals!

gratuitous puppy shot

Family goals:

Zoo

Downtown visits (various points of interest)

Local hikes

PICNICS

Pool

Camping

Poetry Books

Cooking projects

Riding bike to nearby town

Keeping up with math and reading (Tate especially)

Outdoor (fun) pool

Tate doing more knitting

Smith doing his models with David

Daily journaling/poetry

YES!! Don't forget to eat and knit!!

Love this, especially today, as I am days behind on a project due...tomorrow. I just nourished myself with some crappy food, but dinner? That will be better.

http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2014/07/dont-forget-to-eat-and-knit.html