Skip to main content

One Third

We have about one third of our summer vacation behind us.  A lot has happened, and we have a lot more planned.

Ricky got braces!
He looks cute with those things on his teeth.

Sean has been my super cleaner and organizer. He has kept his room clean for nearly a month!  And he takes pride in tackling even the most difficult jobs. He works magic.  The toy box was a very big project that I did not ask him to do, but he was a big help--especially in emptying it. 
I should take pictures of some other things he has done well. For example, he has taught everybody in the family how to make the back porch look nice by hanging up the towels, lining up the pool toys, and making the chairs in a circle. He also helped me clean the girls' room while they're out of town at EFY and organized the mess on Emily's desk that I wasn't prepared to deal with. Another project was to  sort out the crayons, markers, and colored pencils. Sometimes he helps by keeping the bookshelves tidy in the living room. 

Brooklyn loves that everybody is home from school to play with her, but sometimes she gets tired. One day last week, Andrew and Sean made her a napping place in my room and she went right to sleep in it. 
Fathers' Day was fun. The kids made some sweet cards. Emily's gift made me laugh. 
Summer is fun!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

That Sinking Feeling - Real Talk From Your Mother

Also found at Letters from the Nest:   https://open.substack.com/pub/lettersfromthenest/p/that-sinking-feeling?r=48qui&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web Dear Nestlings, I hope you don’t mind a little stream-of-consciousness letter today. I don’t know if I have anything specific to share, so let’s see what floats to the surface. It’s a bright fall Friday morning. These last few weeks in central Pennsylvania have been lovely, sunny, and warm. I know winter is coming, so I try to be outside as much as possible to take advantage of the sun before it hibernates. I just completed the forty-minute round trip to drive one of you to the high school. You know who you are, but maybe in a few years, when you read this, you won’t know because every one of you has missed the bus sometimes and has endured lectures about planning better and showing your respect for my work by not requiring forty minutes of my life for your convenience. Anyway, everybody is at school and work except...

Gavin in a Million Words or Less

 Way back when Emily was in 6th grade, her teacher, Ms. Grey, asked parents to write about thier children in a million words or less. I posted what I wrote about Emily on our blog. I wish I were more organized and tech-savvy to find the link to that post and put it here, but I'm not. It's a nice idea that maybe I'll do later. Anyway, you get to read what I wrote to Gavin's fifth grade teacher who made the same requests of parents: Gavin is the youngest of seven children. His three oldest siblings have flown the nest, so he talks to them on the phone and looks forward to holiday visits. This summer, his oldest sister had a baby, so he’s an Uncle! He has three older brothers, who sometimes make life tricky for him, but are also sources of wisdom, rides to the store to get candy, and annoying TikTok phrases. He sometimes wants to be more grown up than he actually is. This little guy is academically oriented. He loves to read BIG books. He rarely reads a standalone nove...

Back To School Meanies

 Letter From the Nest August 15, 2025 https://open.substack.com/pub/lettersfromthenest/p/back-to-school?r=48qui&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web One August, more than twenty years ago, at an evening book club discussion, my “older” friends (now I look back and know those women were the age I am now), were discussing the woes and triumphs of back-to-school season. One woman was anticipating her youngest child’s senior year of high school. She said, “For more than two decades, our lives have revolved around the school district’s academic calendar. I don’t know how I will plan my life without knowing about school breaks or holidays.” I remember her bittersweet tone as she anticipated freedom from school schedule constraints but also mourned how those constraints guided her choices. What would she do? Other women joined the discussion, wondering if their kids would have good teachers, if they’d be able to balance volunteering in the classroom, how to streamline school supply pu...