Month of minimal posts

For whatever reason, writing has felt difficult and strained. Ideas pass me by, photo ops come by and I grab my camera, yet the actual writing here just has not happened.

Probably the greatest thing that has struck me though, beyond the "this would make a great blog post", is that I need to be present and active.  Need to be involved in what is going on, either present in what our boys are doing, or present in the chore that needs to be done.

        ~   Our boys seem to be growing and changing so fast.   ~

It has been a joy to see our oldest smiling lately.  To see, what seems like, him happy in his own skin.  I desire to find more things he is good at and encourage more activities in those.  I want to find these things and encourage them, to foster them, so that the hard things in life seem more bearable and doable.  Isn't that true in life, when you time to follow your passion, the harder things seem easier?

Mr. Obi-hyper-wan is getting back to normal after breaking his foot about a month ago.  He had his last follow up appointment yesterday.  He is definitely on the mend and growing wearing from taking it easy.  Good thing baseball is over as there is one more week of no running, jumping, pounding on his foot.  The pool is allowed and biking can be good to ~ both of which he loves to do over the summer!

Anyhoot, wrapping up what could be the last post in June 2013, here are some parting photos and thoughts:

 Doesn't he look like a teen?  Tall, music and texting!

Morning Sunshine is just one name he goes by!

Other things to be thankful for:

~ lots of knitting going on!  Many, many hours!

~ laughs with Kevin!  Moments when the relationship is just easy and laughing and chatting are as second nature as breathing.  No effort required.

~ slow mornings

~ selling of used curriculum and toys no longer needed (feels so good to purge and "get paid" for it!) 
 

Summer Vacation and New Traditions

Yes, summer vacation!  It's here, not quite in full gear, but still here none-the-less.

We're in full pre-Boy Scout camp mode!  Talking Vacation Bible School (VBS)! Lazy mornings!

One of the best parts, so far, is happening now as I type.  Boys got a bit of t.v. this morning, couldn't figure out breakfast, and were about to grumble.  I'd wanted to listen to Pandora as I prepped breakfast, but youngest asked to listen to Huckleberry Finn.  They've been happily listening to it for about 45 minutes so far.  During this I was able to fix pancakes for breakfast, get them fed, and start the dishwasher.  They seemed to enjoy that as well.  This may have to be a new tradition and carried into the new school year.  Listen to an audio book and have breakfast.  The schedule will need to be tweaked, once school starts, but hopefully this will be a good memory for the boys.

What traditions do you enjoy?  Summer related or school related!  Ones your kids just love and keep coming back too!

 For now, loving summer!
 

It only takes a spark

in the right conditions, to create a raging fire. Believe most folks would accept that as true. Get a spark into dry tinder (you know, the small/tiny branches, pine needles, cotton swab with wax on it), and the spark turns into a bigger spark, so you add more tinder, and branches about the thickness of your finger and continue working till you add a few logs. 

Yes, there are other ways of building fires too, but this analogy leads to where I want the post to go.

Within the last year or so, our youngest got hooked on the Titanic by reading, "The Titanic, Lost and Found".  Spare time was consumed by the Titanic.  He asked us to surf Netflix, the Internet, asked for trips tot he library, would pull down every book off of our shelves that could possibly have information about the Titanic.  He'd draw the titanic, build the titanic (cardboard version, Lego version, and MineCraft version),  he digested as much information as he could possibly find on this.

My folks went on a paddle boat cruise last summer and sent the boys postcards.  One card had a few facts about the ship they were on.  This kid of ours, on his own, started figuring out how the cruise ship compared to the Titanic, length and a number other things.  He talked about those difference for quite a bit.  This was nothing I could have encouraged or suggested he do.  Totally investigated on his own, by his own desire to seek knowledge.

We're know trying to spark other interests, in both, by asking questions about any number of things.  As their parents, we just don't know when or where that spark is going to be ignited.

What do you do, to get your kids curious about learning?  Have you ever read Walking by the Way blog?  Ami wrote a similar post (click here) that made me want to write about our experience.
 

Revisit of Allowance!

It has been awhile since I asked about allowances.

Our boys have been getting them for a couple months or so now.  Looking back, I am seeing a lot of benefits to doing this.  Thought I'd share what we've seen as the benefits of giving allowances.  So here's what I have liked:

• boys are getting better at exchanging coins for bills and different bills and coins combined ~ real world math, a good and practical way of teaching math.
• the boys are more accepting of us saying "no we won't buy you that candy/gum as you have money at home"; they are learning to plan ahead, knowing that at certain places there is an option of buying things.  They'll ask to bring money to buy such and such.
• they have begun looking, long term, toward buying things that will require saving and not buying that pack of gum or candy.
• they are beginning to understand the basics of our family budget, that we only have so much money coming in and have responsibilities to pay for.

Well, on a rainy Saturday afternoon, that's about all I've got.  But still good benefits to have!