Summertime...

And the livin' ain't easy!

Sure, we've had a few occasions to lie in the sun and stare at our toes. We've gotten to the zoo and the museum and had a picnic and hike in the mountains. We've filled up the wading pool several times and spent some long mornings pulling weeds in the garden... But our easy livin' has been complicated by a lot of comings and goings!

Here's our basic calendar for the summer of '09:

June wasn't too bad.

+ The end of the first (or was it the second) week in June, Anna, Cathy and Theresa went to Girls' Camp in Eastern Colorado.

+ June 22nd through June 28th, Michelle, Dominic and Jon spent the week with mountain friends helping with the haying -- and goofing around with their friends.

July, however...

+ June 28th through July 6th, Theresa spent time fishing and playing her good friend's mountain cabin.

+ Michelle attended Girls' Camp in Omaha with her big girl friends July 5th through July 12th

and for the end of the month, we have planned:




+ July 19th through July 25th, the Priest's Meeting at the Omaha school, where Kevin and Jon will go to be available as servers at the many Masses offered by the many priests through the week.


+ My little brother gets married July 25th -- and we're still figuring out how we can go, because our big boys and Dan have all committed to being counselors at


+ Boys' Camp July 26th through August 1st.

+ The same week that Theresa was invited to go to Girls' Camp in Spokane, WA by our dear friends at the convent there.

Then, in August

+ the boys will be heading back to school on the weekend of the 15th. Dominic starts his junior year, Jon may be going to offer a year of service to the Church (we don't know where yet), and Kevin enters the seminary

+ But, the weekend of August 8th, Paul and Nicole are coming for a visit to do some loose end tying for the wedding in October.

I'm starting to get to that part of the summer where I long for the regular routine of the school year. Did you feel like that when you were I kid? I remember getting to the middle of July and longing for the busy-ness of the school year, the cool, smooth surface of my desk top, the smell of new books, the pleasure of a new box of crayons -- and freshly sharpened pencils. A kid didn't admit that she was having thoughts like that, though. I just plugged along, looking for shady places to play or new books to read. But by the middle of August, the heat and humidity pressed down into my brain. The summer games were getting stale, I missed my school friends, and was sick of my brothers and sisters. September couldn't come fast enough. I would even admit it by the end of August.

I'm not quite there yet now, though. But, I'm eyeing my homeschool catalogues and thinking about how my pumpkins are going to make some lovely pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread come fall. And when I think of that, I can almost smell the pumpkin pie spice and the smoke from chimneys. I long for the crisp, cool air of fall. And golden aspen leaves.

Almost 45 years old now and I still love the smell of new books and that new box of crayons -- and freshly sharpened pencils. I'm enjoying the variety and fun of the summer vacation, but I'm starting to long for the regular routine of the school year. I'll miss our boys, who will be far away, but I'll know where they are, and that they're safe, productive, and thriving. What's more important that that?

And, once everything settles down, I won't have to consult the calendar to make sure I'm not missing anyone.

Is anyone else starting to look forward to fall yet like I am? (It's OK to admit it; we're grown ups!)