August

Before school began, we tried to squeeze in a few more unhurried moments of fun. Cooking together, visiting with brand new friends, a movie night, our last trip to the zoo with the girls...

An evening in town for ice cream and photography. Miriam and Vivian both did Photography for Mini 4-H this year. Miriam wanted to feature our little downtown on her poster, so we made a "family date" of it! The best part was running into Tim's niece, Lydia, who also just happened to be walking around with her Grandma (not Tim's mom...if you can do that family logic you get a Gold Star!).

That weekend, we also got to see Lydia at our Parish Festival - 1950's sock hop themed this year! Tim and his dad brought the Monte Carlo. We played and ate and danced and even had a "drive in" movie! Simon was caught a couple times chugging the cherry syrup bottle that was supposed to be mixed into the soda fountain pops and eating piles of candy meant for the ice cream sundae bar. We couldn't take our eyes off of him for a second!

In August, we also started visiting Sarah's Grandma every Wednesday to pray the rosary as an extended family. She doesn't always know the words anymore, but we know how important prayer, the rosary, and Mass were (and still are) to her and that this time together is one way we can show her our love and gratitude for all the many ways she served us during her healthier years. Maybe that's a little backward. We think we're serving her now by visiting and praying, but her life is still a great gift of service to us. She continues to be a model of faith for us and to unite us as family in a way no one else can. She allows us to teach our children about the dignity of life - that it can't be measured by productivity or expressed wisdom; life is good in all ways. And she makes us laugh. Not all her words make sense, but occasionally she responds, especially to the children, in the most appropriate ways! Simon and Elijah were pretty curious about her wheel chair the first few times. They would bump it or touch her, and she was tease them by saying, "Ouch!" Once she wanted to know about our children and then said, "Oh all those children mean a lot of work."

She's right. And school being back in session, makes that ever clearer. Years back, there was an article in a popular parenting magazine about large families. Miriam and Vivian were still very young when Sarah read the story. In it, one of the fathers said something to the effect of, "We love nights that are calm enough to just give the little ones a bath. We don't get many nights like that. It's like time slows down and we get to just love our children."

At the time of reading, Sarah did not understand his sentiment. Taking care of two very small children day in and day out felt like a grind. And it was...but it was grinding out selfishness and beginning to chisel an appreciation of this vocation. Now, when we do get to just sit and give Simon a bath, those are kind of sacred moments when nothing else is required of us except to enjoy this little boy.

Really, any quiet time to stop and talk with them, to hear their day, has become a big blessing to us. And often it has to be a moment when we set aside our phones and to-do lists and focus on being with this child at this time.

Some "firsts" in August gave us extra pauses! Vivian got her first retainer to begin correcting her bite and widening her jaw. It has meant a waiting room with nothing to do but play with Simon and car rides with Vivian to just chat as we drive back and forth to the orthodontist.

AND Felicity learned how to ride a two wheel bike. Mommy spent just a few minutes with her on it, and then she got it! She practically taught herself!

We also celebrated Uncle John's first home and his engagement with a party and a water balloon fight!

Uncle John is a farmer, so the boys took turns "driving" a tractor. They seem to be sharing...but really they're attempting to see who can control the steering wheel!

With the girls gone most of the day, Simon keeps busy with Mommy reading books, building with blocks, playing with trains, tractors, and cars, and cooking. He loves looking through Daddy's car magazines. One morning he was browsing through Family Handyman magazine with Aunt Bridget when he came across a spread about LAWNMOWERS! During naptime, Mommy chopped up the article, mounted it on cardstock, and laminated some new "flash cards". They live in the diaper bag for times we need to quietly chat about the color of our lawnmowers. There is even one with a man driving the lawnmower that looks a lot like Grandpa! It's Simon's favorite.

We also went to the zoo with Elijah and Aunt Bridget and visited with friends who have little boys to play with Simon. Surrounded by so many girls, he needs the boy time!

The end of the month was a hot Labor Day weekend. Labor Day means the ACD Festival in our town and a cruise-in that covers blocks and blocks of our town with interesting and old cars. The girls of course LOVED the pink cars best!