The One-on-One

We crammed in a ton of activities this summer.  I finally transferred pictures from my phone so I could put them on the blog to remember.

Vacation Bible School

Asher and Eowyn's Birthday Celebration

Hawaiian Falls

Outside Movie Night

Swim Lessons

Movies

Completed Summer Reading Program

Dates

Library Time

Discovered new ways to make tarts

Learned to cook

Dates with Legos, though I don't know why this picture is red.

Playdates.  There were about 30 kids standing
behind me, but this is where my introverts, Eowyn and
Sammy, chose to be.  

Lost teeth

Between all of this there were trips to the pool and fun times with family in East Texas.  

What I think I learned the most from was the one-on-one dates we had with the older kids.  It's easy to forget in the midst of a big family how important it is to pull away and have time with each person, to carve out a place for focused attention.  The one-on-ones are relaxed, leisurely, perfect for conversations to bloom organically and blossom into words that might have gone unsaid in a different environment.  It was during a one-on-one date between D and me that the idea of me quitting my part-time job came up for the first time, something we had never discussed before, apparently due to lack of time and the conversation just not going that way.  Big things can happen during one-on-one time.  During one-on-ones with our kids, we learn a little more about who they are and what they think about, how they feel.  Our new goal is to schedule in date times for Asher and Eowyn separately.  I know they are ready since when they saw Wren putting on her bathing suit to go swimming with D they both grabbed their shoes and waited at the door, crushed when they were left behind.  It's unbelievable that they are almost at the age Sam was when they were born.  

Here's to a fall full of slow life where what dominates the schedule is real time with real people, face-to-face.