Summer
I am so loving summer this year. Of course, it isn't really hot yet, and I don't like that, but I am hoping to "work up to" dealing with the heat gradually by spending a lot of time outside everyday until then. I'm don't have a lot of faith that this method will actually work but 1) the weather is great now so I may as well enjoy it and 2) I can't think of any other technique that might work better.
I'm really excited that only a month after getting out of the wheelchair, I am exercising as much as I have been. I started the week after Memorial Day and went from walking once, very slowly, around the field to walking a couple of miles by last Saturday. I'm walking every day, and over the weekend, walked significant distances all three days. My Hubby gets off of work early of Friday, so it is like two and a half day weekend, if not a three day weekend, every week.
The girls are riding bikes now, so we hit the bike trails with them on wheels, me pushing the baby in a stroller, and my Hubby keeping up with the girls (he's on foot, mind you) and helping push them up the big hills. Luckily, A's tricycle is rated for three hundred and fifty pounds for some reason, so he can hop on and coast down the hills he helps her up. One day, our five year old actually went almost a mile on roller skates, at which point everyone switched gear -- she put on her sister's shoes and rode the bike, my Hubby carried the baby, and A (who is now four) got into the very tiny stroller (barefoot since her sister had her shoes) while I pushed her and the stashed roller skates the mile back to the van. It was great fun, and quite funny, though next time we take a bike path next to a river, I'll bring bug repellent.
I'm also really enjoying spending so much time with the kids, and with the whole family in general. I'm finally getting some of my energy back after that very challenging pregnancy and delivery, so parenting is becoming FUN again, rather than just exhausting. I love the walks we take together every night around the farm -- the kids pick flowers, we stop to eat mulberries (later in the season it will be raspberries, and then blackberries), and we often see dear, rabbits, lightning bugs (as of tonight), and of course cats. We've planted flowers, watermelons, and zucchinis, and have three litters of kittens. There is food fresh from the garden and about a hundred and fifty acres to roam around on. I just love being out here with the kids -- it reminds me so much of when I was a kid, doing more or less the same things, in exactly the same place.
I ended up not being able to do the independent study writing project over the summer, mostly because we don't have the money. Even with help from my mom, it was just too much $$$ to raise. So, oh well - I'll save it for a semester when I have financial aid. That said, there is nothing to keep me from working on it now, doing research, and getting some of the writing done in advance, so that is my goal. However, mostly I've been focused on the above, i.e. on getting my body back into a healthy, mobile state and spending a lot of quality time with my family. I think that both of these things are intensely important, and given that I will start back to school in the fall (as will M!) I really value the time we all have together.
The baby is doing great, getting bigger all the time, and the girls are enjoying the summer, taking swimming lessons, and doing the above all day long. I have help from my Blessed Teenager (the girl who has helped me with the kids for the past four years) four days out of the week, so integrating the newest member of our family hasn't been overwhelming, thank heavens. All in all, things are going very well and I am thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. The more energy I have, the better I feel, and the more I want to do to generate more energy. Now this is a feedback loop I can live with.
I'm really excited that only a month after getting out of the wheelchair, I am exercising as much as I have been. I started the week after Memorial Day and went from walking once, very slowly, around the field to walking a couple of miles by last Saturday. I'm walking every day, and over the weekend, walked significant distances all three days. My Hubby gets off of work early of Friday, so it is like two and a half day weekend, if not a three day weekend, every week.
The girls are riding bikes now, so we hit the bike trails with them on wheels, me pushing the baby in a stroller, and my Hubby keeping up with the girls (he's on foot, mind you) and helping push them up the big hills. Luckily, A's tricycle is rated for three hundred and fifty pounds for some reason, so he can hop on and coast down the hills he helps her up. One day, our five year old actually went almost a mile on roller skates, at which point everyone switched gear -- she put on her sister's shoes and rode the bike, my Hubby carried the baby, and A (who is now four) got into the very tiny stroller (barefoot since her sister had her shoes) while I pushed her and the stashed roller skates the mile back to the van. It was great fun, and quite funny, though next time we take a bike path next to a river, I'll bring bug repellent.
I'm also really enjoying spending so much time with the kids, and with the whole family in general. I'm finally getting some of my energy back after that very challenging pregnancy and delivery, so parenting is becoming FUN again, rather than just exhausting. I love the walks we take together every night around the farm -- the kids pick flowers, we stop to eat mulberries (later in the season it will be raspberries, and then blackberries), and we often see dear, rabbits, lightning bugs (as of tonight), and of course cats. We've planted flowers, watermelons, and zucchinis, and have three litters of kittens. There is food fresh from the garden and about a hundred and fifty acres to roam around on. I just love being out here with the kids -- it reminds me so much of when I was a kid, doing more or less the same things, in exactly the same place.
I ended up not being able to do the independent study writing project over the summer, mostly because we don't have the money. Even with help from my mom, it was just too much $$$ to raise. So, oh well - I'll save it for a semester when I have financial aid. That said, there is nothing to keep me from working on it now, doing research, and getting some of the writing done in advance, so that is my goal. However, mostly I've been focused on the above, i.e. on getting my body back into a healthy, mobile state and spending a lot of quality time with my family. I think that both of these things are intensely important, and given that I will start back to school in the fall (as will M!) I really value the time we all have together.
The baby is doing great, getting bigger all the time, and the girls are enjoying the summer, taking swimming lessons, and doing the above all day long. I have help from my Blessed Teenager (the girl who has helped me with the kids for the past four years) four days out of the week, so integrating the newest member of our family hasn't been overwhelming, thank heavens. All in all, things are going very well and I am thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. The more energy I have, the better I feel, and the more I want to do to generate more energy. Now this is a feedback loop I can live with.