the finish line approaches

  

Hello from August; can you believe it?  I can't.  August feels like a kind of a finish line.  It is the only time of the year that we can schedule extended down time (besides Christmas but for parents does Christmas ever count?) and that's approaching soon. Visiting family in Spokane, camping, and a cabin stay on the Olympic Peninsula are all coming our way this month.

We are still spending time at the pool for swimming lessons.  I paused all structured "school" activities for the summer with two main goals in mind for the summer months:  One, that my older two girls end the summer knowing how to swim confidently, and two, to allow them access to as many ministry opportunities/activities with Sacred Road as they wanted (and as made sense).  There are only a few of us with young children on staff with our ministry so I feel my way around what we want regarding how much our kids' lives are dictated by ministry and community and how much "normal" American life to provide them.  Both are good and have positive outcomes so it's a matter of balance and priority; I'm not sure I always get it right but it is often on my mind.  Swimming lessons have been a great way to pursue a skill I wanted them to have as well as one of those "normal kid life" things I want them to have memories of one day.  It is our last week of lessons and Lyddie and Millie are each swimming independently.  Millie is my little fish and wants to spend as much time in the water as possible, and Lyddie looks so beautifully graceful in her strokes - except the just-introduced backstroke, when she flails her arms all direction as fast as possible.  That has been making me laugh, but today she made a breakthrough and was able to alternate her arms going the correct direction.  She looked lovely.  Rosie is so tentative in the water that I don't think she's really progressed at all this summer, but maturity and exposure will probably just be the key for her eventually. I will be relieved when lessons are over because it is a lot of work getting everyone ready and drive all the way into town every morning but it has been really worth it and I really am enjoying every second of it. 

What I didn't enjoy was the five-man round of stomach flu we had last week.  The rotation lasted exactly one week and by the eighth day, everyone was recovered.  Thankfully.

Our cat of almost five years died a few weeks ago- trauma!- but our friend had kittens and we brought one home this week.  The girls were so happy to see that he has little "boots" so they can call him Mittens like they hoped to do.

I used the sick time to knit up a storm and will be sharing a few finished objects tomorrow! Happy August, my friends!