Summer's End

This summer has suddenly slipped through my fingers. It has been great at moments, trying at others. But my heart is still stolen by these little boys who demand so much yet give me so much at the same time. How could my heart not be stolen by this?:

We are getting very close to a time when they all play together. Nate sits up on his own these days, and is reaching for things but hasn't yet figured out how to actually move. When this happens, my life will simultaneously become easier and harder: I'll have to watch his every move, but he'll be able to entertain himself better and interact with Sam and Levi more.

All the kids have become affectionate of late. Kisses abound. Not good when we have germs. But I'll take it, especially since I'd trade them kissing each other for hitting each other any day (I know that's coming, so I'll enjoy it while it lasts!)

We all got sick about 10 days ago. It was some sort of stealth sinus thing, where you'd wake up in the night and feel all stuffy, even head-achy, but there wasn't much nose blowing or coughing, etc. Levi ended up having the worse symptoms, and ended up with conjunctivitis and two ear infections.

I don't think I even realized I had it, except that my ears seemed stuffy and I felt run down. I thought it was just sleep deprivation from helping the kids during the night, as none of them were sleeping very well. But now that I'm better I can see how it effected my energy level.

Our sickness intersected with Mike's first few days of activities back on campus. This was unfortunate, since he was very busy and gone a lot, and we needed to stay close to home so that everyone got their naps and we didn't spread the wealth, I mean germs too much. That meant we did a lot of this:

Ugh. Sam was even bored with TV after a couple of days. So I started making a real effort to change things, and the pst couple of days we've had lots of creative play.

And a random fact about Levi: He can fall asleep anywhere, if it is between 11 and 12 am and his is riding in a stroller or car. He is helpless.

Notice the half-eaten cracker.

The thing I'll miss most about summer is all of the fabulous family time. Although it makes more work to have Sam home, he is a sweet heart and loves to be home as much as I love having him here. And there's no trading having the evenings and weekends and vacations with Mike. We feel renewed as a couple and as a family, I think.

School starts for Sam on Monday. I am both relieved and melancholy. There goes another summer of endless hours to spend with my sweet boy who is growing up so quickly. He feels the same way. Yesterday he was not himself: pushing the envelope, moody, short-tempered. I asked him what was wrong, and guessed out loud that maybe he didn't want to start school. (A big hint was that this behavior began immediately when I got home from his kindergarten orientation.) He broke down and said, "I'm going to miss you!" Ugh. Break my heart, why don't ya?

But he's going to love it. And so am I. I think it's funny how much I looked forward to the freedom of summer, and now am so looking forward to the structure of the school year.

Tickle Fest

Weekend with the Godzwa clan

Last weekend we were in Erie, our old stomping grounds. Both Mike and I grew up in Erie (or should I say, Erie County?). We hadn't been there for probably a year and half, so before we left Sam kept mentioning how much snow is always in Erie. Apparently we haven't been there during the summer in a very long time.


The weather was so pleasant, it was enough to make me consider moving back! But then I remembered the snow that covers the ground for 3 months of the year and came back to my senses. ;)


We had a great time, staying at Mike's mom's (or Grandma G's) house with cousins Josh and Abbie. On Saturday everyone headed to the Erie Zoo, where they not only got to see animals, but also pirates and Ronald McDonald!


Sam grew some facial hair while hanging with those pirates!

Getting an autographed picture of Ronald McDonald.

Here are all the cousins who went to the zoo, posing on a termite mound.

Sunday we went to church in the morning, and then to the Lake Erie Peninsula, Presque Isle, for the annual Godzwa family picnic. It's always fun to see cousins, second cousins, third cousins, aunts, uncles, and several other relatives that I know are family but don't know exactly how. The Godzwas are great - it was fun to catch up with people we hadn't seen in awhile, as well as participate in the razzing (or being razzed) about sports teams and other fascinating subjects. Good food, too, including pepperoni bread!



Putting away some grub... er, hot dogs! We don't get to grill out much in our apartment, you know. ;)

I think Nate got his head shape from Mike's side of the family... Or he's just Uncle Jim's Mini-Me.

After the picnic we headed over to the beach. The best thing about Lake Erie is that it's big enough to feel like it's more than a lake, but you don't have the salty water, high winds or larger waves of the ocean. This particular beach, Beach 11, is on the bay side of the peninsula, so it is very shallow and calm, perfect for kids.

The water was a little cold, but the sand was really warm so Sam kept alternating between the two.

Levi enjoyed the sand more than the water.

Dave and Kelly, Tony and Corey, we missed you guys! Maybe next year?

Laundry Lego Land

Sam got his first set of big-kid Lego's for his 5th birthday. My brother really loved Lego's as a kid and went on to become an engineer, so I thought maybe it was just his niche. But now I can see why: they are tons of fun. Here's what we created one day last week, in between laundry cycles.