summer sweet summer

The lazy unstructured days of summer are finally here.  We've just been rolling along since the last day of school enjoining the late nights, warm air, and lack of bedtime schedules.  The kids ask me what we will do that day.  Most days I do not have an answer but we do what comes up.  

We have already watched too much tv, gone to the beach, if only for a short stay and eaten much, too much, ice cream and popsicles.  

We have been swimming since school let out, feeling the sun on our backs.  I faintly smell sunscreen on my hands and on my children's bodies most days.  A chemically comforting smell when they sit on my lap and I get a whiff of their little heads.  

These days the weather is so strange.  It's hot, but windy or really breezy.  I can't remember all this wind in years past.  It is strange to say, but the kids have been cold after only about 30 minutes of playing in the pool. 

All three have already been sick.  It was the worst ever with them having every cold and flu symptom.  With the temperature at 100 degrees outside it was scary to feel their little bodies get that hot, even a litter hotter.  Finally all has passed.  Everyone is in the clear, but God forbid that happens again.  

All this just to type that I am glad summer is here.  

There will be no driving to school and from school, four different times throughout the day, no more nightly homework harrasments, or stress over missed school events (sorry Angy, sorry Joni).  There are no more project deadlines or sheet signings and tardiness.  That can wait until august.  In august I will be more ready for it.  Or less ready, we will see. 

The house stuff is still here, like, the dishes, toys, laundry and piles of bills and clutter.  The front and back yard that need to be mowed.  The plants that need to be watered.  The pets that need to be fed, watered and walked.  All of that never goes away.

Oh, sweet summer, thank you for showing us your unstructured warmth.

Early one morning

Photos by Jonas

Jonas received a kid's digital camera for Christmas from Grammy Stella and Grampa Jesse. Here are some of his pics:

Month 60: Turning Five

Dear Jonas,

*Your birthday was on Saturday. We had a big party for you because you turned five. We had it all: a brinka-brinka, a bunch of balloons, friends from school, lots of family, good food and a Toy Story cake and pinata. You were excited about it all and even helped set it up.

I can't believe five years have gone by already. Where did the time go? Well, I know where it went. It passed us by as you...

• were learning how to talk at such an early age.
• sat still and listened while I read to you at about 19-months old (Angus doesn't have time for sitting still while I read).
• looked out the window of our little house on 4th street every morning watching the cars zoom by.
• learned how to bake and cook everything from cakes to enchiladas. Always wanting to make something for all of us to try.
• spent summers in a little plastic pool splashing, playing in the mud and holding the hose to cool off or just for fun.
• worked on puzzles and mastered them so quickly and so young.
• welcomed a baby brother into your life. It was a lot to take in, but you did it with ease and lots of love. You smelled his head for weeks after he was born.
• sat in a barbers chair and got your very first haircut.
• attended preschool and tried to keep a brave face the first day, until it was time to leave, then you started to cry. I cried in the parking lot after you went in. It was too much for mom, too.

This list does not even justify the amount of things you have done, learned, experienced, seen...

You are a very compassionate little boy who feels bad when daddy has to go out of

town or when you hear about grandpa being sick. You still enjoy reading, every night, three books or more, without fail.You have a great interest in nature. You now love video games, but which little boy doesn't. You are happy about having a sister, even though you keep telling me you want her to be your older sister.

You come up with the silliest things. After watching a Scotch-Brite commercial you now want all

the different types of scrubbers and you tell me what each one is for. Apparently, one is for tough angles, another for tough tub scrubbing and so on. You actually use them and clean stuff for mom. You are at the top of your preschool class, which doesn't surprise me at all.

Best of all I love you for being you!

I love everything about you, even when moods change, when smiles turn upside down, when grumpiness sets in, when you don't get your way and tell me I'm mean. Even though, sometimes, some moments are harder than others...

I love it all.

*At the end of your party, we let all of the balloons go in honor of you. I asked you to make a wish before you set yours off. You weren't sure what to wish for at first. After thinking it over you said:

"I wish for...a happy life."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Happy Birthday!

Love,

Mom

El Vaquero

My little cowboy.

Month 58

Dear Jonas,

You turned 58 months old. You are getting closer and closer to the big 5 and almost off to big boy school. You are already turning into such a handsome young boy. That little brain of yours is full and full of ideas every single day.

You come up with the silliest things. I have to hug you to hold on to you at this age. Some day you are going to be all grown up and I will look back on these years and remember all your sweet and carefree ways.

Video games are hot on your mind. I wish they weren't around, but there's nothing I can do now, except to limit your time on them. Dad wishes you never played them at all. It's hard when that is all you see or hear about from friends and family. They are tempting and fun, and I can easily see how hours can be spent on them, but you do listen when it's

time to stop playing.

You and Angus are so

good together. Some days there isn't a fight in sight. Other days, you get mad at him for doing something to you or taking something from you. I am sorry, but that is just what little brothers do. He wants to be just like YOU! He repeats everything you say and copies everything you do. Forget about his baby toys, even the toys you like, he likes.

Dad has been working a lot these days and he wishes he didn't have to, but there is nothing he can do about it. I can see how much you miss him being around most evenings.

We continue to read at night.

That interest is still there, thank goodness! You ask questions about words you don't recognize and you use them later, correctly.

You know all your letters and numbers, can recognize them and say them without hesitation. You know the days of the week and months of the year. "S-T-O-P, stop, you have to stop at the stop sign, mom."

You are an amazing little boy and you are only four, but no matter what age, you will always be my little boy.

Love you,

Mom

The day you gave dad a tattoo

Dad was home for lunch and out of the blue you asked him if he wanted a tattoo. You grabbed a tattoo book we checked out from the library and had him pick.

Dad chose the snake wrapped around a sword. You got your paint, a brush and some water. You did a pretty awesome job on it. Dad was very happy and pleased with it.

When he came home from work you asked about it. He was disappointed that it had rubbed off while working. He wished it could have stayed forever!

Photography by Jonas Armenta