beach knitting and babies.

This week we went to the beach. Greg has a few glorious days off before he takes his Step 3 exam next week. We hung out on Neptune for a day. Jimmy decided to practice walking all-day-long... meaning Greg spent most of the day hunched over a wobbly Jimmy who refused to let go of his hands.

Where was I?
Laying out, taking pictures of them.
Where was Ray?
In the stroller, munching on a cookie and shielding himself from the chilly breeze.

Greg and I played some overdue frisbee. Wide open beach + steady wind = spectacular frisbee.

The beach was empty apart from a few walkers and a fisherman and his wife. The waves spit out dozens of jellyfish throughout the day. I peeled Ray from his seat and dragged him to check out the jellies. The kids and I touched a bunch of their clear, stiff, slimy tips. I showed them where the tentacles were (between you and me, I *think* they were the harmless kind). I felt sorry for them laying helpless in the sand. I wanted to pick them up and chuck them out into the ocean... played it safe instead.

Ray out of the stroller is a different child than Ray in the stroller. He ran everywhere. There was a small tide pool close by and in spite of the cold wind, his fleece jacket, and basketball pants, he waded right in and stayed there throwing gloopy drip sand on the bank and scouting the pool for treasure.

Greg took Jimmy for a stroller beach run while Ray glued himself to the tide pool and I took out my knitting. I'm knitting a chunky gray "Old Shale" pattern blanket. The pattern gathers and loosens in a way that comes out to resemble clam shells. Fitting pattern for the beach, huh?

Later he wrapped Ray up and took both of them for another run which freed me up for Kindle reading. I made a strict policy for myself when we moved to Florida: no cellphone/electrickery when the kids are around water. No exceptions. I've been working through Collected works of St. Teresa of Avila. I am loving it and highly recommend it.

Time to bow out. Jimmy is chewing apart my computer chair.

Comments

let them be bored

Schools are cancelling. Kids are home. Kids are homeschooling (at least for a couple of weeks). For those parents "stuck" at home with your kids (assuming they are healthy), I have one request, one social experiment I would LOVE to see play out. Let your kids be bored! Shut down electronics. Turn off phones. Keep the television off. Let your kids be bored out of their minds. After a day or two of whining and complaining that will push you to your limits, they WILL find something to do. They will wander outside and play some ball, or bike, or dig in the dirt. They will find art supplies and create something. They will play board games. They will play and fight with their siblings. They will read and go on literary adventures. They will talk with you, your family and their friends. They need to be bored out of their freaking minds before they hit a wall and decide to DO SOMETHING with their time. Let them be bored and watch them come alive.

rabbit hole

It's Lent. Lent is about making more time for God and practicing detachment from things that we may enjoy... not to torture ourselves, but to refocus on God and to show our love for him. I had no idea what to do this lent. The first Sunday of Lent, father talked about limiting internet use to when it is truly necessary. As soon as I pick up my phone, I jump down the rabbit hole of distraction. I deleted social media, but I'd still hop on the Pinterest boards or scroll through the news feeds. Try seeing how long you can go without picking up your phone/tablet/whatever. It's pretty humbling. Slowly I'm realizing how much I use it, and how little I need it. My kids see my face more now, not my profile from me looking at my phone instead of them. I've got a little better routine going around the house. I'm not quite as angry when my kids interrupt me. I've also had times where I just turn it off because I don't want it. I don't want to read the ne

little prayers

It's 4:30am. I can't sleep. I'm laying here thinking of the day and what is going to happen tomorrow. All week long the forecast called for rain. All winter long one little boy has prayed for snow. It never came. Today there were a few frozen rain drops I'd like to call snow falling on my car as we loaded up for Mass. The blessed sacrament was exposed when we got to church. One little boy asked to go up front to pray. I brought all four kids up to the third row and one little boy knelt down and prayed. He knelt for a long time. He turned to me and whispered, "Can you ask my brothers to pray for snow?" I did. And he knelt back down and kept praying. We left Mass and Greg texted pictures of Dahlonega, where snow was dusting the picnic table outside his office. We drove to DD in Dahlonega and saw little flurries there. We drove home and flurries continued. I sent that little boy to play outside in the snow as long as it was falling. "It may be the last

Rose Colored Glasses

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