Monday, July 1, 2019

Blank slots on the calendar have never looked so wonderful to me

I don't want to seem overly dramatic, but this has been a wild summer for our little family. Most people I know always have crazy lives and schedules. But us? We're a bit like hobbits. We have some scheduled activities each week, but for the most part, our calendar is rather empty (and I like it that way). However, for the past several weeks, this has not been the case. It's been lovely and wonderful, but exhausting!

First, I had two full weeks of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd formation. For those of you who aren't familiar with this program: it's a Montessori approach to teaching kids about the Faith. It's a wonderful, beautiful program, and I loved the formation and all the women I met, but it was exhausting. Each day, we left the house at around 7:30 to take my husband to work, then we'd head to the church where formation was being held. Then I'd drop the kids off at the onsite nursery and head to class. Both of my kids were in and out of nursery most days (towards the end of the second week, the baby thankfully was happy to stay in the nursery all day aside from a short visit to me at lunch to nurse). Formation would end, we'd drive in rush hour traffic and get my husband, and we'd finally be home for dinner at 5:30 or 6. Those two weeks were wonderful, but they gave me so much more respect and admiration for parents who work full-time in an office and then come home and do fun things with their families! 

Part of the CGS Atrium-there were 3D models for various scenes from the 
life of Christ for children to work with, which I think is very cool. 
Sandwiched in between the weeks of CGS we had one week off, which coincided with swim lessons! My toddler had never been to swim class before, and it worked out nicely that a small group of friends from our church were doing lessons together, so we got to see friends every day. It was a really enjoyable time-and at the end of the week, the toddler turned 3! We had a lovely and relaxed day; some friends came over in the morning, we had a "Cookies and Coffee" party in the afternoon with our retired neighbors, and then a couple days later, my family drove down to celebrate. 

I never really have an excuse to make cakes, but since
relatives were coming in town for a birthday, I got to make a 
fun one! It was filled with chocolate ganache and 
covered with buttercream frosting :) 
Once my three busy weeks ended, my husband had to do two 50+ hour workweeks due to a program in the office. He left really early every morning, so we couldn't use the car at all-hence, life at home wasn't too busy. Yet, it was pretty draining for all of us. My husband was worn out from work, and I was worn out from dealing with the kids on some very long days.

A neighbor introduced us to this book, and it is so sweet! It's all about a buffalo, 
who-despite being slow and old-is still part of the herd and still has dignity and worth.
There were quite a few really rainy days, and some really hot days-so when we couldn't go outside very much or go to the library or park, we read lots of books and enjoyed our Summer Movie Series. Summer Movie Series is what I decided to do this summer, for those occasions when it's too hot and/or I'm too exhausted to deal with life. Since my toddler does not typically have screen time during the workday hours, spending one or two afternoons each week together as we watch a movie has been a fun treat! So far, we've seen the original Mary Poppins, The Lego Movie, Monsters Inc, The AristoCats, and Kung Fu Panda. It's been really delightful! 

As I look to the rest of summer, I'm excited to slow down a little bit. We'll get together with friends and relatives, go on a weeklong Domestic Church family retreat, and do some random things here or there. I'm hoping to get back into writing and blogging more (a book post is coming soon), and I'm really excited to just relax. And drink lots of coffee, because that is just my life right now with a three-year-old and a ten-month-old ;) 

10 comments:

  1. Can't believe P is 3 already!!! That's so awesome about CGS training!!!

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    1. It's so amazing how our little kids are growing up!!! I think the ages our kids are at right now is an especially fun and cute stage (at least so far).

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  2. I'm on my second cup of coffee right now. :-)
    I love the idea of using a Montessori approach to teaching kids about faith. Also, the book about the buffalo sounds really great. I'll have to check our library for it.

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    1. I hope you enjoy the buffalo book! I was so glad that our neighbor introduced that one to us. The whole Montessori approach to teaching kids about the faith can be really beneficial, I think. The level of respect for the child (and his/her need for silence, prayer) is really beautiful-and it's neat to see the ways in which kids can work with the various materials that help them dive deeper into Scripture.

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  3. I toally understand the joy about blank slots on the calendar! They are so needed. Sometimes we forget that we are human beings and not human doings! Montessori is amazing, and I'd love to learn more about that formation program sometime.

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    1. I agree! So important to have that time to relax. Even in the midst of less on our calendar, I still struggle with wanting to be a "doer" and overdoing things!
      I bet you would love CGS-cgsusa.org has lots of information about the method, and it probably lists formation programs, too. The teacher formations (they can be done by anyone who wants to learn, and not just teachers-we even had a non-Catholic at our recent formation) are a nice blend of spiritual formation, prayer, and practical topics. It was exhausting, but enjoyable, and I'm excited to do part 2 next summer!

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  4. Yes!! Love this. Blank space is so needed. Even when scheduled things are GOOD, you just need to slow down sometimes. I was traveling the last three weekends (included several weekdays too), and even though it was all for wonderful reasons/people, I found myself SO READY for a few low key weekends. Hope you've been enjoying that too! Also, I love hearing about CGS. My college roommate teaches it, and I'd love to be trained one day. Do you hope to teach one day?

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  5. That is sooo awesome you did the CGS training! I have some Montessori units and maybe in the future would consider becoming CGS certified. I hope the rest of your summer is relaxing and enjoyable. PS. That cake looks delicious!!

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    1. Elisabeth, that's so cool that you've done some Montessori! It sounds like such a great program/method. Definitely keep CGS in the back of your mind, it's great to learn, even if you don't plan on teaching.

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  6. Wow, those two weeks of all-day classes and being out with two little ones sound pretty intense! We are just doing half-days of school for summer class and that's been a very good balance for me, I think, of having a schedule...but also having time for Cyrus to nap and for us to get some family time in the afternoon. We're loving the pace of summer! Angel has a longer workday for this school year, and I know it'll be a change to not have him around after spending the summer working and playing as a family! I could get used to this school-year schedule. :)

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