We've had quite a summer so far! M and G finished up 5th and 4th grades respectively. We had great intentions of continuing with some school during the summer but the warm weather and sultry days have gotten the best of us and not much has happened in that department but that's what summer is about.
I do have a long list of summer projects and many of them have gotten done or are in the works. Hopefully I'll get them all finished up before the summer gets away from me!
In June, we experienced a very sad tragedy when a homeschool family in our community was in a car accident that left dad and 2 of the 4 children dead. It was a shock that went through the entire community and we're still dealing with the grief and sadness as we all will for a very long time. Although my children have experienced death several times in their short lives, this is the first time that they've known kids their own age who have died. Heartbreaking doesn't even touch on how we all feel about this. The community continues to support the family through meals and prayers and will do so for a long time to come. It was beautiful to see the outpouring of support as the family asked our co-op to provide cupcakes for the funeral service in honor of the daughter who had recently begun a cupcake making business. When they asked for 12 dozen, they got about 30 dozen - people just wanted to help and it was heart warming to see how true that was. It was the most beautiful and wretched funeral I have ever and will ever attend and the sounds and images still fill my mind and heart. There's no way to describe watching a mother and wife having to say goodbye to 2 of her children and her husband.
As part of our own healing process and those of the children in our community, many of us gathered the day before the funeral to have our own healing ceremony. We adults knew that we wanted to talk to each other and our kids had the same need and boy did we hear some amazingly profound things come from the mouths of our children. It was a priviledge to witness it.
With heavy hearts and a different outlook on life, our summer continued on.
In July, we went to Finnridge for our annual trip and spent several days there rejuvenating and it was awesome. We had a family reunion with my mom's family soon after and that same day, welcomed our French foreign exchange student who was with us for 3 weeks. What an awesome experience that was. He fit completely into our family and we had a wonderful time with him. Saying goodbye was very hard.
Then came August 1 - the day I had to say goodbye to my sister. Angella got her pre-doctoral internship at San Jose State University...that's in California...not Minnesota. I had known for a long time that it was coming but it didn't make it any easier to bring her and my niece T to the airport to say goodbye. It was a tough day and a tough week that kind of caught me by surprise. I knew I would be sad but I didn't expect to have a dark cloud surrounding me the entire week which culminated with my birthday and lots of tears. I know it will get easier and I know that it's most likely just 1 year but I miss her dearly. G and I are planning a trip out to visit for a week in October and I'm really looking forward to that. They're already getting settled and having a great time exploring their new territory and I'm really excited for them. I've always been the one who leaves and that's hard enough but I guess it was time that I experienced the other side as she has done several times before. This is harder.
Throughout all of this, I've been working to finish up my reading, mentorship, Karma yoga project and tech sessions to complete my 230 hour yoga teacher certification. Sunday, I graduate! I'm really excited. I've learned so much over the past year and yet I know that it's barely the tip of the iceberg. My head swims sometimes when I think about all of the things I've been introduced to and I hardly know where to begin to delve deeper as there are so many things calling to me but it's awesome to know that I have time to explore it all in my own time and in my own way. This is the path I've been looking for for so many years. It's awesome. I've already started to teach some regular gigs and more are presenting themselves all the time. I think I could be very busy if I want to be! I love it that this doesn't feel like a job. It's more like "I GET to go teach a class today". What a gift. I can't wait to see where it takes me. After graduating on Sunday, I'll be studying with Seane Corn all week next week and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!
M and G have worked on their 4H projects throughout the year and now it's fair time. M submitted his 2 projects last Saturday: a board of his cartoons and a carved wooden village scene. He was so proud to have earned a blue ribbon for each project and ended up winning a Champion ribbon for the carving project. He's over the moon with excitement. Looking into the eyes of my child who is so proud of himself because he worked so hard on something and he accomplished what he wanted to accomplish is amazing. I'm so proud of him. (pictures in the next post)
G decided to do a guitar piece for his project and despite being really afraid of getting up on stage, he overcame his fears and put on a great performance which also won him a blue ribbon. The judges were really impressed that he's only been playing for 9 months. He did such a great job and I'm so proud of him!
We have a few weeks of summer left and we're making the most of them. The weather is gorgeous after weeks of swealtering heat and humidity that largely kept us either inside or in the water. We've now thrown the windows open and are basking in the fresh, sunny air. This is my kind of weather indeed! We haven't gotten to do any camping yet this summer for various reasons but hopefully this weather will stick around and we'll be able to take a trip or two yet this summer and fall.
The next posts will contain some photos of our summer fun :)
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