Stitches in Play

weighing benefits

Thank you so much for your encouraging comments on my last post.

You sure got me thinking about the benefits (or not) of country vs. city living.  But first I'd like to share the only benefit that my sewing machine table is providing these days.  Do you think he's dreaming up exciting new quilt patterns?

Lots of benefits to having a pool these first few weeks of summer vacation.  We're in it every day that we don't spend driving to the city.

We even find benefits in cleaning up the pool at the end of the day.  This girl adores her big brother and is so excited that he takes the time to give her "noodle rides."

And some nights this mama finds benefits in eating Chinese takeout for dinner.

Accompanied by the benefit of a welcome fortune that reads:

    "Lucky you make this choice.  Everything comes out for the best."

There's something endearing about the poor english and timing of this fortune that made it feel like more than a ramdom slip of paper found in a stale cookie.

Now for the Benefits of city living (in my opinion/experience):

 - The city provides numerous free or low cost amenities such as -

  - public parks with play equipment and restrooms,

 - public swimming pools so that my kiddos can make new friends,

 - well maintained walking and biking trails,

 - summer concerts in the park,

 - weekend farmer's markets,

 - large libraries that offer e-books for download and fun activities on Tuesday mornings,

 - large chain bookstores kiddos can spend hours reading + browsing in,

 - museums, aquariums,

 - zoos, and botanical gardens,

 - local yarn store,

 - target, trader joe's, joann fabrics, tj maxx, panera

 - our temple and all our friends there.

 

Benefits of country living  (in my opinion/experience):

 - living on five wooded acres,

 - walking dogs off leash through the woods,

 - kiddos riding bikes down small quiet roads,

 - watching nine chickens happily free range on our property,

 - running and playing in the woods without a care in the world,

 - having a pool in our yard, surrounded by woods, where my kiddos can splash and scream and swim in various states of undress.  (some days this one doesn't actually feel like a benefit!)

 

Not-so-much benefits of country living (for our family):

 - driving for 50 minutes - 1 hour to get to most parks, museums, bookstores, trader joe's, temple  (with three high energy kiddos in the car)

 - having to leave the house for much of the day when we drive to said city so that our trip will be "worth the two hour round trip drive,"  (this one is difficult with three opinionated kiddos.  just the other day we drove to the city for an hour at the bookstore followed by a picnic lunch and playtime at a wonderful park when a certain ten year old middle child complained that he had no energy for a grocery store trip to buy organic fruits and veggies (we have almost no organic produce available in the country - and no CSA)

 - eating out on many of the days we drive to the city because there's really no way to drive an hour there and an hour back and get home in time for lunch.  (Some days I take along a picnic lunch and other days we get panini's, pizza and fruit salad from the deli section of gourmet markets but i would love to just be able to make a quick trip to target, buy what we need and get home in time for lunch.)

 - having to leave the house extra early and return home extra late.  (the best time to be at the farmer's market is 8am but that's hard when you're an hour away and have to get three kiddos to agree to sit in the car for an hour.  When we leave the summer concert at 8:30pm we are still an hour from home and  end up going to bed way past bedtime.)

 - our temple is an hour away in the city (it's the nearest temple to our home which just happens to have the best ex-highschool english teacher, kiddo loving rabbi who always has time for a knock-knock joke or a game of plants vs. zombies.  My kiddos cry when we can't make it to service - it's their "club.")

For our family, right now, there are benefits to both country and city living and, for a while at least, we won't have to choose.   And for this we feel very fortunate -   "Lucky [we] make this choice.  Everything comes out for the best."

 

appreciating the moments

School let out two weeks ago and we have been thoroughly enjoying our summer vacation.

Eating healthy lunches that include yummy eggs courtesy of our sweet hens.

Arranging flowers on our kitchen table.

Picking perfectly sweet strawberries from our garden.

Reading and playing together.  (not always this amicably)

 

Gobbling up salt water taffy.  (yet another reason to love trader joe's)

Swimming (and splashing and teasing and giggling) in the pool until we are exhausted.

And then resting up so that we can do it all over again the next day.

These days I am being patient with myself. 

After the tornado hit our town the oldest boy has arrived home from am school by 12:45.  With Mondays off from school and my husband working most weekends I have had little alone time. 

I have been taking moments for myself here and there.

Giving myself space to breathe deeply. to pause. to think.

to enjoy the weather.  to walk my dogs in the woods.

I have also chosen enjoy the not-so-pleasant chores.  like cleaning out the chicken coop.  mowing. weeding.  planting. mulching. driving my kiddos to Hebrew school, swim meet, taekwondo, math bowl practice.

Chosen to spend more one on one time with my kiddos.  with ezra leaving for school at 6am I have two hours each morning to spend with the younger kiddos.  Middle child who never gets to sit in the front seat of the car really enjoyed the privilege each morning for the short drive to the bus stop.  even though we barely drove for a mile he loved adjusting the seat and turning on the seat warmers.  I never use these because it can't be that healthy to sit on hot electric coils but i figured that just a few minutes each morning wouldn't hurt.  Plus we giggled as our backsides became warm. 

We also found the time to stop by the ice cream shop after finding out that his team did not place in the statewide round of the great computer challenge.  We decided on ice cream floats to "drown our sorrows" and giggled at how silly we sounded.  In the booth, sitting on extra tall bar stools the boy told me how much fun he had and how well he worked with the two girls that comprised his team.  We agreed that his team would have done better if there was more time to practice bridge construction methods.  We realize that with the short school year only four practice sessions may not have been enough and we move on.

We are living in the moment.  We are focusing on fun.  We are sucking down ice cream and soda through pink straws.

I'm not really making much of anything these days.  Still knitting a dishcloth out of yarn sent to me by a friend.  Washing dishes using the dishcloth she knit for me.  Feeling fortunate to have made many wonderful friends through blogging. 

Just finished washing dishes from lunch.  Peering out the window every so often to see that the rain has broken and the sun is shining.  Feeling fortunate that I have dishes to wash.  Fortunate that it's summer and I no longer have to wake up at 5:30am to get ezra on the 6am school bus.  So happy that I am a mama with many commitments and responsibilities who is finally figuring out that not everything needs to be done immediately or perfectly.  But that each and every moment must be appreciated.

We are also just two weeks away from finalizing the purchase of a small home in the city.  We are just overjoyed.  After years of hoping and dreaming and preparing our country home is nearly paid off and we were able to make a small space in the city a reality.  For the past six years I have been driving to the city several times per week (usually fridays and sundays and some saturdays) to the city an hour away to attend temple services and hebrew school.  This is the closest temple to our home and while an hour drive each way isn't that bad add in three kiddos and a husband who's at work while mama is driving said kiddos and you get the picture.  Plus with two bar mitzvahs in the next three years we are going to love our little oasis in the city even more.  We are already planning lunches and play dates with all of our city friends who have generously invited us over and fed us over the years - this home base will do us a world of good.  I am not even allowing myself to think about the fact that I will have another kitchen and two more bathrooms to clean or bedrooms to pick up and more clothes to put away because I would rather do all those things with my kiddos than spend six hours per week strapped into our car seats driving through traffic.  So if all goes well in two short weeks we will be enjoying our woods and chickens in the country and our friends, temple and community pool and playground in the city.  Oh, and while this had nothing to do with our decision to buy the city house it just happens to be exactly one mile away from a trader joe's and a target.   I am one lucky girl - and I am appreciating each and every single moment because they fly by so fast.

Thanks for letting me share this news with you friends!  Hope you are appreciating the moments this summer.