our night

When we got to the bus stop yesterday Webb and Julia invited little B and Lu to come play so Hannah and I walked home by ourselves. She is growing up, my Hannah girl. I can't believe we have one week of elementary school left for her and then she's off to (dun dun duh..) middle school. Middle school is hard. She is smart and quirky and young. I hope she'll do well. I hope our home life will sustain her as she finds her place in the world. "Is it enough", and all it's variations is a question I am always asking myself. Do I do enough, does she feel loved enough, have we taught her enough, is she strong enough, enough enough.

After a while I walked over to pick the two littles up, they were jumping on the trampoline, sweaty and laughing. I admired Jen's new deck furniture and gathered up shoes and kids. Jen handed us Popsicles to fortify us for the long walk home (one md sized block~ piece of cake). When we got home I quickly made everyone a pb&j and we grabbed our suits and headed out the door for a quick swim. Big B wanted to meet us after work so we grabbed his suit too.

At the pool there were lots of kids and moms, we found a chair near the shallow end and dumped our stuff, then the kids jumped in. I take a much more cautious approach and slowly dip in one toe and then pull it out quickly declaring "it's too cold." The kids will have none of that though and splash and call and plead until I relent and head in. Brrr!

Then we play. Catch with a wet football that hits me in the face more often than I catch it but which little B manages to catch every time. Must be a Y chromosome thing. Then they race and I admire their strength and skill. Next they beg me to make a tunnel with my legs and take turns swimming through. Lu needs a little push down to make it :) Brother grabs one leg and circles around it making 2 or 3 loops before he needs to come up for air. H tries to go the opposite direction of the other two causing a traffic jam and knocking me off my feet several times. It makes us all laugh. Eventually little B, oh boy of little body fat, gets cold and wonders if big B is ever coming. He gets out, dries off and calls his dad on the cell phone. Still at work.

It's after 7. Kids are hungry for dinner, and there is a chill in the air so we head home and I make OJ and omelets with pepper jack cheese and tomatoes and onions for dinner. J has made lemon bars while we were gone so we have a treat after.

While E and H "clean the kitchen" I take Lu upstairs. We brush her teeth and lay down on her bed to read Baby Dear, she snuggles with her raccoon and I tuck her in. When I bend down to give her one more good night kiss she throws her arms around my neck and says "you are the best mommy". "You are the best girl" I reply with a kiss on her nose.

Now Big B is home and he eats then we watch Whale Wars for a little while and tuck everyone else in bed.

I love the sounds of a summer night, the windows open to let in the breeze, the frogs breaking the silence with their evening song.

It was a good day.