Summer 2010

Well another summer is almost over and in 2 weeks our kids will be going back to school. They will be going back to homework, lunches and early morning wake up calls. Their vacation will be over and they will be stuck in a building for 6 and half hours a day. They will be in a classroom learning the dos and don’ts of life, and how to multiply without using a calculator.

Summer is a great time of year. The weather is awesome and the traffic is light. Everyone always seems to be in a better mood, and barbeques are a weekly event. It is the time of year when we all try to reunite with family to share a few laughs over a bonfire pit to tell stories. Our kids have over2 months to unwind and distress from the past year in school.

My son will be starting Grade 4 and my daughter will be starting Grade 1. I just sit back and try to remember where the days have gone? We are always in such a rush to get things moving along. We are always in such a rush for the days to come to an end and for the next day to begin, that we forget that they are flying faster than we can think. My son is going into the junior part of elementary. He is entering the stage where it will not be cool to get a hug from me, and I don’t know if I am quite ready for that yet.

It seems like kids just change over the summertime. I remember when I was growing up, the boys would leave grade 6 and would start grade 7 in full grown moustaches and beards..lol. Or the girls that left with flat chests came back wearing a size B bra and full hips. It’s like the summer was their time to grow in peace, with no interruptions. The days off at home gives our kids time to reflect and grow into who they need to become. It is a time where they will figure out that mosquitoes come out after 9pm, and it is a time where they will learn that standing too close to the fire pit will burn a small hole in their new t-shirt.

This summer has been wonderful. My kids laughed, my kids played and my kids grew as people. They have made memories that I will only hear about when they themselves are parents. They have also made memories that I will not forget. Like 2 weeks ago when Joseph accidentally stepped on a wasp’s nest and allowed dozens of angry wasps to sting him 5 times, his sister once and his 2 cousins on their little bodies. Or this past week when he screamed for me to run upstairs because my twins grabbed a tub of Vaseline and decided to cover themselves head to toe in this impossible to remove petroleum jelly, which happened to be on the same day as my niece’s baptism. Or the time when my daughter decided that it was ok to use a full bottle of shampoo on her babies’ hair and created more bubbles than a tacky wedding video from the 90’s, or a month ago when my twins decided to create their first masterpiece of scribbles with pen on my freshly painted walls, and just 2 nights ago when my older two abruptly woke me up to tell me they had to vomit, and made it just in time to the washroom. These are the days that will be missed and cherished. These are the days that we will remember. We forget that they probably made us cry at the time. We forget that it probably made us scream at the time, and we forget that at these moments our language may have been considered R rated by child protection services. We forget these things because what sticks in our minds is how hard we laughed about it after.

Soon the school doors will open, and the recess bells will ring. The knapsacks will be filled with books and the mornings will be loud and chaotic. The kids will roll their eyes when they sneak a peek at their lunch, and they will whine and complain when the lights go down at night.

The summer will soon be a distant memory for them and they will pick up at school to begin a new year of friends, a new year of fun, and a new year of memories. I just feel grateful that I was a part of their memories from the summer of 2010.
That’s my peace today!

Fresh Tomato and Basil Sauce
This is perfect for these summer days because the tomatoes are fresh in your local farms
6 large tomatoes chopped in large pieces
2 cloves crushed garlic
4 large bunches of chopped basil
1/4 c olive oil
2 tbsp pitted black Italian olives
1 tsp oregano (dry or fresh)
salt to taste

In a deep stainless steal pan, pour oil, add garlic and heat. Add chopped tomatoes, sprinle salt and oregano. Cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. Add olives and basil. Cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and pour sirectly on cooked pasta.