Summertime, My 4-Boys Under the Age of Eleven, and Cooking!

Summertime, My 4-Boys Under the Age of Eleven, and Cooking!

 It’s hard to believe that the boys and I moved from Wisconsin to Illinois – two months ago, already. It’s even harder to believe that Shamus and Finn will start 3rd grade and 1st grade at a new school in less than a week! Kaleb, Jason’s oldest son, started 6th grade today and Grant, his youngest, started 2nd grade. Jason and I are feeling very unprepared about having to learn Common Core math. 😣

This summer has been so relaxing for me in terms of not having to rush the kids to childcare and then rush back home from work at the end of the day, only to have a couple of hours with my boys before bedtime. It has been a learning experience for my patience level because with four boys under the age of 11, there are fights between them, demand

s for my attention all at once, and usually two to four different food requests at breakfast and lunch. I have found that I actually enjoy cooking more than I thought, because I’ve never really had to the time to do much more than really basic recipes! But this summer, I’ve made zucchini meatballs, chicken pot pie, teriyaki chicken and beef and broccoli, to name a few, all recipes that I have never made before, and the kids have given me positive responses on all of them!!

I have gotten to explore a bit of Illinois with the kids and on the weeks that I’ve had all four boys, I have made sure to plan a fun outing with them: we have gone to the movies, we went to Legoland near Chicago, and together with Grant & Kaleb’s mom, we took all four of them to the Quad Cities for a day packed full of fun! – It has been so wonderful being able to be with Jason every day and to make this house “our home together”. We are working on our wedding plans for next summer, now that a lot of the organizing of the house is complete.

I think that Jim would love watching his boys ride their bikes down our country road; play in the irrigator as if it were a sprinkler;  and see them catch fish out of the creek in his parents backyard, just like he and Jason did together as kids

 

. While I miss our friends and family in Wisconsin, I haven’t been full of sadness since the move. I feel peaceful here. I’m excited for what comes next with school starting and I have a job interview on the next day; but I sure am going to miss these quiet days and nights in the country that I’ve really gotten used to enjoying.