The summer has flown by and I have not been very good about documenting all the fun we have had.  As a family we went to Santa Cruz to spend the week with Jon's mom and dad and sister and her husband and two beautiful daughters. The kids always look forward to this annual trip when their grandparents get a big house for us all to stay in and have fun at the beach, either in Tahoe or Santa Cruz area.  The time goes by too fast as did the swim lessons they took, the camps we paid dearly for and the two vacations Jon and I took separately to visit family and friends.  Now he is already back at work and the kids are getting back to school. Jasper started 5th grade on his 10th birthday and I can't believe he is that old! A decade has flown by and I know how fast another one will go, so I am trying to inhale the baby head smell a little deeper, appreciate the 6 year old speech patterns a little more, and savor those almost 9 and 10 year old snuggles while they are still available for mom. I must admit I am lucky to have experience with toddler hood because this 2 year old is bringing her A game!  I don't know how it will be when we don't have a baby anymore, but I'm expecting a bit more freedom and ability to travel and explore a little easier.  We always have the challenge of either accommodating our dear Jasper or making the difficult decision to leave him behind.
I have always felt sad about leaving Jasper behind, but when we are doing something that he would probably not enjoy and would be very hard to bring him I remind myself that we both deserve to get what we need, and so do the other children.  Jasper did attend Juniper's 6th birthday at the Ice Rink and actually went out on the ice! Jasper excelled at his first year of Boost Camp where he studied conductive education with his family and the help of many wonderful volunteers and his pooh-bah and Nana who contributed greatly to the cause!
The days passed quickly; we went to the fair for a few minutes, the bay area discovery museum, the local gravenstein apple fair, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk for an afternoon, and the beach a few times. We had a good time but the summer went way too fast! Now it's back to the morning rush, then cooking and cleaning all day and getting ready for the evening.
I don't know how people do homeschooling, I am waiting until the kids start school to have a few hours to myself to get bigger chores done like deep cleaning and organizing cupboards and pantry.  Oh boy, how my goals have changed over the years!
Speaking of that, I have always loved to rise to a challenge and I seem to do better when busy, especially if my brain is being employed and challenged, so.... I am considering setting up a small or medium preschool in my home! (Starthistle Garden) It has been something I have always wanted to do and for one reason or another I never did it but now finally Jon is behind the idea and that's all I need to get in into action! The kids are full of ideas and eager to be helpers if they are off from school or home early. I think I will offer childcare in my home from 9:30am to 2:30pm Tuesday through Friday, with Monday off to prepare for the week and cleanup from the weekend! I can get a babysitter to watch the two little ones here while I do administrative work and cleaning and preparation.  I will write about the experience of setting up the school because I have been wanting to write as much as I can and that may be interesting or helpful to other people in my situation. I am going to start by calling 4 C's and a woman named Janet who offered to mentor me a long time ago, I will ask if her offer is still good. Ok, here I go... I will check in soon and update the situation! Let's hope for a lot of fun and a way to make ends meet here while keeping my own kids home with me! I hope it works, wish me luck!!

note to self: post pictures of summer fun.
another note: it's good to mellow out on the fun just before school starts so the kids are nice and ready for the first day of school.