Summer's End

in , , by sarahmfry, August 20, 2018
And so...just like that...another summer ends.

We get home from church and tumble out of the van to scatter clothes and bodies to rooms all over the house, just to end up again in the kitchen....eating frozen pizza and no-bakes and drinking hot chai tea with ice cubes.  And there are kids scattered everywhere...in diapers and underwear and pjs and church clothes, sitting on counters and climbing on stepstools and laughing and just being.  And we sit and stand and eat and listen and laugh and sing - taking turns choosing songs - from West Side Story to LaCrae to Gummy Bear to God's Property.  And the boys make up a game in the music room while the girls hang out in the kitchen and it is a slow and loud and beautifully quiet way to end a beautiful summer.

My Love/Hate Relationship with Camping

by sarahmfry, August 11, 2018

So I mentioned that my extended family went camping together.  It was wonderful.  And exhausting.  But totally worth it.

I loved moments like these:












But the STUFF!  Granted - it was a huge group of us, with 6 tents and around 18 people.  But there was a freakish amount of stuff.  Just saying.


And as peaceful as tents look....getting 4 boys to settle down and go to sleep with all the diapers and bugs and drama and anxiety and mud.  It's a thing.  Not a peaceful thing.  An 11:00pm I'm-pretty-sure-I'm-ok-if-we-never-do-this-again thing.

Teacher Itch and the Bend in the Road

by sarahmfry, August 11, 2018



Photo by Ksenia Makagonova


I come from a family rich in educators.  Last weekend my extended (Wolf) family went camping together.  A highlight was sitting around after breakfast, sharing our teacher ideas and plans for the coming semester.  We laughed together as we looked around the table and counted the teachers.  Eight out of 10 adults present were teachers.  I hope I never forget our conversation - taking turns telling what classes we are teaching, what we are excited about, asking questions and sharing practical and philosophical ideas.  It was lovely.
© This Beautiful Grace · THEME BY WATDESIGNEXPRESS