Back to School Dinner / The End of Summer

These two big boys start second grade tomorrow. They are so excited they can hardly stand it.

Tonight we had our annual Back to School Dinner (for past three years, click here). Tradition feels so important right now; I am so glad we had this little yearly ritual to anchor us in the midst of the massive transitions we are going through as we work on settling into life on campus. It was nice today to rely on this tradition. A reminder that back-to-school is still Back to School, and life trucks forward despite change swirling all around it, and MAMA CAN COOK (! even in a tiny kitchen), and some things stay solidly in place regardless of what else is happening. Our traditions and rituals feel like a rock-solid-dependable compass right now as we try to find our bearings navigating new terrain.

~ Menu ~

Pan Seared Steak with Herbed Butter*

Mashed Potatoes

Steamed Green Beans

Assorted Farmstand Tomatoes with Balsamic Drizzle

Ice Cream for Dessert

*This was soooo good!!! I used the Pioneer Woman’s ‘T-Bone Steaks with Hotel Butter’ recipe as a foundation, but changed it quite a bit. I used sirloin strip steaks instead of T-Bones. And for the butter, I used equal parts chopped fresh parsley and basil, and a smaller amount of thinly sliced green onion. So incredibly delicious!!! And importantly… no grill required! (Since moving, I’ve been missing my grill!)

(Adding to the craze and haze of this phase is the fact that our trusty “good camera” went and died on us the day of our move [literally, that day]. So until we replace it, I have only my “snap shot camera” — which is nothing to sneeze at — but still, doesn’t have the artistic edge that our “real” camera had… you’ll notice it in the pictures I’ve been posting.)

We spent our entire Back to School dinner reminiscing about the oh-so-many great times we had during our Summer of 2012. Major highlights were our beach vacation in Charleston, 2 different sessions of basketball camp for the boys, Maggie & Eric’s wedding in Colorado, our annual summer Haiti Reunion, our great summer babysitter Shelby (who I never even got to posting about this summer!), our longest (and best) trip ever to New Hampshire, and our move to campus. Somehow in between all those things we also seemed to spend a lot of time doing what summer is best for: a whole lot of not much. It was a really, really good summer for our family. I feel like we are more tight-knit and well-connected than ever. And we are also all ready for summer to be over.

We are ready to move on. Which means it must really have been a great summer. Because that’s how it should be: it should be so good that it fills up every part that needs filling, so that by the end you are ready to leave it behind and go forward. And that is exactly where we are.

And I know that. For certain. And yet, still, I worry and question and ask Braydon incessantly, “The kids are alright, right? They’re all ok, right? They’re happy and whole and intact, right?” And he says, “Yes.” That’s just part of the territory of mothering, right? To worry?

I worry so much about my kids, trying so hard all the time to do right by them. And this move has really been a challenge for me to listen intently to my kids and to trust what my gut intuition is telling me about my family and to act on it despite what the rest of the world might think (the vast majority of people seem to think we’re absolutely certifiably nutso for making the move that we have made, and many of them tell us so straight to our faces).

My reassurance is that my three most precious ones show the telltale signs of happiness and contentment and wholeness. They are the compass for me way more than any sets of traditions and rituals could ever be. If I listen carefully to what they say or look closely at their faces, I can know if we are on track or not.

Tonight at dinner, while talking all about our summer, I asked Owen what his favorite part of Summer 2012 was. He thought about it for a minute then said, “Moving to Lehigh.” I couldn’t believe it at first (I expected him to say something about boogie-boarding in South Carolina or the Pike’s Peak cog railway in Colorado or waterskiing in New Hampshire), but I quickly realized he was being completely sincere.

My three are so happy to be right where we are. We’ve got great stuff behind us, and a whole lot of great possibility laid out before us. The end of a great summer, and the start of a whole new school year.

We are on track. At least for now.