A rather backhanded compliment

Summer is flying by.
Even as I write, the sun is sinking rapidly into the western horizon, drawing yet another day to a close, and drawing us one day closer to the close of summer vacation.
Ah, well. Such is life.
There is definitely a part of me that is excited to get back to school, and can't wait for the first day and a new year.
The "sleeping in" part of me wants to punch her right in the face.
There hasn't been a lot of big stuff going on this summer.
Mostly, we are relaxing at home, swimming, reading and watching good family movies together.
We go to the library a lot.
Isaac and Joe went to Boy Scout camp a few weeks ago.
We've taken a few day trips.
We are planning another trip to Mankato in the near future, before school starts.
Other than that, though, we have been pretty free.
I like that. Being free.
There is something to be said for planning lots of activities and things to do. I've done it all before.
But this summer I have just played with my kids. And I like it.
We've been reading a lot too.
I love reading together.
We pick out the most interesting, intriguing looking books; take them home; huddle up on the couch and read, read, read.
I love it because Isaac, who is getting "too big" for lots of things, still sits and listens to the stories I read to the younger boys, and wants to see the pictures.
Daniel's new thing is to say "Of course!" when you ask him a question.
"Daniel, do you want to read books?"
"Of course!"
Last night, we were all snuggled in on the couch reading a book called "I Could Eat You Up," a sweet picture book about all the sweet things we call our children. I was making it personal, and making all the terms of endearment plural, looking at each of my children with a silly grin after each page . . . "My little sugar lumps, my sweet peaches . . . "
They were rolling their eyes, but they were grinning too.
When we got to the end, Josiah said, "Now, that book was not very convincing."
"It wasn't convincing?" I echoed in query.
"Why is that?"
"Because it was too short!!" he replied.
That is a backhanded compliment if I ever heard one!