“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2015.”

Lillia: This is the first week of summer vacation, and we are all in a flurry as we get ready to travel to Lubec. You have suddenly become very interested in music, which is wonderful, and asked me to load up one of our old phones with songs so that you could listen to them on the long drive. Your taste is music is quite diverse, but I do notice a tendency toward slightly older music, not the current hits. I’ll be interested to see how your tastes evolve over time.

Zane: This week you’ve been very patient with me as I try to get all of the laundry and cleaning done before we leave for our family vacation. We’ve been doing a little bit of gardening, and we have lots of peas and kale growing — I do hope that there will still be some peas left when we come home! Today we are on our way to Maine, and I’m not sure how you will do on the long car ride, but I am hoping that you will have such a good time in Lubec that it will be worth the drive.

“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2015.”

Lillia: This week you graduated from fifth grade! I can’t believe that next year you will be a “real” middle-schooler. This is a self-portrait that you created, and since I was not able to get a proper photo of you this week, I think this will make a goood stand-in. You have a busy summer ahead of you, with vacations, camps, and hopefully lots of swimming and reading.

Zane: This week you graduated from your first year of preschool! You have another year of preschool before you start kindergarten, so I am not feeling too sad about it all. Next year will be much harder. Still, I can’t believe my “baby” will be four years-old in August. Hopefully this summer will be a fun one for you!

“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2015.”

Lillia: Well, it’s that time of year again — days and days of rehearsals for your big dance performance, followed by a weekend of pretty much living at the theatre. But, you know what? After watching you do this for the past four years, I can tell that this year you are really, really enjoying it (even the long days). I remember the first year that you participated in the performance — you were in first grade — you barely made it through the weekend! There were a lot of tears, and I’m pretty sure you never wanted to have anything to do with dancing again. This year I pretty much just dropped you off at the door and you spent the weekend socializing with all of the friends you’ve made at the studio. I would never let you see it, but I always get a little teary-eyed when I see you performing. Every year you seem so much older and so much more self-possessed. And, you are a beautiful dancer.

Zane: This week you haven’t been quite yourself. You don’t seem to have a full-blown illness, but you are definitely a little slower than usual (which just means I have a few more seconds to catch my breath). We have done a lot of work in the garden this week, and we finally planted the pumpkin seeds that your grandfather gave us for Christmas. I’m hoping that they will sprout soon, though the weather has been all over the place so it may take a few more days. You are very proud of your radishes, though they never made it to their full size because you just had to pick them once you could see that bright pink peeking through the soil. You have been giving radishes to everyone who passes by — you even gave one to the mailman and he ate it right then and there, which made you so happy. I’m glad to have a little buddy to share with me the joys (and sometimes sorrows) of gardening.

“A portrait of my children once a week, every week, in 2015.”

Lillia: This week your class participated in a graduation ceremony for your completion of the D.A.R.E. program (Drug and Alcohol Resistance Education). Out of all of the students in your grade, you and one other child were selected to read your final essays in front of all of your classmates and their parents at the graduation ceremony! You wrote a fantastic essay, and many people came up to me after the ceremony and told me what an amazing writer you are. You received a little gold pin, too, which you are holding in this picture. Your dad and I are so proud of everything you’ve accomplished this year.

Zane: This week you attended a birthday for your Uncle Caleb at his house. You were so excited because Uncle Caleb & Aunt Becca’s nephew Tanner was there. He is a little baby that is only six months old. You could not get enough of him! You counted all of his toes (correctly, I might add), and you even got to hold him on your lap, with my help. You were a little dismayed when he spit up on your leg, but that incident didn’t seem to diminish even slightly your opinion of Tanner, or babies in general. Later in the day you looked at your pants and exclaimed, “Hey, the baby barf is all gone!” I hope that someday you are blessed with lots and lots of little babies of your own (hint, hint) because I think you are going to be an incredibly nurturing, loving dad.