7 Quick Takes: Summer

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7 Elements of Summer!

1. Dinosaur chicken nuggets and other simple Costco meals. This is made more difficult with our new dietary restraints, but I find ways to make cooking as simple as possible. Having to cook and clean up after the whole crew for both lunch and dinner can get tiresome, so we rely a lot more on paper plates. This year we have even indulged in paper cups! Whee!

2. Swimming
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And as a corollary: lots and lots of wet towels, you really don’t need a picture of that.

3. Bare feet, and therefore there are shoes and socks all over the house. People wear their shoes outside and then can’t bear to have them on for even ONE MORE SECOND. Strangely, with all these shoes lying around, no one can find their own pair. (Or at least Lily can’t.)

4. Watermelon, Ice cream, and Popsicles. With the occasional trip to Sonic or Zoyo thrown in for good measure. My kitchen table is ALWAYS sticky.

5. Being stuck inside results in lots of tents and blanket forts.

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6. Field trips to Cabela’s: Gus was afraid of the lion, but he couldn’t wait to see the bear!
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and Ikea:
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7. And I’d be lying if I didn’t list plenty of screen time. Video games, movies, kindle apps, Starfall or Lego games on the computer. We do even read on occasion. It’s nice that they often watch together.
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The hours of Summer are so long, but the weeks are short! It will all be over in the blink of an eye and we will be back to the structure of the school year, happy to be moving on but missing our freedom.

July Daybook

A daybook style post from the whole family:

Outside my window… the pool needs more water, the grass is dead, and the pool towels need to be washed.

I am thinking…  Max is thinking about how to make an interesting Lego space ship.

I am thankful… for this chaos.

In the kitchen… someone will eventually have to load the dishwasher. Who will it be?

I am wearing… Molly is wearing one of Tessa’s shirts that she has turned into a dress for the third day in a row.

I am creating… there is a lot of coloring going on here these days. The picture below was colored by Lily (left picture) and Molly (right picture) at the same time with no fighting!
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I am going… a little crazy with cabin fever. I long for the ability to take a walk after dinner, or take the kids to the park to run off some steam.

I am wondering… Tessa is wondering why her ear wasn’t hurting earlier last night. (She woke up with swimmer’s ear.) She is also wondering when she can have a friend over.

I am reading… The Wizard of Oz aloud to the kids. They are loving it and begging for more chapters every night. Ben just finished the Hunger Games Trilogy, and Tessa is reading Ender’s Game. Have to get ready for the movies this fall!

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I am hoping… for a miracle with a particular school waiting list.

I am looking forward to… Jay coming home from work.

I am learning… Molly is learning more letters almost every day. She is also trying to teach Gus how to spell her name, even though he can’t even say his own.

Around the house… Ben is playing a video game that the kids probably shouldn’t watch. Gus is playing with Fisher Price Little People, Lily and Molly, when asked what they were doing, replied, “Um, … stuff.” (It looks like it involves scissors.) Oh my, now they have a stapler too…

I am pondering… Jay is pondering the business, as we transition over to a different set up, he is under a lot of stress.

I am praying for… Posy, who is in South Africa building a home on a mission trip.

A favorite quote for today… from Ben: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” -Dr. Seuss

One of my favorite things… my morning coffee while doing my bible study. I wish I could stay in that moment all day long.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Deal with the overdue library books, take the kids swimming every day, school supply shopping, take Ben to get his driving permit, find some cheap (and cool) ways to get the kids out of the house.

A peek into my day… before breakfast:

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