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Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Hellllo SUMMER! (Finally)

Ahh...Summer is here!!  School let out last Friday for summer break and we've been loving that summer is finally here after a VERY long winter and a weird, cold rainy spring!  We spent the weekend doing summer things like opening our swimming pool and weeding and planting the garden.  On Sunday we hosted my daughter's 10th birthday party with some of her friends and grandparents and it was really nice.  We set up tables in the yard and the kids swam while the adults chatted. 
 
Monday I got up at 6 with my husband to get him off to work on time, then sat down in my comfy chair to do some reading before the kiddos go up....and I started falling asleep!  So I snatched up the opportunity to crawl back into bed and SLEEP IN!!!  I woke up at 8:30 and it was nothing short of glorious! 
 
Yesterday was my daughter's actual birthday and I didn't want it to feel like a let-down compared to Sunday's birthday fun since I had absolutely nothing planned for the day, so when she mentioned wanting to go shopping, that's what we did!  We headed to the outlet mall about an hour from home and she had so much fun shopping with her birthday money!  The rest of the evening was spent at a 4H meeting and more swimming, as well as ice cream sundaes and a late night movie.  (I'm still trying to decide on a reasonable summer bedtime for the kiddos)
 
This morning I got up early with my husband again to pack his lunch for work (and even got a thank you for it today!!) then went for a 2.5 mile walk/run.  My inner whiner was really telling how I should just do other things instead, or workout tonight, but I overcome and the whiner was silenced as I walked out the front door!  It felt good to get out and move despite the extreme humidity!
 
Every summer I have great plans to keep us all on a daily routine, but have yet to actual follow through with it.  Last night I sat down and decided to make up a tentative schedule to keep things running smoothly and to make sure that our chores and housekeeping items were being taken care of too.  Here's what our schedule looks like:
 
9am:  Breakfast
 
9:30am:  Get dressed/Make Beds/ Shower/ Brush Teeth
 
10am:  Feed animals (and divided up the animals amongst the 3 kiddos)
 
10:30am:  Bookwork/School work (The older two will work on their 4H books and the youngest will work on writing a letter to a friend in Texas.)  Eventually I will give them worksheets with math skills on it to keep up their skills over the summer.  During this time I plan to do some bookkeeping for our business.
 
11am: Housekeeping/Laundry Chores (I have a weekly cleaning schedule that we will refer to and assign tasks according to what needs done)  During this time I will also work on folding and putting away some laundry.
 
Noon:  Lunchtime & meal cleanup
 
12:30 - 2:30pm:  Free Time (to swim, play outside, make a craft, play a game)
 
2:30-3:30pm:  Quiet Time (this time will be used to unwind a bit and take naps or read a book silently)
 
3:30-4pm:  Read Out Loud as a family.  I have always wanted to read a book   together as a family, so this will be a great time to!  I picked up Little Women and WOW is that book BIG!
 
4-5pm:  Dinner Prep (I will try to incorporate the kiddos in helping with setting the table, and helping prepare the dinner meal.  I would also like to start to teach them to make simple meals themselves this summer so they can cook when needed.)
 
6pm:  Dinner
 
6-9pm:  Family Time
 
I am really hoping this works out well for my family this summer!  So far, our summer is off to a GREAT start!!