The Stuff of Summer

We kicked off our summer this week and it's been great so far!  The kids are happy to be home, we've tackled some fairly daunting home projects, and enjoyed being able to create our own schedule.  We've done some fun adventures so far and have even more on our list.  This week, we went to the mall, which would have completely intimidated me a few years ago.  The kids were awesome and everyone wanted to go into the store they were interested in.  And of course we had to pose for "what I would look like as a unicorn" pictures :)

I'm a really mean mom and make my kids write in their journal in the morning, do workbooks in the afternoon, and do some learning games online throughout the day.  We've actually done it for so long that when it's Winter Break or Spring Break, the kids expect to do it then too :)  This year, I added journal prompts to each page of their notebook.  Lydia's response to the question of her favorite person on the planet melted me :)

We have done a ton of planting this year!  It's been SO much fun for all of us.  Sam is growing sunflower for Cub Scouts in this cup, but it hasn't started yet.  This cup of dirt is just so representative of how we have spent many hours this spring and summer.  We have tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, carrots, potatoes, peas, blueberries, lettuce, apples, plums, peppers, corn, and so many flowers and shrubs that we have put in this year.  We are learning a lot and already making plans on how we can improve and revamp and expand our garden for next year.  While we don't have plans to go crazy on gardening, it is so satisfying to be able to eat what we have grown.  I don't think I have ever eaten a better blueberry than the one that we grew!

On a morning-of whim, we decided to go to the Durham Life & Science Museum last week and had a blast.  It wasn't too busy, Nora was awesome and patient, and the big kids had a blast.  Sam got to see a giant yellow snake so this went up on the list as one of the greatest days of his life.  It always feels good to get mom points that are unplanned!

This is a paper airplane exhibit.  There are instructions on a couple ways to fold a paper airplane, you add your airplane to the launcher, and then experiment with ways to fold or tear it to make it fly differently.  Lydia really wanted to try it and got frustrated because her first airplane was a complete dud.  She was angry and came over to ask for help (I was feeding Nora on the nearby couch) and then said, "Never mind, Mom.  I got this."  She marched back over as determined as ever, which is such a Lydia thing, and started again, carefully following the instructions.  I could tell that she was frustrated again and then I saw her stop, take a big breath, and then fold her arms, bow her head and start mouthing a prayer.  As soon as she finished her prayer, she looked back at the instructions, made some adjustments to her first couple of folds, and made a decent airplane.  There was a part of me that wanted her new airplane to be perfect, to answer that prayer in an almost miraculous way.  That didn't happen, but the airplane did fly this time, which was an improvement.  She was able to fold it exactly right.  The miracle was that she used prayer as an aid during a frustrating time.  I'm so grateful that she turned to her Heavenly Father when she needed help and I'm so thankful that I could see that moment that was a small thing to her, but was profound to me.

What happens when I say, "Do a crazy pose!"

Of course we had to visit the Butterfly Pavillion during the time they release brand new butterflies.  That is always a highlight of our day!

This is how much we all weigh on the farm animal scale.  That number is in kilograms, not pounds, by the way.  It freaked me out for a second to see 1875.  Haha!

Sidewalk chalk and rolling down hills.  That is the stuff of summer!