For the Journey


Any day spent with you is my favorite day. So today is my new favorite day. ~A.A. Milne

"You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance." ~Psalm 65:11
I was going to say LAZY summer days.  But there's absolutely nothing lazy about summer days with my three littles.  Can I even say that anymore?  Littles?  Because Mason really isn't so "little" anymore. He comes up to my chin now.  I am NOT looking forward to the day when I have to literally look up to him.  He just seems so . . . grown lately.  Grown in a he'll-be-nine-years-old-in-one-month kind of way.

Anyway.  This was our first week at home and settling into our summer routine.  Or lack thereof.  And it really was a good week.  Mondays are the only days that we have to get up and go and actually be somewhere on time because that's therapy day this summer.  And then after that it's my goal to do my grocery shopping and errands for the whole week so we don't have to go anywhere else the rest of the week.  I realized this week that that's a rather industrious goal.  So we'll see how it goes.

We'd planned to spend Tuesday at the pool, but it rained all day so we stayed home.  I took advantage of being "stuck" inside and cleaned my house to the likes it hadn't seen since before the last school year started.  I keep up with the bathrooms and the floors during the school year but not nearly as often as I'd like to.  But this week I got it all done in one day, and it felt so good!  I even cleaned and dusted my kitchen cabinets, outside AND inside!

Wednesday was our pool day.  Ellie even enjoyed it this time.  She jumped off the diving board, too.  After she did that, she really wasn't interested in being in the pool anymore so she mostly stayed on the steps. She hates wearing all manner of flotation and life saving devices.  We've tried all makes and models, all sizes.  Needless to say, my kids LOVE going to the pool, but I can tell you it is one of the LEAST relaxing summer activities for me.  I'm sure we'll be there a lot though, and that's okay because I do love it even though it wears me slap out.

Yesterday we went shopping for Father's Day goodies.  It rained again today, but it cleared up later so we spent most of the afternoon outside.  I've been planting a few flowers this week and cleaning up the flower beds, and Seth is working on pressure washing the house.

One of the things we do each day this summer is read for 30 minutes.  I set a timer, and Mason, Hannah Kate and I read.  This works great during Ellie's nap time but not so much when she's awake.  Had to learn that lesson the hard way!  So we have to do it during nap time.  I LOVE to read.  One of my New Year's goals was to read one book a month.  Sad, I know.  I used to read one book a weekend, but now I can barely read one book a year.  I've completed four books so far and am almost finished with my current selection.  I'm a little behind, but I'm hoping I can catch up now that I've set aside this time each day.  I'm even disciplining myself to actually sit and read, too, and not do chores or whatever else needs to be done.  

I'm so proud of Mason . . . he hasn't really complained about it, and he finished an entire book this week.  That's a big deal for him.  Hannah Kate loves to read so she's always asking when it's time.  That girl read an entire chapter book when we were in Georgia.  She's almost finished with the one she started this week and has already picked out her next one.

This is my current read.  If you are a recovering perfectionist (like I am), I highly recommend it!  I could write a book about this book! 
My goal this summer is simple.  I just want to have fun.  I almost feel like I've forgotten how to have fun.  But when we went to Georgia, I did have fun, and I was reminded that I can be a fun kinda girl sometimes.  I want that girl to show up more often.  So hopefully next time I can share about our summer FUN days!