That's veeery interesting...'night slothead.

The Brave Little Toaster....worth seeing at least once if only to hear that line where a lamp is telling the toaster 'good night'...and the part where Blankie bursts into tears at the top of the stairs.

I finally remembered my camera enough times to document the weekly goings on of our summer. We have loved our schedule (I use that term loosely...it's more like guidelines lest we become overly bored.) However, it is making the summer simply fly by, and that makes me sad. We waited so long for summer to get here. We are thoroughly enjoying the amazing weather and all that we have at our fingertips with the always-present option to stay in our pj's and do nothing much at all.
Each day we had a plan or at least an option of something to do. It gets us out of the house. But most of our days also have to include quiet time, reading time, tidying time and occasionally a session of "Busy Bee School" (inspired by Amy of course) to do workbooks and make sure that our brains and skills have not been completely turned to mush. I am speaking in very ideal terms of course...sometimes I lay in bed and allow my oldest daughter to make everyone (including myself) breakfast...and then we lay around some more and maybe jump on the trampoline, and then we just keep laying around or skip from one activity to another until it's time to stand out on the front porch, take some deep breaths of real air, then go back inside where we change into fresh pajamas and get ready for bed....after all, it is summer vacation.

Library Day-The girls love going to the library and picking their books for the week. The three oldest are participating in the library's summer reading program where they get prizes for reading each week and answering questions in their little program booklet. Nothin like stickers, tattoos and bookmarks to totally make their day.

Free Movie Day-I finally discovered only last week, what it takes to sit through an entire movie without taking Hazel out....or maybe it was a fluke. In any case, the girls love this one (and so does my bank account seeing as how a trip to the movies these days can require taking out a small loan.)

Beach Day. We go rain or shine. We love the Later's beach...and the Later's for lending it to all of us each week. There are always a plethora of kids, fun, sand, splashing, spraying, snacks and community Popsicles....and even though this means that we leave a snail trail of sand and water from their back door all the way to the bathroom, we love going!!

Adventure/Outing Day. We use this day to go explore somewhere new (or somewhere old.) Museums, parks, historical sites, etc. sometimes with friends, sometimes on our own.

Freebee day, where we usually end up somewhere that we have passes to...bowling, the aquarium or zoo...or just a park nearby. Friday nights is also our pajama party night...we roll out the blankets, pick a good flick and eat dinner, picnic style in front of our movie.

SATURDAY is our beloved (and necessary) cleaning day. It's also our day at home to just hang out or run little errands or maybe do something interesting that we have caught wind of.

SUNDAY. Our day of rest. We go to church, we nap, we play, we walk, we eat...a day to truly slow down and enjoy one another's company.
I am tired...mostly a good kind of tired...
My kids are without their Dad a lot this year, more than ever before (except for that six months he did last year of course...and we have another one of those headed our way.) My Megan-in-law recently pointed out to me that the girls will have fond memories of this time with their Mom. That statement, though very sweet sentiments, left me feeling unsure that that was what they were feeling. So I made up my mind to have fun this summer, to create traditions and customs and memories, lots of good memories.
I hope they will remember it.
I hope that even if they don't remember exactly what we did, they will remember having fun with their Mom and their sisters; that we did things together, that we worked together, and played together, and missed Dad together, and welcomed him home again together, and spent time loving being with each other.
That is the goal. So check back (with me or their therapist) in 5 to 10 and we'll see how I did.