Journal: ...and then it was Summer

TODAY

Out my window: Hot. An absurd amount of rain the past 72 hours.  But Summer is definitely here.

Around the house: I finally got myself set up with a non-paper calendar.  Let me tell you, old habits die hard, but I think it was the job and the obvious non-portabiity of my fridge (whose side housed my trusty paper weekly calendar/to-do list) that pushed me over the edge.  After a bit of deliberation and consultation with Facebook (because Facebook knows all), I decided to go with GoogleCalendar, since I'm already using Gmail and GooglePlay. I like it.  Quite a bit.  I still have my weekly chore list on the fridge, but I converted it into a 10 week format (oh my word, I can feel people rolling their eyes) and my monthly/quarterly chore list on paper as well, but Google can keep track of my calendar events and "to-do" list (with the "reminders" function) quite nicely, and I don't miss the paper calendar a bit!  Can't believe it!!  Now to do some clothes shopping......

Finally got around to putting the hummingbird feeder out and got a few more anuals for the deck now that all the pansies and spring flowers are done.

Working on: I've spent some time in my classroom this past week starting to plan and get things in order and that's been exciting overwhelming good.  I took a one-day class last week for one college hour, and I have a 3hr online course coming up in July.  The one-day class was seven hours with my butt in a chair and about another 2 hours working on the assignments.  Not bad at all.  Hopefully the online course is equally doable.  Apparently when I signed up for these courses though it enrolled me in college, which automatically deferred and then restructured (after I called to request an un-deferment) the term of my student loan.  Sigh.  And no one can seem to give me an answer as to why this happened and how to get it back to how it was before they deferred and completely restructured it without my consent.  Blah.  The balance on it is pretty low (as is the interest rate, that's why paying it off hasn't been a huge priority), but at this point I think we're just going to pay it off and be done with it.  Once the dust settles from whatever is going on now.  I don't even know that I could trust anyone to give me the right pay-off number or make sure the payment is actually applied correctly at this point.  Ugh.

 

The kiddos:  They're having a good Summer!  So far we've had Art Camp, VBS, are in the midst of baseball for Kolbe, and are sneaking up on two weeks of swim lessons.  It's been great, enough to keep us busy and productive and out of trouble, but not so much that we're running around like crazy headless chickens.  We are members at the YMCA now, and their water park has been so great!  The kids are old enough that I am comfortable taking them all three by myself, which I would never consider doing at a traditional pool with shallow and deep ends.  The zero-entry, general shallowness and abundant life guards are such a great setup. So grateful!

In the kitchen: Menu is the other thing I'm still keeping track of on a paper calendar, but I already had a paper monthly calendar in my laundry room that wasn't getting much use so that works out great (quit rolling your eyes).  Up this week: shredded chicken soft tacos; crispy chicken salads (we've had some tasty homegrown lettuce...given to us by others...makes me want to grow lettuce next spring); goulash; other stuff (things always get a little dicey the later in the week it gets).  I'm back to cooking for three at the rectory for the next two months.  Three grown men.  Heaven help me.

Learning:  I have scaled back my learning loops/computer time incentives because it was too complicated, haha. I can complicate anything.  Instead, I found these great printable packets (like, 60-100 pages each) that bridge from KDG-1st (Kolbe) and 2nd-3rd (Gemma) on Teachers Pay Teachers (Moffat Girls, if you're interested) for under $10 a piece, and they are awesome! They include math, reading comp, phonics, grammar and a bit of writing.  I staple them into smaller packets ranging from 4-7 pages and the kids can complete a packet and exchange it for 30 minutes of laptop time, twice a week.  It's working out well.

Reading: Ready to start the third Ralph Mouse book with all three kids, currently we're reading The Bears on Hemlock Mountain and also a book about St. Damien of Molokai. I am reading He Leadeth Me.  It is wonderful. Just today I pulled my Saints of the Roman Calendar book back out.  So many great saints and martyrs the two weeks leading up to July 4. We're looking forward to praying the Litany for Liberty as a family again. Letter K picture books for Clem, and next up letter A (which will include fun things like apples and alligators and some of our favorite African tales).  I got a bunch of Philip Stead picture books from the library this past week as well.  Kolbe has been enjoying Eric Carle lately, and Clem will be getting some CD books (which he looooves) for his fourth birthday coming up NEXT MONTH!!  All three kids are enjoying keeping up with the Summer Reading Program at the library. Sorry for the lack of links.

Watching: MLB, American Ninja Warrior, nothing much of note

Thinking about: Planning for the school year.  I've been vacillating between giddy excitement and panic attacks over the prospect of heading back to teaching, but when it's all said and done I am really excited to get back in the classroom.

Pictures to share:  

VBS, baseball and some gardening.  Happy Summer!

Journal: back to Summer! and some pictures

TODAY

Out my window:  Warm, muggy, cloudy-ish.  We didn't get near the rains predicted for this week immediately around us, but less than a dozen miles north of us they had seven inches the other night.  Remarkable.  The kids are going to VBS at a neighboring parish this week and wanted to play at their park one day this week, so we picked Tuesday and had a picnic lunch and they played for two hours.  It was a bit muggy but in the seventies.  We couldn't have picked a better day.

Around the house: QUARANTINE IS OVER!!!  WooHOOOOOO!!!!!!!  Other than that, nothing of note, really.  Our sheets and bedspread in our master bedroom are starting to seriously wear out (like, I have mended them multiple times), so I think we may be in the market for new ones at some point.  Christmas maybe?

 

The kiddos:

Gemma has been fantastic of late.  Oh, she has had her not-so-fantastic moments as well but over all, oh my word.  She is really stepping up in her big sister role with the boys... she will play for hours with them at the park.  She has been putting them to bed.  Reading to them for 20-30 minutes at a time.  It is wonderful to see her blossom, and I am enjoying this more-grown-up version of her more and more every day.  Life is so different around here than it was five years ago.

Kolbe is having a BLAST at VBS this week.  I mean, Gemma is having a great time too, but Kolbe, WOW.  He will come up to me a dozen times a day to tell me a long drawn-out story about something that he got to do or something he learned or saw.  This is very un-Gemma.  I have learned just to be quiet with her and let her tell me what she wants, when she wants, and not press the issue if she doesn't feel like talking.  And she usually doesn't.  But I've made peace with that.  I digress...  If this week is any sort of prelude to how kindergarten will be for Kolbe, I think it will be a great year.   

Clement is getting a taste for what it's like to be the only kid at home in the mornings this week.  He plays incredibly well by himself, which really mystifies me.  Maybe it is because he is so used to playing with his siblings that it is a welcome reprieve?  I don't know.  But it tickles me.  His favorite thing to do of late has been making picnics with our play food.  This is a very intricate process which can sometimes keep him busy for 45 minutes or an hour.

In the kitchen: I made bierocks this week.  I think the last time I made them was when I was pregnant with Clement maybe?  They were super-tasty.  We've been having more salads.  They taste good anytime, but especially during Summer it seems.  Planning on a chicken stir-fry next week, but I still need to hammer out the rest of my menu.  The kids have eaten more meals outdoors than in this week.  My kitchen floor has never stayed so clean (relatively speaking of course) for so long.

Learning:  VBS!  The program that they use at our parish (and it's the same one they are using at the neighboring parish) is such a great boost to their faith lives.  I love it.  We've done a lot of reading.  I was telling a friend the other day, I had the best-laid plans to do some more academic things this summer (handwriting practice, math facts, etc.) and we really haven't done anything.  That said, I feel like thus far we've had an incredibly educational summer, simply taking advantage of the opportunities around us.  The kids have written letters, played with pattern blocks and puzzles and some of our more "educational" toys at their leisure, we've had a huge variety of books, especially with our weekly themes. You can learn so much simply from observing and taking advantage of the world around you.  I have often thought I'd be a fan of year-round school, but I am really appreciating the extended break this go-around.

Reading: I've been trying to have some sort of rhyme and reason for the chapter books I read with Gemma so we've been focusing on the early days of Kansas, and the westward expansion in general.  We're currently reading the Prairie Skies Trilogy and it's fantastic. It's giving us so many things to discuss (general premise: an abolitionist family movies to KS in the 1850s in hopes of making it a free state during the time of the Kansas-Nebraska act) .  As an aside though, it was pretty funny (well, it's funny now) the other day she was really mad at me for something, and she yelled, "YOU ARE TREATING ME LIKE A SLAVE!!!!!"  Oh dear...

I'm keeping up with my usuals, although my main focus now (aside from finishing up with Theology) has been Happy Are You Poor.  Wow.  Just wow.  I am also trying to read/mediate from The Imitation of Christ each day.  Good stuffs.

Crafting: I added this category back in so I could show off Gemma's perler-bead prowess!  These were a great diversion for all three kids when we were stuck in quarantine!

Watching:  MLB.  Oh, and also The Hobbit.  I cannot believe it but I think I am finally getting really hooked on this LOTR business.  I know, right?

Bringing me joy: VBS, listening to the kids sing their songs and dance and be so excited about the faith is energizing.  And reading good books...to myself and my kids.  I am so grateful for books.  :-)

Thinking about: the fact that I have at least three other things I should be doing right now, but I wanted to blog an update before it got too far away from me. 

Pictures to share:  

Just a few more...Some new pics for our collage frame.  Love these kids!

Bedtime snuggles.

Eating mulberries on our nature walk.  Won't be too much longer and he'll be too big for his sweet ride on daddy's back.