July is the Busiest Month...

So, we're camping this weekend - first trip of the year for us and camping with friends! YaY!

And today is the end of June, so I am looking ahead to July and I am a teensy bit overwhelmed!

So, we will spend the first 4 days of July camping. Which meant I spent the last day of June preparing for it and I'll spend several days cleaning up from it! And then cap it off with a Beach Day.

What else do we have in store? Oh, you just wait.  Keep in mind, of course, that I work 4-5 hours every day. We have our regular twice-a-week commitment to karate. I am trying to work out 6 days a week. This is usually enough to fill my days.

But no! There's more!

The second weekend of July is more camping - Cousin Camp, which sounds SO FUN!

The second week of July brings soccer camp for the boys - 4 evenings that week. Suzy is doing Field School at the nature center that week Tues-Fri from 9-2. I am selling books in a used book sale that Thursday, which means I have to drive down to drop the books OFF on Wed. David is going to a martials arts tactics camp that weekend and I am going scrapbooking.

That throws us wildly into the third week of July. This week is James' turn at the Nature Center Tues-Fri from 9-3. He'll miss Beach Day that week. James and Suzy want to go to a VBS in the evenings this week. That weekend is blessedly FREE ... for now.

So I get a little breather before jumping into the fourth week of the month, which holds four more nights soccer camp for David and James, a soccer VBS at night for Suzy, CO-OP registration (which somewhere in there I have to help prepare for and spend a day working at). I get a $10 massage this week too, which I have a feeling I am going to really NEED!

The month ends pleasantly with a Book Club trip to see Shakespeare in the Park and go out for GELATO. And I already read the book!

By the end of July I will be running 5 miles easily, according to my training plan. 

Whew! Thankfully, August isn't so busy!

And did you notice? Emily has NOTHING TO DO! Anyone want to occupy Emily?

Weekly Preview and RECAP

Saturday - Spent the morning working on at the soccer fields, the afternoon with the kids, and the late evening working on soccer registration
Sunday - Home
Monday - WORK (4 hrs daily)
Tuesday - WORK, Soccer conditioning (E,J,S)
Wednesday - WORK
Thursday - WORK, Beach Day
Friday - WORK, Soccer (D)
Saturday - Spend with friends?

Well, this last week seemed to get sucked into the vortex. July has come and gone now. I spent a LOT of time working on soccer teams and they are created now. I am processing a few late registrations and have the uniform order just about ready to go - just need to figure the quantities. (That sounds easier than it is. lol)

David went to a friend's house this afternoon and will spend the night. The others are supremely jealous. Well, kids - call a friend and make some plans!

I have the soccer teams all created & doublechecked for things like "fall only" players and siblings who need to be on the same teams. I am waiting for several important emails/callbacks. Don't people know I am on a schedule?? lol I have the uniform colors all chosen (one of the fun things) and just need to input the quantities of each size - for about 400 people. The teams obviously have to be set before that can happen, so I have waited until the last possible moment. I registered 3 late players today and am waiting on 2 more.

We skipped church today - slept in way too long. We didn't go last week either due to our spontaneous trip to Port Huron.

Thursday night, a friend hosted a Moms Night Out. She has a lovely backyard pool and hot tub, and a tiki bar. She made drinks for us and we chatted around the pool, in the pool, in the hot tub, and around the fire. It was lovely. Came home at about 1am! Wonderful night.

This week is a low-key week for us. I do plan to have the kids do some math and reading and probably some of their other subjects as well. Next week too, most likely. Then we'll take off the rest of the month - a week to get ready for camping, a week of camping, a week to recover from camping and get ready for lessons to begin. They'll begin the week after Labor Day probably.

Camping week is the last full week of August and that is our homeschool camping week. Our favorite week of the year, I think!

Soccer practices will start in there as well. David starts his this Friday and I imagine the other three will begin soon. Emily is playing again this year - with AYSO, on a travel team. James and Suzy are also playing AYSO - U12 and U10 respectively. David is playing for the same team he played for last year - FAITH Falcons, also a travel team, comprised solely of homeschooled boys. This year he will have several friends on his team - which also means *I* will have someone to watch games & practices with! LOL Or carpool with, which is even more important.

The little Easy Set pool in the yard has been great this summer. I think it's the one Mike and Michelle gave us a couple years ago. If we continue to enjoy it, I think we might consider upgrading to a larger pool next year. This one is not very deep. But it's so nice for them to be able to just go get wet for a while without it being a huge deal to drive somewhere and/or pay money. We have yet to go to the waterpark this summer. We should go, as it almost closed this year due to lack of patrons last year. The other county waterpark DID close.

Next week is the County Fair. We tend to go to that every other year, and this is our "on" year. So, need to budget for that - both time and money.

No summer reading program for us this year, though there has been plenty of reading. I just couldn't face the thought of keeping up with a program. The kids went to one of the very first library programs but we haven't made any of the others. And the one we really wanted to attend is this week and I forgot to call and make reservations, so all the spots have been taken and there is a long waiting list. Ah well. There's always next year.

I am blowing my way through Eat Pray Love. The writing is delicious! The woman has a beautiful way with a phrase and I can almost find myself in her life through her descriptions. However it's also deeply disturbing in some ways. Can't wait to discuss it with my book club, but also afraid of discussing it as I think the book may offend some people. It will be interesting, no doubt!

Inception is top of my "to see" movie list. I want to go see it this week! There are others I want to see as well, plus a slew of films that slipped away before I could. Added them to my Netflix Q.

Going to cut everyone's hair tonight. Except David, of course, since he is gone. I think he planned that rather sneakily! LOL

The hot dogs are ready, so I'm going to go eat!

Walk & Treat

Circus Creatus, Water Park, Rose Trellis

A perfectly wonderful afternoon at the water park was yesterday's highlight. I met my friend Sherri and her son there and we spent the afternoon chatting and watching the kids frolic in the water. The weather was just right - sunny and warm, but not humid or too hot. I wore shorts and a tank top for the first time this summer!

Earlier in the day, we attended a library program (Circus Creatus) to kick off the summer reading program. Joel Tacey juggled, told jokes, and did magic tricks. If you want to see some pictures from a similar show, click HERE. We laughed and giggled throughout, leaving with smiles on our faces. We didn't sign out any books since we'd done that just the day before.

I accomplished a little editing, but then I bumped the laptop and it disconnected from the power source (the outlet). It no longer holds a charge, so it has to be plugged in. No problem, right? Just reboot. Except David is the only one who knows the password. And David is at camp. Oops. So, I had to try to recreate all my editing changes on the desktop computer, effectively halving the time I spent editing, which was further reduced by the time I spent trying to guess his password. Finally I texted him and he did reply later in the evening with his thoroughly predictable password that I ought to have discerned.

Bob's been painting. He and the kids had to scrape some of the areas on the porch where the paint peeled off over the winter. Why it peeled we are not certain. But, it's now repainted, but may need another coat. He's also scraped and painted two coats on the barn where we had the rose trellis. He took that down earlier this spring and cut the roses way back in preparation for painting. Once it is nicely painted, he will put up new trellis and the roses will be growing up in front of a yellow background instead of grey. The whole barn will probably not get painted for a while yet, but the rose trellis needed to be done first so the roses had somewhere to go.

My two youngest are outside playing in the rain. LOL I'm not going outside today if I can help it. I did go running outside the last two days after I realized that I can't exercise in front of the TV while I am camping in a couple weeks. I jogged (ran & walked) 2 miles Monday and Tuesday. My legs are SORE. lol But it's a good thing. I will keep the exercise time the same and try to increase the time actually spent running.

Perfect Summer Friday

Yesterday was THE MOST PERFECT weather! Mid-70's, sunshine, no clouds, slight breeze, no bugs. Idyllic!

We trekked over to a local park to share Park Day with a few other homeschool families. Perhaps ten families? The kids ages 1-16 got along great! There were no "issues" - parents, you know what I mean! LOL The moms had several hours to sit and chat and catch up while the kids played near (in) the creek, ran on the grass, played baseball and soccer, and just generally ran around.

Emily went home with a friend and James brought home a friend. Before dinner, I made the drive to get the kids back to their proper homes.

On the way there, we saw two turtles in the road. Yep, we stopped. Picked them up. Brought them home. James' friend took one and we have the other. We won't keep him forever, just long enough to learn all about him. He's a fairly big one. I'm sure James will snap his portrait before long. His name is Skipperdee, Jr. (Pic in this post is from the web, not taken by me.)

Last night we walked down to check out the carnival down the street. Wristbands were $15 for just five or six inflatables and some carnival games! (School fundraiser) I'd warned the kids ahead that if it was expensive that I wouldn't pay. So, we talked to people for a while then walked to the gas station and bought frozen pop. (Yep, even me! I drank REAL pop, although I didn't finish it. But, it's one of my pet peeves that the scientists can't seem to make a Diet Frozen Coke. Sigh. But wait, if anyone KNOWS of one, you'd be my best best friend! Really! I'll buy you one! hehehe)

After that, the kids watched a movie and Bob started a campfire. On the spur of the moment, we'd decided to make S'mores and allow them the opportunity to sleep in the camper. Bob popped it up earlier today to check it out before camping seasons starts. I posted pix of the campfire time below.

Suzy chose to sleep in the house with me, but Bob and Emily and James took the adventurous route and camped in the yard. (Remember, David is at Cedar Point.)

I exercised (4th workout of the week! Met my goal!) while watching He's Just Not That Into You and then finished entering the soccer registrations. I'm amazed at what passes for PG-13 nowadays. No WAY would I let my young teen watch THIS.

Went to bed FAR too late, but slept in this am. The weather looks lovely, although maybe a tad chillier than yesterday. I think we'll hit some garage sales and maybe cook-out.

Summer Plans

The summer is shaping up. Here's a rough outline of what's going to be happening. I'm sure things will change around, but I thought it'd be fun to post this.

June

• David goes to Cedar Point with friends for a couple days.
• David spends a week at senior high youth camp.
• Book Club!
• Field Work Day for Soccer (wanna help?)
  
• Bob and I celebrate 21 years of marriage and are planning to leave the kids with my parents and sister so we can go away for a night.
• Beach Days begin for Seeds of Faith.
• Denise and her kids come to visit for a day - water park visit planned!
• We camp at our church Family Camp for 8 days (until July 4).

July

• One of Bob's nieces is getting married.
• Suzy, James and Emily have Field School at the Nature Center. (still need to finalize)
  
• Suzy and James have Soccer VBS.
• Beach Days for SOF continue.
• I'd like to schedule another camping trip.
• I'd like the kids to do swim lessons. Not sure of the dates.
• Suzy and Emily have a campout for Keepers at Home.
• Book Club!
  

August

• Another of Bob's nieces is getting married.
• Our church is having VBS. (But we probably won't be participating)
• David will be going on a missions trip to Tennessee.
• Beach Days for SOF continue.
• Homeschool Family Camp for 6 days.
• Book Club!
  

Body Clock Not Reset.

So.....

Resetting the body clock doesn't seem to be working too well. lol

I went to see 17 Again again tonight with two different friends. Still loved it! Finally wrote my review and it's up at Mirkwood.

Odd hail and sun and rain and snowing thing happening today. Supposed to be nice Thursday and through the weekend, though. That's good.

Not yet finished with Daniel Deronda. Still have over 100 pages to go before Saturday night.

Done with the scoring job. Not taking another, if ever offered. Too stressful.

Was not a slacker Tuesday or Wednesday. Did a full day of lessons both days, despite reluctance from the students. Planning a full day Thursday and Friday as well. Only another month of regular lessons and we'll be on to summmmmmmmmerrrrrrrrr!

Trying to get our ducks in a row for summer, speaking of that halcyon season. David has camp in June. Our anniversary is in June. Book club each month. Homeschool camping in August. David has been invited to go away with friends to Cedar Point. Possibly going to church family camp in July. I'd like to go camping a couple more times too, since we have the pop-up. David has a mission trip in August.

Ok, time for bed. Fading fast.....