This summer we are being on-purpose. The school year was so busy with stuff that we decided to commit to nothing this summer. It was real hard for the kids at first, but a slam dunk for Darin and me ;-). It's been so good to be busy at home. If I were a better blogger, I would take pictures of all we're doing and post them for you, but it's just not going to happen right now. We're having too much fun to take pictures!
The biggest temptation Darin and I face is entertaining our kids. We are surrounded with many good opportunities for entertainment, but then that would interfere with our goals for our family. We want our kids to enjoy being at home and being a family at home. If we spent every minute watching movies, playing the Wii, running here and there - even as a family - is it real family time? Maybe for some it is. For Darin and me, it just isn't. We're looking for something more simple. Darin is teaching Ben to cook on the grill, the girls and I are learning to sprout our own wheat berries and hopefully mill them into flour this afternoon! We've got a garden going - Jack is especially excited about the herbs we are about to plant. Peppermint and thyme. We're also growing potatoes, squash, green beans, lettuce and tomatoes and planted three blueberry bushes that Lydia has adopted as her own pets. Ben, Henry and Darin have discovered Frisbee Golf. I'm told it's technically Disc Golf, but I think Disc Golf is for those who didn't grow up with Frisbees in the 70's and 80's??? Let's just say that *I* was playing Frisbee Golf back when it was REALLY Frisbee Golf. Sophia and Grace almost never leave the sandbox. Ben, Lydia and Jack have a little mowing business together, and we've gotten in an "Uno" rut lately. We sit down to play after Grace goes down for her morning nap. Last week, we played at game, did a chore, played a game, ironed a few shirts, played a game, did another chore...no one should accuse us of being lazy just because it's summer vacation. ;-)
My biggest personal project for the summer is preparing everything, and I mean EVERY LITTLE DETAIL of our upcoming school year. I know. I sound like the biggest control freak ever. And I am. But it kills me to not have a plan. I understand THE plan may not work out and we might have to settle for Plan B. I'm good with that. But just starting with a plan makes me feel at peace. Per my last post, I am consolidating our schooling into one school again. We are headed back to Unit Studies using Tapestry of Grace. There is a lot of upfront work to be put in with Tapestry of Grace, but man, I think it's going to be worth it. As I go through the curriculum while making lesson plans I become more and more enchanted with it. It's a good curriculum and I think we are all going to have fun with it this year. We are going to go ahead and slowly start getting back into a school routine at the beginning of July. We have taken off all of May and June so far. It's too hot to go outside from 10 - 4, so why not do school.
Writing all this out makes me want to go take pictures and post them here. I think I'll go get started. The kids are swimming in the pool some friends gave us after ours gave up the ghost last year. Pictures soon!
