The Beach!

Keeping it Real

I failed to mention that Joe hasn't been happy about summer reading at all!  Even though in the pictures I posted he is pleasantly sitting there looking at a big dinosaur book.  I didn't stop and take pictures as he ranted and raved that it's SUMMER and he shouldn't have to do anything and on and on and on.  The first day he screamed and yelled and cried for probably 20 minutes before settling in and just doing it.  The second and third days he put up a fight but it was a little shorter.  I'm hoping that by the end of next week this will be part of the routine and get a little less flack from him about it.  I just have to stay consistent and take the time every day, no matter what.  If I take a day or two off I will be back to square one.  That's just how my sweet little Joe rolls.  

No More Teachers, No More Books...

I took some time yesterday to get our school stuff organized and prepared for evaluations. I went through my plan book and made a sheet for each child listing what they did this school year, including books read (for the girls), field trips, special projects, etc. It felt good to see it all on paper. Despite always feeling like I wasn't doing enough we managed to have a very productive school year. Yeah us! I'm looking forward to packing it away and starting fresh next year. BTW--the white tubs are what I have used all year to hold each kids' school books. They are portable and stackable and have worked really well for keeping everyone's stuff separate and semi-organized. Thank you to Marissa for that big idea.
This is our first week of summer and we've had a great week. In addition to swimming three times and going skating and having a Harry Potter movie day at H and B's we've also taken time to read for thirty minutes every day. Well, the kids that is. I read for more than thirty minutes most days but don't find it necessary to time myself. Hannah also reads for much more than thirty minutes a day as well but Grace and Joe won't usually read unless I tell them to. So, for thirty minutes most days we will be taking some time to read or look at books (Joe). As soon as I get the cards made we will be doing Reading Bingo again. I plan to change it up a little this year and will post about it once I work out the details. For now though we are just reading without rewards--except the obvious rewards of getting smarter and broadening our horizons.

In addition to thirty minutes of reading, these kiddos have also watched a movie or tv show every day as well. Happy summer days...

Just a Reminder

The Adoption fundraiser over at Storing Up Treasures has a few more days if you want to participate!  She is offering various giveaways when you donate.  Lots of other bloggers have pitched in to donate items for those of you who give.  I am hoping to win a dress or skirt from Poppy Dip

Here is the link to the Campaign Page

I would also recommend that you go to the home page of their blog.  Each day new people have donated things and Courtney is offering all sorts of giveaways when you donate.  

7 Quick Takes and Pictures

1. The salad in the picture above is a Thai Peanut Salad with Chicken. It is sooo good! Here is the recipe--
2/3 cup of bottled peanut sauce (I made my own using a recipe on the internet but I don't have it handy so if you want to make your own you will have to google it)
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. apple juice
1 lb. chicken tenderloins
matchstick carrots
sugar snap peas
lettuce

Combo peanut sauce, soy sauce, and apple juice in a small bowl. Reserve 1/2 cup. Pour the rest in a ziploc bag with the chicken and toss to coat. Let it marinate for about 15 minutes and then either grill the chicken or bake it in the oven. Then use the lettuce, carrots, peas, and chicken in a salad and use the remainder of the marinade as your dressing.
2. We went skating today for the first time in almost a year. The kids had a ball as usual! I had a good chat with a couple of moms.
3. See what I mean about the Klondike bars? Messy, messy, messy!!
4. Joe got two new bathing suits. He insists on wearing the rash guard shirts and is pretty excited about having one in orange--his favorite color. He also got a pair of bathing suit trunks that are 3D and even came with 3D glasses. They are pretty cute.
5. This is my little second cousin, Lily. We spent the day at the beach with her Grandma, Grandpa, and momma and daddy, and aunt and uncle. It was a beautiful day and the ocean was just perfect. I don't normally enjoy the beach but the great thing here was that the pool was right by the beach so we could jump in the pool and get all the sand off of us.
6. I've been reading up a storm--the last two books I read were both really good. The first one was, "Her Mother's Hope," by Francine Rivers. I love books by her and this one did not disappoint! It starts out with a young girl living in Switzerland and follows this young girl as she grows into a woman and makes her way in the world and then has a family and so on. Excellent read! The other book I read was kind of weird but I loved it and read it in about 24 hours. It was called, "The Girl Who Chased the Moon" by Sarah Addison Allen. It was set in NC and had a little mystery, a little magic, and some unique characters. I highly recommend it. BTW--I don't know how many of you ever scroll way down on my blog but on the left side towards the bottom I keep a running list of books I've read this year. Mostly for my own benefit but if could be for your benefit as well if you are looking for a book to read. I also have a label called, "book suggestions" and "book reviews" that I use whenever I talk about what I'm reading. The next book I'm reading is "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry," Hannah read it not too long ago and really wants me to read it because she liked it so much. So, that's next up. After that, I just got the new Jodi Picoult book at the library--"House Rules." I can't wait to read that one! What are you reading?
7. A friend gave me a wonderful gift that we can all benefit from--she gave me all 4 volumes of Jack Handey's "Deep Thoughts" books. I have laughed so much reading these--here's a few of my favorites--

• If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.
• To me, clowns aren't funny. In fact, they're kinda scary. I've wondered where this started, and I think it goes back to the time I went to the circus and a clown killed my dad.
• If you ever teach a yodeling class, probably the hardest thing is to keep the students from just trying to yodel right off. You see, build to that.
  

Happy Tuesday

It's our first real day of summer vacation--woohoo! We finished up school on Friday and I am pleased with all that we finished. Each of the kids finished their math and most of the workbooks they had started this year. Grace didn't finish her spelling workbook but she started late and I didn't expect her to finish. Hannah managed to do all the reading for My Father's World's "Creation to Greeks," which was a huge accomplishment since we started that late too. So, today begins a fun, busy summer! This week is relatively calm and I'm thankful for that because the rest of the summer will not be. :0)
I'm pretty frustrated with myself today--this time last year I had lost a good bit of weight and really dramatically changed my diet and felt good. I didn't think I would ever go back to bad habits. Well, I was really wrong about that. I've managed to gain pretty much all the weight back and have slipped into some terrible eating patterns. Starting today, I'm trying to get back on the wagon. I have so much knowledge now about how to eat healthy, I just have to do it. I am off to a good start, I had oatmeal with bananas, berries, and chia seed for breakfast--no sugar. Lately, I've been not eating breakfast until I'm absolutely starving and then I eat something unhealthy and too much of it because I am in a hurry and starving. I just take it one meal at a time and go from there. Sugar is my biggest problem, and this summer of frozen treats isn't helping. Thankfully, I don't even really like the Klondike bars so they aren't a big temptation. One of my pet peeves is when people who are dieting can only talk about what they ate and didn't eat so don't worry, I'm not going to do that here. Just today...
Well, I am having writer's cramp and everything I think to type sounds stupid so I'm going to go now...I need to go get the kids' stuff ready for their evaluation and make up some reading bingo cards...peace out my friends.

Fat Boys and Klondike Bars

Fat Boys and Klondike bars are the first frozen novelties we've tried in our "Summer of Frozen Treat Fun." The Fat Boys were wonderful--a Fat Boy is a big fat ice cream sandwich. It comes in cookies and cream and vanilla and we tried both. I was partial to the cookies and cream but the vanilla was really good too. We tried both sizes of Fat Boys--there's the regular sized one and then there is a mini one. The mini size was great because you got the full ice cream sandwich experience without eating too much.
The Klondike bars taste great and they come in a variety of flavors. We've tried Reese's and Heath bar so far but we have lots more in the freezer--double chocolate, chocolate crunch, and plain vanilla. Personally, I am not a big fan of that crunchy chocolate they use to coat the bar but the kids have loved them. Our only complaint is that they are way too messy. The kids have to eat them outside and then have a washcloth handy because they just fall apart and the ice cream starts melting.