the odds and ends of summer

I like to stay busy with a good balance of doing nothing

doesn't everyone!!

normally I like to be pretty scheduled

in the summer I like to do whatever I think of at that moment

this summer that has been harder than usual 

these kids just keep getting older and have thoughts and ideas of their own!

how dare they!

why should they get to have an input on what we do?

in fact I think both Eric and I are having a hard time adjusting to the idea of the teenage/preteen kids

why wont they just do what we say?

anyways back to my relaxing summer

with as little of a schedule as possible

don't worry I will be craving my schedule soon enough!

my mornings look a lot like this

exhausted on my front porch swing after my workout

its awesome because my kids all sleep in and they are old enough to be alone 

WOW that is a good thing about older kids!

i can work out like 8'ish instead of 5'ish in the summers!!!

I'm all for creative projects

sometimes we get them done in the school year but not as many as I would like

Grace did her birdhouse a few weeks ago abut Alex just finished his

his method was very clean and precise!

I try to have  a variety supplies for them so we can create whatever we are in the mood for

the finished product

 Grace didn't feel like it had enough sparkle so she shinned her princess flash light on it for the photo!

spontaneous trips to the beach!
lots of the trips to the beach
we live a mile from water on each side of us
its the great thing about living here 
so its fun and easy to say "Let's go!"
even if its just for 30 minutes

My great friend Jen was here for a week

I already miss her and she is off moving to a foreign country

but I made her come too! 

Jared generally terrifies me when we go to the beach

but we still take him
he loves the water
and I try to figure out how I will save him 
luckily I haven't had to in about 10 years!

besides it wears him out

at first I thought he was faking

he may of been at first

I had just asked him to mow the lawn

but an hour later he was still in the same position

my lawn never got mowed

pretty houses all nestled in!

Eric and I someday would love to buy Kayaks!
they are so relaxing and calming
we went one evening and tested some

 Eric's picture of me isn't great but oh well

 it was such a beautiful evening!

that black mass is George
he loves sleeping with Elizabeth
but one morning I couldn't find him
he had squeezed himself between the bed and the wall

these 2 have had swim lessons
so there has been some structure
one of them loved their lessons
the other went without too much complaint  
and I think might be starting to like it

I like to get free bowling passes for the kids for the summer
so we go whenever someone wants to
we can bowl up to 2 free games a day

I love it when I can see the rays of the sunshine coming through the clouds
makes me happy!

few minutes later
on my camera instead of my phone
a totally different picture!

one last thing
this sweet grandma Miss Bonnie
from church invited us over
actually Grace invited herself over and she was kind enough to have us
we picked peas
which was awesome because I don't have any this year

so a little more than half way through summer we are doing great!
a vacation is coming up soon
we are calling it the Epic journey
more on that later!