Serenity Now

Summer is finally here and I can't believe the weather is finally cooperating... the rain a thing of the past.

Each morning we have a regular routine of getting dressed, having breakfast, cleaning our rooms, reading for 20 minutes and doing some kind of schoolwork activity whether math or writing related (Sheriff has piano practice every 3rd day) and the two older boys do something from their cubscout books. Once all this is complete then they can go off and play.

I have been trying though to have some kind of summer activity planned almost everyday whether it is going to the library and choosing books (we signed up for the summer reading program to get a free book at the end of the summer if you complete the program - even adults get a free book!),

taking tennis lessons,

or going to the county fair,



bowling with our free passes from school,

or playing at our local park that has a splash pad.

We still have lots of fun things planned because it is going to be a long summer!

My boys have bemoaned the loss of friends and the big backyard since moving to our new home. They love the fact that they don't have to share rooms with each other any more but they miss their friends and basketball court (so do I).

We have wanted to get a decent playset in our backyard for them as the old metal one was basically in pieces... no surprise when you have 4 boys who break everything (the latest target is the airconditioner... it has a moving fan and kids love to throw sticks into it...the airconditioner is still working though thank goodness). My mother-in-law waited until her boys were grown before getting nice things but they still ended up busting her stuff as grown men so I guess I shouldn't invest in anything really expensive as far as decorations go- EVER.

Wannabe was baptized on Saturday and Brett was ambitious enough to get the playset in before the big event. He even scheduled knee surgery in as well to increase the challenge. He theorized it would only take one night to prep the yard for the playset - that's if you don't have knee surgery and a million yards of bark to move.

Thank goodness for the help of family...


Despite the stress of the playset - and discovering I'm allergic to the bark (what are the chances???) It was barely finished in time for all the kids to play on. And believe me... the kids are playing on it!!! Not just our kids... but other kids are showing up on my doorstep everyday to play.




I wonder if I could charge an admission fee....