Summer ‘11 ~~ Week ONE!

So here it is, a little late, but nevertheless it’s here … my summer fun series where I share a little bit of our every day fun adventures. I hope I can keep up with the whole picture-a-day thing, I may miss a few in between but hope to cover at least most of our summer.

Our last day of school was June 17th, that night I took the girls and one of their friends to see ‘Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer’, then they each had a friend spend the night – four little girls had a great deal of fun that night! The following day was nice and sunny so before the friends had to go home they all swam in the pool and had a grande time together!

{PS. the Judy Moody movie was ADORABLE, we ALL loved it!}

Sunday was Father’s day and {after church} we often spend the day with my in laws, they have a boat and we take the boat out to this beach that is VERY uncrowded. We celebrated my birthday and Father’s day while out there, enjoyed a picnic lunch on the beach and just enjoyed the gorgeous day together.

Monday was a busy day. Hubby was out of town golfing with some friends so the girls and I shopped and shopped and shopped. We had to get some things that Hope needed for summer camp, and I had some gift cards from my birthday. After shopping we headed home so the girls could swim. I went inside to do something and looked out to see they had used chalk to make the stepping stones into a hopscotch game – it was so clever and cute – I just LOVE simple, summer fun!

 

Tuesday the girls were heading to my in laws house – they usually go there every Tuesday afternoon. Before they left they helped me wash both of the cars. Another simple summer fun moment – what could be better than soap, suds and spraying water??!!

On Wednesdays in the summer we usually set that day aside to get together with friends. We met our friends at a local strawberry patch and picked a WHOLE bunch of yummy strawberries. Then we went to our friend’s house to swim, play and have lunch.

Thursday was a rainy, dreary day. We were babysitting the little girl we sometimes watch so we had LOTS of Barbies and Littlest Pet Shop toys out … all scattered over the floor! My oldest and I worked on deep-cleaning her room out and my youngest had fun entertaining the little one. That night the girls had ANOTHER sleep over – one had a friend at our house and one went to a friend’s house.

Friday was a busy day for me, packing for my daughter to go to camp, cleaning, baking, etc. I had LOTS of strawberries, and my friend Lynn brought me LOTS of rhubarb – so I made 3 Strawberry/Rhubarb crisps – one for us, and 2 for 2 of our neighbors. And can I just say it was soooooooo yummy … I kept going back to it with my fork all day long and taking little bites! That night Bob and I went out on a triple date with some friends so my Mom watched the girls overnight {are you counting, that means 3 sleepovers in their first week of summer!!}. We didn’t get home from our night out until 2am and I was ONE TIRED MAMA the next day – I am getting WAY too old for that late of night!

 

And that ends our first full week of summer …. we’re off to a great start with many things already checked off our summer fun list. Hope you are having fun too!!

Summer Fun List 2011

Last year we started a new summer tradition. We bought a super cute poster from our favorite educational store and then we all sat down and came up with a summer fun list. As we all know, summer is fun no matter what you do. But our list sort of makes us be intentional about including some fun activities that we surely don’t want to forget about. For us, summers are FAR too short, and we want to be sure we take advantage of all the opportunities to enjoy it to the fullest.

I thought it would be fun to share with all of you some of the things on our list this year. Perhaps it will inspire you to make your own list?? I was reading someone else’s blog recently and saw they had some items on their list that I wanted to add to ours  - so it’s fun to gain inspiration from others!

And because no one likes a post without pictures, I’m including some pictures of the many lovely lilies I have growing in my garden right now – I absolutely LOVE lilies – one of the easiest things to grow, they spread every year and they are simply GORGEOUS! I have lilies in LOTS of different colors! {Now if I could just get the aphids to leave them alone I’d be even better off!}

 

SUMMER FUN 2011!!!

* Pick strawberries

* Pick blueberries

* Grow stuff in our garden {meaning veggies, not just pretty lilies!}

* Go to the sunflower farm

* See fireworks

* Go camping

* Make sea glass stepping stones for the garden

* Go to summer camp {oldest daughter}

* Vacation Bible school {at our church}

* Have an outdoor movie night

* Make a new kind of jam {I always make strawberry but want to try something new this year}

* Go to our 2 favorite local farms that have AMAZING farm fresh ice cream

* Go to the beach we love in Rhode Island

* Drive in movie theater {this is SO MUCH FUN!}

* Ride our bikes

* Go out in Grandpa’s boat

* Go to the beach

* Have campfires

* Have sleepovers with friends

* Play baseball and basketball in the yard

* Read good books

* Fun Family Fourth {our big family party we have every summer}

* Make homemade playdoh

* Go to the library

* Make bottle cap necklaces

* Go to the Book Barn {our fave used book store}

* Have a waterballoon fight

* Wash the cars by hand

* Catch fireflies

* Write letters and postcards

 

I realize this is an ambitious list, but even if we don’t check everything off it will still be fun to try. We’ve already done several of these things. And for stuff like biking, beach, fireworks and sleepovers we put a check mark each time we do it – so we’ll likely have MANY checkmarks next to those items by the end of summer!!

So there ya have it! Our summer fun list 2011! Another thing I’m trying to do is be intentional with MY time this summer … here are a few of my personal summer goals:

* Scrapbook {I’m SO far behind and need to catch up!}

* Work on crafts for craft show {I’m doing a craft show in July and want to have as much made as I can before then}

* Read books {summer is the only time when I feel like I have large chunks of time to read}

* Spend time with friends {during the school year it’s tough because we’re all so busy, so summer is great for catching up}

* Laugh

* Be outside as much as possible

* Garden

* Sit on the deck at night with Bob {instead of running inside complaining about the mosquitoes!}

* Play games together

* Swim

 

My plan is to share a photo a day of our summer happenings – I will be doing this at the end of each week as sort of a weekly wrap up. I figure it’s a good way to document our days and also stay accountable with the idea of being intentional. And in case anyone thinks this is silly to ‘plan’ so much when it’s summer time – I could easily see us all sitting in the house in front of the TV and computer ALL day every day if we let ourselves – so no, this isn’t a rigid schedule, but rather a choice to have intentional fun and create wonderful memories!

35

Well a crazy thing has happened to me … I woke up last Saturday and suddenly I was 35 years old. I’m still in complete shock because I still can’t believe I’m getting that OLD! LOL

35 seems like such a big deal to me for some reason. I was 17 when I left home for college and 17&1/2 when I met my husband – to think that it was HALF MY LIFE ago seems so wild to me! I also distinctly remember when my Mom turned 36, so to think that I am almost to that age myself is crazy!

Seriously though the past 10 years have gone by in a flash. 10 years ago I was pregnant with my first baby and now I’ve turned around and she’s about to turn 10 in just a few months.

Despite growing older, I had a wonderful birthday weekend and I am SO blessed.

On Saturday {the day of my actual birthday} I had a brunch to attend for our MOMS leadership team – now what could be better than starting your birthday off with a delicious brunch at a great restaurant with a lovely group of ladies? Nothing. It was wonderful.

After the brunch 3 of my besties ‘kidnapped’ me and we went to get Starbucks and pedicures – which is seriously becoming my VERY fave thing to do as a splurge for myself. I was treated to a yummy Mocha Coconut Frappucino and a relaxing pedicure.

{here is a pic of my pretty toes! Sad to say that I didn’t take ANY other photos of all the fun with my friends!}

 

After that the fun continued as we rushed off to see a chick flick at the movie theater together – the ultimate girlfriend movie – BRIDESMAIDS! Now let me just tell ya – it was SO hilarious – BUT there was a TON of bad language in it. So don’t go watchin’ it and sayin’ that Kathy recommended it and then say I didn’t warn you – because I just did. {but it was really hilarious all the same!}

Later that evening my hubby brought home pizza after work and he and the girls gave me some gifts to open. I also had some lovely gifts from my Mom. I love the fact that the people who love me know me so well and pick out things for me that are absolutely spot on.

On Sunday we went to church and then I came home and took a 2 hour nap! I can’t remember the last time I did that! That night we went out to dinner with our friends Jake, Sam and their daughter Reagan {she’s the one we babysit}. We went to Margarita’s – one of my fave Mexican places!

{look at her cute chocolaty face!}

{Bob and his friend Jake being kinda silly}

{after dinner we walked around downtown Mystic for a bit and enjoyed all the gorgeous flowers that are in bloom.}

{Bob and the girls gave me this great Bistro set for the patio … I LOVE it and have been using it for my quiet time each morning.}

{just including one of my lilies, they are gorgeous right now!}

So this is me at 35 years old. I’ve got more weight on me than I’d prefer, I’ve got a bunch more wrinkles that I did before, I’ve even seen a few random gray hairs on my head. But I love my life, I love my family, I love the ways the Lord has worked on me in the past 10 yrs, I love that He’s still working on me, and I am just so happy and content and blessed. My brother in law was over the other day and commented that I looked so peaceful – I took that as a high compliment and do feel very much at peace with where I am in my life … wrinkles and all!

 

I can’t seem to add a video on here right now but here is a favorite song of mine:

I have been blessed by Martina McBride

 

I get kissed by the sun
Each morning
Put my feet on a hardwood floor
I get to hear my children laughing
Down the hall through the
Bedroom door
Sometimes I sit on my
Front porch swing
Just soaking up the day
I think to myself, I think to myself
This world is a beautiful place

I have been blessed
And I feel like I’ve found my way
I thank God for all I’ve been given

At the end of every day
I have been blessed
With so much more than I deserve
To be here with the ones
That love me
To love them so much it hurts
I have been blessed

Across a crowded room,
I know you know what I’m thinking
By the way I look at you
And when we’re lying in the quiet and
No words have to be said
I think to myself, I think to myself
This love is a beautiful gift

Repeat chorus

When I’m singing my kids to sleep
When I feel you holding me
I know

Repeat Chorus

Balcony Girls #3 - Trustworthiness

We recently had our 3rd Balcony Girls get together. It was a GORGEOUS Friday night so we took advantage of it and had our group outside on the deck and in the yard that night. Oh how I love the nicer weather!!

Our topic for the month was The Value of Trust

The virtue was: Trustworthiness

Our lesson goal was to become a wise and trustworthy friend.

Our key verse was: A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue. A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret. Proverbs 11:12-13

We had grilled hotdogs, chips, and fruit … then yummy angel food cake, strawberries and pink lemonade cupcakes – yum!

Then we played a couple of games to reinforce the idea of putting your trust in your friends – first we did a trust walk where each girl had to lead another girl around the yard while one girl was blindfolded – I told the one who was leading that she had to prove herself to be dependable and trustworthy by making sure she kept her friend safe and led her well.

We also did the trust fall where we had two girls link arms and be the ‘catchers’ and then one girl would have to fall backwards into their arms. Again, I made sure they knew it was no joke and dropping their friends was not an option – the faller had to put their trust in their friends, but the catchers also had to prove themselves trustworthy.

For a craft we painted a rock  – then painted the word TRUST on the top. I encouraged the girls to remember what it means to be a trustworthy friend each and every time they see their rock.

 

And before everyone left we posed for a couple of fun photos! What a beautiful and fun group of girls!

 

Here are some of the tips we went over about being a trustworthy friend – these could apply to young girls OR adults!

* Be a good friend {don’t betray trust}

* Be reliable {keep your promises}

* Don’t tear others down with your words

* Have the courage to do what is right, even when it is hard

* Learn to nip it – stop gossip or negative talk right away

* Be honest {don’t lie, steal, cheat}

Balcony girls are supposed to build others up and not tear down!

If you’d like more information on Balcony Girls you should visit Sandy’s blog, The Reluctant Entertainer. She is the creator of Balcony Girls and she has downloadable lesson plans for starting your own Balcony Girls group.

Sites Around the State Series – Jessica’s Garden

Back in the spring I bought a groupon for a place called Jessica’s Garden in Marlborough, CT. I knew it was a bit of a drive for us, but also knew that with my love of gardens it was certainly something I would get good use of. I waited until after Memorial day and then took the girls with me to go pick out some flowers. Little did we know it was so much more than a garden nursery! It was a fun filled destination!

Jessica’s Garden sells ALL sorts of perennials, annuals, shrubs, trees, statues, garden decor, plant food, vegetable plants, herbs, mulch, etc, etc, etc … and the gardens were absolutely STUNNING! All around the shopping areas were all sorts of neat and interesting touches – little statues, metal animal sculptures, ceramic painted mushrooms, etc. It was so neat just to wander and try to take it all in! And everything you see can be bought!

     

The next thing that was really cool was this rope swing. The girls had SO MUCH FUN on it and never wanted to leave!

 

They also have a lobster and ice cream shack where they serve all sorts of lunch foods and a HUGE list of yummy, farm-fresh ice cream! The girls had ‘Dirty barn Shoes’ ice cream {and I sampled some of theirs!} and it was SO delicious!

Also on the property is this cute little fish pond. Around the whole pond are picnic tables, flowers, statues and other decorations. It was such a pretty setting! We sat for a while and enjoyed the beautiful day {and our ice cream!}

They also have a large fire pit area where they host bonfires on Friday and Saturday nights.

The girls had so much fun helping me pick out flowers – we could have easily spent $300 there, everything was SO gorgeous!

If you’re interested in more info, you can check out their website … it’s located on RT. 66 in Marlborough, just a mile or two off of RT. 2.

http://www.jessicasgarden.net