Summer Snapshots

Hello friends!

Summer school for oldest son started on June 9th.  Since then, our day has consisted of driving son to school at 7, coming home to some quiet morning study, morning chores, riding our bikes, playing games, reading, going back to get son at 12:30, coming home to eat lunch, exercising with son, doing a chore, reading some more, watch Adam 12 with daughter, then making dinner!  We have not varied from that routine much for the last few weeks.

I have to admit that I was dreading summer school, but it has turned out to be a great experience for him.  He has proven to himself that he is a good student.  He learned to ask for help.  He learned how to navigate a tricky computer interface.  He learned how to persevere when things were boring, but you have to be diligent and wade through what "they" want you to know.  He is looking forward to starting the fall semester on July 29th.

Starting school so early doesn't leave us a whole lot of time for summer, unfortunately.  We have family to visit, a birthday to celebrate, a camping trip up north, all to cram into a few weeks.  I will make sure to make the most of these precious days!!!

I Love Summer Break!

Here we are in the throws of summer break.

We are staying close to home, which is proving to be very restful.  We decided to cancel our Father's Day camping trip to save some money after a BIG vet bill, and some other expenses.  That's really OK, because there is plenty to do around here to keep busy and happy without spending tons of money.  In July we are going on our big camping trip to the lake.  That will be our big to do as a family.  Then summer will be over, just like that.

How is your summer going?
~Jenn

Summer Break

Summer break is here.  That means freedom!  Well, not really freedom, but a change in routine, which is always appreciated.  As usual, we are not totally abandoning our books or chores. In fact, we are revisiting our old chore system of having a morning and afternoon chore.

Each morning, after our chores and exercise, we are reading aloud from the Bible, a poetry book, and The Harvester by Gene Stratton Porter.  We are putting away our math studies, which is not a usual summer habit.  I hope we do not regret this break in our math studies.  I just felt we needed one.

This week we will sign up for the summer reading program at our local library.  The kids usually enjoy participating.

Our oldest is enrolled at the local high school to take summer school, which will keep him busy the month of June. ( Yes, he is choosing to go to the public school this coming year. )

We also hope to swim at least once a week this summer.  I want to build into our summer days a lot of time for downtime, and less running around.  The school years are so busy.

We are also scheduled to camp a few times this summer, which we are looking forward to very much.  We will see if the weather cooperates.

Summer is going to be a little shorter for us, as we are going to adopt our public school's balanced calendar, so we can all be off at the same time.  I am looking forward to the 2 week break in October, prime camping time!

How are your summer plans shaping up?
~Jenn