Summer Plans

We unofficially started our summer schedule today.  "Unofficially" because the kids' karate school doesn't start their summer schedule until next week, so we will alter our schedule a bit this week.  And when I say schedule, I basically mean plan, because we're not really into schedules around here.  I'm going for a bit more consistency, but I can't imagine having a rigid schedule in the summer. 

Our garden is going to dictate a lot of what we do this summer.  Our tentative plan is to spend about an hour outside tending to our various plants, right away in the morning before the sun gets too hot.  We have a 30' X 40' vegetable garden which has been started entirely by seed.  I just bought 100' of "soaker hose" and I'm longing for the irrigation system that our friend in Texas made for our garden in Texas which was burnt to a crisp by the Texas sun because I didn't utilize said system.  Drat.

All ready to work out in the garden.  

All right, so garden work, check.

Next is schooling.  I know, I know, what a horrible thing to make kids do during the summer.  I love, love, LOVE spending time with my kids.  However, like most moms notice, when there is an overabundance of free, unstructured time, kids get into trouble.  I'm absolutely in favor for unstructured time for kids.  I find that unfortunately most kids don't have any of this time.  I feel that because we've made it a point to let our kids "be kids" on a regular basis they don't need the whole summer to run wild.  So, school is going to consist of three days a week and probably 1-2 hours a day.  We'll hit the basics, keep skills fresh, and enjoy the coolness of our lower level school room in the hottest hours of the day while the littlest ones nap (it brings peace just thinking about it). 

Brain power, check.

Visitors and visiting!  Our first excursion will be to see our dear friends in MN.  The dads are going to survive hold down the fort, while the moms are going to the MN Catholic Homeschool Conference. 

We're scaling back a little bit with our annual trip to SD.  We're still going, but now that we have animals and veggies to tend we can't be gone for so long.  We'll be visiting family in SD for about 10-14 days (I think).  We look forward to our summer trip and love being from a place where so many go for vacation.  We never run out of activities for the kids.  The date of the trip has been determined by Gianna's beautiful Godmother who will be getting married!!!!  Gianna is beyond excited about being a flower-girl for her wedding.

Aren't those baby thighs delicious?  I've waited so long for those.

Visitors this summer will include Gianna's Godfather, and some friends from Texas who have since moved to California and have two beautiful daughters we have yet to meet.  

We have plenty of house projects to do now that the weather is warm and the man of the house will be around more often.  The big projects are landscaping and painting the house.  A deck would be nice and feels like a necessity, but it might not happen this summer. 

The biggest change around here will be, now don't laugh, the diminishing of screen time.  Okay, so it's true that we don't get any tv service so how much screen time could we possibly have?  The kids don't really watch movies that often so that's not the problem.  It's the adults and this stinkin' computer screen.  So, the plan is, during children's waking hours, the computer is off (my phone is plugged into the wall and inaccessible to use as a computer).  The blogs can wait, the researching of whatever can wait, my kids however, can not.  It seems that with a little bit of water and this sunshine we've had lately they are sprouting.  Poor Aidan informed me today that he needs new shoes, again.  His feet are officially bigger than mine.  Nobody prepared me for this part of motherhood.  I'm guessing my first baby will be looking me square in the eyes in the next year.  I refuse to miss this summer. 

Have I mentioned lately that he's almost a black belt?