Thursday, June 10, 2010

The kids celebrated the start of summer with a nice cold. Hannah has a lovely cough, Taylor has a runny nose, and I got a sore throat.  It's a delightful combination.  The weather here has been yucky-it's like living in Seattle again.  Grey skies, wind blowing and the threat of rain every afternoon.  Yuck.
But not to fear, we are going to have some fun anyway!

I am thankful to live in a community that has some great  and affordable programs for my kids.  I signed them up for Boys and Girls Club (only $25 per kid all summer!!) and whether they like it or not, will be attending during the summer when I have a large workload. Last summer was not so great on my magazine deadline when I needed a good 7+ hours a day for a week or two to get the file to the printer with children running about.  Kids are just kids and need things several times during the day, and it's hard to crank out the work or keep a steady stream of focus when you are interrupted by food requests (all day!!), play date requests, and the normal, "I'm bored" line. 

So this summer I have learned my lesson and have them  in some things that take up their time (not on the TV!).  Our library has a great FREE reading program-they read a certain number of minutes and get prizes each week.  I love telling them to go read, but they usually do it on their own.  A local movie theater has free movies each week, so that is a great activity, especially when the weather is icky. 

I also made them a chore chart-am I the best mom or what?  I figure they are old enough to help out more and each day, they have an assigned chore to do.  I get help with the house and it occupies a little of their time.
I'm also learning that breakfast-snack-lunch-snack-dinner is the way to go and in between, KITCHEN CLOSED!  Or else they eat all day, and I feel like a short order cook throwing food about.

When I'm not working, I'm hoping to find some good hiking trails, bike rides and trips to the local pool we can all enjoy (and maybe some ice cream cones!).  We would also like to go camping once and take a trip to Nevada to see family. After all, that is what summer is about, right?  A nice blend of keeping Mom sane, having fun, and enjoying the luxury of leisure time.

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