Summer - Week 4

Getting this note out to you a little late as I was away with hubby this weekend. I've spent the last couple days trying to catch up on housework and unpacking.

My daughter finally passed her swimming level 4 last week. We are all so happy. We've signed her up for the last level (5) but there isn't any this week or next. Hopefully she'll be able to pass that one too. If not, she'll go up to the next set of lessons next Summer. It really is good to have her learn about swimming. She was never to comfortable with water when she was younger. I've noticed big changes in her with being able to take these lessons.

Kids had a great time while we were away. Daughter was at her friend's house for two nights and celebrated a little girl's birthday. My BIL brought his two boys here and watched my son at home. I am so glad that my little boy got along so well without me. I wasn't sure how he would react. This was the first time I had been away from him overnight. And I have a wonderful BIL who had my home all tidied up for me when I got back. :)

And hubby and I had a great time. We drove about 3 hours away on the bike and enjoyed listening to some bands. This was our first time away together without our tiny humans. And it was my first time for a big trip on the bike, as well as my second time sleeping in a tent. I returned home a little sore and sunburned but very happy. It was definitely a successful weekend and we're hoping to be able to so something like this again soon.

Summer - Week 3

Another week has flown by already. Sheesh! I can't believe July is almost over. This means Summer is half over too. I just might make it. lol

My daughter is in swimming again. The only thing I like about it being at 9AM is that I've got the rest of the day open. It does make sure we get up and moving each morning too so I guess it's not all bad. She'll finish up Level 4 again next week and hopefully pass it this time. That will leave the rest of the Summer to finish Level 5 and that will be all of the Preschool classes. Son will be able to start them next Summer and Daughter will move up to the next section of swimming lessons if she wants to go.

Nothing else too exciting here. I just haven't felt motivated to do much. Not sure why. Maybe it was so much heat that my energy and motivation got zapped. But I've got no excuses for this upcoming week. Need to get the place tidied up as my BIL will be staying here over the weekend.

Theme days haven't been happening either. :( I was hoping to do them but it just hasn't worked out yet. I haven't felt like doing them on Mondays and every Friday has been different. The kids don't seem to be bored so I guess I haven't needed them. Maybe August will be different.

Off to get on with the day. Need to get myself going. At least the laundry has been started....

Summer - Week 2

So, I did it - survived another week with two kids. Still no real schedule working out. I guess Summer just to be more relaxed. I want a schedule so I am sure to be a little more productive, but maybe it's not going to happen. Oh well, it's only been 2 weeks.

My daughter didn't pass her swimming. :( She did pretty good, but has a few things to work on. I wasn't really expecting her to pass this first attempt. She hasn't been swimming since last Summer. We don't have a real pool here (just a kiddie pool) and during the school year we're busy enough without having extra things to go to. Besides lessons aren't the cheapest either.

My son and I had a nice day on Friday. Dropped my daughter off at her friends' house after swimming lessons. Son and I went grocery shopping then took it easy the rest of the day. It was one of my favourite days so far.

Time for some more Summer fun.... 

Summer - Week 1

Well, we did it! We survived Week 1 of Summer. Woo hoo! Isn't that the most important thing? I mean, after my daughter being in school for months, when Summer hits, I wonder how we'll do. Will I be hearing lots of bickering and fighting? With the kids be bored? How will I keep them entertained? Are the three of us going to make it out the door to swimming lessons on time? What am I going to serve for lunch? What about supper? Oi!!! So many questions, so little time.

So Week 1, it pretty much just winging it. My daughter has swimming lessons at 9AM Tuesday to Friday, so it's a quick rush out the door for all of us in the morning. My son and I sit and watch while she's in the pool. Now I am one of those people who don't like to be late and I don't like kids wondering around and getting into trouble. So, I made sure to pack everything ahead of time and leave early. DD was already in her bathing suit so she just needed to get her other stuff off. We were the first ones there and got a great spot to sit in the benches. I brought a bag of stuff for DS to do for the half hour. He has breakfast at the pool. There's colouring to do and cars to play with. That pretty much keeps him busy for the whole time. And he's a good boy anyways. ;) DD is doing great at her lessons and even jumped off the diving board for the first time at the end of the week.

And that was only the start of the days.... After swimming and since we're out already, I tried to do any running around we needed to do. Tuesday we went to Dollarama and picked up a few things we needed like a lock for the locker at the pool. Thursday we went grocery shopping.Then it's time for lunch. :)


Since it's nice out, I like to have the kids eat outside. We've got a section of our deck that stays shaded till about 1PM which is the perfect spot for the kids to have their lunch. I found a plastic tray at Dollarama for $2 (I think it was) and that has come in sooo handy. I can get their stuff on the tray and it makes it a lot easier for carrying the stuff out the door. And since I don't fit at the kids' picnic table, I can use it as my own table.

With it being so hot here (in the low 30C), we spent a lot of time in the water during the late afternoons. I've set up the pool a few times. They used water guns and blew bubbles. And Friday I set up the sprinkler which was a big hit. They seem to love all of it although DS gets tired of going in the pool too many days in a row. Now that I know, we can do a different water activity each day.

On Thursday we made an extra run out to WalMart for this...

No, not the shed or the pool, but my lovely table and chairs. :D I have always wanted something to sit on down by the pool that I could leave there. I was so excited to see the outdoor furniture on clearance when I went grocery shopping, I had to go back to get them. With it being so warm, we're spending a lot of time in the pool. I wanted to have one less thing to set up for pool time. I watched for a while and was able to get the furniture on sale.

This week is going to be cooler so we won't be doing water stuff as much. Hoping to do a little more cleaning and decluttering this week to keep us busy. Stay tuned.... 

The Last Day of School

I can't believe it's here already! I'm heading out the door to get my daughter from her last day of school. Wow! Where did the year go?!?

In preparing for the end of school, here is a recent article I wrote:

Oh no! It's summer!

Do you feel that way as the school days are coming to an end? In some ways I do. My daughter is bright and enjoys learning so school is great for her. But Summer means that Mommy has to be organized and run a “summer school”.

Now my summer school isn’t a full-fledged educational study. It’s more of a project-based entertainment plan.

My daughter loves to have projects to do and loves to be helpful. To work on both those things, she and I recently planted a garden.  It’s nothing big but we’re hoping it produces some fruits and vegetables. She enjoyed digging up holes and putting in each plant. She’s been doing some weeding and checking on her plants most days. I’ve been doing the watering in the mornings while she’s at school but that will soon be her job too.

My daughter isn’t really a fan of the water, so we’re putting her in swimming lessons again this summer. She passed the first three levels last summer so we’re hoping she’ll get through the last two. This should take care of a couple hours Monday to Thursday.

Both my little darlings will be helping with the grocery shopping as Daddy will still be at work all summer long. My son is still pretty good to ride in the cart, so that just leaves my daughter walking along beside. We make a mission of searching for the items on the list as we walk throughout the stores and they even get to pick a few things (like the kind of ice cream to get). We’ve also talked about what food we’ll eat during the summer and most days lunch will happen on our deck.

I’m hoping for Fun Fridays too. Since we won’t have to go anywhere on that day, I’m planning themes that we can do. So far on the list we’ve got camp, spa, beach, pajama parties, pirates, and fairies. The idea is to have a theme for the day and activities and food to go with it. Not sure which we’ll get done or if I’ll have to add some more but it can be a work in progress.

What are you doing with your kids this Summer? How will you keep them entertained so your don’t have to hear “Mom, I’m bored!!!”?

Join me here to find out how my kids and I survive the Summer during my quest for Domestic Diva-hood.

Treading Water during and after Turmoil

Yep, that's how I'm feeling - treading water. The house isn't bad, I've been keeping up with most of my ministry work for church, I've been having some fun with my knitting, but I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere. Do you get like this? In a kind of slump or rut?

Despite the family crisis that happened recently that put me into this funk, I realized I have been treading water the whole time. Without a conscious effort, I have still kept up with the cooking, the cleaning, the laundry, and a few other things.This Treading Water is a good thing. It means the things I want to do daily and weekly are happening. :) These things have become habits that I can accomplish with little effort or attention.

Now, though, I want to make a move. I want to aim for the shore and get there, not just hangout in the middle of the lake. Know what I mean? So I'm putting together a page to put in my weekly schedule. Every week for me is different because of a few events that get moved around. My plan is to set up a page that I can fill in each week as to what I'm doing. I know lots of people have calendars of different kinds, but I want one page that I can erase at the end of the week and plan for the next one. Hopefully this change will motivate me for a while. :)

What can you do that will help you move towards the shore instead of just treading water in the middle of the lake?

March Un-Madness - a review; and April Showers

Still here! Life has been w-e-i-r-d lately. March caused a lot of upheaval in my family's life and it has trickled into April too. It's soon going to be the middle of then month and I feel like I'm stuck back in my March ideas. I didn't get to as much as I thought I would in March but I still made some great progress and happy with the changes I made that month.

So, moving on....

April Showers

I had this idea that the end of March Un-Madness would lead into April Showers. The idea with April Showers is to begin the actual cleaning. As the weather is getting warmer and I want to have them open, I thought I would start with the windows. Each one needs to have the screen taken off and scrubbed, and both sides of the glass cleaned. I'm hoping that the clean windows will lead to other clean things. ;) And I figured I would start upstairs and work my way down. Hopefully I'll be able to get one or two done a day. No pressure, just going to add this task to my daily plans until it's done.

What can you do for April Showers? How did you do on your March Un-Madness?