Wordless Wednesday

To do lists

Ok so as a child summer seemed to last forever and now as an adult it flies by. I figured out a couple of years ago, ok ahem, probably closer to 7 years ago that if me and the kids sat down on a cold winter night and made out summer to do list that we got alot more done during the summer. So sometime back when the snow was flying we sat as a family and put together our summer to do list.

It included things like camping, fishing, catching fireflies, going out for an ice cream cone, hiking to a waterfall, riding in Grandpa's boat, going to the beach, build a sandcastle, have a bonfire, eat s'more and go berry picking. We I have to admit as we head into the middle of July we have completed that and much much more.

We have done all of that and I got a bunch of thing done off of my personal summer to do list. So far I have heard my kids squeal in delight as we pull up to the lake for a surprise trip to the beach. I got to see their eyes light up when I say you can get as big an ice cream cone as you want. I have heard them whispering in their beds as we camp about all the fun adventures they went on during that day. I have smelled sweaty and sandy sunscreen covered kids as they bend in for a hug. I have tasted my share of half eaten berries that the baby has deemed good enough to share and feed me.

Seeing as we are almost half way through this summer I can honestly not wait to see what the next half brings for me and my family. But I know if it is only half as good as the first half it will still be pretty amazing!

updates

Ok so here is the low down on the crazy busy hot summer we have had. We have gone on 2 camping trips so far and both were a blast. One was at the end of June on the St Lawrence River with my extended family, and the second was 4th of July weekend on Ontario lake with friends, who I would consider family.

The garden is planted, and growing and we are already harvesting items like yellow squash, and today will be green and yellow wax beans, that will be canned as dill beans- a HUGE family favorite. We have been strawberry picking and ate them all...no jam made booooo but we still have 2 jars left from last year so we are good, kind of. We went and picked sour cherries at Grisamore Farms in Locke NY. I HIGHLY recommend them! You can pick strawberries, blueberries, cherries- sweet and sour kinds, raspberries, apples and pumpkins. So the cherries were canned and a cherry brandy started, but the brandy failed due to fruit flies ewwwww! I made my first round of crock pickles and they are gone already so I am waiting for the second round of cucumbers to make the canned dill and sweet pickles for the year.  I also have a huge desire to make pickles watermelon rinds.

So we are loving the summer, the kids have gone fishing, caught ton of lightening bug, had many many s'mores, gone on a bunch of day trip to places like Treetops in Ithaca NY, the beach at Oneida shores, and been to parks all over Syracuse.

I got the itch to move so assuming we didn't buy too much camper and we can still swing a loan we are going to put the house on the market in the next couple of weeks and move to the country!! Super excited and scared all at once. We need room to move and to breath and the suburbs are not it!

The kids are growing as fast as the weeds in my gardens, the baby is already 1, but has yet to have his birthday party- weekends in the summer are PACKED! Lily is an avid swimmer and Killian is an expert fisherboy! Hmmm I think that is is for now... off to the garden to pick my beans in the 100 degree weather.

BIG STEPS

Ok so I have been crazy busy. Home school is coming to an end, thanks goodness seeing as I have one that is great at it and the other has no ability to control himself and would do much better in a traditional school setting. I am surprised because I thought they would both thrive on less structure, but that is not the case.

I am ok with this. The gardens are about 90% in. They were in 100% but then we got 2 weeks of strait rain and I do believe it rotted out some of my seeds. So later today I am going to get out and get dirty and replant things like zucchinis, and green beans, radishes and broccoli.

SO the BIG STEP is this.... I have 2 very rude and disrespectful children who are under the impression that they deserve anything the want or ask for. Yes in part this is my fault, in part it is the commercials on cable tv, and part is their own fault.

To remedy this we are gutting the house of all toys- except books. The cable is going bye-bye, and they are getting daily chores. They will be able to earn some of the stuff back by good behavior and respect for myself, their father and each other. The only item I cannot really take away per-say is the trampoline, but it is outside so if they want to spend their time out there then so be it.

This is going to be a month long, if not summer long experiment. So I will post regularly as to how it goes. I am curious to see if there are going to be some unseen bonus benefits that will show themselves after this summer is over.....hmmmm. Can't wait! I am expecting to be able to donate a lot of toys that are forgotten about until they are uncovered and then they all of a sudden they go from dusty junk to prized most loved toy, so that will be great for recycling. And less time picking up this junk means more time doing something that will better our furture and family!

home school

As many of you know I started to homeschool my children about 2 months ago. We have good days and bad days. Mostly good days. We have days that are totally off the chart nuts and others that are calm am scheduled.

I have found that doing the basics like spelling and math are easiest if we do that in the mornings, via worksheets or workbooks. Things like science are really a lets see what is out in the world and what strikes up a conversation. Like this weekend my hubby ws being a super sweetheart and took the kids hiking while giving mommy a break.... ok I really had stuff to do that did not invlove the big kids.

Well on the hike they found a flodded out road and in the gianormous puddle were all these swimming crawly things. Well my son jumped in being full of unharnessed exploration and grabbd up one of these slimy crawly things. put it in his drinking water bottle and they proceded to bring the prize home for mom to identify. This is what I saw.....

MOM look what I found dod doesn't know what it is... what is it? SO the home schooling teacher inside of me thinks. AHAAHA! science for the next week. So we google it and it is the Eastern Red Spotted Newt. Easy enough! So then I send my kids on the task of resreaching it and what kind of habitat it needs, food, and life cycle.  Seeing as they found it in the puddle I figured it had to be a baby and then as a teen it turns into this really cool thing.....


Now could that be anymore exciting!? As the research goes on it turns out they have already gone through that phase and are full grown adults. BUt they are wonderful for homeschooling, and heck they even seem to like the school work itself!

See he is on the path to higher learning.....

Where I have been and what is coming up!

Ok, so I have been MIA for a while. I was sorting through my life and cleaning many things out. Hey it is time for spring cleaning right? SO - the quick update, the kids are now being home schooled, and most days go well...today not being one of them. It was an uphill battle seeing as I had CPS at my door thanks to the school district. We managed a few camping trips that are paid for and just waiting for the days to go. Easter came and went, the mud season has arrived, and the dog has become a master of escaping the backyard.

So that is what I have been doing for the most part. I will go more into the how's and whys we are homeschooling but not today, and eventually I will tell you all about CPS...fun stuff. I will also in the future show you my seedlings and my growing setup.

A lot of you know I am semi-crafty, I make baby leggs, ring slings, taggy blankets, and nursing necklaces. I can also do other sewing when I find the time. So I was thinking that I want to get readership up on my blog, and I was thinking of a contest....I am thinking when I can get 50 readers I will do my first give away! What do you all think?

So here it is I need to hit 50 followers and I will be giving away a set of baby leggs, and they will be sex appropriate. So come on readers lets pimp out the blog!

Here are some of the baby leggs

crazy dancer

Have you ever seen that person out somewhere, like a concert in the park or even at a dance club that is dancing with their entire body, they look out of control and absolutely nuts? Well if you stop judging and look closer you will notice something in their faces, it is pure joy. Well that person who is dancing with no holds barred, is living in my mind. Or at least that is what I feel like. I go to bed with my mind racing, brimming with ideas or problems that need to be solved. And when I wake up in the morning there times when I have these amazing answer or ideas to try.

Today was one of those days. As some of you know I have been considering homeschooling my children. And I have some support, I have some doubters and I have some people saying it is wrong. I have thought it all through and have decided that it is right for us, for now. I am not going to use a strict curriculum, but I am going to take bits and pieces of what they are doing in school and go deeper with that. I am going to institute D.E.A.R. (thanks Linds for the name) time, through out the day. I am going to make learning fun again for them. I am going to see what THEY want to learn about and run with it! I know who would think that kids could actually let us know what they want to know more about huh?

Another idea that is not really popular in our house right now is to get rid of the cable. We lived for years without it, but we have all gotten so used to it that I think we have forgotten how to live without it. Summer will be here someday.... and we will be outside so much more. We will be in the garden that I dream about, as a family side by side working on our food supply- and at the same time we will really be working on being a family.

That little person in my mind is also working on making thing simpler for us. I have not quiet figured out where to start, but I am thinking if all else fails start on the left? So I am going to embrace my crazy dancer and find the bliss that is in their eyes.