summer is sweet.

Before I went back to work, I didn't quite realize
just how sweet summer is.
{well, when you're a teacher, that is.}

But now...
it's so clear.
Summer is precious time.

I love the feeling on a Sunday night
of not dreading Monday.

Come August, I'll be back to those dreadful Sunday nights.
I'm going back to teaching full-time next year:
second grade.
I'm excited, and anxious, and...not ready.
I need this summer.
So I'm trying to soak it all in.

We made our annual summer list.
It has the usuals:
go to tahoe
camp in the backyard
go to the pool
make ice cream
go to the beach
etc.

So we're slowly and deliberately crossing items off of the list.
And I'm loving every second of vacation.
{almost every second.  i don't love the kids bickering.  or the complaints of being bored.
or taking all three kids with me to costco.
i don't love that.}

Water fight with friends...check.
Actually, I'm not even sure it was on the summer list.
But it was fun.
Even if my windows did get soaked.



Other things that make summer sweet:
peony season.
I'm just sad that the season is so short.
They are the perfect flower.



Bed canopies.
She really, REALLY, wanted one for her birthday.
{i kind of want one, too.}



A Hobby Lobby recently opened in our area.
Before it did, I hadn't been in Hobby Lobby since we lived in Texas
in 1999-2001.
It was just as glorious as I remembered.



Another sweet thing this summer?
Ikea.
I took the kids on our very first day of break.
What better way to celebrate summer than with Ikea meatballs?



Also sweet...summer movies.
Avery was my date to go see Maleficent.
She had already seen it but wanted to go again with me.
And she had to try to win a bouncy ball in the arcade,
because we definitely don't have enough of those around the house.
{darn...we weren't winners.}



I've decided 2014 is the summer of the white nail polish.
I have a tiny little obsession with it.



Don't you think if summer had a taste it would be
watermelon and caprese salad?
I could eat caprese all day.
#tomatobasilmozarellaforever
And I used to hate watermelon when I was a kid.
I probably didn't start liking it until my thirties.
Weird.



Gary bought me The Art of Racing in the Rain
because he thought I would like it.
It's an easy read.
Have your kleenex ready at the end.



I am not a very good board game player.
Candyland...kill me.
Monopoly...I might die.
Old Maid...zzzzzzzz.

But Quirkle?  So fun.
I actually enjoy playing it.
And it's colorful!  Bonus.



And, of course, soccer.
The World Cup is on,
and nothing much else gets done during a game.
Especially when Mexico plays Holland,
and your husband is half Mexican, half Dutch.
{#dutchican}



The World Cup has also inspired someone to keep that soccer ball
with him all throughout the day.



And with the Fourth of July this week,
we had to make a stop at the fireworks stand.
I'm pretty sure one of those four people is the most excited
about fireworks.
{hint...he's over 40.}


Summer is sweet.
And there's more to come.

mid summer check in.

It's 10:00 on Saturday night,
and my parents have our kids for the second night in a row.
Being the maniacs that we are,
I washed my face and put my comfy clothes on at 7:30.
Gary's cleaning out his side of the closet and I'm laying in bed
watching The Walking Dead on the laptop.

You guys.
This is living.

I feel like I haven't had much kid-free time this summer,
so I'm soaking it in.
Of course I love having them home.
But...
it's nice to have a little break, too.

We were at Gary's parent's ranch recently
and I made him pull over so I could take a picture.
What I wouldn't give to have had a blanket and a picnic lunch in the car.
Orchards are the best.



We got some peppers from his parents' house.
I think all vegetables should come in Roy G. Biv.



I changed the home screen on Gary's phone to this picture.
Just because.



Every summer, at least once, I get a craving for these cucumbers.
They remind me of my Mamma, and for the life of me I can't make them as good as she did.
But really...cucumbers and sugar and vinegar are magical.



And you know, as it turns out, aqua spray paint is not entirely magical.
It can't make everything awesome.
These creepy heads at the thrift store are proof.



Some days, when you're worn out from sleepovers and swim team,
you just need to chill on the couch and watch Napoleon Dynamite.
I've seen it fifteen times but that movie is always, always funny.
My favorite line?
"Your mom goes to college."
Awesome.



This girly wakes up with a smile every single morning.
And...usually in our bed.
We're working on that.



We went to a wedding last night for a wonderful couple.
Weddings are lovely.
This one made me want to get married all over again.
{to the same guy, of course}
I would do some things differently.
Oh how fun that would be.
Seriously...we got married before the internet was really a big "thing".
There was no googling anything.
I barely had an email.
There was no instagram.
No pinterest!
That's so weird.
Our anniversary is next week...14 years.
We were babies.
{that's my story, anyway.}





Wow...summer is flying by, isn't it?
We haven't made ice cream or taken Lucy to the dog park or hit the water park yet.
We still have a lot to cram into this last month.

summer - the beginning.

Summer is here
and the antibiotics are flowing!

It's funny...
right after my last post about
appreciating all the moments and finding joy everyday
Avery got strep.
On her birthday.

She woke up like this...



and looked like this by five.



Bummer.

Some of my joys for that day:
:six years with this sweet girl
:health insurance
:antibiotics

And that night,
my biggest guy said goodbye to elementary school.



I'll spare you the waterproof mascara-covered details.

One of my favorite traditions at their school is the fifth grade "clap-off".
On the last day of school, in the last ten minutes,
the fifth graders walk throughout the school
while the others kids line up to give them high fives.



It makes me teary every year.

And now...summer is here.
Swim team and dinners outside and lazy afternoons.
And the summer list, of course.
This is our fifth year making one.



Avery was mostly in charge of this summer "lest".
:)
I think we'll probably add more to it,
but this is a good start.
let's get this summer started.

********************

some of my 1000 gifts from this week:
antibiotics


smores


laughing during board games

summer list...check check check.

We are still working on checking off things from the summer list.

We've done a lot of stuff,
but I'm not sure Santa Cruz is in the cards for us this summer,
so that one may remain unchecked.
Why has summer gone so fast?!
How is it already August?
I don't think we're going to make it to Waterworld either.
Honestly...I'm just not in the mood for that one!

The other day Avery was at a friend's house
and I pulled out the shoeboxes for the boys to make dioramas.
They were the ones that wanted that one on the list.
We've made several dioramas over the years just for fun,
and they always surprise me with how much they love it.



They were very quiet.





Riley made a beach scene.







Colin picked leaves from the backyard for his camping scene.





I just noticed he used real rocks, too.
Very authentic.



He made a paper tent.



I like it.
Definitely reminiscent of our camping trip...minus all the DIRT.



Riley made a beach scene.



Did you notice the shark fin in the foreground?
And the sunbather?  I die!



I love those crafty times with the kids.
I cannot believe there are only three weeks till school starts.
And then...QUIET.
And quiet makes me a little sad.
Even though their bickering can drive me batty,
I think a totally quiet house is worse.
Is that weird?

Anyway...if you need something to do this week make a diorama.
Or make sidewalk chalk paint.
Or whip up a batch of mini Mexican bites and fall in love.
Or ponder what kind of Jamaican spiritual awakening it takes to
change oneself from Snoop Dogg to Snoop Lion.

Haha - that story really cracks me up.
I'm pretty sure I know EXACTLY what kind of "spiritual awakening" he had in Jamaica.
Oh, silly Snoop Lion.

summer - the beginning.

I kind of have two different thoughts about summer.

Part of me dreams of lazy mornings of sleeping in
{um, yeah...my kids don't do that}
and playing outside, eating popsicles, and making sidewalk chalk masterpieces.

But there's the other part of me that knows the reality of summer mornings:
the kids lounge and watch tv until I get tired of them watching tv
and tell them to turn off the tv and go clean their rooms.
And then I get irritated when I hear them upstairs bickering instead of cleaning their rooms.

So to try and strike some kind of balance between
too much structure vs. total boredom,
this summer the kids are on the swim team.
You swim team moms know that swim team means being at the pool every morning at 8:45.
{or earlier.  we were lucky to get the latest slot!}



And now I'm questioning the sanity of that decision.
Some mornings 8:45 is really early.

This week the boys had camp all week after swim,
so I only had Avery at home.
I went running with her a few times.
This was the first time I'd run since before my surgery.



It was hard.

I think all of the progress with running I'd made in the months leading up to the surgery was gone.

So sad.

But I'm determined to get back to where I was.

Actually...I want to be better.

And check out that red face.
I actually don't even think this picture does it justice.
I'm one of those people whose face stays red for an hour or two after exercising.
Like...even after showering.
So lovely.
I'm not a good warm weather exerciser.
I think sweating is my least favorite thing about summer.

The best things about summer?  The food and drinks:
salads for dinner...frozen drinks...ice cream...fruit...and then this drink.
My favorite is passion fruit tea lemonade.
{a la starbucks...but i make my own.}



So delish.

And we made our Summer List v. 2012.
My favorites additions are Tahoe and no screen days.
{the kids weren't so thrilled with the no screen days.}
Avery wanted to feed ducks and go to the zoo.
Colin's contribution was the drive-in.
{we've never gone with the kids!  for shame.}
Riley wanted to make a diorama.
And Avery has since wanted to add "get a kitty".
Hmmm.  We'll see.

And we can check "see Brave" off the list - we saw it last night.
It's a good one. :)


{is this really our 4th summer list?  here are our lists from 2011, 2010, and 2009.}

We've got a lot of summer left, and I couldn't be happier about it.
Yeah, even if it means nagging the kids about cleaning their rooms.
It could be worse.
We've also got a lot more swimming and sun and sunscreen to go.
And a lot more passion fruit tea lemonade.

Summer is my bff.

waterproof mascara and summer.

My girl graduated from preschool this morning.
I've been through two of these graduations before,
so I knew it was the right day for waterproof mascara.
Her preschool - which was also the preschool the boys attended - always puts on a slideshow of all the kids.
They play horrible songs like 'Let Them Be Little' and 'It Won't Be Like This for Long'.
Have you ever listened to the lyrics of that second song?
Terrible.



She was so happy and confident up on stage.
She was singing so loud we could hear her in the audience.
Miss was proud of herself.



And now I'll never be the mommy of a preschooler again.
I'm going to miss weekly art projects
and her coming home with playdoh in her hair
and singing songs about slippery fish.
And when I think about the fact that she won't be home with me
during the day I can't even handle it.

Tonight the kids were outside on the trampoline
and riding their scooters
and I was making pancakes for dinner with all the windows open.



Summer {for us} is officially two days away
and I can't wait.
This summer I'm going to enjoy having all three kids around every day.
Yep...even on those days where they are fighting and driving me bonkers.
{because i know we'll have those days.}

To do tomorrow: finish our summer list, v.2012.
Also tomorrow: spend the entire morning at the city pool with 200 fourth and fifth graders.
Eeek.

o crafty day: ice cream watercolor.

This year I put on our summer list
that I wanted to do a weekly craft with the kids.
Actually, if I'm being honest,
it was on last year's summer list too,
but I never was able to pull it off.

This summer, I'm determined.
So yesterday, we painted.

I saw this idea on
Art Projects for Kids.

Have the kids draw a tall ice cream cone on
a piece of watercolor paper.
{i drew avery's for her.}
Watercolor paper is a little pricier than regular paper,
but worth it. 
It's very sturdy and
doesn't curl when it gets wet.

I cut the paper in half, so it was 4.5"x12".

Then they trace over the pencil in black crayon,
so the watercolor will stay inside the lines.

We talked about different ice cream flavors,
and then they painted.

Whenever we get ice cream,
the flavors they order are so gross to me.
Their favorite: blue bubblegum with gummi bears.
Blecccccchhhh.
I'm a rocky road girl, through and through.

I made one, too.

Riley wasn't really interested in this craft.
He painted an ice cream cone,
but only to make me happy.
He did give me some ideas for next week, though....

Here they are, in all their glory.

For further artistic research,
I promised them that today we could
go out for double scoops.

Life imitates art.