It's Summer - Hooray!

Having a husband who is a teacher and also homeschooling means that the end of the school year is a special time for all of us in the family, not just the school children. 
The children and I finished up their school work the first week of June and Joel finished up the next week.  This week was his first week off from school.  He is planning to be working most of the summer, so I don't want to get too used to it, but it sure is nice to have him home. 

Monday:  We stayed over at Joel's parents' home due to Lukie's little injury (which is healing up well) which would have been impossible if he was due at work at 7:30 that morning.  It was nice to be able to take our time and we didn't get home until lunch time. 

Tuesday:  Joel took Luke to the pediatrician.  If he wasn't here I would have had to bring most of the children along.  We also celebrated Luke's birthday.  Joel had some evaluations to do for a homeschool family in our church later in the evening. 

Wednesday:  Story time at the library.  I walked Rachael, Benny, Eli, Asher and Luke down in to town to the library to enjoy that, while Nate and Jerem stayed home with Joel doing yard work, and Timothy was able to get his morning nap. 
We took a quick trip to the pool later that evening.  It is so nice to have an extra set of eyes and hands at the pool.  I don't like to go by myself.  Usually a good friend is along with me and she is a huge help with my little ones, but I have went once this summer alone, and it is kind of nerve wracking, actually completely nerve wracking to be at a public pool with eight children, four of whom cannot swim. 

Thursday:  a pretty boring day but a wonderful evening.  We loaded the family up and went to WaWa to use up the balance of a gift card we had.  We bought hoagies and chips and drinks.  We drove to a great park nearby and had a picnic and enjoyed the playground, the sand volleyball court and the the children spent at least an hour rollerblading and riding scooters in the roller hockey rink.  It was a gorgeous evening.  We got home around nine and the bigger ones stayed outside catching lightning bugs.  One of my favorite things about summer. 

Friday:  A family field trip to Daniel Boone homestead.  It was nice, I had packed a picnic lunch to bring along and we used our Heritage passes to get in.  Daniel Boone only does the outdoor walking tour with the pass, so we couldn't get in to the home itself without paying more money, so we just looked in the windows.   We stopped at a Burger King on the way home and Joel went in and bought their fifty cent!!! ice cream cones for all of us and a package of chicken nuggets for our little dairy free kids. 
Later that day I had to baby sit for a friend (we trade off date nights, it is a great arrangement) so we had a low key evening. 

Saturday:  Joel spent the morning helping our neighbor John relocate their swing set- to our yard!  Yay.  We need to do a bit of work to spruce it up, but it is in great condition and the kids are so excited about it.  I spent the afternoon grocery shopping :( and running errands.  Not my favorite.  I bought a little gift for Joel of Reece cup miniatures and by the time I got home they had all melted in to one big huge melty mess.  So we stuck it in the freezer and now everyone can take a bit off of this big peanut butter, chocolate conglomerate.  It is ugly, but it tastes good. 

I gave the kids cereal for dinner (which they love) and then Joel and I ordered chinese and watched Lincoln on DVD after we put them to bed.  I sometimes feel bad doing that, the kids LOVE chinese food.  But obviously not bad enough!  It was yummy

Sunday:  We got to go to church and worship God as a family.  Definitely a highlight.  I was taking the place of a young lady in the Walkers room, and boy did those babies put up a fuss today.  My own little Timmy was no exception.  They were all in bad moods.  Maybe this creeping humidity and heat was getting to them.  I came home, fed the family and took a nap.  But it was really hot and I didn't sleep well.  We all went to the pool for an hour, which cooled us all down, and cheered us all up.  I fed the children eggs and waffles for dinner, Joel and I reheated our left over chinese, and that ends our first week of summer. 

Pretty exciting people aren't we??  It is so nice to not have school work to think about- for all of us.  I know this summer will go by fast, and I intend to enjoy it as much as I can