Our fairly unflattering church directory picture. 🙂
It’s officially Summer Vacation for Dave… and Nora’s school wraps up in just a couple days!
Yay for summer!
To officially kick off the summer at our house (and summer house projects), I’m sort of taking the week off from blogging…
After today’s post, I’m sharing updated versions of archived posts for the rest of this week, in attempts to allow more time for Dave and me to plant a bunch of annuals, finally finish spreading mulch, finish setting up a few things with our pool, and finish demoing our laundry room (one part of our over-all bathroom renovation that I can’t wait to share with you soon)!
Yes, we have a lot of fun stuff going on over here right now!
I’m not exactly sure what my blogging schedule will look like the rest of the summer as we don’t have any vacations planned and we aren’t preparing for a new baby as we’ve done so often over the past 6 summers. I’m contemplating simply sharing one week of reposts in June, July, and August, for a total of 3 weeks of a ‘break’ for me and an opportunity to re-share some of my favorite posts on the blog.
Either way, I won’t be gone long as I have so many post ideas and (hopefully) lots of project updates and pictures to share!
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Here’s A Peek Into Our Week…
We enjoyed a VERY HOT Memorial Day weekend, as well as several extremely hot days last week. We’ve all enjoyed being outside a lot — and we’ve all been sleeping REALLY well at night as the fresh air is tiring us out!
We’ve already crossed so many things off our Summer Fun list.
- went to a parade and got SO much candy!
- went to Culver’s
- had a picnic at a park
- played on Nora’s school playground
- got donuts
- went to a splash pad
- set up our pool and went swimming
- swam “late” at night (7:00 — and they stayed up until 9:00!)
- went to the library
- played at the mall play area
- went to garage sales and they each got to buy something
- went to a local thrift store
- ate outside
- ate ice cream cones at home
- did sidewalk chalk
- did bubbles
- went for a walk
- made homemade pizza
- planted a little herb garden
Not a bad start to our list, considering it’s only June 4!
NOTE: you can get this free summer fun printable from Organize 365.
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We also did several not-quite-as-fun things like…
- spread mulch
- mowed the lawn (twice!)
- pruned several shrubs
- weeded and sprayed RoundUp
- emptied out our laundry room and started the demolition process
- cleaned a bunch of debris out of our basement (after one phase of the bathroom construction project)
- purged and better organized our craft supplies
- set up a new craft area for the kids upstairs (more on this in a future post)
- Dave finished all his exam grading and got his classroom taken apart for summer
It’s definitely been a good start to the summer for us so far.
Nora is excited to take a week of Gymnastics and a week of Soccer camp at different times this summer — and I think she and Simon will also go to one week of Vacation Bible School at a local church later this summer.
James is excitedly planning a Bob The Builder party for his 3rd birthday in another few weeks, and Clara cut her top two teeth and is crawling (army style) all over the place!
What I’ve Been Up To:
Along with the things I mentioned above, I watched the 3-episode series of Little Women on PBS… which prompted me to look for the digital versions of the books on Amazon. Wouldn’t you know, I found the complete set for only $0.99 on Amazon Prime!!!!
I know I just mentioned that I probably wouldn’t make much time for reading over the summer, but I’m super excited to re-read these books!
I finished the photos for the May pages in our family photo book and I’m shopping online for bathroom and laundry sinks, washers and dryers, a toilet, tile, light fixtures, etc.
Oh… and keeping 4 children clean, fed, dressed, happy, entertained, alive, etc. 🙂
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Our Weekly Menu
SUNDAY:
- Homemade pizza
- 7-Layer Salad
- Raw veggies
- Fresh Fruit
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
MONDAY:
- Cook out at my parent’s for Memorial Day
TUESDAY:
- Fiesta Chicken Salad
- Club Sandwiches
- Raw veggies
- Fresh Fruit
- Rice Krispie Bars
WEDNESDAY:
- Pork Chops (with this marinade)
- Roasted Vegetables
- Steamed green beans
- Fresh Fruit
- Oreo Bars (I’ll need to post this recipe soon — they are amazing!)
THURSDAY:
- Smoked Sausage
- Fried Potatoes
- Roasted Vegetables
- Fresh Fruit
- Ice Cream
FRIDAY:
- Culver’s to celebrate Dave’s last day of school!
SATURDAY:
Dave and I are hitting up Red Robin tomorrow for lunch. He gets a free burger and fries for Teacher Appreciation Day, and I have a free burger coupon as June is my birthday month!
Yay for a free “date day” 🙂
As I mentioned above, the rest of the week will be updated versions of posts from my Archives… while Dave and I hopefully plow through a huge chunk of our Summer to-do lists!
Happy Summer Vacation!
Dawn says
As beautiful and spacious as your yard is, I sometimes forget that you have neighbors! It looks like a farmhouse way out in the country!!
Andrea says
haha — yes, we have lots of neighbors. Dave requested neighbors, sidewalks, a living close to everything. I wanted an old farmhouse with a huge yard — we both got just what we wanted 🙂
Olivia Smith says
What brand and model is your pool and where did you purchase it? Thx!
Andrea says
it’s the pool Costco is selling this year — I don’t even know the brand! It’s not Intex though.
Jane says
I look forward to every new post, but I also love when you re-post/update old posts. Enjoy your summer!!
Andrea says
Thanks Jane!
Mary Lynn says
What a fun summer ahead for your family!
Quick question – are you still using Blurb for your photo books? I know you had mentioned you were switching the software you used?
Andrea says
Yes, I’m still using blurb even though it doesn’t work as well with Flickr (which is a HUGE bummer for me). I just know the program so well that I don’t want to switch now!
Natalia Gramada says
How did you get ALL of that (and a thousand extra little things) done in just ONE WEEK????????? SEVEN DAYS. You are amazing!
Andrea says
well lots of them were done at the same time (donuts and park, picnic and park, etc.) plus, Dave was home more to help! that obviously makes a huge difference!
Shan says
Oh, Andrea, your summer plans sound like fun!! Seeing your children so happy and active makes me smile. And I can almost hear the excitement in your voice as you anticipate all that your ENTIRE family will be doing with Dave home! Enjoy your “break”! You have earned it 🙂 Oh, and you definitely exemplify someone who does everything with all her heart!
Andrea says
yes, we’re all very excited to have Dave (and Nora) home for the summer!
JoAnn C. says
Yay, for summer break. i’m happy for you that you are going to take time off for yourself this week and a few weeks during the summer too. You deserve it. Hope you have a good rest of the week!
Andrea says
Thanks JoAnn!
Heather says
I love the sandals you are wearing in your swing picture! Would you mind divulging the brand and where you bought them?
Andrea says
They are Chacos — and actually onsale right now!
They are pricey but very comfortable — however, I will note that your feet will probably hurt for a few weeks after wearing them (while you ‘break them in’). I’ve had these for a few years and they still look brand new. I also got them in a 60% off sale with free shipping, so I “only” paid around $40 for them.
Kristina R says
I love the peek into your week posts! Can I request to see how you reorganized your craft supplies sometime? Enjoy summer!!
Andrea says
definitely — I’m doing a post about it later next week
Alissa says
I LOVE that picture of you and Clara Jo on the swing! Yay for summer!
Andrea says
yeah, it’s a good one!
Laura says
Oh my goodness, James looks HUGE! 🙂 Your kids are so adorable.
Thanks for the tip on the Little Women books – I’ve been meaning to reread them and $0.99 is a great price.
My husband unexpectedly lost his job last week which is turning out to be a blessing in disguise as now he is home for the foreseeable future to help me with the kids and work on some projects around the house. Our two oldest finished school a couple weeks ago and I wasn’t sure how I was going to get anything done having five kids around the house all day. So far it has been a BIG help having him around!
Andrea says
kids have a way of getting “huger” and “huger” all the time!
Also, Kudos to you for being so positive about the job loss! I’m certain your family will benefit from having your hubby home for a while — AND from your positive outlook on the situation!