School is out tomorrow and we’ve essentially been living outside for the last 2 to 3 weeks.
That can only mean one thing… summer is here for the Dekker family!
Summer is our family’s favorite time of year, and I’ve got lots of summer favorites to share with you below!
FAVORITE ROUTINE = Opening the Pool
We officially opened the pool almost 3 weeks ago and it’s already in the mid-80s which means Mama is swimming too!
One of my (and my kids’) favorite things is to blow off the deck, open up the outbuilding doors, and put out the patio furniture every morning (we store all the cushioned items in our outbuilding) so our outdoor space is ready for the day.
We’ve been fortunate to find almost everything we wanted for our outdoor entertaining space via Facebook Marketplace over the last 3 seasons.
Eventually, we want to renovate the outbuilding and add a bathroom… but for now, I think we’re finally “done” with this space.
Our neighbors, cousins, and friends have already enjoyed hanging out around the pool and playing all sorts of games with our kids.
We are so thankful to have this space — especially since our basement won’t ever be a fully finished living area.
NOTE: I hope to do a full post about our outdoor entertaining area later this summer… but for now, here are several pictures I shared a few years ago.
FAVORITE MOMENT = Wearing a Hat!
As a high school and college softball player, I wore hats quite often growing up… but that all changed 12 years ago when I chopped all my hair off.
Now that I’ve been growing it out again for just over a year, I’m finally able to wear a hat without looking ridiculous!!!
My next “hair goal” = a ponytail!
RELATED READING: How I style my short hair.
PAST FAVORITE = Candy Countdown
We’ve done a Candy Countdown Chain for the last few school years and it’s always a big hit.
Of course, you don’t need to wait until the end of the school year to create a super simple and fun Candy Countdown Chain… you could make a countdown to Christmas, birthdays, an upcoming vacation, or any other special event. And there’s not a certain number of days needed either — anything more than 5 should work!
The excitement of cutting down one more candy treat each day is half the fun!
RELATED READING: How to make your own Candy Countdown Chain.
FAVORITE CLOTHING = Skorts
I’ve always preferred skirts and dresses to shorts in warm weather — but shorts are more practical, especially with kids, so they usually win out.
However, last year, I purchased 2 skorts from a thrift store and wore them all the time (black and grey).
I did a little research and found out they were probably from Costco… so this spring, when Costco promoted a sale on their skorts, I picked up the blue one.
These Orvis brand skorts are SOOOOOO comfortable, they are super stretchy, they have 3 useful pockets, and they have shorts under the skirt, making them appropriate for almost any summer activity.
RELATED READING: What I Buy at Costco
FAVORITE BOOK = Eve’s Daughters
Another Lynn Austin book — big shocker!
Eve’s Daughters was such a good book that I actually read it again immediately after finishing it the first time.
The book follows the lives of a Great-Grandmother, Grandmother, Mother, and Daughter from the early 1900s through the 1980s (all during their 20’s and 30’s) and the various ways their life choices affected future generations.
If you need more summer reading material, add this book!
READ THE BOOK: Eve’s Daughters
FAVORITE MEDIA = Every Mother
I’ve been a fan of the Every Mother program for several years now — ever since it alleviated my lower back pain and healed my diastasis recti (after so many other programs, therapies, and other treatments failed).
I still do many of the breathing exercises on my own these days… but Every Mother offered a discount coupon a few weeks ago (for past members) so I decided to officially sign up again to participate in a 12-week summer session.
So far, so good!
If you’re in the market for a simple, easy-to-follow exercise program that is 100% safe for your core muscles, I think you’ll enjoy the Every Mother program!
RELATED READING: How I healed my back pain and Diastasis Recti
FAVORITE RECIPE = Kale Salad
A friend gave us “Dinosaur Kale” for our garden and we’ve already harvested some!
I’m a big kale salad fan as it’s much sturdier than lettuce or spinach so I can make salads in advance and enjoy leftovers later.
I shared one of my favorite “Loaded Kale Salads” a few years ago — so I thought I’d reshare it as a Favorite Thing since kale is currently in season.
Of course, if you are adamantly against kale, you could make this same salad with spinach or any of your favorite lettuce varieties.
TRY THE RECIPE: Loaded Kale Salad.
FAVORITE PROJECT = Fire Wood Shed
Over the last 3 years (ever since we started building our pool deck), we’ve amassed quite a pile of scrap lumber (we had it neatly stacked under the deck).
Currently, the prices of treated lumber are crazy expensive so we decided to keep all usable scraps and pulled from that pile whenever possible.
As of a few weeks ago, we had repurposed almost everything in our pile except a handful of very short/small pieces of wood. We were ready to finally trash the pile when I saw a picture of a cute little firewood shed on Facebook Marketplace.
In no time at all, we transformed our pile of scraps into a nice tidy place to keep our firewood (a.k.a various branches and sticks that fall from our trees).
Not too shabby!
FAVORITE ARCHIVED POST = Hair Detangling Spray
Every summer, we make a big batch of our DIY Hair Detangling Spray and keep a bottle in every bathroom and out by the pool.
It works so well for quickly reducing the snarls in long hair — especially after swimming — and it’s SO cheap and easy to make yourself!
Read the full posts here.
That’s all for this month. 😆
If you’re interested, you may scroll through all my Favorite Things posts HERE!
Julie says
I am historically a “shorts” gal. A few years I discovered skorts and I love them. I wear them all the time. I usually get mine from thred up. I love them for gardening, hiking…well for everything. Who would have thought!
Andrea says
glad you’re loving the skorts too! I’ve basically lived in mine all summer!
Barbara says
I loved your book recommendation! Could not put it down. Going to see what other books our library has by this author. Thank you.
Andrea says
Oh good, glad you enjoyed the book — I honestly feel like I want to read it a 3rd time to make sure I didn’t miss anything, but I’ve forced myself to move onto other books 🙂
Christy says
Easy kale salad recipe. Kale, lemon juice, avocado, salt. Pepper. Mix together with your hands smashing or working the avocado into salad. You can always add chicken or crunchy tortilla strips to make it a meal.
Andrea says
Another, even easier, Kale salad recipe is just to smother the greens with guacamole. I’ve done this twice already this month and just let it sort of “marinate” in the fridge a white before eating. It’s really good!
Debbie says
Love the outdoor building and pool area all decked out! How fun to have all that space for parties and games.
Andrea says
Thanks Debbie — and yes, we get lots of use out of our outside spaces this time of year!
Rachel says
I always enjoy your posts. I am not a big kale fan – however a friend made a kale salad that used thinly sliced plums? and the dressing was equal parts honey; oil and balsamic vinegar….I think. I would be glad to find and send you the recipe if you don’t have it and are interested. But since you love kale – you may already have this one. It was very good – which is saying a lot coming from me lol
Andrea says
haha — you are in good company with not loving kale! 🙂
does your friend’s kale salad also have quinoa and feta in it? If so, then yes, I have a similar recipe. If not, feel free to send it my way (but don’t go through a lot of extra work to track down the recipe)
Rachel says
It may be the same recipe without the feta and quinoa? It’s just one package of cut clean kale (or grow your own); 4 plums (can also use peaches); 3 TBS each of balsamic vinegar, honey and extra virgin olive oil. Slice plums very thinly, mix with kale. Mix the vinegar, hone and EVOO in a bowl and pour over and toss to coat. I think the kind of kale may be a factor? I’ve had it and it tasted amazing and other times not so much. lol
Andrea says
ok thanks — sounds yummy. I honestly would have never thought to add sliced plums to my kale salad!
JoDi says
Your outbuilding looks so fun! Reminds me of the community pool we had in our neighborhood and the clubhouse that had a bumper pool table and other fun games. So great to have that in your own back yard!
Nora – my goodness how tall and lovely she is! I can’t believe how much she’s grown!
Andrea says
yes, Nora is so tall! And yes, we love having this hangout space in our yard!
JJ says
When I clicked the Eve’s Daughters link it has a clearance for free listening with membership on Amazon–thanks! I have been loving my earbuds and listening to books! Recently I finished:
*Becoming Free Indeed Jinger Duggar Vuolo(she is so gracious with sharing how she broke free from legalism)
*Delete That–John Crist(Christian comedian sharing his story–raw and real)
I love reading the comments, too, and want to listen to the Francine Rivers book recommended.
Your daughter looks so much like you–sweet! Yay on your ponytail goal!
Andrea says
oh wow — that’s a great deal to get that audio book free! You should definitely give it a listen 🙂
Chris says
The wood shed is so cute.
I’m looking forward to reading the book.
That outbuilding sure is a blessing! I love the view out the other side with the ornamental trees and flowers. Enjoy your summer!
Chris says
In regards to that book, I used to email my great aunt when she was in her 90’s. I’m glad she embraced technology in her later years. She told me when she got married and moved to the next county, it was like moving to another country, because it was so expensive to call back home to her family.
Andrea says
yes, even when you read books about the 1800s and early 1900s, moving 10 miles was basically an eternity b/c you needed to walk or take a buggy.
I am thankful for modern communication and transportation!
Chris says
I got the book on my local library’s app to read on my phone. I am really enjoying it. Thanks for the recommendation!
Andrea says
yay — glad you’re enjoying the book!
Kimberly Beaty says
How can it be that you are once again on my page…. skorts – best summer item ever!
Nora is skyrocketing tall! 5th grade! She’s like my oldest daughter who also launched at that age and landed at 6’1″! (and I’m 5’6″!)
Love your pool set-up, and I hope you have many happy memories invading your normally quiet (and blissfully clean!) routine for the next 10 weeks!
Thank you for such a great blog!
Andrea says
haha — skorts are the best! and yes, Nora is very tall. I’m 5’7″ and she’s probably 5’5″ already. I wonder how tall she’ll get with Dave being almost 6’4″!?!
Sarah says
Eve’s Daughters made me think of a favorite book I’ve read a few times. The Scarlet Thread by Francine Rivers. You may enjoy it as well.
Andrea says
Thanks for sharing Sarah 🙂
ED says
In your email you talked about kid friends being over a lot. How do you deal with this? I feel it’s hard to set boundaries with kids, almost more so their parents!, about coming over. We have a pool too but it’s super stressful for me to have other kids over without their parents, which I means I have to be much more on my guard than if I’m just with my kids—safety, etc.
Andrea says
Well… I guess we have a pretty good understanding with our neighbors (they are all very chill) and our older 3 kids are all very good swimmers, so I don’t feel like I need to be out there watching the whole time.
And our pool is almost all shallow-end (just a small deepened to the far side). So our kids and their friends can all easily touch the bottom for almost the entire length of the pool.
Also, Dave and I are both home all summer and we’re regularly doing yard work or putzing around outside, so one of us is almost always within eye sight or earshot of the pool.
Vicki says
I read your comment on having a puppy “not being one of your favorite things”. Both my husband and I roared with laughter! So true. So much work. But, soooo cute!!
Andrea says
Well…. I knew I wouldn’t love having a puppy (or any pet) and so did Dave. But, the kids — always the kids! Seriously, the things we do for them.
And of course, you know the puppy love me best b/c I’m home with him all day!