Where Has the Summer Gone?

Oh my gosh where has the summer gone? Definitely flew by and I can’t believe kids are back to school this week.

Already missing the 3 kids who’ve entertained me 3 days a week this summer while their momma worked.

So what did we do the last 5 weeks since my last update on the kids? Well the they certainly kept me on my toes! To assure there was never a dull moment, we added Kaity, our 6 year old granddaughter to the mix for a full week. They all played together so well, often didn’t think they noticed me unless tummies were rumbling!

Since the kid’s mom is getting married in September, we spent a LOT of time crafting wedding gifts. At a later date I’ll share some of those but for now they need to remain a surprise. What I can tell you is that we used an entire quart of Mod Podge.

Entertaining kids in southern Louisiana during the summer is far different then when I raised mine in Ontario, Canada. There just aren’t words to describe the humidity here so getting kids enthused to play outside is worse then pulling teeth.

My 3 kids are now well into their 20’s, and not only the same birth order as my little friends BUT their birthdays are within weeks of each other.

What I learned as a mom, with 3 kids very close in age, was  reaffirmed this summer. Yes, it IS hard work BUT so worth it. And it’s not necessary to have friends over all the time because do play well together.

One of my proudest moments (and there were many) was the week we focused on having a servant’s heart. We baked piles of cookies and crafted lots of cards. The next day we were off to New Orleans to visit Mark’s mom and her friends at an assisted living residence. All four kids brought so much happiness to the elderly folks. Many rarely get any visitors.

The dreaded school work was typically masked by fun, non-traditional learning such as educational games and googling different parts of the country which opened their eyes to many exciting places waiting to explore. We learned about mileage, the time it takes to travel (telling time on a real clock) and cost of items (counting money) and TONS of fractions while baking/cooking.

The kids were excited to do any activities in the kitchen but nothing fired them up like cleaning! You heard me! Those kids loved to clean. The only arguing they really did was over who got to clean what. Typically Wednesday afternoons for 40 minutes we CRANKED the music and had a dance-cleaning parties.

Sean is only 8. If he had his way, he’d vacuum and wash floors twice a day. And I’m not talking quick touch up vacuuming. He moved furniture, lifted area rugs – that boy knows how to clean and told me he’s going to be a ‘cleaner man just like his Pawpaw’.

Victoria (9) was a maniac when it came to cleaning the bathrooms. She got down behind the toilet and was washing the bottom of the tank! Then would use a BOUNCE fabric softener sheet to wipe down baseboards!

Savannah was our dusting ‘queen’ and would get out my tall step ladder to dust tops of door frames and the fridge. The longer duster was her magic wand as she ‘addressed ’ her ‘kingdom’.

In the beginning extremely picking eating and unwillingness to try anything slightly different was an issue. But as they began to trust me and I encouraged them to help cook, slowly their attitudes changed.

It’s not necessarily WHAT we feed kids, but how we present it to them. When WE scrunch up our noses about something, chances are they won’t even try it. Once they discovered my hand emulsion blender chopped up the ‘little itty bitty veggies’, it was game on! We added carrots, zucchini, onion, peppers and celery to everything from spaghettini jambalaya. By summers end they were requesting veggie platters and salads with cucumbers and sliced carrots. For me, that was a huge WIN!

The kids also learned safe knife skills, made waffles, lots of cookies, mac n cheese, grilled cheese, cupcakes, brownies, a cake and muffins.

With great effort, Mark & I persuaded them to taste test peaches, nectarines and plums. Each fruit needed to be smelled, compare textures both inside and out. Ultimately peaches won, nectarines placed second, but plums struggled to even make the disgusting list. lol

July was a big Christmas event at our house. Kids drew names and made Secret Santa presents, colored, rolled out and decorated Christmas cookies (which took majority of 2 days to finish the cookies). Final Christmas festivity was The Grinch movie and a pizza party.

Finally it was time, the last day and much anticipated FIRST EVER trip to the Dairy Queen!!! After an hour of running at the park, they were super deserving.

So now where does that leave me? Thankfully Mark, has great wisdom and knew the silence left when kids returned to school would be overwhelming. As a mom I was working when my kids were this age, with so much going on that school was a relief. But in our current season, watching the kids helped re-energize me.

Don’t misunderstand, I love our home and feel extremely blessed to have an incredible craft room. I keep very busy yet some days it gets lonely. Mark has learned to recognize the signs when I need to move outside these four walls and either takes me for a drive or to get more craft supplies!

Rather then waiting until the last minute to figure out my next steps, Mark and I have been actively preparing over the summer. He’s been learning everything he can about Pinterest, Etsy and Facebook. I’ve been expanding my knowledge and confidence with blogging. Definitely NOT easy tasks!

What can you expect from us over the next several months? Recipes, lots of blogs and many new crafting creations.

Those of you who’ve for years encouraged me to write a cookbook and others who’ve suggested we write a book about our testimony and those who’ve pushed us to sell our crafting, watch out, we’re  coming! We are believing this is God’s perfect timing and plan for this season of my life.

Blessings to y’all,