Summer Fun-Week 1~

We are into the joys of summer, and I love it!  It is peaceful, stress free, and I'm really just trying to give myself some time to enjoy life.  We didn't have any camps this week, so we were free to make up our own schedule.  It rocked, and I'm a little sad to start the camp thing tomorrow.  I'm sure that pace will have it's joys too.  

We made some headway on our list.  I'm thinking I maybe should have stretched myself a little bit more on the summer fun list.  We did quite a lot this week.

1. Fondue for Supper   
2. Swimming Lessons for Rowan and Isla
3. Nature Camp for Rowan This is this week. I'll be hauling Rowan up north for nature camp!
4. VBS for Rowan and Isla
5. Swimming at the North Pool
6. Bowling
7. Movie Theater
8. Going Bonkers
9. Picnic at the Park
10. Smores over the Firepit
11. Sprinkler Fun  x3
12. Travel to Grammy and Poppe's House
13. Summer Reading Program for Rowan and Isla We are working on this for both kiddos. We went to the library on Friday and got stocked up for the week!
14. Paint Rocks
15. Zoo
16. Gage Park and Train
17. Fishing with Dad
18. Make Ice Cream Oh, this could be dangerous.  So easy to do in my new maker I got for my birthday.
19. Sidewalk Chalk
20. Make Cookies for Friends
21. Farmer's Market
22. Discovery Center
23. Baseball for Rowan
24. Fourth of July Fireworks
25. Water Balloon Fight

Sprinkler slide fun~

Rowan's got moves~

They could do this for hours~

I love both hands above her head!

Cheese~

Rowan paint, paint, painted~

The finished product~

Discovery Center ropes course!

Balancing Beam~

Pretty Girl~

Roasting Marshmallows~

Catching Up~Soccer and Singing

I got a little behind on the happenings at the end of school.  Better late than never:-)

Rowan played soccer and Alex coached this last spring.  I've grown an appreciation for soccer not having ever played any soccer in my life.  We had a mostly new team this year, which had it's challenges and it's blessings.  We met many new people in our area, and I'm thinking this team might be together for a while.

Rowan improved a tremendous amount between fall soccer and the end of the spring season.  He is growing more coordinated, and he is genuinely interested in soccer, I think.  He had fun, and for us, that's the end goal.

Get it, Rowan!

Herd Ball

Goalie

Run!

 Next up is baseball.  He'll play through the Y, and he starts on Tuesday.  Isla has been practicing with Dad and Rowan to brush up on her skills too;-)

You caught it!

Being goofy!

 The last week of school, Rowan had his music concert at school.  It was three Kindergarten classes together.  They sang everything they had practiced, so we got a smattering of Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Spring songs.  It was precious, but Rowan was much more interested in being the entertainment than being a focused singer;-)

The mummy song~

Smiling for the camera~

Peace~

May Update~

We are one week into summer, and I have felt a sense of relief wash over my body.  My stress level is down, I have more energy, and I just feel better.  What a great feeling it is to be able to focus on my family and myself! So here's our goal check in for May.

1. Pay off Jolie's undergraduate loan by October 1
If I said we had 100% of the loan left to pay when
 we made the goal, we are now down to  62% 58% 
of the loan left.  I did make an extra payment on 
this one this month, but with both of our birthdays,
 our anniversary, and graduation gifts, this 
month was a little thin.  I'm hoping to get 
some headway in June.

2. Establish a will
Ehh, nothing done here yet.

3. Read the Bible in 1 year
So here's the truth.  I've tried to have a baby
 now for 14 months.  No dice.  I went through
 6 months of fertility treatments and still no 
baby.  To be honest, my heart has just been
 broken for the better part of the last 9 months.  
We have together decided to just let it be and
 continue on with the family we have for the 
time being.  There has been a peace that has 
come over me with this decision done.  I'm still
 incredibly sad that I may never hold a baby 
again that is mine, but in time, I'm hopeful my
 heart can find peace with this.  So, I'm back to
 reading the Bible as I'm not as hurt as I was 3
 months ago.  I've got a ways to go yet, but with 
this lovely pace of summer, I think I will get 
back on track.  

4. Read 30 books by December 31, 2014
I have read  14 18 books so far in 2014. My 
escape has been to read in solitude.  I've been
 reading off of the United Methodist Woman 
reading list this last month.  I read 3 books 
from it, and they were all great and inspiring, 
which is what my heart really needs right now. 
 I also finished Mitch Albom's new book, The 
First Phone Call from Heaven.  I have loved his 
work in the past-note 2 of my top 5 books are his 
titles.  I was disappointed in this book, as it did 
not have the inspiration the others did.  I couldn't
 tell you how many times I have read Tuesdays
 with Morrie, but it is a lot!  This one does not
 have the readability of Tuesdays with Morrie,
 although it did have a great lesson to it.  I'm 
at a standstill with the UMW list until I can get
 my hands on another title, so I have picked
 up a fun read I received for my birthday for
 my next title!

Rowan and I are also working hard on his 
reading!  He's getting pretty fluent, and it is 
exciting to see him grow as a reader.  It melts my heart. 

Yesterday Alex and I celebrated our 10th wedding
 anniversary.  Gosh, time flies.  Tonight we are headed
 to Kansas City for dinner at The Melting Pot and a 
night to ourselves at Chateau Avalon
!  I'm a little excited!  

Summer Fun~

Tomorrow is the last day of the 2014-2015 school year.  I'm tired, exhausted actually, but we are almost there.  I think of my 10 years of teaching, this has by far been the fastest school year I remember.  I'm not sure if that is due to my own child in public school or if time really does speed up when you get older?   I'm putting my money on the latter;-)

Rowan and I sat down and made our summer list to accomplish this year.  Isla chirped in here and there, but for the most part it was Rowan's list with a little guidance.

I love having a list to help keep me motivated and inspired in the summer!  It keeps me accountable to get out of my bubble and really share many experiences with the kids.  My hope is to update the list as we move through the summer-that's my hope!

1. Fondue for Supper   
2. Swimming Lessons for Rowan and Isla
3. Nature Camp for Rowan
4. VBS for Rowan and Isla
5. Swimming at the North Pool
6. Bowling
7. Movie Theater
8. Going Bonkers
9. Picnic at the Park
10. Smores over the Firepit
11. Sprinkler Fun
12. Travel to Grammy and Poppe's House
13. Summer Reading Program for Rowan and Isla
14. Paint Rocks
15. Zoo
16. Gage Park and Train
17. Fishing with Dad
18. Make Ice Cream
19. Sidewalk Chalk
20. Make Cookies for Friends
21. Farmer's Market
22. Discovery Center
23. Baseball for Rowan
24. Fourth of July Fireworks
25. Water Balloon Fight

My stress level has already gone down just by thinking about summer!

April Goal Update~

The school year is fast approaching an end.  I'm not going to complain about that one little bit, but it means that another month has flown by.  We are still working through our goals here!

1. Pay off Jolie's undergraduate loan by October 1
If I said we had 100% of the loan left to pay when 
we made the goal, we are now down to  70% 62% 
of the loan left.  I'm working hard to throw 
everything extra at this. Alex hates it when I 
get in this mode, because we really don't buy 
anything except food and bare necessities;-)  
Good for the loan, not so good for the husband 
that likes to spend money.  He will survive,
 though, I'm sure.  May won't be near as 
exciting as we have both of our birthdays, 
our wedding anniversary, and Mother's Day 
in the mix.  

2. Establish a will
We talked about this tonight-perhaps 
because I knew I was going to update the 
blog.  I need to just push Alex on this since
 he is the one that will make the contact.  

3. Read the Bible in 1 year
I read the Bible 2 days this month.  Fail!  
The Big Man upstairs and I are not on the 
best terms right now, so this has hampered 
my desire to actually read the Bible.  I'm 
working through my frustrations, and I 
still hope to get back on track this summer.  
Perhaps, by then, my heart will be in a much
 better position than it is right now.  

4. Read 30 books by December 31, 2014
I have read 9 14 books so far in 2014. Since I'm 
not reading the Bible, this has freed up more 
time to read for pleasure;-)  I didn't read 
anything Earth shattering this month.  My 
favorite of the 5 was a book titled, Trash,
by Andy Mulligan.  It is about three boys 
who live in a dump-literally.  They find 
something in the dump that changes 
everything about their life.  It was a fast 
YA read, and it really brought great imagery
 to the level of poverty many live in everyday.

Easter~

The week started off a little rough with Isla running a 103.5 degree fever.  I stayed home with her and snuggled a sleeping child for most of the day.

Alex encouraged me to take her to the doctor, so I relented.  They said they could find nothing visibly wrong with her, so they sent us home with the idea that it was viral.  Alex stayed home on Tuesday with her, and she woke up fever free.  Yippee!  He and Isla had a Daddy day, and they got all sorts of household chores accomplished!

We hit the weekend with the church Easter Celebration.  We had great attendance, and the kids had fun crafting, snacking, and hunting!

 We colored Easter eggs on Saturday night.  The weather was beautiful, and the kids had played outside a great deal of the afternoon.  Hence the haggard look;-)

Rowan got up early on Sunday (5:10 to be exact), so we were off and running with our own Easter egg hunt.  The Easter Bunny planted 20 eggs in our yard last night, but this morning after our hunt, the kids each had 19!  We think we have a secret neighbor Easter Bunny that plants eggs in the wee hours of the morning.  This is the third year we have awoken to a few extra eggs!

Oh, the anticipation!

We tried to take a selfie all dressed up, and this is what we ended up with!

Then a neighbor came bounding out of his house and across the street to help us out, and he took this!

We are so blessed by the community we live in, and the amazing support they provide!  

We were off to church to hear the great news of Jesus rising from the tomb.  The music was amazing, the atmosphere festive, and we had a relaxing day celebrating the one who gave his life for our sins.  

We ate Easter lunch with Alex's family and played outside until the children were each a dirty mess;-)  

Happy Easter!

Bible in a Year~ April

Whew!  It is hard to believe that March is behind us.  I feel like it just started, and it is long gone now!

 I'm going to be real and say that I have fallen a few days behind on my reading.  Spring is crazy busy at home and at work.  Our family calendar looks abhorrent, and we are having to have sitters fill in several holes to make sure our little ones are watched over.  This is stressful to say the least, so my Bible reading has not been at the level it should be.  I keep telling myself that I will get caught up over summer;-)  I'm goal oriented enough that I think I really will!

Here is the list for those that are joining in on the challenge for April!

April 1: Psalms 119: 1-88
April 2: Psalms 119: 89-176
April 3: Judges 1-2; Psalms 50
April 4: Judges 3-4; Psalms 20
April 5: Judges 5-6; Psalms 121
April 6: Judges 7-8; Psalms 83
April 7: Judges 9; Psalms 120
April 8: Judges 10; Psalms 44; Judges 11
April 9: Judges 12-14; Psalms 143
April 10: Judges 15-17; 2 Peter 1
April 11: Judges 18-19; 2 Peter 2
April 12: Judges 20-21; 2 Peter 3
April 13: 1 Samuel 1-2; Psalms 113
April 14: 1 Samuel 3-6; Psalms 97
April 15: Psalms 124; 1 Samuel 7-9
April 16: 1 Samuel 10-12; Titus 1
April 17: 1 Samuel 13-14; Titus 2
April 18: 1 Samuel 15-16; Titus 3
April 19: 1 Samuel 17; Psalms 27
April 20: Psalms 55; 1 Samuel 18-19; Psalms 42-43
April 21: 1 Samuel 20-22; Psalms 52
April 22: Psalms 54; 1 Samuel 23-24; Psalms 63
April 23: 1 Samuel 25-26; Psalms 7
April 24: Psalms 57; 1 Samuel 27-29; Psalms 31
April 25: 1 Samuel 30-31; Psalms 18
April 26: 2 Samuel 1-3; Psalms 141
April 27: Psalms 58; 2 Samuel 4-6
April 28: Psalms 21; 2 Samuel 7-9
April 29: 1 Samuel 10-12: Psalms 51
April 30: Psalms 36; 2 Samuel 13-14