Happy Sunday readers! I pray this day finds you well and worshipping with a body of Christ somewhere in your neighborhood. Being firmly rooted in a community is such a blessing, as we have discovered with our upheaval and re-rooting in this new place.
This month has been very full circle for me. For the first time I could look back and say, we did this last year too! It has felt nice to finally feel some solidity to the routine in the year.
This month also felt very busy to me. The kind of busyness I don’t like actually. Even though school is over for now, we have been doing a lot of running around. It has felt hectic and chaotic at times. I want to be more intentional about how we spend our summer vacations, and not just filling up my days with random errands.
I’m not saying we haven’t been relaxing too. Pool parties, graduation parties, and long days just hanging out reading books are all good and fun things we have enjoyed. We have become more connected with our community this year and being brought into their lives and celebrations had been a good thing.
General Life
To celebrate for this month:
As I stated last month, we have multiple birthdays this month. My parents moved closer to us this past year and they have been able to attend all the parties. My newly minted 8 yr old chose strawberry shortcake as his birthday cake. The other birthday cake this month was a bit of an epic fail, which you can see below.
We only have one more birthday to go in birthday season here and that’s in July. My oldest is now 16 and ready to begin his driving journey. My 8 yr old is ready for 3rd grade, forget summer. ;)
Something to let go of:
My birthday cake for my oldest actually fell apart while I waited for the appointed time of his party. I consider myself a fairly accomplished baker and so this was incredibly frustrating and humbling for me. I know it’s minor in the grand scheme of life, but pride is alwasy something to identify and let go of, even when it’s in the small things like baking.
Homeschooling
Theater camp was one of the best decisions we’ve made for this month. Even though it added to that crazy overbooked feeling. It’s not offically school right now, but they are learning so much by being in this group.
I’m also in full-on planning mode right now. I try to get most of my school plans finalized and books ordered and all that jazz done by the end of June so that I can truly disengage my school brain for a solid month. I’m not sure I’m going to make it this month, but I should get a few weeks break for sure.
Gardening
It’s just been so hot! I’ve been avoiding the outdoors for the last couple of weeks. We did put in asparagus, blueberry, and raspberry bushed earlier this month. I hope they survive the heat. I’m looking forward to harvesting them next year!
My zinnias and cosmos are on their way up too, though I have a whole section that didn’t germinate. It’s exciting to imagine what my garden will look like in a few more weeks.
Reading
I made space in my reading life for some just-for-fun books. I read The Inheritance Series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. These were fast paced and enjoyable. These were books that were loaded with puzzles, riddles, and imaginative architecture of a sprawling house with secret passages and personal bowling alleys. Lots of fun!
I continue to keep up with the
books, which means I am rereading To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee this month. This is my third time through and I love it even more than ever. My first encounter was in elementary school, maybe 6th grade. Then again in my 20s, before I had kids. This time, now as a parent, I appreciate Atticus and his parenting wisdom and style so much more.I’ve been on a bit of a poetry binge as well. I discovered Everyman Library’s Pocket Poet series and I’ve been gobbling them up like candy. I love reading poetry but I’m also picky about anthologies and usually avoid buying them. But so far, evey book I’ve read has been beautifully bound and the selection of poems are mostly classic poets with a few newer people mixed in.
I’m about to finish my second read through of School Education by Charlotte Mason. I’m reading along with
. The Collective has given me great motivation to read through the Charlotte Mason volumes again.Art
My only art journal page this month. I know not to feel too badly about this though, as it’s hard to find space to create when my schedule is so unstructured over summer.
Wrap-Up
Looking forward to July: Our church always hosts a big 4th of July party with fireworks, the one more birthday to wrap up our birthday season. A couple of trips are planned too, one really long road trip to a big family reunion. I look forward to all of it!