I love summer break!
(even if they spend the first week fighting)
We finished the school year with an impromptu family visit (since the original family visit was postponed/cancelled), our annual spring/summer recital, memorial day time with friends, and school awards.
Saba and Nonny came Saturday afternoon and we hung out and played Saturday afternoon/evening, and again Sunday afternoon, and they left when Rob had to go to Seminary Graduation Sunday evening. (He's in charge of that.)
This was probably one of my favorite recitals. We decided to go patriotic and held it on Memorial Day. We started with solos (arranged by the kids from a lead sheet) of the songs representing the 5 branches of the armed services.
Then, we did many other patriotic songs as duets.
The twins did safety patrol this year. Natalie did it the entire year. Kaitlyn started 2nd quarter and petered out at the end when the whether got hot. (Safety Patrol is like jr helpers to the teachers running the car rider line. They did afternoon duty.)
(Carolyn did safety patrol in 4th grade also. She couldn't do it in 5th because I wasn't sure how it would work out with the middle school pick up; it wouldn't have. Seth was always one of the first to the car rider line and his class was RIGHT beside the line, so we needed to be one of the first in line.)
For the twins, they will also not have the opportunity to do this again in 5th grade. I need less on my plate next year, so every little thing can't be a "yes". (Between 3 schools and a new baby on his own little nursing napping schedule, I think I'll have my plate half full already.) Natalie was a little disappointed, but Kaitlyn wasn't thrilled with the heat, so she didn't care that I vetoed this activity.
The same was true for district honor choir - Natalie was disappointed that I vetoed that and Kaitlyn didn't care.
I think most of their awards were in music this last quarter. (Not surprising since we have had a heavy focus on music preparing for our recital. Naturally, that focus would continue with them into the school setting.)
(They also both got all A's all year.) Good job, but enjoy it now girls; it gets harder!
Alee is such a ham. She was super excited that she got perfect attendance this year. (I usually scoff at that award since it's really the "I didn't get sick all year award" - something I feel the kids have little control over. You can't always help it if someone passes on a stomach bug - (or worse - lice!) on to you, requiring missed school days.)
Last year Alee had a lot of stomach issues (some were real vomiting issues and others, I believe, were anxiety issues. So, for this year for Alee, perfect attendance was a really big deal. Not only did she not get sick, but she didn't feign sickness because of anxiety. Love that she had this as a goal and accomplished it.
LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!
(Seth and Carolyn actually skipped the last 2 half days of school. They went walking with me that morning and worked on getting some daily priorities for summer straightened out during those last two half days.)
Since the break has begun, I've spent a day grocery shopping, a day getting 2 appointments done, celebrating the library kickoff, and another day getting Alee's fillings done at the dentist. (I should have fit in an oil change, but I'm taking it easy, scheduling only about half of each day at most.)
We've probably done more have-to's than want-to's, but they spent the other half of each day with just free time. We have new neighbors with little kids (one Alee's age, one 2 years younger, and a toddler, but they don't play with him), so they've enjoyed free time with the neighbors.
We went to the park, but since none of their friends were there to meet us that afternoon, it was decided it was boring and time to go not long after we arrived.
We also spent our "tokens" from dance to get some pelican's snoballs.
Water time. (I've got to get some things set up so that water time doesn't equal wet grass and water throughout my downstairs every time they want to play in water outside.)
Kaitlyn made little chocolate pops for our FHE treat. (The kids are getting a little more adventurous in the kitchen, doing things independently.)
Carolyn can make box mac-and-cheese and scrambled eggs and a few other things. Kaitlyn made waffles this morning (with directions; they were a little light, but they'll improve with them). She already knows how to make grilled cheese, so she made that for lunch today.
Natalie wants to do scrambled eggs for breakfast tomorrow by herself.
Seth can do some things, but only does kitchen stuff if required. He did want to learn oatmeal, so we'll work on that after scout camp.
Alee's not quite ready for meal prep, but she can make toast in the toaster, her own PB&J and other things that don't involve the oven/stove or blades.
I'm encouraging them to learn basic little meals or pieces of meals so that they can be useful in the kitchen after I have the baby.
Library summer reading kickoff party!
We decided to do some outdoor movie nights this summer on the big screen. We did one the day school got out. We tried one last night, but with the weather threatening rain, we moved it indoors and skipped inviting the neighbors.
We'll do more; we want to invite church friends to one and family to one and have one that's just open to anyone.
I decided it was time to expand our skills to include a grill and dutch oven, so we are going to try something outdoor cooking for each movie night (before guests arrive) since they kids won't be showering before dinner anyways.
This week's was a really good chocolate cake in the dutch oven. The recipe for the cake was really easy.
I think I would decrease the time next time (or maybe take a coal or two off the bottom), but it was really good. (Especially with the homemade ice cream Natalie helped me make last week - it had leftover frozen brownie chunks and hot fudge swirled into it.)
(No pictures of the hot dogs because we burned those, but I couldn't taste any burn. The zucchini we grilled was perfect though.)
I drew up our summer poster calendars the kids like every year - look how full June is! (We've tried to squish the beach trip, scout camp and young women camp, visit to grandparents, swimming lessons, and appointments all into the month before the baby is born.)
July is intentionally empty-ish. (I listed scheduled things like library activities, but only the youth conference for Seth and orthodontist for Seth are have to things. And I don't have to be the one to drive him.)
I worked on a swimsuit at the end of May and finished it just before Memorial Day weekend. It's both maternity and nursing. (The shorts I already owned - I just flip up the yoga waistband to cover my big belly.)
I really like it overall. The color is a little more "crossing guard / highlighter yellow-green" as opposed to lime green, but it's hard to tell what you're getting when you shop online for fabric! It's ok - none of the kids will lose me at the beach or pool this summer! And look - my flip flops match. (I also thought those were lime in the store until I took them out in the sun.)
(It has some flaws and I had some bumps in the process, but you can't see them from the outside. I used various things to draft my own pattern. Next time, I will buy multiple patterns and put them together because altering a pattern is easier than drafting my own. Natalie's swimsuit was a breeze because I just altered a pattern I bought from jalie.com. I'm getting better at sewing with knits and lycra/nylon fabrics. I'm not very fast at sewing those though.)
We finished the school year with an impromptu family visit (since the original family visit was postponed/cancelled), our annual spring/summer recital, memorial day time with friends, and school awards.
This was probably one of my favorite recitals. We decided to go patriotic and held it on Memorial Day. We started with solos (arranged by the kids from a lead sheet) of the songs representing the 5 branches of the armed services.
Then, we did many other patriotic songs as duets.
If you missed it (or loved it so much you want to see it again) - we have videos on YouTube!
Or watch them right here!
(Those links are to the individual recordings put together in a playlist- I uploaded whichever was best - rehearsal recording or recital recording - or post recital recording for 2 that weren't recorded during the recital. You can go through the playlist or pick and choose which you want to see again.)
If you want to re-watch the live feed, that's available on YouTube also.
That afternoon, we had some relaxing friend time.
The twins did safety patrol this year. Natalie did it the entire year. Kaitlyn started 2nd quarter and petered out at the end when the whether got hot. (Safety Patrol is like jr helpers to the teachers running the car rider line. They did afternoon duty.)
For the twins, they will also not have the opportunity to do this again in 5th grade. I need less on my plate next year, so every little thing can't be a "yes". (Between 3 schools and a new baby on his own little nursing napping schedule, I think I'll have my plate half full already.) Natalie was a little disappointed, but Kaitlyn wasn't thrilled with the heat, so she didn't care that I vetoed this activity.
The same was true for district honor choir - Natalie was disappointed that I vetoed that and Kaitlyn didn't care.
I think most of their awards were in music this last quarter. (Not surprising since we have had a heavy focus on music preparing for our recital. Naturally, that focus would continue with them into the school setting.)
Alee is such a ham. She was super excited that she got perfect attendance this year. (I usually scoff at that award since it's really the "I didn't get sick all year award" - something I feel the kids have little control over. You can't always help it if someone passes on a stomach bug - (or worse - lice!) on to you, requiring missed school days.)
LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!
Since the break has begun, I've spent a day grocery shopping, a day getting 2 appointments done, celebrating the library kickoff, and another day getting Alee's fillings done at the dentist. (I should have fit in an oil change, but I'm taking it easy, scheduling only about half of each day at most.)
We've probably done more have-to's than want-to's, but they spent the other half of each day with just free time. We have new neighbors with little kids (one Alee's age, one 2 years younger, and a toddler, but they don't play with him), so they've enjoyed free time with the neighbors.
We went to the park, but since none of their friends were there to meet us that afternoon, it was decided it was boring and time to go not long after we arrived.
We also spent our "tokens" from dance to get some pelican's snoballs.
I love the new musical (loud) toys at the park this year.
Water time. (I've got to get some things set up so that water time doesn't equal wet grass and water throughout my downstairs every time they want to play in water outside.)
Kaitlyn made little chocolate pops for our FHE treat. (The kids are getting a little more adventurous in the kitchen, doing things independently.)
Natalie wants to do scrambled eggs for breakfast tomorrow by herself.
Seth can do some things, but only does kitchen stuff if required. He did want to learn oatmeal, so we'll work on that after scout camp.
Alee's not quite ready for meal prep, but she can make toast in the toaster, her own PB&J and other things that don't involve the oven/stove or blades.
I'm encouraging them to learn basic little meals or pieces of meals so that they can be useful in the kitchen after I have the baby.
Library summer reading kickoff party!
We decided to do some outdoor movie nights this summer on the big screen. We did one the day school got out. We tried one last night, but with the weather threatening rain, we moved it indoors and skipped inviting the neighbors.
We'll do more; we want to invite church friends to one and family to one and have one that's just open to anyone.
I decided it was time to expand our skills to include a grill and dutch oven, so we are going to try something outdoor cooking for each movie night (before guests arrive) since they kids won't be showering before dinner anyways.
This week's was a really good chocolate cake in the dutch oven. The recipe for the cake was really easy.
Mmm...
I drew up our summer poster calendars the kids like every year - look how full June is! (We've tried to squish the beach trip, scout camp and young women camp, visit to grandparents, swimming lessons, and appointments all into the month before the baby is born.)
July is intentionally empty-ish. (I listed scheduled things like library activities, but only the youth conference for Seth and orthodontist for Seth are have to things. And I don't have to be the one to drive him.)
I worked on a swimsuit at the end of May and finished it just before Memorial Day weekend. It's both maternity and nursing. (The shorts I already owned - I just flip up the yoga waistband to cover my big belly.)
I really like it overall. The color is a little more "crossing guard / highlighter yellow-green" as opposed to lime green, but it's hard to tell what you're getting when you shop online for fabric! It's ok - none of the kids will lose me at the beach or pool this summer! And look - my flip flops match. (I also thought those were lime in the store until I took them out in the sun.)
(It has some flaws and I had some bumps in the process, but you can't see them from the outside. I used various things to draft my own pattern. Next time, I will buy multiple patterns and put them together because altering a pattern is easier than drafting my own. Natalie's swimsuit was a breeze because I just altered a pattern I bought from jalie.com. I'm getting better at sewing with knits and lycra/nylon fabrics. I'm not very fast at sewing those though.)
We'll spend the day packing and then we're ready for the beach!
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