Summer!

Ahh... school's out. Not that I dislike school. I rather like it, actually. It is just that the last few weeks of school are tiring. The teachers are tired. The kids are squirmy. The weather is hot - oh, scratch that... this year forgot to get hot. All the last things need to be done - last parties, last trips, last reports, last presentations, last exams.... Then report cards and cleaning.

I'm tired.

Oh, yeah, and today, with only three hours of school left to go - the last lice checks... not again! I am becoming intimately acquainted with these kid's hair! We opted not to send them home with only two hours and the end of school barbecue to go. That would just be a bit too cruel.

I watch these teachers totally amazed. Their life is insanely busy with school, family, and then extended family, and church obligations all hitting this week. Wishing I could do more to help carry the load, but there was little I could do. I did what I could, that is all.

And now, school is out. We kicked back a little this evening, and drew chalk pictures of ourselves on the sidewalk. We copied out our feet in walking patterns across the driveway. The kids crawled up on the Jeep and tried to see how far they could throw popcorn, and I let them. They turned on the water and mixed it with chalk to make a multicolored mush. We wrapped up the evening watching Huckleberry Finn which my daughter did not quite understand and kept interrupting to ask questions. She is not one to let something she doesn't grasp slide by.

A few days ago, we watched an old, old movie, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". She didn't get that one, either. My oldest two boys killed themselves laughing, both at the story and at the people bursting into song at the oddest moments. At one point, the brothers sang a song about the Romans seeing the Sabean women swimming in the bay in their "me, oh my's". My daughter turned to me, "Mommy, what is a me-oh-my?" I nonchalantly said it was swimming with nothing on, and she shrugged, "Oh, you mean skinny dipping!" (WHERE did she hear about that?!)

So, school is out. We are all tired.

This summer, we travel. We will be headed back to visit a few churches. I'm not really looking forward to it, but part of me is.

Things at home are going slightly better. My husband is very, very busy with a building project. It's very different than his desk job. I think building is good for him. He interacts with people all day, and that suits him. He gets to be active and wears himself out. Then, he gets to see things take shape, and he is proud of that. So he is relatively peaceful. I don't know what is going to happen next. I need to write out a longer blog and catch people up, but.... the end of school... it's crazy!

This summer, also, I plan to clean my kid's rooms to where they can keep them clean. If it means just two shirts and two shorts, that is it. We'll work up from there. My oldest needs practice with writing and reading. Me second needs a attitude adjustment.... but we'll work on that along with order and quality work. If one kid's best is typically a low C, but he has worked very diligently and pulled his grades up to a low B, I'm thrilled. Then there is the other who can easily without effort get low A's, and this year, he got low C's..... I need to work on obedience, attitude, and quality work on him. Number three.... attention to detail... attention in general.... My daughter won an award for obedience and brought home a report card filled with A's and B's, but she loves to do school, and finds it easy. We do need to keep reading with her and drill math facts into her so she won't struggle with speed next year, but she is easy.

So, those are my sumer goals - discipline and routine in the kids (it's been a crazy year), and extra school work help. I'd like to do it in a fun way as a family project. We'll see. I might blog about my attempts and how they go.