June 2013 has been an incredibly fulfilling month for me, and I think for at least a couple of my children. I turned 39 at the start of the month, and the next day, my sister-in-law had a baby girl, so that was awesome. It was just 2 weeks after my sister had her first baby. JOY!
My niece graduated high school and the next day, we went to the annual homeschool Convention, which is always enjoyable. The day after that, my daughter danced for the last time with her current school (Irish Step) and did a fantastic job. I'm not just saying that, she is a gifted dancer and the sound of Irish hardshoe dancing thrills my soul!
We got to hold 2 church services at the assisted living we serve at instead of 1, and it was our turn to help clean our church. Love these opportunities!
With it being VBS this month, we had training a few nights and with doing VBS, we were at church a LOT. This was super fun--the kids all LOVED it. We go to a church that is close to our home and has a couple hundred families at the most. It is so warming to get to know the people more and to have opportunities to serve alongside them. It is more satisfying than anything else I can think of right now. I love being there. The last 2 nights we were there until nearly 11 pm. Being with people serious about the Lord and who understand the times we live in is satisfying beyond measure. God has been good to give us this church where we are fed.
Father's Day was fun this year, you'll see a post soon featuring what my husband asked for as his gift. I've since mastered fried chicken, finally, and am thrilled. I made some the other night at 10 pm. A huge thanks to Adam Holland!
My oldest was able to start serving in the nursery at church this month and she is so happy. I'm glad to see it.
My new A.R.T. doctor is good and helping, my foot/leg/hip/back problem is improving SO MUCH. I can almost envision running again one day, though I'll probably just walk. I hope to go 2 miles without pain this summer, maybe more. I was sad to see my former doc move to Ohio and had been nervous to try a new guy, but he is great.
I painted our daughters' bedroom and after almost 2 containers of spackle, the walls really look nice, so much better than the BRIGHT yellow that came with the house. It feels good that more rooms have decent walls than not on the top floor of our home. I'm excited to finally be a competent painter...it's taken 14 yrs and 3 houses, but practice and Benjamin Moore have paid off finally!
We've started buying new furniture for our girls. My husband got one new bed assembled and the nightstands, plus a closet organizer installed. The girls reduced what they own by a LOT; I'm very proud of them. Before the end of July, their room will be completely redone. It's needed it and we're all looking forward to it being finished.
I am more than halfway finished my big personal project for the summer--cleaning out this one closet in our lowest level, which means going through 18 yrs of schoolwork and pulling out just a few things that matter. I'd spent time putting the kids work in to binders...I saved AWANA awards (no more!), swim lesson records (no more!), every worksheet and workbook (no more!), CC projects, spelling sheets, history notes...no more to all of it. I'm giving my kids the gift of freedom from clutter when I die. I know papers can be a reminder to us, but I'm trying to change how we all think to this--'you can swim, so clearly, you learned how at some point', you are a Christian and various programs helped you along the way--what is important is to memorize Scripture and serve the Lord, not how many times you received clubber of the month...I've saved writing and drawing, sweet little notes and a few special cards, but nearly all school related work is gone.
I am DETERMINED to have this whole house organized and to have space on bookshelves and in cabinets. Each year I tackle something new, and this year's projects are big. I want to glorify God in my home and not have a disaster as our health fails in later years, so I'm setting systems in place now.
All our cassette tapes...well, they've been tossed for the most part. It was hard, but our van can't play them and I've got most of what I want on CD or MP3, like the rest of the world. Soon all the VHS will probably follow suit, yes, I've still got some!
Finally, I've cooked and frozen a lot of food for next week and am totally excited for our menu: poppy-seed chicken, sour beef, tacos, lasagna, morning glory muffins, pancakes that get a maple/cream cheese filling, meatballs (gifted to us, yum!), and french toast sticks.
We've been home together nearly all month, except for the trip to see the babies, which was also a highlight. Just the kids and I did that and it was fantastic to see all the sisters and get to sleep over. We've all really enjoyed pulling inward and just being together, with only seeing a friend a time or two. It's so much nicer than running around like crazy and being separated a lot.
All in all, a wonderful month.
P.S. I nearly forgot, I've lost 7.6 lbs on top of it all! Yay for barely eating and staying SUPER active. Not sure how this will be sustained when I'm again sitting all day at the dining room table doing school :P, but I'm enjoying it now.
I hope your summer is all you've wanted it to be!
My niece graduated high school and the next day, we went to the annual homeschool Convention, which is always enjoyable. The day after that, my daughter danced for the last time with her current school (Irish Step) and did a fantastic job. I'm not just saying that, she is a gifted dancer and the sound of Irish hardshoe dancing thrills my soul!
We got to hold 2 church services at the assisted living we serve at instead of 1, and it was our turn to help clean our church. Love these opportunities!
With it being VBS this month, we had training a few nights and with doing VBS, we were at church a LOT. This was super fun--the kids all LOVED it. We go to a church that is close to our home and has a couple hundred families at the most. It is so warming to get to know the people more and to have opportunities to serve alongside them. It is more satisfying than anything else I can think of right now. I love being there. The last 2 nights we were there until nearly 11 pm. Being with people serious about the Lord and who understand the times we live in is satisfying beyond measure. God has been good to give us this church where we are fed.
Father's Day was fun this year, you'll see a post soon featuring what my husband asked for as his gift. I've since mastered fried chicken, finally, and am thrilled. I made some the other night at 10 pm. A huge thanks to Adam Holland!
My oldest was able to start serving in the nursery at church this month and she is so happy. I'm glad to see it.
My new A.R.T. doctor is good and helping, my foot/leg/hip/back problem is improving SO MUCH. I can almost envision running again one day, though I'll probably just walk. I hope to go 2 miles without pain this summer, maybe more. I was sad to see my former doc move to Ohio and had been nervous to try a new guy, but he is great.
I painted our daughters' bedroom and after almost 2 containers of spackle, the walls really look nice, so much better than the BRIGHT yellow that came with the house. It feels good that more rooms have decent walls than not on the top floor of our home. I'm excited to finally be a competent painter...it's taken 14 yrs and 3 houses, but practice and Benjamin Moore have paid off finally!
We've started buying new furniture for our girls. My husband got one new bed assembled and the nightstands, plus a closet organizer installed. The girls reduced what they own by a LOT; I'm very proud of them. Before the end of July, their room will be completely redone. It's needed it and we're all looking forward to it being finished.
I am more than halfway finished my big personal project for the summer--cleaning out this one closet in our lowest level, which means going through 18 yrs of schoolwork and pulling out just a few things that matter. I'd spent time putting the kids work in to binders...I saved AWANA awards (no more!), swim lesson records (no more!), every worksheet and workbook (no more!), CC projects, spelling sheets, history notes...no more to all of it. I'm giving my kids the gift of freedom from clutter when I die. I know papers can be a reminder to us, but I'm trying to change how we all think to this--'you can swim, so clearly, you learned how at some point', you are a Christian and various programs helped you along the way--what is important is to memorize Scripture and serve the Lord, not how many times you received clubber of the month...I've saved writing and drawing, sweet little notes and a few special cards, but nearly all school related work is gone.
I am DETERMINED to have this whole house organized and to have space on bookshelves and in cabinets. Each year I tackle something new, and this year's projects are big. I want to glorify God in my home and not have a disaster as our health fails in later years, so I'm setting systems in place now.
All our cassette tapes...well, they've been tossed for the most part. It was hard, but our van can't play them and I've got most of what I want on CD or MP3, like the rest of the world. Soon all the VHS will probably follow suit, yes, I've still got some!
Finally, I've cooked and frozen a lot of food for next week and am totally excited for our menu: poppy-seed chicken, sour beef, tacos, lasagna, morning glory muffins, pancakes that get a maple/cream cheese filling, meatballs (gifted to us, yum!), and french toast sticks.
We've been home together nearly all month, except for the trip to see the babies, which was also a highlight. Just the kids and I did that and it was fantastic to see all the sisters and get to sleep over. We've all really enjoyed pulling inward and just being together, with only seeing a friend a time or two. It's so much nicer than running around like crazy and being separated a lot.
All in all, a wonderful month.
P.S. I nearly forgot, I've lost 7.6 lbs on top of it all! Yay for barely eating and staying SUPER active. Not sure how this will be sustained when I'm again sitting all day at the dining room table doing school :P, but I'm enjoying it now.
I hope your summer is all you've wanted it to be!
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