Around Here on the Last Day of July

Around here it has been quiet with all three girls at overnight camp for the week.



Around here that means the only thing we have heard from them are these two letters that came yesterday!



Around here that means that this guy has pretty much had a fantastic all boy week around here.



Around here he has been in charge of the pets and has done a fantastic job. (Don't mind the panic on the guinea pig's face. She's overreacting).



Around here we went to a local used book store and my animal loving boy discovered a bargain beanie baby bin and now has three new buddies. He was thrilled.



Around here, for the modest price of $3, I now have a new Anne of Green Gables and Rilla of Ingleside as well as a beautiful hardback illustrated AoGG. I was thrilled!



Around here I've got a handle on the next six weeks of school so we can (hopefully) hit the ground running on Monday.



Around here I've also decided my summer plan of pulling meals together haphazardly is at an end. Real meal plan, real grocery list, etc. Is it soup weather yet?

A little Friday update before the boy and I pick up a few groceries before picking up a few girls at camp. Happy Friday!

Reading Report :: July 2015

Dear July, you were a fun reading month. Everything I read was golden. I spent time with a great book that made me think as well as some of my dearest and best old friends.

This month has been "crazytown" as the boy says. We traveled to visit family in Ohio. We have had people working on the outside of our house catching up on some maintenance. I have all THREE girls at camp this week and am trying to get several projects crossed off my lists with the help of a 4 year old assistant! : )

I managed to read:

• Anne of Green Gables
• Anne of Avonlea
• Anne of the Island
• Anne of Windy Poplars and
• Anne's House of Dreams

I'm currently residing at Ingleside. : ) Of note, this is the first time I've read through the series not using my beloved paperbacks above. As you can see, they are exceptionally well worn (Rilla of Ingleside is now actually a two volume work because it split in half!) For the bargain price of $1.99 I have all eight books loaded on my Kindle and the pages don't fall out and the font is nice and big. Yes, please.

I also read:

• Simply Tuesday: Small-Moment Living in a Fast Paced World by Emily P. Freeman and am being dreadfully slow at writing a review of it.

And, the kids and I FINALLY finished our read-aloud of All of a Kind Family Downtown by Sidney Taylor. Our reading aloud fell by the wayside at the end of June and July and I am missing it!

I don't know that I have any big reading plans in August. I'm going to finish up with Anne - I don't know the last time that I've read the series straight through so I'm going to indulge myself. I also know that we will be back to school next week and free reading time will be a little harder to come by. We do have a new read-aloud in the works - The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander, 3rd in the Chronicles of Prydian series. I was hoping to finish this series this summer, but time got away from us and I have some fun (I hope!) read-alouds planned for our upcoming Ancient Civilizations year that we are embarking on.



Happy Tuesday and happy reading. : )

Currently :: July 2015

vacationing with family in Ohio. We spent time with cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. and it was delightful.

visiting Cedar Point. The roller coaster capital of the world, apparently. Such a fun day riding rides and hanging out as a family. Some people rode the tallest roller coaster in the world and survived. I wasn't one of them though I did ride the second highest. Won major fun mom awards that day.

eating all the unhealthy stuff as you do on vacation. Fun, but also so nice to be back in the kitchen this week cooking and eating lots of salads and veggies.

enjoying fresh watermelon and peaches this week in abandon!

reading Simply Tuesday by Emily Freeman (a pre-release copy that I'm slowly savoring) and Anne of Green Gables. I don't know the last time that I have read Anne, but it has been a long time! Right now, I'm revisiting Green Gables and anticipating slowly reading through the series again this summer.

watching movies in the evenings with our crew. We love watching movies together and it's one of our favorite ways to wind down in the evening.

cheering kids on in summer sports as well. We have two girls playing indoor soccer this summer (so fun! and air conditioned!) and one boy playing t-ball (so fun! and not air conditioned!) Both of these activities have summertime practice schedules, which means they don't practice much at all, so a game here or there has been fun and not a hassle to fit into our schedule.

starting a little school this week for a small summer session. A couple of girls didn't quite get all their math finished this spring and we have a goal of knocking out those last 10-ish lessons before summer camp at the end of the month.

savoring a slower schedule the last few weeks and enjoying the down time after the last year which was hard and busy. I'm looking to continue this attitude / pace / environment for as long as I can!