Wordless Wednesday a.k.a. Photos from our Fourth

A New Favorite Thing

I spotted these the other day in Joann's and they have quickly become my new favorite thing for the girls. These silicone cupcake liners are perfect and just the right size for little hands - they hold snacks, condiments for dipping (no more ketchup smearing all over everything on their plate), dip for veggies, and just the right amount of applesauce or yogurt for them.


I only wish I had bought a set of red and blue ones to use for this past 4th of July holiday weekend! :) They also have these teddy bear ones ... how cute!

July 6 Daybook

Outside my Window ... cloudy and grey. Google weather says that should clear off, but I'm kinda liking the break from the heat.

I am thinking ... of the incredibly relaxing weekend that we had as a family. Oh my. It was just what I needed. Very little running around. Lots of home time with just us.

I am thankful for ... a husband that is willing to sleep outside in the tent with the girls last night. They were so excited about sleeping in the backyard and he and the N's camped out last night. They had so much fun - the girls sent me text messages from the backyard via Daddy's phone and I received them in the comfort of the air-conditioned family room. :)

In the learning room ... less than a month until we start kindergarten! :) We're getting excited over here. We still have a few things up in the air with N1's plans for this fall regarding her participation in a tutorial (2-day/week) program. I'm still leaning towards doing all of her K here at home, but we felt like we needed to at least check out this new program (for several reasons).

From the kitchen ... something like this:

Monday (7/6): southwest taco salad, corn chips
Tuesday (7/7): fried chicken, salad, peas, roasted veggies
Wednesday (7/8): ceasar chicken pasta salad (using leftover chicken from Tuesday)
Thursday (7/9): breakfast dinner - eggs, hashbrown casserole, fruit
Friday (7/10): pizza

I am creating ... not a whole lot right now. I am working towards getting some scrapbooking back into my days. I'm hopeful that I will be creating something out of blueberries this week - I think the girls and I are going to go pick them this week. A blueberry pie sounds really good. :)

I am going ... to try and get out for a bit today ... by my ownself. :) I need to run an errand or two, and may try and take advantage of yet another day that we have T home with us. (Have I mentioned how wonderful and relaxing this LONG weekend has been ... and we still have one more day of it?) :)

I am wearing ... jammie pants and a t-shirt.

I am reading ... the first book in Laura Childs' tea shop mysteries: Death by Darjeeling. Thoroughly enjoying it and planning to search for more of her books at the library today and reserve them! I also have Jean Fleming's A Mother's Heart: A Look at Values, Vision, and Character in the Christian Mother in my tote back and have intentions of starting that soon.

I am hoping ... to finalize N1's school plans this week.

I am hearing ... Super Why (PBS) in the background. Girls playing. Happy house sounds. :)

Around the house ... need to do some straightening today. A fun, lazy, family weekend it has been and the house shows it. I also want to do a little re-arranging (of course) to make a spot to display seasonal and specific subject matter books that we are studying.

One of my favorite things ... lists and plans and dreams.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ... as mentioned, I'm looking forward to taking the girls blueberry picking. A friend from church has blackberries on his land, and depending on how well the girls do with the blueberries, we may try blackberries next week. (The blackberries are quite a drive from us, but the blueberries are closer for a test-run). :) We have a 4-wk summer study at church for the women on Wednesday night and I'm hoping to go this week ... other thant that, business as usual around the house. Oh, except that T is traveling next week for work to fun and exotic places, so I'll be getting his things ready and making a game plan for me and the girls to get us by while I'm flying solo.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you ...

Weekend Reading

A few posts that I have been enjoying that I leave for your weekend reading if you have some time to relax. :)

~ GirlTalk's current series about A Homemaker's Dilemna.

~ The Clutter You Can't See from Simple Mom

~ The current spiritual discipline series as Holy Experience on journaling. This series has been wonderful.

~ Sally Clarkson speaks on godly friendships and why they are so vital.

~ And lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't point you toward my Dad's blog. A teacher of the Word for about 30 years now, he is posting a series on Proverbs that is worth a read. (I'll also brag that he is a great photographer and the pics that are on the blog are his own.) :)

Happy reading. :)

Friday Felicities ~ July 3

Look at this snazzy new graphic! :) I missed doing my Friday Felicities this last month ... I did it in my journal because this is such a good reminder for me of those little blessings in my life. No matter how trifling. :) A few things on this Independence Day weekend...

• ~ a 4 1/2 day weekend with T (his company let them off Thursday afternoon and he doesn't go back until Tuesday!)

~ trail mix

~ my quiet time in the morning before the girls are up. Truthfully, of late it has been VERY short because a certain two-year old likes to get up at 6 a.m. But even a little is better than nothing. God is faithful to show me things even as I am reading this morning while BBoo watches a short video. So thankful for my morning time, such as it is. :)

~ friends that love my girls

~ how N1 has her very own nickname for BBoo. So sweet to hear her call her by her own term of endearment.

~ hotdogs, hamburgers & fireworks tonight with my sister & her family!

~ this wonderful country that I am blessed to be a citizen of ... "one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." May it once again be a nation under God in the days to come.

Link up your Friday Felicities at Becky's!

Garden Days

I have to brag on my husband a bit. He wrote a song for our munchkins and made a music video of them playing in the backyard and walking in our garden. This is such a great snapshot of our summer and life right now ... thanks T for capturing the girls like this for me. I love you. :)

Garden Days - Day 59 (Special Edition) from Travis Shepherd on Vimeo.

Wordless Wednesday

Summer shots ... thus far. :)

Two Week Plan

As part of my June project of getting organized and thinking through new schedules and ideas for this fall as we start homeschooling, I decided to do a little shifting with how I plan our meals. For several years now, I have planned for a full month a time - making one big shopping run per month, and then supplementing with fresh produce and milk as needed throughout the month.

As we switch gears to add kindergarten into our daily routine, there are some things (food-related) that I want to be able to do with the girls that would be tricky to plan out a month in advance. We are going to be meandering through early American History this year and with that, I want to have some special treats and meals that go along with what we are studying. That said, I'm going to try and plan two weeks at a time and see how that works for us.

One of the things that I am most excited about reinstituting into our week is our Thursday Tea. The idea is not mine - I got it from Dawn's excellent blog. But, I loved how the girls looked forward to getting out the special cups having a "special" snack one day a week. Last year, we used the time to start our Awana lesson for the week. I'm not sure how well that will work this year as the girls will be in two different groups now (N1 has aged out of Cubbies), but regardless, I'm looking forward to using this time to do either a seasonal craft project or listen to a story that ties with our lessons.

That said, here's the next two weeks of meals around here ... always subject to change. :) I really struggle in the summer coming up with stuff to make for dinner. After we've spent the day outside, I always want something cold to eat (i.e., pasta salads, big green ceasar/taco/southwest salads, etc.) but that doesn't always work so well with the munchkins. What do you feed your family in the summer when it is too hot to cook? I love my crockpot and know that's a great idea for summer cooking so I'm not overheating in front of the stove, but I just don't like to eat hot food when I'm hot. :)

Monday (yesterday): Ranch Chicken & Bacon Pasta Salad, watermelon, sliced fruit

Tuesday (6/30): chicken spaghetti (from the freezer), salad, bread I'm trying to make a double batch of chicken spaghetti once a month - for us, that makes two 8x8 pans/meals for our family, and one 9x13 to use for a company dinner or to share with a family that needs a meal.

Wednesday (7/1): ham & cheese roll-ups, chips, broccoli salad, strawberry trifle (for both my family and a homeschool meeting I am hosting tomorrow night).

Thursday (7/2): chicken enchiladas, salad, green beans

Friday (7/3): pizza night

Saturday (4th of July): grill steaks and/or chicken, grilled veggies, berries & cool whip for dessert

Sunday (7/5): extended family lunch; Sunday dinner is usually something snacky.

Monday (7/6): southwest taco salad, corn chips

Tuesday (7/7): fried chicken, salad, peas, roasted veggies

Wednesday (7/8): ceasar chicken pasta salad (using leftover chicken from Tuesday)

Thursday (7/9): breakfast dinner - eggs, hashbrown casserole, fruit

Friday (7/10): pizza

I'm also going to make a batch of chunky monkey muffins and breakfast muffins for the next two weeks to pull from the freezer. Yum!

See this Blur??

That was June.

One week of VBS :: translation :: girls that were out later at night yet still managed to get up earlier in the morning.

One week of dance camp for N2 :: translation :: what was a one hour dance camp turned in to 3+ hours out of the house every. single. morning.

My husband is offered the chance to serve our church as the worship leader :: translation :: we've decided to postpone our family vacation so that he won't miss two weekends of church right after taking on this role. I'm not disappointed that I will miss the long car ride going and coming with three little ones; I will miss the beach and family that we won't see.

New information regarding the school we anticipated sending N1 to two-days per week this fall :: translation :: I'm now dreaming of social studies and science lessons since it looks like I'll be doing all her kindergarten homeschooling.

I'm not going to say anything about what July looks like ... we'll just take it one day at a time. :)

Free Photo Editing Class

I would be remiss if I didn't share about this free photo editing class that Jessica Sprague is hosting (begins July 6). Free admission to the class ends this Sunday so sign up if you are interested!

I'll be back to blogging next week most likely ... June has been nuts and the break has been good. See you then. :)

Unplugging

Travel, change, interest, excitement! The whole world before you
and a horizon that is always changing! Hurrah for the open road!

~ Mr. Toad, The Wind in the Willows

I'm unplugging for the month of June. You can catch me via email if needed (and I *may* Tweet if there is anything really good) but I won't be reading (blogs) or writing much until after our family vacation 'round about Independance Day. :)

I hope everyone has a lovely start to their summer! See you in about 5 weeks. :)