Phone Phourth

Heart Sings

Do you ever come across something that makes your heart sing?

This did it for me tonight...

First library card!! Thankful for phone cameras where I can snap a quick photo and have this image forever. 

Strawberry Fields Forever

One summer tradition we hold is going to pick strawberries with my mom!  There is nothing like fresh picked strawberries.  

We may have had a bit of a stem war with the berries we ate in the field!! 

Intentional Parenting

B-real and I were on a date a while back and I asked him what three words he would want used to describe him as a parent.  

Both of said we wanted to be remembered by our children as fun.

  I wish I could recall what else we said but fun was the first thought that came to both of us.   I definitely see both of us being fun in our own ways .  B-real did a flip off the front of our boat on the 4th.  I love wild rides at amusement parks.  We both like to dance even though it's not our thing.  We aren't easily embarrassed and like to be silly and laugh.  The four of us have fun together.  I want our girls to grow up enjoying our family time versus that strong pull to move away from the family and be about friends.  

It's nice to have that discussion and be more intentional about how we live our lives though.  People have goals for their careers, finances, and futures but what about goals as parents?  

Fall Planning

I am beginning to think about school.  I did see supplies at Target today but that's not the reason for my preparations.  The older my students et the more pressure I feel to have a plan!

Both girls love, love, love to read.  And they still like when I read out loud to them as they are doing art projects or building with Legos.  I have never wanted to ruin that love by forcing books on them.  I am realizing that Big C especially is not choosing books at her reading level and doesn't seen to be stretching herself.  I understand her issue though in that it's easier to go to a series you enjoy versus taking a guess on a random author or book.  I decided for this school year the girls will do some required reading.  I believe kids do better when they have some control over their choices.  As a result I compiled a list of books that I would like them to read and asked them to select seven books from my long list that they will commit to read this school year.

I made sure to include fiction, non-fiction, biographies, humor, sci-fi.  B-real was helpful too because I wondered what level books to choose for the girls.  Although little c is capable of reading books like Percy Jackson she does not have the attention span for such a long book.  I wanted her to have the feeling of success rather than feeling overwhelmed with her choices.  I can't wait to see what they pick! 

I also starred a few that I want to read myself.  Those will be read alouds for the year.  Our current read aloud is Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli.  We are loving it!!  And we recently finished The London Eye mystery.  We were sad when that book came to a conclusion.  I read Counting by Sevens too.  Great book.  It's young adult category but neither of the girls wanted to listen because the book begins on a sad note- the death of the main character's parents.  

Exercise

Exercise does a body and a brain good at our house.  I see the mood benefits of regular exercise especially for Big C.  We like to bike as a family and both girls like to jump on our trampoline.  Big C does not enjoy walking or running though.  Maybe most kids don't?!  I inspired her today by working with me on interval training where we run /walk in intervals.  We went about 2 miles and she was faster than I expected.  Too fast for her mom!  We had fun talking as we passed different flowers and exterior decor.  We talked about how proud we were of ourselves for having gone the distance.  And the best part was I had a happy, flexible, calm little person with whom to spend the remainder of the day.  Yeah for exercise!! 

Cakes and More

Little c remarked on Sunday morning that we hadn't spent much time together lately.  I was a bit shocked as a homeschooling mom with a traveling salesmen for a husband has a pretty bit credit in that department.  Nonetheless I mentioned my plan to make homemade pancakes for breakfast and asked if she wanted to join me.  First we made her a chef's hat and then she decided we needed a menu for our customers and coupons for free breakfasts.  Just like at a hotel.  Little c is really good at working on the stove and can make those pancakes from ingredients to cakes on a plate!  We had so much fun together!!