Daybook

FOR TODAY

Looking out my window… sunshine and a light breeze.  We’ve gotten a good bit of rain the last few days, so it’s nice to see the sun again. While we have been getting a fair number of warm sunny days, the fact that we never put away our winter clothes is a testimony to the overall cool, wet summer we’ve been having.

I am thinking… it’s cute how Elaina asks to ‘watch the radio’ when she wants to watch a movie.

I am thankful… for Matthew getting his first regular job outside the home.

I am creating … ummm… definitely suffering from MPD (multiple project disorder) right now, but I am really enjoying the opportunity to sew and be creative.

Trying adding some scrubby yarn to the dish cloth I’m crocheting.

Excited and a little intrepid about finally putting to use the Guayabera shirt pattern for Scott that I bought a long time ago.

I am hearing… 12:15 – the low rumble of the water heater, the faint sounds of the younger kids watching a Veggie Tales movie; 2pm – the dryer running, boys talking loudly and the vacuum running as they work on cleaning up the craft area.

I am reading… Up From Slavery.  It’s the next on my (extremely long) list of books to pre/re-read for the kids’ school literature. We finally sat down and came up with lists of books we want them to read each year through jr. high/high school.  It seems like a lot when I see them all together, but we’ve got good readers and want them to be well read. These pics are just some of the books we chose.

In the kitchen… some minor demolition (removal of the wall oven and the old icky trash compactor) in preparation for a new stove and some more counter space. I am sooo excited!!!

A before pic of the old cooktop.

An empty hole where the wall oven was.

The amount of gunk we found underneath the trash compactor was appalling. It took a lot of scrubbing to get it cleaned up.

In the garden… the strawberries have been prolific this year and we picked enough to enjoy with breakfast.  The zucchini also started producing.  I was worried our make-shift greenhouse wouldn’t hold in enough heat for them, especially with our cooler summer, but they are doing quite well.

Pretty chive blossom.

Yum!

In the schoolroom… gearing up for school starting full force the beginning of August.  After having a couple weeks with no school at all, we’ve continued working on math and science through the summer and the added in history recently to sort of ease into the school year.  It has been nice having more time to do experiments and it will be even nicer to have less schoolwork to do during hockey season this next year.

Our science focus this year is chemistry.

A moment from my life…

Thomas loves brushing his teeth. He also loves knowing the sign for it so I can understand him when he asks.

Elaina has learned to make circles.

Gabe lost his first tooth!