summer routine

Yesterday Kami started her summer job up in Driggs, Idaho.  She leaves for work at 6:30 am; Caden left for work today at 7:00.  In the past, summer has meant waking up when I'm ready; there is no tight schedule of when to fix breakfasts or lunches or hair.  That isn't the case this year, but I am enjoying how things are going anyway!

It's really perfect, because Pace wakes up at 5:30, and I wake up while I feed him a bottle.  He goes back to sleep for awhile, and I help Kami (and Caden if he's working that day) get off. Then, I get ready for the day before the younger kids wake up.  I am so thankful to have energy again this year!!

Also, the last couple of years it has been tricky to balance summer activities that the older AND younger kids can enjoy.  I don't have to worry about that this year. Kami and Caden have appropriately moved on to activities that they should be doing during the summer, and I am left to put all of my energy into my younger kids.

I questioned each child about what goals they have for the summer, then we formed names for each day of the week so that we would accomplish what we want to during this quick 2 1/2 month time frame we have to work in. The kids really like knowing what to look forward to each day during our "structured time". For instance, ALL of my girls want to learn to cook and sew better, so on "Make-it Mondays" we cook and craft. Last week it was all cooking; this week there was some cooking, sewing, and a new fun project. The kids had mentioned that they wanted a path to their swing, so yesterday we made stepping stones:

mixing cement

We found some pans at the D.I. for .25 cents, lined them with waxed paper and poured some cement into them:

Then the kids went to town decorating their stepping stones:

Abe's creation - he had been painting before we started this project, and decided to add some paint to the cement:)

Kami brought back shells for the kids, from California, so many of the stepping stones are covered in a mosaic of shells. There is also a lot of hand prints and stones marked with "2014".  I love it!  Now we are waiting for the cement to cure so that we can dump it out of the pans and make our path!