We're Really Taking a Break

So, Friday morning I woke up and just didn't want to do lessons. I just really didn't want to sit down with cranky kids in the muggy, humid weather and go through even half an hour worth of lessons. I looked at Daddy and said, "I'm really tempted to just call the rest of the summer off and take a real summer break this year ... but the campers won't finish their books if we do that." He just looked at me and shook his head, then responded, "Give them, and yourself, a break. They don't have to finish those books and if you really think that they do just have them finish them in September along with the unit studies that you already have planned. If it's a math book just start the next one when they finish the ones that they're currently doing. It'll all be review in the beginning anyways." Bless that man! So, I calmly called the rest of the summer off for break. I did the household chores, as did the campers, and Daddy went to work. After we'd finished the chores in the house the campers went outside to play while I played my computer game to try to reset my brain into relaxed mode. When Daddy got home from work he and I ran to the scrap yard and then went to pick up some movies to watch over the next few days and some spark plugs to give the car a tune up. After supper (bratwurst, mac and cheese, and broccoli with cheese sauce) we all watched America's Got Talent together before the campers went to bed. Not a bad start to the summer break.

Saturday ECJ helped Daddy put a tune up on the car ... we still need to buy a few other parts to finish what the car needs done. Daddy went to work for about an hour to do a project that needed done. I did a load of laundry and then played on my computer game. I also printed off some planning sheets for an ideal week and what it would look like (getting ready for September for myself ... can't help it lol) and the campers all played on their electronic devices because it was raining. At about 4 PM we all gathered in my room, with the good air conditioner, and turned on the first of several movies that we were going to watch together as a family. We watched Mad Families first (adult language and sexual innuendo so if you don't like your kids to see/hear that then I wouldn't recommend this movie), took a break for french toast for supper, and then watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. After the movies the campers went to bed ... with the obligatory story for Peanut along with a battle of who could give the most kisses (me or her). Daddy and I spent the rest of our evening relaxing ... I dyed my hair and read while Daddy watched the news and the late shows.


On Sunday we went to mass and then relaxed until it was time to go to Grandma and Papa's house for a little while. ECJ opted to stay home instead of coming with us, which was fine. We did some visiting and then headed out scrapping again (our usual Sunday routine ... it's important we stick to it as Peanut has autism and shifting her routine can mess her up for a long time). We again stopped at three different parks while we were scrapping, I only took pictures at two, and got our usual frozen drinks. When we got home the girls headed inside while ECJ, Daddy, and I unloaded the scrap from the truck. The girls ended up watching movies in their room while ECJ played on his tablet and Daddy and I watched some TV. Supper was chili that we had made in the crock pot in the morning so that it was ready when we got home.

Monday Daddy got up and went to work for awhile, while ECJ took apart the scrap in the yard (which I helped a little with) and the girls played with the neighbor girl. When Daddy got home from work we loaded up the truck and then went to the scrap yard. He and I went scrapping directly after the scrap yard and left the campers to hang out on their own. ECJ made everyone a sandwich for supper and boy were they all happy when we brought home some McDonald's as a late supper/treat! We again didn't watch anything together as a family, choosing instead to watch separate shows in different rooms. Peanut read to me instead of the other way around for her bedtime story and we had another battle of the kisses. After the girls and ECJ were in bed for the night Daddy and I relaxed by watching the news and then went to bed ourselves.

So, Tuesday was a relaxing day for everyone except for Daddy. Daddy had to do some major painting at work and planned on getting it all done in one shot. The campers all woke up at their own pace ... and this meant (for this day anyways) that they were all up and eating breakfast by 11 AM. They're really enjoying this no lessons for the rest of the summer thing. I puttered in my container garden, played a little on the computer, updated this blog post, and then crocheted all while Daddy was at work. ECJ spent most of the day either doing chores or on his tablet engrossed in a game that he's really liking. The girls got dressed after breakfast and went outside to play with the neighbor girl again. When Daddy got home in the afternoon, we unloaded the truck and then he and I went to the next town over for some quick scrapping. When we got home I heated up leftover chili for supper and made some corn bread to go with it. The campers all hung out together while he and I watched a couple scary B rated movies that we'd picked up, I crocheted while watching the movies. In between the two movies we watched was bedtime for the girls so that meant story time, prayers, and kiss battles so that Peanut could get to sleep. After both scary movies were watched Daddy and I went to bed ourselves, at peace with the fact that all is well with our world this week.

Wednesday was a super busy day for Daddy and I. Grandma called at about 9 AM to tell us that her freezer had died in the night. So, Daddy took the day off of work and he, ECJ, and I took apart all of the scrap and then Daddy and I took it back to the scrap yard. The campers stayed at home while Daddy and I went to Grandma and Papa's house to see if we could help them get a new fridge home. But Auntie needed help moving some furniture to her house and around the house, her van also needed looked at, and Grandma and Papa were busy comparison shopping online to see where they'd find the best deal since they decided to replace all three major kitchen appliances together (fridge, stove, and dishwasher). After Daddy and I helped Auntie we went back by Grandma and Papa's house and then went and picked them up some supper. Daddy got told that he'd be needed the next day to help move around the new appliances and possibly to install the new dishwasher. He and I went scrapping and called to check on the campers, who were fine and had done laundry and YCJ even cooked her siblings pancakes for supper (those lessons I gave her really paid off). Daddy and I got home late, gave the campers their medicine, and then went to bed ourselves.

Four year old Peanut picking raspberries.

Eight year old Peanut picking raspberries.

Now, it's Thursday. Daddy and I woke up relatively early and drank our coffee together while waking up and getting ready for the day. Then I woke up the campers and Daddy headed off for work to finish painting. The campers and I got ready for a day with Noni by getting dressed and doing some chores around the house. Noni showed up around 10:30 AM and we headed to an apple orchard that has pick your own produce for a fun day of picking fruit and veggies and hanging out together. On the way there we stopped for a quick lunch on the go at McDonald's and ate in Noni's van. With temperatures in the high 70's - low 80's and only a chance of rain we had a really good time picking raspberries and choosing which veggies we wanted. We grabbed some ice cream as a treat and then went to the grocery store together to pick up a few things needed at home. (Can't have campers not having any milk and I really needed creamer for my coffee because we completely ran out this morning.) After Noni went home Daddy came home and took the evening off scrapping! So we all relaxed and hung out together quietly for the rest of the evening, enjoying the homemade nachos that I made for supper.

Posts you may have missed this week:
Mom Shaming

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Mom Shaming

OK ... so we all know that mom shaming is real. You're not doing enough for your kids, you're doing to much for your kids, you aren't buying organic, you're buying too much organic, you're doing immunization shots, you're not doing immunization shots ... seriously the list goes on and on. We have to stop this bull-poopie right this minute!!!!

Whatever it is that you are doing, or not doing, it is what is right for your family right now. No one has the right to tell you how to raise your children ... and opinions aren't generally welcome when it comes to how we raise our kids. I'm not saying not to share ideas with fellow moms. We should all do that often and keep the conversation open and flowing.

But, seriously let's not bash our fellow moms! We all know how hard this job is. We are raising tiny human beings up from infancy to adulthood and hoping like heck that we don't majorly mess up somewhere down the line.

Who cares if your house isn't as clean as so and so's house down the street?

So what Ms. Perfect Curriculum thinks that your choice of curriculum will leave your children way behind in history?

That mom looking at you cross eyed while you pick up Cheese It's for your toddler that isn't eating anything else right now ... yeah, ignore her. Feed your kid whatever they'll eat.

And above all else lets all remember our manners and not call each other, or our ideas, dumb!! It wasn't acceptable behavior in Kindergarten and it certainly isn't acceptable now that we're adults. I was always told that if I didn't have something nice to say not to say anything at all. Well, I practice that as an adult almost daily. 

I don't have to agree with your choices to respect them and I certainly hope that the same goes in return.

Love each other, moms. Give each other support!

Normal or Boring

Ok, so as I sit down to write this I have a confession. Seems like our normal routine every week can be kind of boring to most people ... but it is our normal everyday life. Sometimes we're super busy and can't seem to catch up to ourselves ... and sometimes we're all laid back and it seems like we haven't done anything all week long. Normal looks different to everyone ... our normal might not (and probably isn't) your normal. And you know what? That's OK! The beautiful thing about life is that we each get to be individuals and what works for one person or family probably won't for another.

So, with that said here's our boring/normal week that we've had...

Over the weekend we did the following: 

• Friday we did school lessons, ran to the scrap yard, and then spent a lot of time outside enjoying the weather together.
• Saturday we went for a long drive and tried to stop at the cider mill for a quiet cider and donuts lunch, but they were having the lavender festival and there were so many people there that it overloaded poor Peanut. We did manage, with much juggling between parents, to get our cider and donuts for lunch. Then we took a longer ride to go pick up some movies to watch over the next several days and went home to spend nearly the rest of the day outside enjoying the weather again. We didn't end up watching any movies together as the campers were too tired out to enjoy one.
• Sunday we went to mass, then went to Grandma and Papa's house for a pulled pork and macaroni salad supper, went scrapping, and then when we got home we watched Batman Lego Movie and The Fast and the Furious 8.

Honestly, the weekend went by in kind of a blur. We stopped at a three parks on Sunday and got our frozen drinks like usual. This was our favorite type of weekend, family and friends, donuts and cider, movies and popcorn.

Monday we didn't do lessons, instead Daddy took the day off of work and we took apart scrap as a family before he and I took the scrap back. We then went scrapping a bit and came home. Pizza was what was for supper and then we watched Smurfs The Lost Village together as a family before tucking the campers into bed for the night. On Tuesday we did lessons as usual and tried to mow the lawn ... but ECJ flooded the lawnmower again so we had to leave it sit so that it would work again. I did laundry and cleaned up the house some. The campers got their lessons done rather quickly. And after lunch we headed over to Grandma and Papa's house to say goodbye to Auntie and some cousins who were leaving the next day to head back to Texas where they live. Daddy and I went scrapping for a couple hours and left the campers there to play with their cousins and then we picked up pizza for the entire extended family to eat. After supper we said our goodbyes and headed out scrapping again. We saw a large cloud of black smoke and chased down the origins of the fire ... a Chevrolet dealer was on fire and we got there before even the news trucks did ... thankfully there were plenty of people working the fire and nobody got hurt. We then finished scrapping, stopped at a park for about twenty minutes, and surprised everyone with frozen drinks on the way home. 

Wednesday started pretty busy. Daddy and I woke up rather early and spent some time together just the two of us. Then he drove me to the store to pick up some essentials before the girls woke up and after dropping me back off he went into work. ECJ skipped breakfast, claiming that he wasn't hungry, and began offloading the truck by himself from all of the scrap and proceeded afterwards to take apart the couple of things that needed to be taken apart. Peanut woke up while I was starting a load of laundry, putting clothing in the dryer, and making rice for our dogs (who haven't been feeling the best the last few days but have nothing major wrong with them per the vet). I gave Peanut her breakfast and then updated this blog (usually I do it day by day but honestly everything up to this point was written Wednesday morning). After YCJ woke up and had her breakfast I did lessons with the girls, folded a load of laundry, changed my bedding on my king sized bed, and then went out to take care of our little garden. The girls did their chores and then played outside until Daddy got home. Then we all loaded up the truck with the scrap and Daddy and I went to the scrap yard, we stopped on the way back to pick up some items at Tractor Supply and then went scrapping (with a quick stop at a park). After scrapping we had supper of baked chicken, potato salad, and corn. Topped the night off by watching Beauty and the Beast, the non-animated version, as a family. Then it was off to bed with the campers. Peanut got her bedtime story, both ECJ and YCJ read for their allotted time before going to sleep, and then Daddy and I watched a scary movie together right before we went to sleep ourselves.

On Thursday Daddy and I woke up a little early and spent some quiet time together. Then we woke up the campers and let them do their chores while we ran to the store really quickly. I called off lessons for the day because nobody was really feeling like doing them. So, instead ECJ took apart some scrap, YCJ and Peanut played with Littlest Pet Shops, I updated this blog and added pictures, and then I played my computer game while Daddy was at work. When Daddy got home he and I took the scrap back to the yard and then went scrapping. The campers stayed home and cleaned up the house for us while we were gone. When we got home we ran the rental movies back to the store and then relaxed with each other for the rest of the night.

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Back to Summer Schedule

Friday we had a pretty easy going day. Daddy went into work for just a little while and when he got home we ran to the scrap yard. After the scrap yard Daddy and I ran some errands and picked up supper while we were out. Subway just sounded easy and yummy! After supper we did a movie marathon with the kids. We watched Cinderella 2, Cinderella 3, and Fantastic Beasts. I'll be honest, I fell asleep during the last one and the girls went to bed before we even started the last one. Daddy was the only one who made it through the entire movie. He says that it was pretty good ... I wasn't really impressed by it ... too slow for my tastes. This was also Grandma and Papa's 45th wedding anniversary.

On Saturday our morning was very relaxed. Daddy and I lounged together with cups of coffee until about noon, when he went off to work. He had to do some painting that was on a deadline or he probably wouldn't have gone into work this day. The girls took baths and showers as soon as Daddy left for work and then jumped on their electronics. ECJ sort of floated from one activity to another all day long. After the girls hair dried they went outside to play because the weather was in the 70s instead of too hot to enjoy and they weren't going to let an opportunity pass. After Daddy got home I made chicken thighs in the electric frying pan with green beans and potatoes on the side. We capped the night off by watching Rescue Rabbit together as a family. We ended up all in bed, snug and comfy, by ten PM.

Sunday rolled around and we actually made it to mass this week! Our rest of the morning was spent relaxing together and then getting ready to go to Grandma and Papa's house. All of the family was coming over for a ham supper and Grandma wanted a bit of help to extend the table out to full length, get all of the folding chairs and one of the folding tables set up, and a bit of help in the kitchen. They're lovely house was filled to the rim with seven adults, two teenagers, and eight children ... not to mention the dog. It was a wonderful supper. We left shortly after everyone was finished eating and went scrapping. Sunday night is an important scrap night for us and we don't usually miss it no matter what else is going on. Plus, we need the money for sure from the scrapping to get the truck fixed while it's still under warranty and the warranty is running out this month. By the time we got home it was time for medicines and bedtime. We were going back to our regularly scheduled summer lessons this week and I wanted them all ready to do some lessons on Monday morning.

This feels like a good place to mention that we're experimenting with The Good and The Beautiful language arts this summer. Since the girls will be doing The Prairie Primer unit study on the Little House books starting in the fall I figured that this was a good time to get our feet wet so to speak with The Good and The Beautiful. I recently discovered this curriculum and wanted to dive in head first with everything. We'll be using it a lot in future years if we like the curriculum this summer. Did I mention that levels one - five of language arts you can get as free downloads? This is how we're getting our feet wet without spending a ton of money on curriculum that we may or may not like and also that we're not going to use for a whole school year. ECJ will be doing History 1 through The Good and The Beautiful in the fall. He'll only get through History 3 before he graduates (only the first two years of history are released just now) but I think that he'll have a great grasp of history this way and we'll be using this history for the girls after next year ... and throughout the rest of their school careers. The prices for The Good and The Beautiful, and the quality, make it a great fit for us. Hopefully it fits with our learning styles as well. We'll see.

Monday we literally watched movies and played video games all day long. We woke up and it was raining and Daddy had a migraine. So, he called into work and rested all day (after a quick trip for a shot and some meds). We watched several movies together: Seven Witches, The Shallows, and Resident Evil, the Final Chapter. The campers watched several other movies in the living room while Daddy and I stayed ensconced in our cave like bedroom. In the afternoon the rain cleared up for a little while and Daddy and ECJ unpacked Sunday's scrap out of the truck while I cooked supper. Then we all ate and turned on Spongebob Squarepants to relax to in the evening ... actually, I took a long bath and read while they watched Spongebob. We did go up and pick up YCJ's new glasses from SVS Vision since they'd come in several days early. She's really thrilled with her choice for this year.


On Tuesday Daddy was up early to go to work and he woke ECJ up to do his chores and begin taking apart the scrap. I stayed in bed and dozed on and off for another hour and a half. ECJ instantly came inside after Daddy left for work and when Daddy stopped back in around 10 AM he got caught having not taken anything apart yet. So, as Daddy headed back off to work ECJ went outside (finally) to take apart the scrap and the girls and I did lessons for the day. It wasn't a hard days worth of lessons but two weeks off had them grumbling about simple things. After Daddy got home from work, and the lessons were all done, Daddy finished taking everything apart and then we reloaded the truck with scrap and headed to the scrap yard. In the afternoon we had an appointment at our church that only took a few minutes and then we were off scrapping again. We did a stop at the local ice cream shop for a treat for the campers that went with us scrapping and then picked up pizza for supper on the way home.

Wednesday we all woke up a little late but quickly got ready for the day. Chores were done quickly and breakfast was eaten and then Daddy went to work. Noni showed up shortly before 11 AM as she was taking us to the movies to see Dispicible Me 3. After the movie Noni helped us grab ECJ's new glasses and then we were off home. Noni had to leave right away and Daddy was already home from work but down with a migraine. After a few hours he and I went scrapping locally. The campers made themselves supper of Spaghetti O's and Daddy and I grabbed something quick while we were out.

On Thursday Daddy left marginally early for work. I say marginally because it wasn't really early but I had trouble getting out of bed. ECJ began taking apart scrap while the girls and I did lessons. Lessons were done inside of an hour and I even got to fold a load of towels while the girls worked on their math! It was hot and muggy outside, thanks to a large rain storm the night before. So instead of going outside the girls opted to play in their room while ECJ continued to take apart scrap. I moved the truck from it's parking spot to right by the house for him to have easier access to the scrap, this is a big deal because I do not drive ... ever! Seriously, I decided not to drive several years ago and gave my license up by choice so that I wouldn't ever be tempted. I am not a good driver and way to anxious behind the wheel. Daddy came home around 1:30 PM to take me to an appointment in the next town over. When we got back we finished loading the truck back up with scrap and then went to the scrap yard. After which he and I went scrapping again while the campers stayed home. ECJ did his school lessons while we were gone and then all three campers played together nicely (Peanut is our little tattle tale when they don't). 

No major plans for this weekend but we'll see what happens. On an exciting (for us) side note we were gifted with a one year basic membership to Family Time Fitness and we'll be sharing some of the stuff we do with it throughout the year!!!

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The Fourth of July!

Friday we had a relatively relaxing day. Daddy went to work and when he got home we went up to the library to check out a couple of movies that we've been wanting to see. We relaxed around the house and then went for a drive in the car. We went and got the oil changed in the car and then went to the car wash. Where the passenger mirror was ripped off and so were the brand new windshield wipers that we'd bought the day before! I was so frazzled and upset that I actually started crying about it. The company gave us the money to replace the parts and offered us free washes for a year, but we won't be going back there. Then as we were driving down the road a bird flew in through the driver's window and hit Daddy in the head! Then it rested on my window for awhile before going onto the dashboard. It ended up riding with us for five miles before we found a safe place to pull over and release it. We ended up stopping for cider and donuts (no pictures because I was still frazzled). We had a peaceful night and watched How to Train Your Dragon as a family before sending the campers off to bed.

Yes, that is Lily Cat eating a donut!

ECJ's first driving
lesson.

On Saturday we had to go down by Grandma and Papa's house to get the used parts for our car to replace the mirrors and the piece of plastic that rests under the windshield wipers. We dropped the campers off with Grandma and Papa while we did that and we ran into a friend of ours at the auto yard! We had a nice chat before heading back, with new parts in hand, to Grandma and Papa's. Daddy ran the big vacuum for Grandma before we left and then we headed home. Daddy installed all of the parts we'd bought for the car (we'd bought both mirrors and just replaced them both along with that plastic piece) while ECJ and I helped him as best that we could. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and cleaning the house until bedtime where we watched How to Train Your Dragon 2 as a family. Nobody was in bed before midnight this night.

Sunday we spent the early part of the day relaxing and doing laundry. Yes, we missed mass because we overslept. Daddy also installed the girls air conditioner in their window. In the afternoon we loaded up the girls into the truck and then went scrapping down by Grandma and Papa's house. We have our little Sunday afternoon routine where we scrap, stop at one of the kids favorite parks, stop and get frozen drinks, and then scrap until the truck is full. We got home a little late and ate supper of some grilled cheese sandwiches and chips, then it was time for bed for everyone ... no movie this night although we're planning on plenty of movies together as a family throughout the week.

So, Monday, was pretty much the same as every other Monday we have when we have no lessons. Daddy and I got up early and ran an errand and then Daddy had to go to work. ECJ was beginning to take apart scrap when a cat got ran over in the road ... we did everything we could for it and then the neighbor and ECJ buried it. I just hate when an animal dies that doesn't need to. I updated this post and researched a new to me Bible study program called So What for teenagers while the girls played with the neighbor girl for a while. After Daddy got home from work we went down to Grandma and Papa's house to visit with them and some family that came from Texas for a visit!! After we got home we relaxed, the campers had McDonald's for supper, while Daddy and I simply snacked as we weren't very hungry, and then it was bedtime.

Tuesday, the Fourth of July, Daddy and I were woken up by an exited Peanut yelling at the foot of our bed, "Happy Fourth of July!" at six thirty in the morning. But, neither he nor I checked our phones for the time so we simply got up and drank some coffee. Around an hour later we realized what time it was, and both still being tired, we sent her out to play on her tablet in the living room while we caught a few more z's. When we woke back up all of the campers were awake, it was around ten thirty in the morning, and we began a new pot of coffee and sipped on that for about an hour or so before Daddy and ECJ went outside and broke down some scrap to be taken back on Wednesday. When that was done, everyone was dressed, and we had a few potty stops before leaving the house, we left for a family BBQ that this year included our nephew's ninth birthday party! The entire time we were there the campers were outside with their cousins playing in the yard and having a blast. But, instead of going to the fireworks with the rest of the family we decided to head home because Daddy wasn't feeling all that well. We did end up going to the fireworks in our home town instead as Daddy was feeling much better by then. Lots of happy Peanut yelling and bouncing during the whole show (this is a majorly big thing because she's never really enjoyed the fireworks completely until this year ... the noise is usually too much for her). Once done we headed home where the kids did some poppers and stayed up until almost midnight with books and medicine being done. Daddy and I were in bed late but were really happy that the day had been such a hit!


On Wednesday morning Daddy and I didn't hear this alarm for work and so when we woke up around nine AM I jumped up to get the coffee going. Daddy didn't have to go to work long this day but he did have to go in and do battle with some ants who were thinking of living with humans, instead of outside where they belong. The campers, except for ECJ, slept in past eleven ... ECJ got up to take the dogs outside and then promptly went back to sleep for about forty-five minutes. After Daddy got home from work we loaded up the truck with scrap, took ECJ and YCJ to their eye doctor appointments and picked out new glasses in the car, and then came home to grab the truck and head to the scrap yard. Then we headed down to Grandma and Papa's house for a quick visit with our out of town family before heading out scrapping to pick up stuff to return on Thursday. Garbage being a day off really messes with how we do things usually, but not this week. After we got home we watched Enchanted together as a family. The girls liked it so much that they chose to watch it again for their bedtime movie (you know, the one that they fall asleep to).

Thursday morning came far too early for this mamma. But up I got and drank coffee with Daddy before he headed off to work again. I then sat down to update this blog ... so I'm typing this last bit at 10:30 in the morning while Daddy is at work, the girls are sleeping, and ECJ is out in the yard taking apart scrap. Our plans for the day include going to the scrap yard and more scrapping with another stop at Grandma and Papa's and capping the night off by watching Tomorrowland as a family before bed. It's been a really exciting but laid back week for all of us. 

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