Here’s what we did:

Monday ~ We came home from vacation and unpacked our stuff, mowed the lawn and what not.
Tuesday ~ We harvested lettuce and beets, played outside and canned beets. The kids were very scarce during that, I don’t think they liked the smell very much!
Wednesday ~ I read two short chapters in our God’s Design for Life series Botany book. It was on roots and we then went in the garden and I showed them carrot roots and some bulbs that I hadn’t planted soon enough, but thought why not plant them anyway! Ha! They also remembered seeing the beets we pulled the previous day.

Thursday ~ We played Math Bingo. Thank you Target Dollar Spot! We refreshed our brains with some flashcards, then played a couple of rounds. The older two did a one game face-off of War with the flashcards. It was great to see them get back into thinking like that!

Friday ~ We went to the Library to redeem their points from the reading program there. They got some nice prizes and more motivation to keep reading for the next 2 weeks to see if they can get the top prize. We also checked out lots more books and discovered new series for them to get excited about. They were the epitome of book worms that day!

Saturday ~ We have been watching tv, reading, rollerblading/biking (the girls) and just relaxing..my son was sick all night with the stomach flu. So I’ve been doing laundry, catching up on my neglected blogs and cooking some Black Bean soup for tonight’s dinner. Can’t say today was much of jumpstarting their brains, but we’ve enjoyed some togetherness time.

Bicycles, scooters, skateboards…anything with wheels tumbling out of the garages and rolling and zooming up and down the cul-de-sac. The activity is so intense you can’t imagine it’ll ever stop!

They answer back, "There’s nothing to do outside."

 You stand there for a moment amazed at this answer because you just watched them pretend, explore and run around non-stop for weeks on end outside! Really!? Nothing? You sigh in frustration and begin to wrack that super Mommy drive for fun things to do.

It starts ticking down the list:
ride your bike
swing on a swing
play tag
run through the sprinkler
help Mommy do laundry
pretend you’re secret agents
cops and robbers
hopscotch
jump rope
….

They stand there looking at you as if you’re speaking a foreign language. The hauntingly blank stare greets you with the next phrase all mothers dread, "I don’t want to do that, what should I do?"

So the madness continues…

At this point, I am more than ready to start school up again to unearth my highly intelligent, creative children that are lost somewhere behind the mind numbed child standing before me. I think a lot of it has to do with the lack of structure summer brings. I believe it’s also connected with the lack of sleep they are operating with. They are tired and needing direction! Perhaps something organized…this is when super Mommy steps in and starts doing "cool mom" things.

You bring out yummy snacks and water mid afternoon not just for your angels, but the whole neighborhood! Then you organize events and games for the kids to participate in to reboot their minds. Ding! Round 1 and you start to see some progress. The kids start talking to each other and coming up with fun solutions after they finish their snack. Who knew a little graham cracker with peanut butter and chocolate chips could be so amazing!?

I don’t know why I don’t plan for these things better each year. I think it’s because I’m on vacation too. My creative brain I’ve been utilizing all school year needs to reboot for the next. I always feel like I need post-it notes on my mind this time of year to remind me what’s next and what my responsibilities are. Somedays I am walking around in a fog of "what’s next?" Structure is good. Breaks are good, but I think my mind stays on the ball far better when we have structure throughout the day. These are things I need to think about for next year. How can we have a super fun summer without the madness!? A little structure might go a long way! A little structure like afternoon snack time…

The things I remember thinking was how quiet it was on the farm. The low hum of traffic in the distance that I tend to block out in suburbia was noticeably gone in the middle of the country! What a blessing! I hadn’t been home in the spring for a long time and everything was beautiful and green.

One morning, there was an amazing amount of mist and fog due to very cool temperatures overnight. I looked outside and saw this:

It was a beautiful gray/green sea of wheat. It looked like I was walking in an almost black and white picture! It was just amazing!

My dad’s favorite dessert is apple pie, so I wanted to make him one for his special day. I just started using organic flour before I left for Kansas and was thrilled with the results in my pie crust, so I had to pick some up for this one. I think he enjoyed it!

My grandma lives right down the road from my parents, so we spent a lot of time with her. She is 92 years old and still living on her own! I hope to be that spry when I’m her age! I love my grandma!

I had been wanting to help her with her garden beds around her house, so my mission while we were there was to plant some perennials to liven it up.

I had to do some weeding and hoeing to get it all ready, but in the end we had some nice flowers planted for her.

The kids love playing outside and finding forts, making forts etc. The old one between two trees was no longer there, so they found a new spot to claim as their own.

They were clearing old wood out and Papa even broke out the chain saw and helped them clear some more of the dead wood.

They were sweeping and raking the floor like it was a sod house on the prairie!

This entertained them for hours! Then they checked out the junk shed and found all sorts of treasures to use in their tree fort/home.

It was pure treasure for them! Old frying pans, wheels to an old lawn mower, boards, old garden fencing…etc.! I remember my brothers and I doing the same thing at our grandparents house. It was so much fun!

Here’s my son relaxing on their "porch."

One night we had a bonfire to burn all the deadwood from their fort. It was wonderful! Fire, bubbles, hotdogs and s’mores!

This was a very productive vacation because of all the projects we completed! I helped my grandma with her garden, the kids made their fort, I helped my mom clean out some cupboards and part of her storage in the basement and we even did 2 full weeks of school while we were there. It’s hard to believe, but I think we got more done in Kansas than we had in quite a while! The kids were so motivated to do their work and be finished for the day. It was wonderful!

I also started making a dishcloth using an actual pattern while I was there. I had failed many times before in attempting this, but low and behold…it was working! I’m almost done with it. It’s a real cute heart pattern.

The kids and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay and can’t wait to go back for another visit!

Square Foot Gardening: Making the Grid
Starting Seeds
Moving Rocks
New Raised Garden Beds

Garden Fairy

The first new one is over on the sister blog of homeschoolblogger, homesteadblogger. It’s called Playing in the Sonshine and is all about my pursuits in homesteading (mostly gardening).

The second new one is over on blogger and is called A Little Sonshine4u. This is dedicated to my journey of understanding and growing into Beautiful Womanhood. I’ll be sharing my journey, my thoughts, my discoveries and some challenges for us as we discover who God has called us to be.