Our Summer Summary

Today is official my last day of summer vacation.  We had a very fun and productive break from school.  This summer started with VBS and our youngest child's 3^rd birthday.  All three kiddos took swimming lessons, the older two kids were in a sports and gymnastic camp at the rec center, and our big girl was in a ballet class.  The kids inherited four tadpoles on the last day of Kindergarten and happily release three frogs back in to the wild, one of them was not quite so fortunate :(  My brother was reassigned to the Army base in Fort Lewis, which is only a two hour drive from our house!  But then was deployed to Afghanistan in July (we miss him!).  My Mom and Dad came for a wonderful visit.  We “observed” praying mantises from the egg-sack stage to hatching and released them in our garden.  We also enjoyed lots of yummy salads, and berries from the garden.  The kids and I took a few trips to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) and the Oregon ZOO.  We spent a day at Hagg Lake with our church family, and had a few play dates with friends.  I took the kids to a weekly library story time and signed them up for the summer reading program.  My sweetheart and I celebrated 11 years of marriage with a romantic night away.  On most weeks I was able to go for two 25-30 min. jogs (instead of one) and averaged 3 miles per jog.  And to finish things off we spend three days in northern Idaho near the Dworshak Dam and four days in southeaster Idaho visiting family, including a day at the Black Foot Reservoir with cousins.

I was also able to read 5 and 3/4 books: No Greater Love, Beneath the Lion’s Gaze, Held at a distance: my rediscovery of Ethiopia, The Storyteller’s Beads, The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears, and I have about 40 pages left to read of Crazy Love.

This year was the first year I made a “Summer To Do List” and it really helped me to stay focused and be a little more productive.  In my early teen years I remember my dad liked us to make summer goals while I just wanted to enjoy an unstructured break from school.  Thankfully my attitude toward that has changed.  While I did not get to a few of the things on my list, my bible study group friends have convinced me that the remanding things are good fall and winter projects :), so I think I will do just that and make a “Fall To Do List.”  I was able to de-clutter/organize all the closets, cabinets, dressers, drawers, and the storage areas of our house.  We re- floored the shed and I de-junked all of the storage bins, I put a new coat of stain on the kid’s play structure and picnic table, then washed and scrubbed all the grime/moss that builds up on the house, shed, and greenhouse during the rainy season.  I replaced the mini-blinds in the kid’s room (hopefully they will last longer this time!), and cleaned out the green house.  The things I did not get to were; updating  the photo albums and baby books,  resurface our dining table, and touching up the paint and trim in the hallway and mudroom, but I will be adding those to the new fall list. Keeping track of the progress and having a clear picture of what I wanted to accomplish was great.

We had a really great summer!  The only thing that could have made it any better was if we had received our referral from the orphanage, but I know God’s timing is much better than my own so we leave it in His more than capable hands.  There are some new staff members at our adoption agency and hopefully that will be a good thing.  I am expecting a call from them next week so I can get some more information on the new orphanage we are working with.

We are all looking forward to a new school year with our oldest starting 1st grade and our second starting Pre-K (yes, he will be in my class this year!).  I have 13 students and will get to have an assistant :) 

Thank you God for a wonderful summer beak, and please be with us as we return for another great year of learning!  Help me to be patient and give us guidance.  Amen.

Hope you all had a wonderful summer break!  God Bless.

♥ Katie

“There is a special time for everything. There is a time for everything that happens under heaven.  There is a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pick what is planted.  There is a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up.  There is a time to cry, and a time to laugh; a time to have sorrow, and a time to dance.  There is a time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to kiss, and a time to turn from kissing.  There is a time to try to find, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away.  There is a time to tear apart, and a time to sew together; a time to be quiet, and a time to speak.  There is a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

 

“Bring up a child by teaching him the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn away from it.” Proverbs 22:6