A Fruit-full Summer

Summer break is upon us! Jack finished up school last week (sigh, I now have a 2nd grader!!) and Sophie finishes up this week. We are all very much looking forward to a literal break from so many activities, but I don't want to throw routine completely out the window...in our household too much "down-time" leads to cranky kids & bickering. So for some time now I have been pondering ways to keep the kids on some sort of schedule this summer, to keep them learning/reading, and to introduce a more formal Bible devotional time each day.

I have purchased "summer grade books" for the academic learning portion (page a day type workbooks) and  blank notebooks for writing, drawing and journaling. Jack has a summer reading list from school to keep him motivated & interested. 

For the Bible devotional portion, the Lord put it on my heart to focus this summer on the Fruit of the Spirit. (I think that was on one of those days where we ALL were running short on patience & kindness!) Our summer break is roughly 10 or 11 weeks long, so I figure we will focus on one "fruit" each week leaving us with a couple of weeks to work on the biggies twice...patience & self-control, anyone?

I mentioned this to the kids on Sunday night & they were actually very excited. They are already familiar with the Fruit of the Spirit and we talk about the different fruit frequently. They probably first learned about the Fruit of the Spirit from this song we sing at church: 

(We sing the chorus with cute hand motions, so if you don't know it, ask my kids!)

I asked which Fruit we should start with & we all agreed on LOVE since it is the first listed in Galatians 5:22-23. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

So for the past couple of days, we have been talking about love....how to show love to others, what the Bible says about love, etc. I am so pleased because we have had great conversations about this in the car or at home. And the kids are quick to point out when others are displaying love in their actions (or not displaying it as the case may be!) We have talked about the verses that they already know concerning love:

"Love one another." John 13:34, 1 John 4:7 and 1 John 4:11

"This is my commandment that you love one another." John 15:17 

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Deut. 6:5

And added to that verse in the New Testament (Mark 12 & Luke 10), "Love your neighbor as yourself." 

Today we are going to use the concordance (or biblegateway.com) to look up some new verses about love and pick one new one to memorize for the rest of the week.

A few examples that the kids came up with for showing love:

obeying (not grudgingly, but with a joyful heart), sharing, being helpful, giving hugs & kisses (that one was what Darcy did when we asked her how to show love!), letting others go first, & serving others.

It has been fun to see the ways the kids are incorporating the fruit of the week into our daily living! Hopefully they will remain interested all summer long...Jack just mentioned a sticker chart for when they display a the fruit of the week, so we will probably work on that this afternoon. And maybe do fruity treats (roll-ups, fruit snacks, Popsicles, etc.) for when they earn 5 stickers, etc...I will be praying that the Lord will keep this activity fresh all summer & that He helps me display the Fruit, too! O Lord, please grow much Fruit in each of us this summer! I'll keep you posted on how things go the rest of this week with LOVE...and next week's fruit is JOY!

And because I can't do a post without pictures, here are a few from this week...summer fun!

Drew is smiling a lot now & just starting to giggle, too!

Water balloon fun!!!

Drew enjoying the water balloon fight!

Gone Fishin'...

...and tubing, and boating, and jet-skiing! Yay, after several months of waiting & hoping, the lake house renovation is pretty much complete (a few projects remain for this winter or next year...) and we got to enjoy our first weekend at the Lake!

Here are a few quick pics of the "finished" product...we still need some artwork on the walls, etc...but the house is certainly livable, comfortable & clean! (What more do you need, really?)

Master bedroom, still need a headboard for the bed.

Another bedroom (there are 3 upstairs & 2 "kids" rooms with bunks downstairs.)

The kids were SO excited, thrilled really, to actually get to go down there & do more than just check on the progress & put our toes in the water! Because of some commitments on Saturday & Sunday morning, we headed down right after church on Sunday. We arrived shortly after lunchtime & got right down to business! The kids immediately put on their swim suits 

& went out on the jet-ski & tried out the water trampoline.

Jack & Molly out on the Jet Ski with Tom.

Sophie & Emily in a "raft"

We thought Darcy might be a bit timid around the water & everything, but she loved it all! 

We have to watch her like a hawk! 

Then it was out on the Lake for our first ride in the boat!

Cousins having fun!

The kids checked out every nook & cranny!

When we got back the kids fished a little until dinner, and then fished some more! 

Several fish were caught, but all were thrown back into the lake.

Darcy helping out!

Jack ready to catch some fish!

Sophie with her catch! (Thanks to a helpful cousin!)

Monday morning started out rainy but my mid-morning the skies were clearing & the temps rising. We all headed out on another boat ride & hooked up the knee-board for the kids. 

Sophie on the boat; Molly giving Jack a quick knee-board tutorial in the background.

I was so proud of Jack, he very quickly got the hang of the knee-board & had a great time bouncing around behind the boat!

Drew enjoyed his first boat ride!

Got to see 4 very cool military helicopters fly by overhead. Happy Memorial Day!

We came in from the boat & had a great lunch & the headed back out on the lake for more water fun!

Jack, Kelly & Molly on the big tube!

Jack enjoys riding in the boat!

Darcy & Mallory

Drew, bless his little heart, was SO great on the boat! I think it probably felt a lot like his bouncy seat! But his poor cheeks sure got a bit smushed in the life jacket!

We are so thankful for this new place to go & have fun with family & friends. We are looking forward to wonderful, safe summer on the lake! 

It's Show us Where You Live Friday!

I've been following this on Kelly's Korner blog & have thoroughly enjoyed touring so many homes...and getting SO many great decorating ideas! On the week they did kitchens I found a great inspiration for the kitchen in our new/old home that we will be renovating soon! I have not yet had a chance to participate in the tour of homes, so I'm finally excited to jump in! Since there are like a gazillion people posting their rooms, I've gathered that it is best to keep the words few & the pictures plentiful...so here is a peek into my dining room. (The walls are actually a Venetian plaster finish, but you can't tell from the pictures...I love the way they feel though!)

This is our favorite place for entertaining, whether just another family or for birthday or holiday parties. The room opens into our formal living room, so I love how easy it is to bring in extra tables to accommodate a crowd!

Thanks SO much for stopping by! 

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

The boys!

It seems the past couple of blogs have rather focused on the girls, so today I shift to the boys to give them their fair share! Today was the year end awards day in Jack's class & it was so sweet. We have been SO thankful to be able to send Jack to a Christian school this year & both of his teachers are such kind, godly women. I have praised the Lord for placing Jack in their classroom and I know that Jack has enjoyed being there as well. For the awards today, the lead teacher had chosen a character trait for each child that he or she had exemplified during the year. She presented each child with a certificate for their trait and a scripture to go along with it. She called the children up one at a time to receive their certificates and she spent a moment praying over each child. What a blessing!

The children received awards for loyalty, truth, kindness, wisdom, love and many other wonderful qualities. What a special gift for each child to feel honored and receive praise for displaying godly characteristics. Jack was the last one called and I found myself wondering what his trait would be...

 Here is part of the prayer she prayed over Jack (she was so thoughtful to include a printed copy of each child's prayer in a folder for the parents!)

"Dear Kind Heavenly Father, Thank you for the blessing of teaching your patient child Jack. He is patient in everything he does. Thank you that Jack reacts as Your word tells us, 'A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.' He is so sweet and forgiving. I love his warm smile! Jack takes his time in his work and is therefore very successful. Please help Jack to continue to have empathy towards others and to trust in You and in 

Your master plan for his life. Please strengthen Jack with all power, so that he may have 

great endurance and patience always..."

Again, what a blessing to have such wonderful teachers who pray godly character for my child!

On the way home in the car Jack commented to me, "Huh, I didn't even know I had so much patience!" So I took the opportunity to praise him & tell him that I often need to pray for more patience myself. It got me thinking how truly wonderful the power of praise & "accentuating the positive" really is...I am sure his teachers have seen Jack exemplify characteristics of patience, but of course he is seven & there are a lot of times when he is rather impatient at home! But he was so proud of that recognition & I think it will actually help produce more patience in him just knowing that someone else "noticed"...and it was a great lesson to me. I am going to be more specific in how I praise my children in the future to further cultivate the Fruits of the Spirit in their lives. 

By the big rug where they sit for the morning "circle time" (I can't remember their official 1st grade term!) I snapped this photo of the daily prayer & praise sheets. They spend time each morning and afternoon praying for each other & praising God for what He has done. It is so sweet to see that the children know they can take requests big or small to the Lord in prayer. I am sure they have seen many examples of the Lord's faithfulness in answering prayers throughout the year.

Drew went with me & was awake for most of the presentation, but didn't make a peep! Afterwards many of Jack's classmates gathered around his carseat to smile & make faces at him. I think Drew liked the attention!

After the classroom ceremony, it was on to the pool for the fun stuff! A pizza lunch & 2 hours of swimming and then popsicles! I have never seen so many kids put away so much pizza in so little time! Talk about an amazing race! Everyone wanted to get in the pool first! (So much for that 30 minute rule my parents used to always enforce when I was growing up..."No swimming for 30 minutes after eating!" I was never quite sure the reason for that. I remember being told something about getting a cramp or tumy ache, but being a mom now, I'm pretty sure it was just a clever scheme devised to give the moms a break...and I'm okay with that! But I digress...)

Here's Jack saying, "Mom let me eat my pizza!"

In the pool at last!

Drew was so good the whole time! 

He loves being outside & he sure enjoyed all of the attention from the other moms. 

All in all, it was a wonderful day & thankfully the weather was great!

~~~

And just because I'm focusing on the boys this post, here is some of what Drew has to put up with having 2 older sisters...

He doesn't feel much like cheering right now! 

(It may have something to do with the tangly, tickly pom pon someone put on top of him?)

Drew was relaxing outside one day (I was right beside him lest anyone worry!) and the girls thought he could use a little "decorating"...

with flowers...

June Birthday Celebration

There are definite pros & cons to having a summer birthday...

Pro--You don't have school!

Con--You don't have school, so mom can't bring in cute cupcakes to class to celebrate with all of your friends...

Solution: Celebrate early!

Sophie's class is mainly kids with May, June & July birthdays, so today we had the June Birthdays Celebration! There are five children with June birthdays in her class, so the moms all got together to divide up the responsibilities for a fun & simple celebration. I was in charge of a little favor for each child. With summer right around the corner, I had the idea to do sidewalk chalk (which was oddly difficult to find!) and little sand pails. I personalized the pails with each child's name. Inside each pail, I put several temporary tattoos & a little bundle of jumbo sidewalk chalk wrapped with a strip of pretty scrapbook paper. For a "sand castle" effect, I made little flags out of bamboo skewers & paper to stick in the middle. I think they turned out really cute. 

Everything coordinated so well with all of the bright colors in the table cloths, plates & balloons (on each chair for the birthday girls & boy!) It made for a very festive setting!

Darcy is waiting patiently for the kids to return to the room so we can get the party started! 

(She is also considering tasting Sophie's ice cream, but amazingly she refrains!)

Here is Sophie when the kids returned from PE to find the room all decorated!

(Can you tell she's excited? Hint: She's been counting down the days to the June party since last week!)

Birthday Girl Sophie wearing the cute birthday hat that the teachers gave each Birthday Girl or Boy!

Darcy & a little friend enjoying some treats of their own at the play kitchen table. Darcy's patience paid off & she got an ice cream & cupcake all of her own!

Happy Birthday to my sweet girl who will be turning 5 all too soon! My how quickly they grow!

And because they grow so quickly...here are a few recent photos of Drew who turned 2 months old last week!

Playing under the Gymnini

Is that the cutest, snuggliest face or what?