Filling Up our Summer Bucket

For the past several summers, I've written out a summer bucket list of sorts. Last year was more organized, systematic, perhaps too ambitious, so this year we're going a little more low key.  It will still be fun, but a little less formatted, yet some new summer ideas for my imaginative girls to look forward to.  My greatest desire this summer is honestly to become more disciplined on a daily basis.  My prayer is to spend more time reading, training my girls in His Word (Psalm 15), and catching up on projects that have been put off for the last year.  Hopefully, there will be a little purging of stuff, simplifying of rooms, and focusing on what God has for our upcoming school year.

 

Summer bucket list for 2014:

• take each girl on a date
• farmers market
• road trip to Greenville, SC and Atlanta, GA with my girls
• go to museums (Life & Science Museum in Durham and the planetarium in Chapel Hill)
• outdoor movie night
• print pictures from the past year & put them in photo albums
• memorize a Psalm
• teach the girls something new
• finish Sophie's baby scrapbook
• a week of summer camp for all three girls
• watch Anne of Avonlea
• go camping (backyard again?)
• summer reading
• free summer bowling
• $1 movies
• swim with friends at the pool
• ABC's of summer writing
• Morning Mind Stretches
• outdoor photo scavenger hunt

These free printable lists allowed the girls to write (or draw) their own summer bucket lists as well.  Sophie got a little happy with the red marker.  Her four items are #1 Go camping #2 Beach #3 Go to Japan to visit Nana & Papa (how I wish!) #4 Go hunting (for butterflies).  My favorite on Naomi's list was #5 Family Shopping (not sure what exactly that means, but it sounds good to me).  Chloe was a bit more ambitious.  Her's involved lots of reading (200 books to be exact), skateboarding, handstands, and splits.  But my favorite is #7 Get into the habit of doing my devotions.  Let it be real, Lord!

Summer Movie Schedule

Barnes & Noble's Summer Reading Program

Free Summer Bowling

Printable Summer Bucket Lists

ABC's of Summer Writing

Musings for March

This was one of my many blessings in February - watching the sunrise at Fort Caswell with some of the most precious women I know.

A Recap of my Five for February:

1.  Finish organizing the school room and hang pictures.  No more clutter!

2.  Finish A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliot & read half of Cleaning House by Kay Wills Wyma (A Mom's 12-month experiment to rid her home of youth entitlement).

3.  Write 5 letters (real ones with stamps) to other women who may need encouragement.

4.  Take portraits of each of my girls (plus valentine pics).

5.  Focus on words of grace for my family.  

Once again, not 100% complete, but still progress.  

- I don't think I'll ever finish organizing the school room.  Some of you will understand...  

- The biography of Amy Carmichael was deep... but I finished it and so thankful to have read it.  Very powerful book!  

- I'm almost a third of the way through Cleaning House.  Already I'm taking mental notes.  Practical and thought provoking.

- Writing letters is often one of my good thoughts that never gets done.   They say it's the thought that counts... I don't think so.  So, all glory goes to God that envelopes were addressed and stamps were found amid the clutter in my kitchen.  (On a side note, it doesn't have to be snail mail to encourage a friend.  A simple text, an email, or message on Facebook or Instagram can make anyone's day brighter.  I've been on that receiving end several times this month and you ladies know who you are.  Thank you!  You truly don't know how uplifting your words were!)

- My portraits were simple, just up close at a park.  Valentine pics thrown together last minute to arrive to grandparents... late, once again.

- Changing my focus to grace will never be completely crossed off a to-do list.  This will forever be a daily desire, a daily dying to self, and giving of the grace that I do not deserve.  

Musings for March:
1. Teach at least one essential oils class.  Nervous, oh my!
2. Plan (with my older girls) a ballerina/pirate party for my youngest (who is turning 4!!!)
3. Focus on discipling my girls (with an emphasis on Bible memory).
4. Let go of some things of the past... (more may be shared in the future.)
5. Spend as much time outdoors as possible (more bike rides, park visits, picnics, and maybe getting back to running 4 miles again... maybe.)

Enjoy this free spring printable (as I certainly will!)

Five for February...

January's Simple Five:

1.  Organize our school room.  (almost done...)

2.  Finish A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliot

3.  Find and try 2 new, healthy recipes. 

     - Homemade Overnight Cinnamon Rolls (for our snow day)

     - Wholegrain Pumpkin Banana Nut Bread (w/o the nuts)

4.  Run up to 3 miles again.  (ok... it only happened once, but with the cold & rainy weather we've had, it wasn't as easy as I thought.)

5.  Devotions daily with my girls. (Nothing fancy.  Two to three days a week we'd review our Family Journal that follows what they are learning on Sundays.  The other days we'd either read through Chloe's devotional or You Can Change the World.

Obviously, my simple five were not completely accomplished. But I'm ok with that.  Instead, I want to strive for progress, not perfection.  More boxes were sorted through in the school room, another trash bag filled... I'm further along in my book, convicted and challenged.  Running is definitely a matter of progress, one step at a time.

Five for February:

1.  Finish organizing the school room and hang pictures.  No more clutter!

2.  Finish A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliot & read half of Cleaning House by Kay Wills Wyma (A Mom's 12-month experiment to rid her home of youth entitlement).

3.  Write 5 letters (real ones with stamps) to other women who may need encouragement.

4.  Take portraits of each of my girls (plus valentine pics).

5.  Focus on words of grace for my family.  

"Today, I will pray to speak words that are only STRONG words, words that make these children feel strong.  Grace words.  Grace is the only non-toxic air. All other words words I breathe are death words." - Ann Voskamp  

Click for the link to this free chalkboard printable

It's all God...

It's been a God week.  Honestly, this month has been a roller coaster of emotions and stress, yet each morning, as I open my devotional and Bible, it is exactly what I need to hear.  Some mornings, it may be a specific scripture that, as I rewrite it in my journal, comes alive to where I am in that moment.  The word "trust" has appeared day after day reminding me of His promise to me this year.  Even the prayer calendar for my husband has been so specific to his needs this week, that sometimes I'm left dumbfounded.  

On Tuesday, when my emotions left me nothing left to give, I made a last minute decision to go through the drive-thru at Starbucks. But as I drove up to the window to scan my card, the lady in black and green informed me that my coffee had been paid for by someone else. My quivering voice said thank you, I grasped my precious coffee, and let the tears flows under my sunglasses.  It was a God moment. 

If you have a few minutes, listen to this song by Jen Stanbro - God Day - Amazing way to start the day!

Click here for the two prayer calendars I use as well, thanks to Kat Lee at Inspired to Action.

Day 15 - School Away from School

Fall!  How I adore this season!  The apples, the pumpkins, hot cocoa, PSL from Starbucks, jeans and sweatshirts, boots, the list could go on...  Once the weather begins to cool, the last thing I want to do is sit around inside.  (I really should consider doing year-round schooling, so we can do schoolwork inside when it's 100 degrees out, and enjoy more time off when the weather is actually pleasant in NC.) However, lesson plans must be checked off and the three R's still need to be covered.  But as soon as they are, off we go outside. 

Learning can be accomplished anywhere, our local community center where all three of my girls can take an art class, a field trip to the apple orchard or even the NC State Farmer's Market.  (Please note these were not all done on the same day.)

That I am...