This has been one of my favorite views this summer ... sitting pool side watching my kids swim for hours and hours on end. Remembering growing up in Florida and spending every day at my grandparent's pool ... my grandmother always had the best snacks to serve during the summer!
Today I am so excited to be guest posting over on Cheryl's awesome blog Sew Can Do . Hop on over to her blog to see how I made the project shown above and all the great projects she has featured during her CraftShare 2010!
It is that time of year again - time to plan for our new homeschool year. This begins our 5th year homeschooling and each year it gets just a little bit easier - planning wise. Today I began wrapping up our lesson plans for the first six weeks of school. We begin officially on the 23rd of August - which may sound early to some of you but, is actually 2 1/2 weeks after the public school system starts back here.
Yesterday we spent the morning, as a family, volunteering at a local elementary school with our church as part of Community Makeover - which is a concentrated weekend of community service led by churches serving in their own Community. It was one of the hottest days of the year and the work was not easy or fun but, it was a great lesson for the kids. After the first hour there was definite grumbling going on amongst our three - "it's so hot", "pulling weeds is not fun", "how many hours do we have to do this for". We reminded them that being the hands and feet of Jesus is not glamorous nor will it always be fun. I think up until now most of our volunteer experiences have been indoors and involved very little hard manual labor. In the next year we would like to take a mission trip - I think this experience was good practice!
This week the kids are attending VBS at our old church and I am volunteering in the kitchen with one of my dearest friends. We are preparing snack each day for around 250.
Devin, Lexi and Ava Mae have been troopers about being at VBS with a joyful heart. It is quickly approaching the end of summer and we are all tired after countless weeks of camps and activities - on top of that only Lexi has a good friend in their group. I asked the kids on Monday to just look at this as an opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus - help where it is needed, be friendly to kids they do not know, and above all have a joyful heart about it.
We will finish out the week on Friday and then on Saturday, our family is working with our new church and volunteering in our community. We look forward to serving together as a family!
I am so lucky to have my best friend and a neighbor on my street who all supply me with their tomato surplus! This year our tomatoes have not fared so well. While we were gone over the 4th of July most of our tomato plants succumbed to the heat. I guess they are just not as heat resistant as our peppers, chives and strawberry plants.
They are called Tomato Hornworms and are completely harmless in the sense that they do not sting or bite but, boy can they eat tomato plants. We have captured two and they are both living in a bug jar with what was left of our tomato leaves.
Last night my husband took Devin out to the movies while the girls and I headed into downtown Atlanta to a trunk show for Loblolly Lane at my sister's restaurant. We had a great time ... the food was wonderful, the dresses adorable, we even bought jewelry from another vendor she invited in for a trunk show.
I am so happy the girls now have their Fall dresses ... I think what I am going to have their Christmas card photo made in them, as long as I can find Devin something to coordinate.
It is always fun to get away for an evening with just my girls! We even enjoyed stopping off at my sister's new abode, a 1930's arts and crafts style home in Midtown. I told her I am so jealous and will be back soon to take tons of photographs ... I just love those style of homes!
Today I hosted my last stamp camp for the summer ... Princess Stamp Camp. We had eight girls in attendance and it was crazy but, so much fun! We made four projects - Princess Bottle Cap Necklaces, Princess Wands, Monogram Shrinky Dink Bracelets, and a Birthday Card for the next Princess Party they attend. I always know my camp is a success when the girls finish all their projects I have planned and when they ask me how soon I can host my next camp. It is a blessing for me to host these sweet girls!
I can't believe that summer is sailing by so quickly. It is hard to believe that in less than a month the public schools in this area will start back. Thankfully, we homeschool so our start date will be delayed by a couple of weeks but, our activities will gear back up by the second week of August.
I recently found a recipe for a type of coconut brownie on this fun blog. For years I have been trying to replicate a recipe my father-in-law made. It was my husband's favorite but, unfortunately, when my father-in-law passed away several years ago so did many of the treasured family recipes. I wish now I would have taken more time to learn how he made some of my husband's favorites.
Prepare boxed brownie mix following directions on box, set aside. Mix remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and set aside.
Grease the bottom only of a 13 x 9 inch pan with cooking spray.
Pour remaining brownie mix over top of coconut layer - trying hard not to mix all three layers together when spreading out.
Bake at 350 degrees for 24 minutes or until sides pull away from pan and middle seems set. Do not over bake! Brownies are best served moist. Enjoy!
Our 4th of July weekend was spent in Asheville, NC at our family reunion. With nine siblings it is a rare occasion when all of us are able to get together, especially as spread out as we all are.
The kids were able to spend quality time with their cousins. My brother, Sean, is the only other sibling in my family who has children. Sean and his wife, Sara, have two precious girls who are 10 and 3. We enjoyed nightly pool swims, 4th of July fireworks and dinners with them. I wish they lived closer. Sean is stationed right now in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. The good news is we are planning a Disney vacation with them next year!
The kids also loved seeing their Aunts and Uncles who they very rarely see. My brother, Donnie, is a former Division I college football player who now coaches college ball in Iowa. Between coaching and recruiting his schedule keeps him pretty busy. We love when we get to visit with him!!
We also had a great time with my sister, Carissa, whose wedding the girls were in almost two years ago and her husband.
Other than visiting with all the family a few other highlights of our trip ... beautiful mountain views from my parent's neighborhood, shopping downtown, staying and playing at our fancy hotels (yes, we had two for this visit - we decided to extend our stay by one day and moved into a downtown hotel for our last night), getting 4th of July face painting, and Field of Dreams baseball games.
But then, sadly, after five days, the fun had to come to an end. The cousins were all so sad saying goodbye ... it is hard living so far apart! 
