On My Mind....

Summer is addictive!! Not only is it just plain fun to be outside and to be able to swim and have cookouts and such it is great to be able get things done. Summer vacation reminds me how much of my day and energy gets devoted to homeschooling. Throughout the school year there is always an underlying frustration concerning how much I can get done around the house on a daily basis. So as much as I want to totally kick back and relax, I have to remember that this is also my only time to get projects done.

Some of my projects are fun like quilting, knitting, decorating. Some are a little less fun like decluttering, repairing, painting, scrubbing and the like. I am actually doing more spring cleaning now than I did in the spring!! In the spring I was still deep in schoolwork and planning for next year. Spring cleaning was fast and not too deep.

Thankfully I have my kids to help me. They are all old enough now, praise the Lord. So I am trying to discipline them to help me keep up with laundry, dishes and putting things back when done so we don't waste time each morning catching up. My new schedule is to do the dusting, vacuuming, bathroom cleaning and floor washing on Monday. Then, on the other days, we can do a quick tidy/cleaning and then focus on projects such as decluttering and repairs and yard work, etc.

This week the kids decluttered their rooms and then we began on the basement. It feels good to fill up the trailer for the dump!! Then once a week Robin hauls it all to the dump and we can start over. Won't it be great if in Sept. we have this place all decluttered and the extra stuff OUT?! Then we can focus on keeping the clutter OUT and not letting it back in!

So, we work on special projects and declutter about an hour a day and then have the rest of the day to play and enjoy! Last weekend we took the kids to a waterpark called "Splash Town" in Saco Maine. It was in honor of Tyler's 14th birthday and he was able to invite his best friend. It was actually very cold that day but everyone had fun despite the chronic shivering!! Here are a couple of pics!

Rachel hates the water slides but found some new friends to play with in the pool!

Here are all the boys and Robin coming out of the biggest, scariest water slide called "The Tornado." See how the employee is bundled in the raincoat? She had the pants on too...it was that cold! BUT it worked out good because there were not the typical big crowds!