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::in the kitchen. painted by my friend sarah - an art student. i ♥ it!

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good morning! i love mornings here. it feels like we're camping. i love camping, especially when there is a real shower.

it's going to be another beautiful day. today we are headed to my aunt's house to go swimming. we've been busy almost everyday again this week. next week, i'm going to plan some time to just be home. we're having lots of fun, but i know we need the down time too. but, then again, we get plenty of down time in the winter.

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::last week we did a little hiking with some friends, and then played in a river. i'm confident i don't want to know what was in that water, but everyone had a great time.

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::taken through the fence.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
the weekend was:
cleaning and organizing our garage
cleaning and organizing our basement
getting rid of a bunch of stuff we don't need
seeing a family of deer in our backyard
dinner out
menu planning for our 4th of july party
grocery shopping
baseball game with an awesome pitcher!
more thunderstorms with some hail
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

after lots of rain, it looks like it's going to be a beautiful week here. we're looking forward to a birthday party for our niece, and having family here on sunday for a 4th celebration.

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the weekend was:

lightning bugs
kids camping w/grandparents
smores w/giant marshmallows
sick Dad on father's day
beautiful happy father's day/get well cards from the kids
laundry in new machines
homeschool conference
new curriculum
menu planning
grocery shopping
rain and sun
donuts
dinner date and walk with my ♥
talking with my sister
hummingbirds at our new feeder

running

it felt so good to run today! lately it has been hard to find a time when it works for me to go. i feel like all of a sudden, i have reached the taxi-stage of parenting. i try not to overdue kid's activities (i don't want that to be the focus of our lives), but when you have more than one kid, it's hard to not be busy with outside stuff. anyway, i really wanted to run today and i knew is was going to be another busy night. so, i packed up the kids and we headed to the high school track. i wasn't even sure if i'd be able to run there today, but thankfully no one was there. i ran 3 1/2 miles. it was awesome. the kids played and counted my laps. they were my little cheerleaders. i kept hearing, "go mom!" it was so sweet. when i told them i was ready to go, they said i should do another lap. that was good to hear because i think this might be a solution to the no-running.

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the kids have been taking swimming lessons everyday for the last two weeks. it has been so much fun to see the progress they have made. the first day, little meg cried when the teacher told her to get her face wet; now she is floating and really enjoying the water.

i ♥ summer!

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it was worth the sticky mess that it made. now we have lots to give away to friends and neighbors.
this picture cracks me up. don't ask me why i am cutting strawberries while wearing a white shirt.

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::still loving this cookbook.

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i'm off to the homeschool conference this week. this was a timely post to read before i go.

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::continuing on with the house tour (especially for my sisters).

still some unpacking to do, but we're slowly getting there.

keeping first things first

this is one of my favorite books. in it, mrs. scheffer talks about the importance of building a museum of memories in the family.

As a father, as a mother, as a parent, what lovely things do you have in mind to make the mornings and the days full of expectancy? How is your faithfulness being demonstrated; how is your example of faithfulness being shown? Have you ever spent time and imagination thinking up ways to show this? A little child is meant to be able to have some understanding of this description of God the Father, because of what that child has experienced in an earthly relationship. “The Lord is my portion, says my soul; therefore will I hope in him” (Lamentations 3:24). Thus when your child waits expectantly, sitting on the step, feet kicking the dirt, looking up the street — what sort of a response does he or she get? How much reality is there in the goodness you demonstrate? And when the little one patiently climbs the stairs, dragging a toy behind him or her, seeking you, really seeking you, wanting communication of some sort — what is the reception? What kind of an example are you of God’s promise that “Him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out” (see John 6:37).

what a privilege it is to be the collector of memories for our family museum.

may i be more aware of how i am spending my time, and more present at home. it is so easy to spend too much time on the computer, too much time on housework, or too much time on other things. i think this article says it well.

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::the view looking up from a picnic table at one of our favorite parks.

today was a good day! we are enjoying summer so much.

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::getting ready to make strawberry freezer jam.
tomorrow we are going to pick strawberries, and then we'll be making this freezer jam. it will be so nice to have jam to pull out in the winter time.

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::my first ever attempt at growing tomatoes. i did some research to see which ones would grow best in a container; let's hope i get at least one.

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::they said this was the perfect start to the day.

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things are coming along on the house front. here's the kitchen light that was installed this weekend. i got a great deal on e*bay! in the background is our living room (more on that to come this week). the olive greenish paint color on that wall is slowly growing on me.

finally starting to organize my books.

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::my friend sherri and i at the start of the 20k. it was pouring rain for the first hour of the race. it actually would have felt good, if it wasn't for the sloshing shoes and wet clothes.
sherri and i went our separate ways at the start. i was feeling really good for the first 6 miles, which surprised me because i didn't train at all. somewhere around mile 7, the reality of not training hit pretty hard. i felt pretty miserable for the remaining 5.4 miles. even when i finally saw the finish line, i really had nothing more to give. i finished almost 30 minutes slower than i did last year! wow! i guess there really is something to that training thing. i don't think i will do a long race again without it.
it ended up being a great day overall, and i am just so thankful i am able to run!!

a great reminder

love love this song!

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::our summer list. this will help us be a little more intentional with our days, and hopefully we will be able to get to all or most of these.

by the way, i decided to do the 20k. i'm just going to go and have a good time.

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it was a busy weekend! we painted two bedrooms this weekend. i'm so happy to have my bedroom almost organized again. we ended up choosing a different paint color - it's gray, but looks like a blue-gray at times. i love the way it turned out!

here's the before: it was a dark burgundy...took 3 coats to cover it up.
after: (i need to find my other lens, so i can take a better picture of this room)

ps - the 20k is this saturday. i have only run once in the last two weeks. should i still try to run? (i think it's supposed to rain) or, do i just skip it?