Scenes from a Summer's Day ~ Aug 7th

The Saint of the Week
by Captain

We had busy yet fun day of swimming followed by Summer with the Saints. I'll try and post a few pictures soon, but in the meantime, any guesses on which saint was featured this week?

Scenes from a Summer's Day ~ Aug 6th

Remember this picture?

Well, she is back...


It looks like my Auntie B anonymous commenter was right!

**I have been trying to get a picture for weeks, and today was the first day I was able to get close enough without them running away!!!

Scenes from a Summer's Day ~ Aug 5th

Relay Races...


Great Auntie B came to help...


First time off the diving board this year...

"I want to be a dolphin too-ah!"

All tuckered out...

A Very First Swimming Lesson

Snuggles had his very first swimming lesson on Monday. He LOVED it!

First he got use to being in the water...

Then he said hello to his big brothers.

He had a blast splashing.

It was so cute! He usually HATES being in water.

He worked on using his arms.

And then he learned about floating on his back.

He did great...

...and was just as snuggly as ever!

Scenes from a Summer's Day ~ Aug 4th

Somebody was sneakin' into the snacks at swimming...

P.S. To those of you that I owe emails, I am so sorry that it is taking me so long to respond! I really love hearing from you all, I am just totally slightly behind with everything right now... It has been a fun but EXHAUSTING week so far. I feel like I am treading water trying to keep up with it all! Did you notice my schedule? Of the 5 swimming lessons, I am suppose to be in the water for 3 of them, and my poor body is just not use to this, plus it is not the best time of the month, IYKWIM... I am SO sore and exhausted! I thought I was in better shape than this! ☺ See you all soon... Hopefully!

The Simple Woman's Daybook ~ Aug 4th

FOR TODAY

Outside my Window... we saw a bird fly out of the nest!!! So, it must not have been abandoned...

I am thinking... about Elizabeth's post Not So Simple. Isn't that the truth with a large family? (And my family is hardly "large" in comparison to some!) It is not simple, yet I wouldn't trade it for anything!

I am thankful... for my wonderful, healthy children.

From the kitchen... hot oatmeal with blueberries, toast, orange juice, and a smoothie for me. I have been very bad about my diet and I feel the effects... I am planning on changing that today.

I am creating...our curriculum lists for the upcoming school year, still!! It has been very slow progress this year.

I am going... to be super duper busy this week.

I am wearing...my jammies. It is still early, though I really should be getting ready for the day, instead of sitting at the computer.

I am reading... or rather, pouring through, tons of homeschool catalogs, and forum discussions, trying to figure out what will work best for my children. We need to make some changes, especially in Math. Saxon just didn't work this past year for us, and the thought of having children doing Saxon K, 1 and 2, is completely overwhelming. I am leaning towards switching to Right Start, but I am not sure yet...

I am hoping... to finish my planning and any ordering by next Sunday.

I am hearing...the washing machine. I have a few loads to do this morning, but nothing too overwhelming.

Around the house... I still have quite a bit of organizing to do. I started with the girls closet (armoire) the other night and sorted through 42 pairs of shoes! YIKES!! They ranged from size 6-10, so when I was done they had a much more reasonable number left over!

One of my favorite things... is having out of town friends come to visit! I have another best friend, from my teenage years on, who will be staying overnight with her 3 boys! It has been over a year since I have seen her, and we have each had a baby since then... Basically, it has been too long!! I'm so excited!!


A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...

• Auditory Processing Class for Captain, Mon-Wed
• Sign the boys up for a week long beginner Piano Camp
• Summer with the Saints on Thursday
• The boys will be serving Mass and Benediction on Friday for Father C. (It is so nice to have him back in town!!)
  
• Swimming, Swimming and MORE Swimming!!!! The swimming teacher called me last night, and is able to get my boys into another session as well, so it looks like all five of my children will be having lessons the next two weeks. We will be at the pool from 10:30-2:00 Mon-Thurs . YIKES!!! Speaking of which, I have to get going!!
  

Here is a picture thought I am sharing:

All set for the fall!

To see more Daybook entry's, click here.

I hope you all have a simply wonderful week!

Scenes from a Summer's Day ~ Aug 3rd

Fresh from the garden of a sweet old man from church...

He even said he will help me start a garden next year!!! I have never grown anything, but I am looking forward to trying...

Scenes from a Summer's Day ~ Aug 2nd

Still having fun camping!!

Snuggles is doing awesome and gaining weight quite well! In fact, we found out yesterday that the Celiac Panel came back negative!! Yeah!!! What a blessing! He has been such a happy baby lately too. It looks like he just got so sick in May/June that it took him awhile to recover. You have no idea how relieved we are. However, it all seems so non-important now... Thank you all for your prayers.


(Rascal was so excited that the tooth fairy remembered his tooth on only the second night this time!!! The tooth fairy has yet to arrive "on time" for this poor little guy. At least he/she usually makes up for it by leaving something extra special... This time it was a Dot-to-dot book AND a Revolutionary War coloring book. You can't beat that! Right?)

Now, we just need some marshmallows...

Scenes from a Summer's Day ~ Aug 1st

"Camping" in the Backyard!

St. Ignatius of Loyola

On to happier things (at least here on my blog)...

Yesterday the children woke up and were so excited that it was *Thursday* once again. Meaning, that it was time for:

Summer with the Saints

Captain was especially excited since it was also the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, as well as his baptismal anniversary!

When we arrived, we headed around to Marci's backyard. Just like each of the prior weeks, Marci had a number of tables set up with different activities for the children.

She must be spending so much time and effort putting this on for all of us! Everything is always so fun and well thought out. It has been such a wonderful blessing for my family!

Today's theme was (quite appropriately)
St. Ignatius of Loyola!

The children began the morning coloring pictures of St. Ignatius, while Marci read them a short story about his life.

Next they moved on to another table to make holy cards to add to their growing collection.

Then it was snack time. Marci made Ignacio, a cake for St. Ignatius Day found in Cooking with the Saints, as well as a few miniature "gluten and dairy free" cakes for a few of us unlucky ones. Isn't she so thoughtful!!??!!

I did cheat on my diet and tasted this delicious cake despite the gluten, dairy, sugar, almonds and everything else I am not "suppose" to have... (I have been cheating quite often lately... It's awful!)

For the craft project today, the children made little miniature pictures of churches, to represent the "Order of the Jesuits," since St. Ignatius founded this order.

Marci came up with these all on her own too! Didn't they turn out cute?

This week, it ended up just being Marci's family and us. Which was just as nice as a large group! My children had a wonderful time.

Once again we are all counting down the days till next Thursday!!

I wonder which Saint is up next... Any guesses??