A Little Work & A LOT of FUN!!!

Since the kids have been home for the summer, my normal "routine" of cleaning house has pretty much gone out the window! Too much other fun stuff to be done, of course! However, the time does come when it just has to be done. Yesterday was such a day. SO, the kids and I set off to get some good ol' cleaning done. Of all the times they have helped me in the past, I must say that this time went the smoothest! No real complaining, heavy sighing, or procrastinating.I was very proud of their efforts. Above are some shots to document the day - Kinlee vacuuming the staircase, Parker cleaning up a swept pile on the balcony, and both of them vacuuming their rooms - I'll explain the big "W" with rocks around it in Kinlee's room tomorrow... Can you tell how concerned she looks that the cord is messing it up??

As a result of their efforts, I took the kids swimming at a neighbor's pool (in exchange for some sewing I did earlier in the summer for her, we now have the pool "reserved" one day a week - I love trading services!!!) It was very nice and the kids had a blast, as you can tell. Hey....it just dawned on me, maybe the promise of the pool later in the day had something to do with the lack of complaining.....hhhhmmmm......maybe I'm on to something.....Okay, I admit it, I planned it that way - I AM a mom afterall!!!! (we know all the tricks - God just made us that way!!!) :)

Way to Go, Kinlee!!!

At the end of the school year last week, 1st graders met in the cafeteria for Accelerated Reader awards. Parker's grade did not do awards this year for AR - the teachers said they were so busy focusing on achievement testing that they were not able to encourage and motivate the kids to participate in AR quite as much. Kinlee did very well, though. If you'll allow me a moment to "brag"... She ranked 8th in her grade for # of points, 1st in her class for 3 of points, and received the "Chapter Chompers" award for the most chapter books read and tested. We are very proud of her! Way to go, Kinlee!!! The kids are both enrolled in the local library Summer Reading program. Neither of my kids have ever been "recreational" readers (maybe Kinlee more than Parker), but this program has definitely changed that the past few days. Below is a picture I caught of them out in the backyard reading some of the new books they had gotten earlier in the day. I think Kinlee is up to 70 books read, and Parker is up to 50. Turn anything into a competition, and they are sold! We have already received some pretty cool prizes and gift certificates for their efforts. Good job, guys!!!

Summer Has Arrived!!!

This has been the scene in our backyard the past couple of days. After our camping trip, the kids asked if we could get out the water slide.
We were both exhausted, but obliged and got the thing out. I think we were both pretty anxious to see how it was going to hold up after HOURS of play last summer. We were very excited and pleased to see that it was still in great shape, minus a couple of patched holes. The kids got right on it (Parker didn't even take the time to change into his trunks) and have played on it every day since. They were out until dark last night. We got on it earlier today (twice, to be exact), so we were able to take advantage of the daylight this time. I am sure that it will be blown up and deflated MANY times in the next few weeks. I slid down it once, but I didn't "fly" down it quite like they did. I didn't try again. It hurt.