Summer break report

Summer break. Wow! It is trucking along! I've thought of a million tiny things to blog, but my kids are forever claiming their minuscule allowances of screen time, and even at 30 minutes per kid per day, they hog the computer for what seems like forever. It may be because I am not much for policing their 30 minute windows of screen time, and despite a ridiculous collection of egg timers, they seem to be always "forgetting" to set their timers or failing to hear them sound.

Poor me, I know. Don't cry for me (Argentina). I still manage to waste more than enough time scrolling through FB and reading ridiculous articles about the 10 shocking things you didn't know you were doing that will ruin your laundry, and other really critical uses for my time.

Some things I've been thinking of late:

~ I am so grateful to whichever previous owner installed aluminum blinds in the ground floor bedrooms. We've had more than our fair share of thunderstorms this spring, and I credit the heavy blinds for allowing Peter and Rachel to sleep through them easily. The lightning flashes are much more disruptive in the rest of the house!

~ Renee and I are hosting a series of summer bbqs! Some just for us, some with guest visitors. I love it! I always love hosting with Renee, because I can focus on the food I'm prepping and know the setting will be not just taken care of, but laid out well beyond my own ability. Even with paper plates on her patio, she manages to make it elegant! I also love a regular interruption to my normal routine dinner prep. Phil is handling the main course (on the grill), so I get to prep sides and dessert and that sounds seriously relaxing and easy to me. I'm hoping to try out some new desserts from the Baked cookbooks that Renee gave me for my birthday!

~ Speaking of the cookbooks, I tried out their Smores Nut Bars* this week when we hosted the kids' Totus Tuus leaders for dinner. It's not really my style, being a pretty dense, rich bar, while I'm more of a cakey gal, but I was in the mood for something different. It was excellent. Nathaniel loved it! And it was really easy to whip up.

*The link says "adapted from" the cookbook, but as far as I can tell they didn't change anything. My additional notes - I am lazy about chopping chocolate, so I used dark and milk chocolate chips. Also, I'm not sure you gain much by cutting up large marshmallows versus using mini marshmallows. I did it this time - the cutting - but it was a sticky hassle. Next time I think I'll just use an equivalent quantity of mini.

~ Marianne, with some minimal assistance from Ruth and Meg, is diligently constructing an incredible 4th of July structure that will be loaded with explosives. I don't want to give too much away, but I foresee a pretty impressive blaze in the middle of the street once this things sets off all its fireworks and melts down. She's even more enthusiastic than usual after we recently learned that Arthur and April are bringing their crew to Lincoln for the 4th! The girls can't wait to see their Minnesota cousins!

~ My sister celebrated a milestone birthday last week. Mostly that makes me think that I'm getting pretty old, myself, since I'm less than two years behind her. Ages that begin with a four seem far-fetched. Happy birthday again, Marci!

~ A couple people have remarked to me at the pool that I "have an easy summer ahead of" me because my kids are all pretty independent this year. It appears true, to a point. Rachel is loving the pool, but she runs back and forth between the baby pool and big pool ("Walk! Don't run! Rachel! Slow!") and I can't take the life vest off of her for an instant. I often find that after a brief conversation with another mom, I've lost track of her. I don't worry that she's drowning, because of the puddle jumper vest, but I don't like when she slips my watch. Peter is having a blast, but he wants to take his puddle jumper off and practice swimming for real. I like doing that with him some, but I don't like the battle to get him back in his life vest once he's tasted freedom. So, "easy"... yes. I'm not holding or nursing an infant, and all my children can walk reliably in that baby pool without face planting and needing constant rescuing... but I'm not yet one of the moms who's lounging on a chair with a book. That's still a distant dream.

Summer has been flying by, and I don't foresee it slowing. Between house guests, family visiting from out of town, the kids' trip to Kansas and my 20 year high school reunion (I know! You're shocked! It's not possible I could be so old even after that talk of my sister's aging!) I feel like we'll be saying hello AND goodbye to July before we know it. I'm trying to soak up the slightly later mornings and the afternoons at the pool and just keep it all pretty chill in the meantime. Enjoying the ride. Having an "easy" summer.