Just an overview of recent events

We had a great visit with our friends who visited us last week.  I discovered that the beauty of a blog is that when you get together with friends who have been away, but have a blog, you don't have to spend as much of your precious moments together catching up on the recent events of their lives.  Of course, as soon as our guests left, I thought of a ton of questions that I wanted to ask them, but didn't think of in the midst of our fun and activities. 

The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous for about two weeks and we have spent most of every day outside.  I have also spent a good deal of time cleaning out all those areas of the house (like the basement and rarely used cabinets) that tend to get the least attention in my busyness and tend to collect all those things that we don't know what to do with at the moment.  It feels so good to get a lot of projects done and see the difference it makes in how our house looks and functions. 

Elias is really reading and writing a lot this summer.  And I often find him making little signs and writing on  paper by sounding out the words by himself.  It is great to see him applying what he learned.  During the school year, there was barely any time for him to just use what he learned on a casual everyday basis.  It really emphasizes to me how having downtime from teaching really is helpful to the learning process.
July will be our slowest month this summer.  I am trying really hard to keep it low key and to not schedule a lot of activities.  On the flip side, because most of our relationships are connected to our activities (like small group, soccer, the gym, etc.), I have felt a little lonely at times, because I tend to forget that I actually have to make plans with people, since I won't automatically see them on a regular basis.  Luckily, over the weekend, I had some impromptu gatherings with friends and it rose my spirits.

I am attempting to read a little more this summer and I have joined the adult reading program at the library when I signed Elias up for the kids' reading program, which he was in last year and loved.  I used to read A LOT, but have not had the time to read recently and when I do read, I always feel guilty that I am not using my time more productively.  I currently am reading a non-fiction and fiction book.  The fiction book is called "Cassandra and Jane" and is a novel about the relationship between Cassandra and Jane Austen.  I love Jane Austen novels and this book is sort of similar to the movie "Becoming Jane", but since I am not sure how accurately it was researched, I wonder how much of it is truth and how much is the author's speculation.  The non-fiction book I am reading is called "Traveling Light" by Max Lucado.  If you are familiar with and enjoy Max Lucado's work, then you would enjoy this book.  It is about laying down all the things that weigh us down every day.  I started reading it at the beginning of the summer, which was a time I felt like I needed to "unload" a lot of baggage.  There are so many books I would love to read, but can't.  But then I think about all the time that I will have when my kids are grown and would rather be out with their friends then playing in the yard with me and know that there will be a time when I will miss Isabella trying to tug on my arm and ask me to come out in the yard with her.

To give a quick update on things the kids have mastered recently: Bella has been able to pump herself on a swing by herself since the beginning of June and she spent the entire night in a tent with daddy in the backyard with daddy last night (Elias came in after about 20 minutes).  Elias is able to tie his shoes without any assistance and is riding a two wheel bike with much more balance than he could before.  They are both getting lean, strong, and tan (despite my constant sunscreen spraying that they hate!).  There are a multitude of little things they are doing that shows me that they are growing and I just can't list them all!