Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

Children & motherhood

What the next few months might look like {otherwise known as summer!}

Today marks the first day of summer break, which also means it’s the beginning of the first summer of two children home all day after having one in school all day all year long.

Pray for me.

I joke. A little. But I’m determined to make our summer fun and relaxing since last summer was full of stress and moving and settling in and all kinds of new things and did I mention stress?

So, the kids and I are going to have fun. And sometimes my husband will be with us. And I might be able to pause to tell you about the things we’re doing.

And I might not.

So if things get a little quiet around here, just imagine us having all kinds of summer fun. Or me tearing my hair out. Or children fighting because they of so much togetherness. Because all of that and more is what’s in store for us this summer.

I can’t commit to blogging regularly while keeping the kids entertained, or at least occupied, for the whole summer. So, I’m giving myself the freedom to walk away, if  necessary. You’ll still see some book reviews here because for me, summer is about TONS of reading. And some of you will be ecstatic to know that one of my book-related goals this summer is to finally read all–yes, ALL!–of the Harry Potter books. A dear friend is loaning me the ones from her personal collection. The first two wait patiently on my bookshelf. I’ll let you know how it goes. If you want to see all of what I’m reading (all the time, not just in summer) you can find me on Goodreads. There’s a link to my profile on the right side of the blog.

And I doubt I’ll be able to give up Facebook and Twitter or Instagram for the summer, so feel free to look me up there, too.

I hope you have a wildly fun summer. And a relaxing one. And that you find joy whatever the months ahead bring.

Thanks for reading! I’ll see you around!

5 on Friday: kidisms

I don’t want to bore you with all the reasons my kids make me laugh, but it’s time for another installment of “Things My Kids Say That Make Me Laugh.”

kids picnic

 

Here are five of the recent gems.

  1. The kindergartener (like all other elementary school girls in the U.S.) belts out “Let it go, let it go…” (Frozen soundtrack, in case you live under a rock … and if you do, I might join you there). Her brother quips, “Let what go?” His comedic timing is perfect, even if it’s unintentional.
  2. They were playing together in another room when the kindergartener came running in: “Mom, Corban says I’m a tattle-taler and I’m not!” I had a hard time not laughing at her when she said it. I can’t wait till she understands irony.
  3. I spent two hours this week (in one day) coloring with my son. When our daughter came home from school and noticed the pictures, she said to me, “Did you color those?” I told her I did. She said, “Those are beautiful. Almost as beautiful as mine.” Um, thank you?
  4. We were talking about the plan for Saturday morning when my husband needed to drop me off at writers group, then come back and pick me up a few hours later before we took him to work. I mentioned there would be a funeral at the church so there might be a lot of cars. Our son immediately tuned in to the conversation: “Where’s the funeral? We’re going?” This made my husband and me laugh because earlier this spring we took our kids to two funerals in the span of a month. And to the four-year-old, it was no big deal that we might be going to a funeral. We’re so weird.
  5. And this same kid who used to be shy around people and new situations sits in the Chick-fil-A where my husband works and yells out “Hey, Matt!” and “Hey, Kim!” to my husband’s co-workers, even if they’re in the middle of a conversation. And it’s loud. And frequent. It’s hilarious. (Or not.)

Probably those were mostly “you had to be there” situations, but in case you have an active imagination and know our kids at all, you can get a good chuckle out of them.