June

We had the best start to summer with just the right amount of busy.  June was our month that had the least amount of travel, so we really enjoyed developing routines at home and enjoying a different pace of life than the school year.  Below is a glimpse into a bit of our June....

Summer Routine

Summer starts her mornings with her summer training with the cross country team and has had many, many babysitting jobs this summer.  Colton is taking a strength and conditioning class with a friend M-Th and enjoys soccer in the evenings.  Larkyn is enjoying lots of gymnastics this summer as she prepares for her first team competition this fall.  To keep us healthy and using our time wisely, we have a "goal" chart this summer with the opportunity to earn money.  The kids have the opportunity to "check a box" in the areas of Mind, Body, Soul, Head, Hands, and Rest.  This has set us up for such a fantastic start to summer, as the kids have goals each day when they wake up and they seek out activities to meet those goals.  Feel free to click on the picture below to see examples of some of the ways they can fulfill each of these goals.

Along with various cleaning or laundry chores, one chore of the day I gave them was to pick a healthy dinner recipe from one of 12 cookbooks I got from the library and put the ingredients they would need on my grocery list.  (Out of all the cookbooks, they all picked recipes out of this one!~)

They each were assigned a day to make dinner.   I was not in the kitchen with them during meal prep, but went over the recipe ahead of time with them and was available for any questions that might arise.  They rose to the challenge learning things like how to cut leeks from a you-tube video, how to make a homemade cream sauce, and how to sear chicken.  I am very proud of them. Here is their recipes of choice and final products.

Colton:

Larkyn

Summer

VBS

The kids have done a fabulous job of using their time wisely and filling their summer with many things they enjoy doing.  One highlight of our June is always the week of VBS.  This year was Larkyn's last year of VBS!  Next year she will be a helper!  This year Summer helped lead songs, Colton was a middle school helper and helped with a different role each day including being a helper in kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, doing games and doing art.  I worked with Larkyn's age and fully enjoyed the last year of having one of my kids in my VBS group.

Summer on stage leading songs

Colton at the end of the day helping with checkout

Larkyn's VBS group (she is front left in purple and I am front right) .  HUGE shout out to Grandpa K (pictured in the middle) for coming and sharing his science salvation talk with the 3rd and 4th graders on Thursday and to Grandma K for this picture!

VBS is even more fun because cousins Teddy and Charlie came to our church for VBS and Auntie Kristin helped with Teddy's class!  Teddy even got called up to help with songs one day!

We LOVE our church and the community we have there.  I am beyond grateful for the ways that our kids get to grow up experiencing what church is - a community of believers that desires to love and serve both the Lord and those around them.

Father's Day

June included celebrating Father's Day and our anniversary.   We celebrated Paul with pizza!

Paul and I also each got to spend time with our dad's.  Paul and his dad went to a Loons soccer game (but didn't take a picture!) and I went hiking with my dad.  We are so blessed!

Paul and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary by going out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and leaving the kids at home :).  We didn't take a picture but it was great to get out together for a date!

We wrapped up June with several exciting things, each deserving their own blog post.....

Coming up next!