my mom in a swim suit!

yep...
I'm posting a picture of my mom in a swimsuit on my blog...

the date stamped on this makes my mom about 6
...the same age as Wilson...

isn't she adorable!...

I was looking thru some pictures to change out and add a summer vibe to my living room decor and I found this one and a few others that just felt like summer to me...

here it is on the whole 'pia-ntle' (piano trying to be a mantle)

she's to the left of the plant...held up by a large teal clothes-pin

and a step back...

my summer subway art is framed and on the left side of the piano...

and because she loves when I post pictures of her in her swim suit...without asking permission...
here is the other swim suit pic of my mom...

this is framed and on the right side of the piano

doesn't this picture just 'scream' summer to you?...I love it...I'm guessing mom's about 17...and that's her mom..my grandma...making grandma about 64 in the picture...love the pose from both of them...
and looking at the age of my mom...I'm just guessing that my grandfather (her dad) had died maybe within the last year before this picture was taken...this might have been a really hard sad summer for both my mom and grandma so it makes my heart happy to see them being a little spunky at the beach!

any maybe my most-favorite 'embracing the summer' picture I found of my mom...

framed in the center, slightly to the right of the plant.

love this picture...my mom talks about being shy as a child...but this picture..at the beach, standing on a bench, hands on hips...says she wants to take on the world...or at least the next 3 months of summer vacation...
...
do you ever look at pictures of your parents or grandparents at different ages and wish you could step back and spend a day with them at that age...
I see the little girl in that top picture, the same age as my son, and think how much fun the two of them would have running around on the beach together...
the carefree teen with her beyond middle-aged-mom I'd love to sit and share lunch with the two of them...
or the spunky little girl that is taking summer by the horns...I can just imagine her and my daughter laughing and giggling and being amazing little girls together...

happy summer...
hope you enjoyed my mom in her swim suit...

so far...so good

the summer plan is working out okay...
we are foregoing the Movie Monday today
....for my new favorite day...
Nap Monday...
kids weren't in love with the idea...
but both promptly fell fast asleep!

we had a
"welcome-to-the-summer-slumber-party"
last night
all kids tucked in 'bed' by 11
aka futons, couches, floors
...last time I was out of bed to yell at them tell them to sleep was 1:30...
not too bad...
only 3 of the slumber party kids (my 2 + one other) had swim team bright and early this morning...


I want to share this summer subway art I created...
saw a few on pintrest...none of them had the all the right words for our family and/or colors I loved...

leave me a comment with your email and I'll send you a pdf version so you can print one off if you'd like...

happy summer!

sum, sum, summa time...a plan

It's here...
today is the first day of summer vacation!

idea that I got from pintest...kids came home to this yesterday.

Can't believe it's here already!
AND I have a plan...
my goal is to not have a mind-numbing summer...
that's 2-fold...
1.  I don't want it to be mind-numbingly boring!
2.  I don't want the kids to have their brains be numb by the end of the summer and then school hurts their brain come August!

I also want it to feel like summer for the kids...
a little carefree
a little laid back
screen time (in moderation)
a little spontaneity here and there

so this is the sum, sum, summa time plan
a minor, not too rigid agenda
*swim team
     this is a great low commitment scheduled 'event' for the kids.  It's 3 days a week; MWF, for an hour.  It's early, but not too early, starting at 8:30.  The early factor is do-able because the prep is zilch...the have to have their swim suits on their bodies and all their swim stuff will just live in the car (goggles, sunscreen, etc) and their towels will hang in the garage right next to the van to be grabbed on the way......then they can eat breakfast on the go in the car, a breakfast burrito or peanut butter sandwich, etc.  Also it's WAY cheaper than actual swim lessons $1.51 per hour compared to $8.75 an hour...AND swim team lasts all summer and lessons are only for 2 weeks.

*reading
     we will take part in the Barnes and Noble summer reading program for kids (download the pdf form here) and we're going to do a family reading program that will be geared for the reading level and age of our own kids (boy child needs to read 7 chapter books to earn a free book, girl child needs to read 5 chapter books...her chapter books are WAY longer than his and takes her longer).
     we're also going to do reading bingo....our own version...for every bingo they earn a coupon and then when then get a blackout they will get a golden ticket.

idea from how does she

   visit how does she to download the printables that are totally customize-able for your kids.

*theme days
     Movie Monday's = our local dollar theater (that's actually like $1.50 but we still call it the dollar theater) has family days on Monday's and a group of 3 or more (aka a family) pay only $0.75 per person.  If there isn't a move we want to see we will do the red box and watch a movie that we haven't seen yet.  We haven't 'rented' a movie all year long and rarely go to the theater so there are a ton of movies for us to catch up on.
     Errand Day Tuesday &/or Garden Tuesday = kids are not in love with errands...or actually the boy child is not, the girl child is on the fence about errands if there is a store involved she's all over that.  Then the garden day will happen early and will be weeding and harvesting our garden.  This is also a day that Redding has a local Farmers Market so errands and gardening go hand-in-hand and we will probably visit that a few times a month.
     Music Wednesday = their piano lessons are scheduled for Wed afternoon...so really not too
musically...but I might make this a day that we also crank up the tunes and rock out while we do our chores.
     Library Thursdays = this doesn't need an explanation...we will go to the library on Thursdays...
     Field-trip Friday = Beau's day off so this is a great day to go on family hikes, visit waterfalls, drive to the coast, etc....
     AND/Or Friend Friday = we will probably let them invite friends along on our field-trips and if we have nothing planned they can just have a friend over anyways.

* responsibilities before screen time

     the kids both have a responsibility chart that hangs in the hallways and they will need to complete all their responsibilities before they are allowed to turn on the tv or play their DS's.  And their screen time will be limited to 1 show per child and then a 30 minute time frame on the DS games....

*various other ideas
     I have pinned a ton of ideas on pintrest to keep the summer fun...visit my School Vacation Idea board to see what we might be doing....

...
also I will have to be working from home most mornings and will have to make trips to the office a few days a week....
so here's hoping our summer is smooth and not-too-mind-numbing....

what's your summer look like...
are you planning it out or letting it just happen?

on another note

...so you know how it goes...
you're in the car with a friend...
tunes turned up...
favorite song comes on...
....
and then you realize that you actually don't know the real words to the song because your friend just pointed out how those words you've been singing for years are wrong...
...
oh, so that's never happened to you...
well, it happened to the girl child this week...


the girl, the boy and I are sitting in the car...
the girl starts singing
the song...Bon Jovi's Shot Through the Heart...


her version...
"Shot through the heart, 
and you're too late...
You need love, a bad mate"
...
me-"Um, what did you just sing?"
girl-"The song"
me-"Yes, but what words did you just sing to that song?"
girl-"Shot through the heart, and you're too late... You need love, a bad mate"
me-giggles
boy-giggles
girl-"what?"
me-"those aren't the words."
girl-"really?"
me-"You need love, a bad mate, isn't even a sentence"
girl-"well, it's a song and songs sometimes don't make sense."
....
and she's right...


and FYI the words are
Shot through the heart,
And you're to blame
You give love a bad name


so, what song did you sing wrong until you figured it out?

girl child

love that girl child.

cutie girl in pink the in middle

school has been hard for her...

she is a tenderhearted person who wants to learn, but learning hasn't been easy these last few years...

she sailed into school and soared those first 2 years...

then we hit second grade and things came to a screeching halt...

...third grade we started back in the forward momentum...

but just a very slow forward...

we've done different things to help her over the past 4 years...

• talking with teachers
• testing
• different ways of doing things
• more talks with teachers...
• different testing...
• NO TESTING...
• no screen time during the week...
• very strict bed times...
• careful with the food that she eats before and during school...she NEEDS brain food, no wasted calories!
• only mom does homework with her...
• after school tutoring....
• only dad can do homework with her...
• no after school torturing...
• homework at the kitchen table...
• homework in her bedroom....
• more talks with teachers....

I'm going to be honest, 

     her going into 5th grade was very scary for me.  

She was going to have 4 different teachers...

4 different people that we had to communicate with about any issues she had with classwork or homework...and please don't let there be any girl drama...please NO 5th grade girl drama...

....

I prayed a lot this past year...

not that I wasn't praying before...

but I had more focused prayer for her...

God, help my girl enjoy school...help her get joy out of learning...God, help her to just get it!

we prayed more together...

Beau and I prayed for her

Beau and I prayed WITH her

we encouraged her over and over and over again to pray for herself.

we constantly reminded her that God was with her during EVERY test she took...

we pray daily on our drive to school...and would encourage her to pray at school before a test, before a project, or if she was having girl drama...

guess what...

there is 6 1/2 days of 5th grade left...

and this has been an amazing year.

....

school is still not easy for Madison,

learning will always be something that she has to reach a little higher for...

but her 4 teachers that she had this past year...

they were a gift from God...

they are what teachers are meant to be.

they stretched Madison when they knew she could stretch...

and they let her rest when she needed rest.

they helped her love school...

they nurtured her, they cherished her, they grew her academically in ways that we didn't hope for.

in the past month...

this child who has struggled with school for the past 4 years...

she won 3rd place in the 5th grade science fair...

...um yeah, there's ONLY 120 5th graders at her school!...

3rd place!  Thanks Ms. Stoker...

and then...

she received a President's Education Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence....

WHAT!

yep...that's Mr. Obama's John Hancock on that!

and then...the one from left field...

the girl hates math...

always...since kindergarten...it's been her worst subject...

she received a certificate for her work in Math!

...thanks Ms. Hyatt....

Madison & Hailey with their math awards

I know what it's like for school to not be easy....

I didn't sail through school...

I think that may be why it's hard for me to watch Madison struggle...

I remember being in the group of 'slow' kids...

I remember wanting to leave the class and go to the fun reading class, but I couldn't spell so I had to stay in with the slow readers (even though I was a great reader!)...

I've learned this year...

some stuff I've always known...

• Madison is smart, she just takes longer to get the information in...and then back out again...
• I'd rather have a child that struggles with reading but never falters with it comes to compassion!
• that girl is funny...
• maybe school isn't as hard for her as it is for mom watching her...it's like I'm going through it again and saying, "not again,"... but it's her first time...she doesn't know different...
• school isn't the end or the beginning of her life...or mine!
• teachers can make or break a child...be your child's advocate 

the 3 besties...Madison (left),
Lauren (middle), holding Madison's math award,
 & Hailey (right)...and Hailey's little sister in front

anyways...

I'm so very thankful for this past year...

I survived 5th grade again!

and we have been so very grateful for Madison's team of teachers...

thank you Stoker, Hyatt, Kubisch, & Packham...you are the teachers that Madison needed this year.

seriously...we know...without a shadow of a doubt...that Madison's teachers were the answer to our prayers!

Thank you God!

my week

it's just the boy child and me this week...
the husband and girl child are away at WES camp
Whiskeytown Environmental Camp
blog note:
...Whiskeytown is a local Lake and State Park...
I didn't send the 5th grade girl to a camp to learn about making fire water!

anyways....this has been my week
work
call dr. office to talk about insurance issues
volunteer for boy child's class
call dr. office leave message
have wii tournament with boy child
(fyi...I totally kicked his you-no-what in table tennis and frisbee)
make waffles for dinner
have Monday night Hookers over
...that's what I call my crochet ladies that come over on Monday's
stay up way too late with Erin trying to get the knot-from-Hades out of her yarn!

wake up too early on Tuesday morning
work
call dr's office and leave message about insurance stuff
work
hang out with church financial secretary while we are both on the phone with insurance company about a totally new issue
pick up boy child
cuddle and read with boy child
call dr office AGAIN
get letter from insurance company about totally different issue...
...UGH...
repeat the mantra
"I just love health insurance companies"
fall asleep crazy early due to last night's 'hookin' issues

wake up early because I went to bed too early
work
call dr office and leave another message about issue #1
have meeting with volunteer
pick up boy child
make cookies....
and that's where we are right now...boy and I are going to make cookies!
good bye!

May Day

May Day...May Day...

it's another ChambersMade family 1st...

we've never really lived in a neighborhood that we could really 'celebrate' May Day...

 now we do...
I've been collecting cans for a few weeks now...
I have a plan for them and this summer...

but I figured I have plenty cleaned & up in the cupboard that I could spare 4 so the kids and I could have a little May Day fun...

we wrapped wire around the groves in the cans and made a handle with the wire...
printed up a little May Day Tag and tied it with twine
and then cut some mini roses off our rose bush...

the kids sneaked up to the doors...

rang the door bell...

and RAN as fast as they could...

...

fun times...

all in all it took 30 minutes...

from creating and printing the tag,

to wrapping the wire around the can and creating a handle

tying the tag onto the can

cutting the roses

and then the delivery...

and cost us $0.00

we will hopefully make this a ChambersMade family tradition...

and hopefully our neighbors are pleasantly surprised by the little can of flowers on the door knob!

have you ever participated/celebrated May Day?