Rustic Youth Camp

Rustic Youth Camp (RYC)

I tell people that RYC is like Vacation Bible School on steroids!  The days are full--beginning at 8:00 AM and ending somewhere between 4:00 and 5:00 PM.  Here is an overview of each camp day.

• General Assembly--where all campers (150 of them, ages 3-18) and counselors and staff (about 70-80 adults) gather in the multi-purpose building (un-air conditioned--hence the name Rustic Youth Camp, well, actually that is just one of the many reasons that the camp is rustic) to sing hymns, a patriotic song or two, listen to short Bible talk, hear pertinent camp announcements, and sing silly songs and play silly (and sometimes messy) games.
• Bible Classes--the campers are grouped by age and grade.  I taught the 3rd grade class.  Originally I signed up to teach the 3rd/4th grade class, but since the group was so big, the 3rd and 4th grades were separated.  I had Leah placed in my class even though she is a finishing 4th grader--she wanted me to teach her.  Leanna's son and Lynn's daughter were also in my class.  We had 13 students and 3 teachers.  We were responsible for our class from after assembly until pick-up time in the late afternoon.  The Bible classes always have a theme for the week, and each class studies the same theme and lessons, but of course the younger classes make the appropriate adaptations.  This year's theme was The Cross.  
• Crafts--Younger campers do crafts in their classroom, and older campers rotate through various craft stations on the campground.  Our class also had a secular theme, Rainbows, and so a lot of our crafts centered around that theme.
• Food--Two snacks and lunch are served each day in the air conditioned dining hall. 
• Playground Time--RYC has two playgrounds for the campers to enjoy.
• Sports--Each afternoon at 3:00, the classes participate in their assigned sport for the day.  The campers are divided in to two teams, Red and Blue (before we arrive), and score is kept all week.  Our class played ring toss, water ballon target throwing, volleyball, and kickball.  Other sports for older campers include softball, disc golf, ultimate frisbee, archery, trap shooting, plus others I am sure that I am forgetting.  Also, there are ping pong, archery, disc golf and trap shooting tournaments going on all week as well.  And, on Friday afternoon, all of the classes participate in a kind of Field Day.  The classes rotate through a variety of events, and the scores for red and blue teams are added to the week's scores.  Events include tug-of-war, hula hoop relays, sack races, and many others.
• Raft Building Competition--This was a new event for this year.  In the past, the 7th-12th graders go on a field trip on Thursdays.  This year, instead, the three classes (7-8th, 9th, and 10-12th) were each assigned the following project:  build a raft, that will float with at least one person on board, using only materials found around the campground.  No supplies could be purchased.  Thursday at 5:00, the three teams with their rafts put them in the lake and raced a short distance to the boathouse.  I think much fun was had by all the builders, and the crowd really got into it!
• Bunkhouse--I don't know much about what happens after 5:00, because Lynn and I take our younger children to Mrs. Beulah's house for the night.  Campers must be 13 years old to stay in the bunkhouse.  This year Julie, Clay, and Lynn's oldest two boys stayed in the bunkhouses.  I know that they are served supper and breakfast,  have free time, and have at least one Bible study each night plus an early morning singing session (while waiting for the day campers to arrive.)
• Friday Night Program--all parents, grandparents, friends, and other family members of campers are invited to the Friday Night Program.  The campers and guests enjoy a BBQ and hotdog dinner followed by the skits and awards.  Each class prepares a short skit or song to present Friday night.  The camp directors award various awards and recognition including a service award, camp favorites, and individual sports awards.  

RYC is run by individual Christians, men and women who donate their time, money, and lots of hard work to create a week of memorable fellowship and fun for young people.  The camp has been in existence for over 30 years, and it has grown to be extremely popular in our area.  Registration used to be by mail, but this year the camp instituted online registration.  Once the registration link went live, first camp (the one we attended) was full and registration was closed in twenty seconds!  Second camp took a little bit longer…..45 minutes!  

Here are some photo highlights of our wonderful week.  Keep in mind that I was Leah's teacher, and that is why I have more pictures of her than of my other children.

 3rd grade class

 Avery and Leah doing a sharpie tie dye project.

 The whole class, hard at work.

 Sam, enjoying his lunch.

 Waiting in the lunch line

 Clay with two friends

 Leah and Avery on the playground

 Leah, painting a rainbow vase

 Practicing the song for Friday night

Sam on the playground

 Leah and Avery in matching outfits and hairstyles

Me and Mrs. Vicki--Camp Leader Extraordinaire
and organizer and announcer of all things FUN!

 Avery, Leah, and Jared at Mrs. Beulah's house

 Our gracious host, Mrs. Beulah

My children enjoy staying each night with Mrs. Beulah as much as they like camp!  She has a huge pool with a diving board and slide.  Lynn and I let the pool be there bath, every night except for two while we were there!

 Morning Announcements

Morning Bible Lesson

Julie, playing a sport (not sure which one)

 Me, Julie, Lynn, and Stacee,

just hanging out on the playground.

Seeing old friends--Mr. Jerry and Mrs. Dottie

 Our class leading a silly song in one morning's assembly.

 Clay's class's raft

They finished in 2nd place.

 Our class having fun with water balloons one afternoon.

 Sam and Julie

Julie's Class's Raft

They won!

 My class with our three teachers, Mrs. Beverly, Mrs. Sharon, and Mrs. Roan.

During a Bible lesson

 The cute, cute backdrop that Sam's teachers made for their skit.

 Sam's class, ready to take a bow.

 Leah's class, singing their song.

 "I Can Sing a Rainbow"

 Cute skit shirt

The back says, "Do you love RYC?"

 A scene from Clay's skit

 A scene from Julie's skit

 Julie's class

 My car…..all packed up and ready to head home.

One last family picture before we left.

We are SO HOT AND SWEATY in this picture!

We are missing Jimmy (who had to work) and Olivia (who served as a junior counselor at another camp this week).

 The raft race

 The winners, approaching the finish line

 My class, again.

That trailer in the background was our classroom.  We were really fortunate to be able to use that trailer….it was air-conditioned.  Most of the classes for 1st grade and up, and all of the crafts, are held outdoors under pavilions or on the porches of log cabins.

Rustic!

 Clay and Parker

 Clay, doing a relay on Friday afternoon.

 Leah in the sack race

 Taking a rest during sports

 Asa, Sam, and Samuel, waiting their turns for a relay.

 I'm helping out my team in the hula hoop relay.

One last picture of the tired, hot, dirty, sweaty Mamas.

RYC is an exhausting week, but it is full of fun, fellowship, friendship, and memory-making.  Both the campers and the adults build lasting friendships, and we all grow in our Bible knowledge and our service to our Lord.  I always learn so much from the ladies that I teach with, and I am eager to put into practice those new ideas. 

Our 23rd Anniversary

Then….

And now!

I have been happily married for 23 years today.  I could not have asked for a better partner in life.  Jimmy is so good to me, and I do not deserve all of his loving care and compassion.

We celebrated today by taking all of our children (plus Olivia's friend) to the Thai Garden restaurant for lunch after our church service.  Our afternoon has been spent resting, and Jimmy has been doing some garden and other yard work.  I have spent almost 2 hours looking at and typing up marathon plans!  

Tonight after our evening church service we may go out for coffee.  :)  Jimmy is off all this week, and we plan to spend the week doing home improvement projects and just all being together.

I spent last week at Rustic Youth Camp, and I have over 100 pictures from the fun and exciting week.  I promised some of the other counselors at RYC that I would blog about the week, and I plan to start on that tomorrow.

Five Things This Friday

I have some random thoughts going through my mind.

1. I like the words of hymns.  When we are singing them as a congregation, I frequently say to myself, "When I get home I want to write the words to this song in my journal."  I haven't actually done that yet.  But I plan to. I would like to share them with you too.
2. I have new running shoes.  I really needed them.  I try to replace my running shoes when they have around 400 miles on them.  I had my previous shoes since last September, and they had way more than 400 miles on them!  I was waiting for the new color to come out (I am tired of pink and gray), and I also was waiting on a $20 off coupon from Finish Line.  I love my new shoes!  They are white, blue, and that safety yellow/greenish color.  Of course they won't be white for long.
3. I have a long, long shopping list today.  Multiple stores.  I am buying all of my camp supplies today.  I hope to accomplish all of the shopping and putting away in 4 hours.  That's my goal.
4. Clay made me the coolest Mother's Day gift.  It is on my coffee table, and every time I walk through our den, I remember that I need to take a picture of it!  I am going to do that.  I want you to see it.
5. I have not ordered any school books for next year.  I have missed all of the discounts and free shipping offers of April and May.  It is going to be July before I can think about school for next year, and we are beginning our new school year on August 4.  Thankfully, I don't have that much to buy.

Happy Friday to you, and have a fabulous weekend!

The Big Picture

In my personal Bible study time, I have been copying the book of Hebrews.  My routine is to set my timer for ten minutes, read the chapter I am copying and then start copying, beginning where I left off the previous day.  When I have finished copying an entire chapter, I make an outline of the chapter.  Sometimes while I am reading and copying, thoughts will come to my mind that I want to write down.  Or maybe I want to take some notes to help me better understand what I am reading and copying.  Today was like that.

I am currently copying Hebrews chapter 11.  The chapter that lists person after person who exhibited great faith in God.  The Hebrew writer is reminding his readers of these people of great faith to encourage them. I believe that we can receive encouragement from these examples as well.

What is faith?  Hebrews 11:1 answers that question for us.  "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."  Many of us memorized this passage of Scripture as children, but do we stop and think about what it means?  I can't see God, but I believe in Him.  I can't see Jesus, but I believe that He died for my sins.  I believe that the Bible is full of evidence of the existence of God and His love for mankind.  My faith gives me hope of an eternal reward after my life on this earth is over.

Why do we have faith?  We must have faith to please God.  "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."  (Hebrews 11:6)  This verse led me to ponder "diligently seek Him".  I am always encouraging my children to be diligent.  Be diligent in their schoolwork.  Be diligent in their Bible reading.  Be diligent in their chores.

What is diligence?  Several definitions that I found for diligence include:  careful or persistent work or effort; marked by painstaking effort; earnest and persistent application to an undertaking; steady effort; attentive care; heedfulness. 
If I am to diligently seek God, then it will be an ongoing effort.  I will have to exercise my faith daily.  I have to keep in mind the big picture of life, and not get bogged down in the day to day trials and things of really no eternal importance.  However, my reactions to the routine and mundane as well as the crises of life are of eternal importance.  I must remember that to please God I must have faith, and I also must diligently seek Him.  

My lesson learned from Abraham's faith.  Hebrews 11:17-19 says, "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, 'In Isaac your seed shall be called,' concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead,  from which he also received him in a figurative sense."  Abraham had faith in God.  Even after God had told him that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and that the world would be blessed through him, he still obeyed God's command to sacrifice his only son, Isaac.  He had faith that God would make it all work out.  He concluded that God would bring Isaac back from the dead. If you are familiar with this account, you know that at the last minute God stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son, and provided a ram for sacrifice instead.  Abraham had proved his faithfulness, obeying God even when His commands were difficult or maybe even hard to understand. 

That is the lesson for me.  Having faith to diligently study God's Word, to believe it, to apply it, to obey it.  To keep my mind on the big picture of life.  To remember that I have a hope of a reward in heaven.  To remember not to stress over the unimportant areas of daily life, but to strive to diligently serve God in all things.  To have faith.

Faith.
fully believing
fully trusting
fully obeying
fully denying self

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.  For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland." (Hebrews 11:13-14)

We are pilgrims on this earth.  We seek a homeland.  Hebrews says that these men and women from the past declared plainly that they sought a homeland…..they understood the big picture.  May we all diligently seek an eternal homeland.

A Garden Update

I really need to take a picture of my garden.  It is flourishing!  Our potatoes are delicious, and we have already eaten all of the broccoli.  Olivia removed the broccoli plants from the garden last week.  The cabbage was ready to be picked a few days ago, and I made delicious slaw from one head.  The rest of it is in the refrigerator.  We have more cabbage than we can eat before it goes bad, I'm afraid.

Julie picked the first of the squash a little while ago, and she dug up a good bit of potatoes.  We will have sautéed squash and boiled potatoes for supper tonight.  I have some leftover pasta salad and bean salad to put with it, and I will make a green salad as well.

The tomato plants (31 of them) are growing taller and taller every day.  Some of the plants already have green tomatoes on them!  The green beans are tall too!  This is my first time to grow green beans.

When the tomatoes start begin ready to pick, I plan to get my canning supplies out.  I will can most of them as whole tomatoes.  That way I can use them in soups, spaghetti sauce, or for making batches of fresh salsa.

Our VBS week is going well, and I am spending most of my afternoons working on my camp plans.  In fact, I need to get back to that right now!

Pinterest Is My Friend Again

When I first joined  Pinterest about three years ago, I spent time every night scrolling through and pinning various things.  And then I lost interest.  It was too overwhelming!  It also seemed like everything I tried was a "Pinterest Fail".  Remember my Lego birthday cake for Sam?

Now I usually get on Pinterest when it's time for me to plan for Vacation Bible School, Rustic Youth Camp, Back-to-School Celebration, and sometimes at Christmastime.

I have just spent over an hour on Pinterest looking at rainbow craft and art ideas! I am so happy with what I have found.  I discovered all of these really neat websites full of cool art projects for children.  And since I am not creative, I am so excited over finding these fun ideas!  I have already begun planning our Back-to-School Celebration, and I have not even ordered the first schoolbook for next year.

We began our VBS today, and the first day was a success.  Our theme is Running With Jesus, and as you can imagine, this theme (of running) was not too hard for me.  We are using a rainbow theme for our RYC class this year, and that is why I was looking for rainbow-related crafts.  So many to choose from!

I need to close the Pinterest window and start actually creating a plan.

Running With the King 5K

This morning, Olivia, Julie, Leah, and I all ran the Running With the King (Elvis) 5K here in Tupelo.  Jimmy and the boys were at the Blade Knife Show in Atlanta.  Leah had set a goal of running a PR (anything faster than a 26:51), and my goal was to pace her.  Fortunately I was feeling good this morning, and my new shoes that I got yesterday proved to be fast ones!  Leah ran a 26:39, and I finished about 3 seconds behind her.  I don't have the kick at the end like my children do!

We ran into my sister-in-law Mary Margaret and my nephew Causey.  This was Causey's first 5K, and he did a fantastic job.  Little boys are so fast!

 Causey, Leah, Julie, and Olivia

 Me and Mary Margaret

Causey and Leah

After the race we came home and got ready to attend a baby shower for one of the members of our church.  It was a fun shower, and MC received so many pretty things for her little baby girl.

I bought groceries, and I plan to take my three girls to see Moms' Night Out in a little while.  We thought we would do one more fun thing today!  And then it's back home for me to work, work, work on getting my supplies and plans prepared for our VBS which begins on Monday.

Notes From My Mom's Night Out Talk

Back in April, I spoke at our local homeschool group's Mom's Night Out.  If you remember, I asked you, my dear blog readers, if you had any questions that you would like answered if you could attend.

Here are the questions that you asked, and here are my answers.

1- When planning the day, do you have your children complete a lesson or do you set a time limit. If you set a time and they don't finish, what do you do?

We do a lesson a day. I do not set a time limit.

2- How do you handle interruptions from the other children when you are working with another child?

I train the children not to interrupt. I alternate working with each child, and I have a plan for the child I am not working with. I will give consequences to a child who interrupts for no good reason or after being warned.

3- How do you schedule time with your children individually or with your husband?

I don't have deliberate time planned with each child or with my husband. It just happens naturally.

4- What to do with little ones while homeschooling the older ones?

• Towel time (I gave them a handout with a list of preschool activities.)
• Pass the baby time (Older children take turns playing with the baby or toddler--they are given specific places to play and things to do during this 30 minutes.)
• Occupying older kids while schooling younger ones (I also discussed this.)

5- Do you stick with the public-school schedule?

No. I choose our days off based on husband's schedule.

For the first time ever I chose our fall break and spring break based on my college-aged daughter's breaks.

6- How do you fit in field trips, co-ops, doctor appointments, etc?

I just do field trips once in a while if they appeal to me.

I try to schedule dr. appts. on my husband's day off.

7- Do you set goals for each child, for the school year, or for curriculum?

Not really. My goal is to just complete each grade/level of the curriculum and then move to the next level. No pressure.

8- How do you decide what curriculum to use and how do you schedule it over the year?

I have been doing the same thing basically for 13 years. KONOS for 7-8 years and then Sonlight the rest of the time, but I have used the same math, grammar, Bible, writing, and science the entire time. 

I schedule the curriculum how it is suggested to do so, paying attention to our family's vacations, my husband's days off, and various holidays. 

9- What do you do if you don't finish a curriculum on time? 

Either 2 things:

• Just quit and call it a year. Start on next level the next August.
• Just stop at the end of May and pick up where we left off in August.

I do make sure my high school-aged children finish each course in the alloted time frame.

I plan to share the rest of my notes from that night in a series of blog posts this summer.  If you have any more homeschool or homemaking related questions, please leave a comment.  I will try to answer them if I can, even if the answer is "I don't know".

Nothing to Say

I am determined to blog more, but I really don't have anything to say today.  Yesterday I was swamped, and did not even look at my computer.  I was even too tired last night to do my nightly scroll through Facebook to get my local news.  :)

We finished all of the cleaning that I had planned prior to hosting the visiting preacher, his wife, and their one year old baby for supper last night.  Preparing the meal was a group effort--I would have never gotten it all done without the help of my hard-working, cheerful girls.  We had a lovely visit with the Walker family, and Jessica was able to join us as well.  Since I had recently cleaned out the kids' rooms and our "secret room" (an unfinished storage area accessed through a closet), I knew exactly where the baby toys were stored.  I pulled out a few for baby Walker to play with, and just as I knew they would, Leah and Sam had as much fun as the baby with the toys!

Today I have caught up on bill-paying, checkbook-balancing, and trip planning….we are making a trip to Utah later on this year.  It takes a long time to book airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, etc., especially when you spend as much time as I do figuring and refiguring prices, researching various sites for the best deal, and so on.  Then I have to type it all up, nice and neatly. I have already spent hours on this computer today!

I am now ready to tackle my school room storage areas:  one large walk-in closet, one small closet, and underneath the countertop cabinets.  My goal is to finish in 2 hours.

Let the fun begin!

Menu and Miles Monday

I have been cleaning out and cleaning my house for 2 weeks now!  My schoolroom is my last place to clean out, and it will be a big job!  Right now, my schoolroom rug is covered and piled high with all of the stuff that I need to get rid of.  Bags and boxes of things from all over my house.  I even got my storage room (connected to my schoolroom and also includes my craft/sewing/gift wrapping area) cleaned out and organized.  What a job!

We have having a Gospel Meeting this week, and I am "feeding the preacher" tomorrow night.  You know what that means, right?  Clean the entire house from top to bottom, baseboards included.  Some years I even clean out and scrub my garage (not this year), because you know the preacher or his wife might want to inspect my garage.  :)  My basement, with the exception of my storage room will not be ready to receive company tomorrow, because I ran out of time.

Here's the menu and the miles for this week:

Menu:

• Sunday:  potluck--quinoa salad, green salad, pound cake, sweet tea
• Monday:  Julie cooks--vegetable chowder, salad
• Tuesday:  Company's Coming!--and I am tripling everything to share with two other families (delivering to them).  pasta salad, chicken salad, green salad, fruit salad, rolls, chocolate layered dessert
• Wednesday:  bean and rice buffet, salad
• Thursday: Southwestern bean burgers, oven fries, chips
• Friday:  stir fry vegetables and rice

Miles:

• Monday:  7
• Tuesday:  9
• Wednesday:  rest
• Thursday:  6
• Friday:  5
• Saturday:  Running With the King (Elvis) 5K, 5 miles total with warm-up. 

You can visit www.orgjunkie.com for more menu ideas. 

A Wonderful Gift

The beautiful quilt

Yesterday Teresa met me at our local fabric store to give me a precious gift…..
a quilt!  Made just for me!

Here's the story….two years ago when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, Teresa (whom I have met in person only one other time) and several other women (some of which I have met once, and some of which I have never met) from a Yahoo email group that I am a member of, (and I think that these women are part of a quilting group too…) began sewing a quilt for me--as a gift of encouragement as I underwent my ordeal with breast cancer.  This group of Christian ladies makes these quilts for ladies with cancer--what a wonderful act of love and service!  Anyway, for a variety of reasons, I am just now getting my quilt.

I am so grateful!  This labor of love is just beautiful.  And to think that all of these ladies were thinking of me and praying for me during such a difficult time in my life.  I was overcome with gratitude when I unfolded the quilt yesterday.  I couldn't stop smiling as I read the names of each lady who had sewn the squares.  Some of them, like I said, I knew.  Some of them I recognized their names from our email group.  Some of them I had never even heard their names before.  What a precious gift!

In addition to the beautiful quilt, the ladies included a scrapbook with a picture of each lady holding the quilt square that she made along with a note of encouragement.  Priceless!  Now I have faces to put with names on my email group.

I cannot tell you how special these gifts are.  Acts of kindness and labors of love are so deeply appreciated.

This just made my day!

The Angels Are Rejoicing!

That's what Scott said last night after he baptized two young men in our congregation----one of which was our son, Clay!  Hallelujah!  Words cannot describe my peace and happiness.  I am elated that Clay has decided to follow Jesus.  That is my number one and most important goal in parenting…..that my children will choose to become Christians.  That they will make the life-long commitment of serving Christ with their lives.  And the thing that made the night even more special, is that my best friend Lynn's son, Parker, was baptized too!  What a special night for Lynn and me.  What a glorious occasion for both of our families.

Flourish

Well, I have added a new book to my summer reading list!

FlourishAtHome.com

My friend, Mary Jo Tate, recently wrote and published this book.  I have known Mary Jo for 10 years, and I am so happy for her and success!  Last night I went to a Launching Event for Flourish, Balance for Homeschool Moms.  It was a delightful evening of fellowship with friends and delicious refreshments.  The highlight of the evening was Mary Jo's presentation of excerpts from her new book, Flourish.   I bought my copy of the book at last night's event, and I even had Mary Jo sign it for me!

I have not begun reading Flourish yet, but it is next on my list after Little Women.  Mary Jo has a Facebook page called Flourish at Home, as well as her book website, FlourishAtHome.com.

Here are some of the chapter titles, to give you an idea of what this book is about.

• Change Your Mind to Change Your Time
• The FREEDOM Toolbox.  (Mary Jo covered this acronym last night.)
• Where Did My Time Go?
• It's Time for an Attitude Adjustment
• Training Your Children
• Managing Your Home
• Oxygen Masks and Monkey Bread Days
• All of Life is Learning
• Solo Act:  Flourishing as a Single Mom
• Home Business
• and many more!

Mary Jo gave the disclaimer last night that while the title of the book is Flourish, Balance for Homeschool Moms, this book will actually benefit any mom, not just the homeschool mom.  Mary Jo has been a single mom for 13 years, and she has successfully balanced homeschooling and home-based businesses.  

I encourage you to add Flourish to your summer reading list.

Moms' Night Out

Last Saturday night, Lynn and I joined six other women for dinner and a movie:  Moms' Night Out.

Funniest. Movie. Ever.

I don't think I have ever laughed so hard or so much in my life!  I laughed.  I cried. I laughed until I cried.  It was hilarious!  I have not bought any movies on DVD except children's ones, but I will be buying this one and watching it again!  Sure, parts of it were a tad bit unrealistic (I don't want to spoil it for anyone with details), but the message was spot on.  Mothers (including myself) need to lighten up a little bit on the unimportant, but of course make sure we are not neglecting the most important of all (in my opinion); the spiritual training of our children and unconditional love for them.

Last night's Memorial Day cook out at Kelly and Lynn's was fun and relaxing.  I guess summer has officially begun, but we still have three more days of school.  We are all counting the days to finish up this wonderful school year.

The first three weeks of June are packed!  We have our church's Gospel Meeting, then VBS, then Rustic Youth Camp.  I have lots of planning to do for VBS and camp.  I am reserving July for next year's school planning, purchasing, and preparation.  And somewhere in the midst of all of this I am going to continue my cleaning out, purging, organizing, and deep cleaning every inch of my house.  That's the goal.  I am almost done with Sam's room.  I think about 2-3 more hours will finish it up.

I better get to running and then school.

Menu and Miles

Here is this week's menu:
Monday:  supper at Kelly and Lynn's for a Memorial Day Celebration--I'm taking pasta salad and fruit salad.
Tuesday:  baked eggplant over whole wheat pasta, salad
Wednesday:  bean tacos
Thursday:  coconut curry rice, baked potatoes (in case some people don't like the rice!), salad
Friday:  homemade chicken noodle soup, homemade bread, salad
Saturday:  new potatoes (hopefully from our garden), other roasted vegetables, green beans, salad

This week's miles:
Monday:  9 (done!)
Tuesday:  6
Wednesday:  off
Thursday:  6
Friday:  5
Saturday:  4

I didn't do my last 6 mile run last week.  :(  I plan to get all my miles run this week!  :)

I think I have decided on a marathon plan.  It will begin in 11 weeks.  I considered doing a plan that has you running 6 days a week, but I wisely decided that running 6 days a week might push me over the edge of insanity!  So I am taking a 6 day a week plan that includes a speed work day and a "race pace" day in addition to the long run, but I am going to drop one of the short miles days so the plan will just be 5 days.  That I can handle.  I think.
I signed up for the Rocket City Marathon today!  (Registration opened this morning).

You can visit OrgJunkie.com for more menu ideas.

My Summer Reading List

I got a jump start on my summer reading while we were at Seaside.  There is nothing like having an entire day to read a book.  I finished one book in just one day!

For my summer Bible reading, I plan to continue copying and outlining Scripture.  I am currently in Hebrews.

My school reading will consist of pre reading Clay's world history books--the ones I have not already read.  Both Olivia and Julie have completed the Notgrass World History course, but I have not read all of the included books.  I would like to have them read so that I can discuss them with Clay.

Pleasure reading:  I normally have a pretty ambitious list of just-for-fun summer reading, but somehow it gets pushed aside.  I am purposing to read the books on my list this summer!  Here they are:

The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau (The last in the four book cities about the people from the city of Ember.)
Sue Ellen's Girl Ain't Fat, She Just Weighs Heavy by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson (this will be a laugh out loud book….the first one I read by her kept me smiling and laughing the entire book.)
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin (I have no idea if I will like this book or not, but it grabbed my attention at Sundog Books.  I'll let you know.)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (How many years has this book been on my summer reading list?  Why have I not ever finished this book?  I am determined to finish it this summer!)

What's on your summer reading list?

A Fun Day in Memphis

Jimmy and I had a meeting this morning in Memphis, so we just made a day out of it.  The children did their school while we met, and then we went to Whole Foods for lunch.  Delicious.  And then we browsed the store, and I so wish that we had a Whole Foods in Tupelo.  Except that it would blow my grocery budget!

We bought several items that we don't have in our local grocery store---two different cereals, some protein/granola bars, a new kind of protein powder, and some organic soap.  How exciting!  I also bought some organic lipstick!  Again, the lipstick color that I have been using for a few years has disappeared from the Walmart shelf.  I cannot find it online.  It is just a $1.97 shade of NYC lip color.  I guess my color is not popular.  Anyway, I found this organic lipstick that is the perfect color.  I plan to see if I can find it online and stock up.  I don't go to Whole Foods that often.

After that we went to Mud Island.  We haven't visited there as a whole family in about 6 years.  Leah and Sam hardly remembered it.  Mud Island is a to-scale (very small scale) replica of the Mississippi River.  You can walk the entire winding river and wade in it if you wish.  My kids and I all waded at some point.  It is from about 1 inch to 1 foot deep.  It ends in the "Gulf of Mexico", which is a pond.

Then we came home, dropping Jimmy and the boys off in New Albany for their monthly Knife Club meeting.  The girls and I enjoyed supper together at home, cleaned up the kitchen, and now we are doing a little bit of tidying.  Fun and exciting times.  Really it is.  The everyday things are ordinary and special at the same time.  Just being together and enjoying each other's company is enough.

I finished cleaning out Leah's room.  It looks fabulous!  Next I plan to help Olivia clean up (and unpack all of her college stuff) her room.  Then I will move down to Sam's room.  The bottomless pit of toys, stuffed animals, and collectibles of all kinds.  It may take me days!

I am still researching marathon training plans.  Jimmy bought a book about the Hanson Brothers Marathon Training Plan.  It seems like something I may want to try.  It is certainly different than what I have done for my last 5 marathons.  I have a few weeks to decide.  I am still thinking.

Going to help Olivia for a little while before time to read bedtime books to Leah and Sam.

Why My Vacation Was So Great

My week at Seaside was super relaxing.  It truly was a vacation from my full-time household duties.  We shared a house with our dear friends, Kelly and Lynn and their four children.  Lynn and I bought groceries for our breakfasts, lunches, and snacks.  We ate out for supper all nights except one, when Kelly prepared us a shrimp feast!  Joe and Leanna and their four children joined us at our house that night.  It was a group effort in cooking all of the delicious food we enjoyed that night.  The company and conversation were even better than the food!

Although we kept the stackable washer and dryer running 24/7, and I am not exaggerating, with two people washing, drying, folding, and putting away, it did not even seem like a chore.  Clean-up after meals was a breeze with paper goods, children who could for the most part clean up after themselves, and two hard working mamas to finish it off.  Many hands make the work light.

I read 3.5 books while at Seaside.  I finished the fourth one last night, The Prophet of Yonwood, which is the third book in the City of Ember series.  I plan to begin the last book in that series soon.  I really like to read, and I need to make time to read more often.  I am still in the middle of Little Women, and I bought two more books at Seaside.  Which leads me to another favorite part of my vacation.

Sundog Books
That is the quaint little bookstore at Seaside.  Three nights after supper we walked to "downtown Seaside" and visited this lovely bookstore.  There is something about browsing through books in a small, cozy setting.  It is a world of difference between scrolling and clicking on Amazon or even browsing in a super large bookstore like Barnes and Noble.  The books just seem so much more inviting.  Lynn and I and various children spent about an hour or more in there each night that we visited Sundog Books.  The employees were so helpful and friendly, and it was such a pleasant nighttime activity.

Another fun thing we do at Seaside is visit The Seaside Store.  More than once.  It is the store that sells the Seaside t-shirts and other Seaside items (towels, cups, hats, etc.).  Our family loves the Seaside t-shirts, and I let each child choose the color shirt that he wanted.  This year I got a salmonish/dark pink long-sleeved shirt.  Which proved to be a wise purchase because it was very cool at night, and even cool during the day when on the beach.  I wore that shirt multiple times while we were there (even while reading my books in my chair beside the ocean--it was so windy and cool!), because I failed to pack a long sleeve shirt.

We ate at the silver "food trucks" one night.  That is a fun treat too.  There are several food trucks to choose from with menus ranging from organic vegetables to any kind of grilled cheese you can imagine to hot dogs to barbecue.  Most of us chose Barefoot BBQ (because you know the kids get a "free" frisbee with their meal!)  Another restaurant that we always eat one meal at is Bud and Alley's Pizza Bar.  They serve unique pizzas to hungry diners. I like to get the seafood pizza, which does not have cheese.  The last place where I enjoyed supper was Pickles.  They have the best burgers and homemade French fries ever.  They use organic, locally grown when possible, ingredients.  I had the ground chicken burger, and it was delicious!

The only dark spot in an otherwise perfect vacation was that Jimmy had to leave two days early to go back to work.  We missed him after he left! Amazingly, I (with the help of all the children, of course) was able to pack all of our belongings into my one vehicle even though we had stuff in both my and Jimmy's car on the way down.  Jimmy took home some of the stuff when he left, but we were still packed in like sardines on the way home.  That just added to the fun adventure!

8 more days of school.  We can do it!

Beginning the Summer List

Since we are in our last two weeks of our homeschool, I already have a little bit more free time.  Julie is completely finished with 11th grade.  Clay, Leah, and Sam, are down to just math and a couple of more subjects each.  I decided that for the last two weeks of school we would begin our day at 9:00 AM instead of 8:00.  We are doing our group Bible lesson and 9:00, and I am still through with school with all three children by 12:-12:30.  I remember when all of our school days ended at lunch (before 4-5 students and also before I had high schoolers).

We actually met some friends at the park to run at 7:45 this morning, and still were home to begin our Bible lesson at 9:00.  That was so nice.  I plan to continue our summer days with Bible lesson at 9:00, followed by short periods of productivity and lots and lots of free time for the kids.  I can already tell that Sam will need a little bit of guidance with his free time…..Clay spends all of his free time welding and blacksmithing, and Leah is sometimes more interested in sewing with her sisters or working on various crafts than playing with him.  I plan to help him make a list of things he wants to do or play with this summer so I can give him suggestions when he asks me, "What can I do?  He has already asked me that three times since lunch!  My kids know not to say, "I'm bored," or I will instruct them to clean a toilet!

This afternoon I plan to begin tackling Leah's room.  I need to clean out all of her drawers and closet, bookshelves, and various other places in her room.  I will be taking out all of the fall/winter clothes, and bringing out the spring/summer hand-me-downs from the basement.

I better get busy.  A little here, a little there, and the work will get done!

Menu, Miles, and Overwhelmed!

I have faced reality that my fabulous vacation is over.  I spent yesterday afternoon between church services making a menu, going through a huge stack of mail, shopping at Kroger and Sam's and tidying up the house.  Two more weeks of school.  I think we can make it!  I have so many summer projects planned (sewing, cleaning out, organizing, cleaning, school planning, just to name a few), and I hope that I can squeeze them all in in just two months.

I have decided to run the Rocket City Marathon on December 13.  That is 30 weeks away, so I have 12 weeks to increase my mileage to be ready to tackle an 18 week marathon plan.  I am still unsure about which marathon plan to use.  I have used my same marathon plan for 5 marathons, and I want to do something different this time.  I also have to set a realistic time goal.  I am not sure what that will be.

Here are this week's miles.  I have already run the 8 miler this morning.

Monday:  8
Tuesday:  5
Wednesday:  4
Thursday:  rest
Friday:  6
Saturday:  5

Here is this week's menu.  I will serve a green salad with each meal.  We enjoyed so much seafood and some delicious but not so healthy meals while we were on vacation.  I plan to serve lots of vegetables this week.

Monday:  stir fry vegetables, rice
Tuesday:  Caribbean black beans with mango salsa, rice
Wednesday:  roasted asparagus, potatoes (sweet and Yukon gold) and squash
Thursday:  eating out
Friday:  Southwestern bean burgers, chips and salsa
Saturday:  baked beans, corn on cob, slaw
Sunday:  refried beans taco bar

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Guess Where We Have Been?

We just got back from Seaside, Florida, one of my favorite vacation destinations!

14 children

6 adults

Fun!  Fun!  Fun!

Kelly, Lynn, and their children stayed in a beautiful Seaside house with our family, plus one extra (Olivia's friend from college, Daniel).  Joe and Leanna and their children stayed in another house just down the road.

We spent our days running, biking, relaxing and reading, building sand castles, shopping in downtown Seaside, enjoying many delicious meals together, putt-putt golfing, and mostly just hanging out and enjoying one another's company.

We arrived home late this afternoon and I have already unpacked everything (with everyone's help!).

We have two more weeks of school, but I sure did enjoy my Seaside vacation!

More pictures to come.

Hello Again

You know the science law….An object in motion stays in motion, and and object at rest stays at rest…(something like that--I paraphrased it).  Well, that's what happened to my blogging.  I have gotten out of the habit of blogging on a daily or almost daily basis, and it has seemed so hard to begin again!  It's not that I don't have thoughts and events that I want to write about.  It's just that I have gotten out of the habit of making time to actually sit down (or stand at the kitchen counter) and type.

I plan to do better.  I like to blog.

I have read two books this week, City of Ember and The People of Sparks, both by Jeanne DuPrau, and I am currently reading two more books, The Prophet of Yonwood by DuPrau and Suck Your Stomach In and Put Some Color On by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson.  That last book is hilarious.  I am laughing out loud while reading!  The DuPrau books are young adult books, but the series (there is also a 4th book) is so interesting.  They are fast reads.

We have two more weeks of school to complete our homeschool year.  Yay!  Let the summer activities begin.  I will be working with the children to compile our summer list.  I already have a master calendar of May-August on the refrigerator.  So far all I have on it is where Olivia will be all summer.  She has several trips planned, and we all needed to know where she would be.  I will be listing our VBS, summer camp, preacher training school, etc.  on there as well.  It will be a busy summer, but very enjoyable and hopefully productive as well.

I am also still reading Little Women, which I listen to a large portion of while driving to pick up Olivia from college.  My summer list will include a list of books to read.  Any suggestions?

***Tip of the Day***
Before your summer begins, walk through your house with a notebook and pen.  In each room jot down everything that needs to be done for cleaning and/or maintenance.  That will give you a starting point when you schedule the time to work on it during the summer months.

Hello

I had every intention of blogging lots last week……I left last Sunday driving to pack up Olivia and bring her home from college.  I was gone for 5 days.

While I was gone, a tornado hit our town, Tupelo.  Thankfully, we live northeast of town, and were not affected except that our house was without power from Monday afternoon until Wednesday night.  Just long enough to lose all of the food in our refrigerators, however, that is nothing compared to what hundreds of citizens our our county suffered.  We have the best weatherman ever, Matt Laubhan.  He began warning our area of the upcoming storms a few days before they hit, and he stayed live on the air with warning after warning until he himself took cover just before the tornado hit.

So, Olivia is home!  And we are all so happy.