Last Day of School!

Well, that ubiquitous time has come again. The last day of school. It seems so far away and abstract in the middle of August when school begins for my biggies. Then we get through the winter holidays. Then the spring holidays. Then all of a sudden, we're putting end of the year activities on our calendar such as the annual Strawberry Festival, Adventure Club Investiture, Piano Recital, Fun Day which consisted of a zoo trip this year.

The end of the year always seems to come so fast for me as a mom. Although, I do recall as a child that those last few weeks draaaaaged endlessly LOL! My son has been waiting not too patiently and I couldn't get Madison out of bed this morning. At least it's the last one!

They came home with all their school stuff yesterday. I always forget about this part. The bits and bobs that helped them learn and grow throughout the year, finished art projects, journals, graded papers and just trash and bits of toys and junk they collected over the months.

It will be nice to kick back and relax. Summer plans include trips to the library, Rita's, pool, Grandma and Grandpa Q's camper and house, Granny and Pop Pop's house near the ocean, various playgrounds and hopefully a couple short trips to PA and VA to visit family and amusement parks. Play dates, of course and lots of time outside when the weather cooperates.

Last year at this time I was petrified because I had a new baby and was going to be home all summer with four children. It turned out to be a nice summer and I'm really looking forward to it this year. I think the kids will really entertain each other (and fight LOL) so perhaps I can do a few of my own things. Plus I can send them all to the grandparents for a couple days at a time and get some much-needed mommy time.

I plan to have a loose schedule that they can help devise that includes some learning time with their workbooks, arty time, outside time, reading, quiet/rest time, tv, games/computer and the like. I'm afraid if I don't do that then we'll all just sit around loafing. I need to be proactive and keep a bit of a schedule and plan weekly outings.

I also want them to learn two skills this summer. One of my choose which includes Madison learning to tie her shoes and Matthew learning how to fold and put away his laundry. I want them to pick their second learning goal themselves. Matthew's piano teacher is offering summer lessons this year but I told him he could take the summer off if he chooses. I think everyone is ready for a break!

Here are their school pictures. I never intended to buy the spring pictures but they came out so nicely how could I not. And how could I tell my children that I wasn't going to buy their pictures after they sent the package home in book bags. Those picture people are squirrly!

Happy Summer, everyone!

The Great Flood

We had a very interesting week of last. Tuesday we had some new tile laid in the kitchen, about 75% of it. It wasn't anything special, just some cheapy peel and stick to have a nicer looking floor for C's birthday party on Sunday.

DH came to bed about midnight. I was up off and on with the baby because she was sick. About 2:30 I went to get a drink of water and heard a strange hissing noise from the kitchen. It sounded like the ice maker when it fills the tray only louder. Turns out the water line to the ice maker snapped clean and was dumping water for a couple hours.

Water everywhere on two floors of our home! Two hours before dh had to leave on an overnight business trip! Oy!! We spent about an hour cleaning up and dh making some phone calls. I went back to bed but it took quite some time to get to sleep. DH delayed his flight and came back the same night.

We had water restoration people here for six hours. We have eleven blowers and two gigantic dehumidifiers going. It got really hot in here but they said that means it's working. So now it's cooling off so I suppose the drying process is near complete. I can't wait to get the equipment out of here.

They were supposed to return this morning but were running late and I couldn't wait. Now they are scheduled to come tomorrow. Damage includes flooring and a removed wall in the kitchen, carpet in the den, pad, drywall and ceiling in the basement along with some other holes cut into the drywall. All in all, we didn't lose much personal property so that was good. We'll see how the estimation and repairs go.

A couple pictures to remember our flood.