Well, it has been a minute. If you are in my part of the country, then you are enjoying unheard of temps thanks to the Polar Vortex (I don't even know if that's a proper noun...). It has been downright chilly in the early morning and evening. I have loved it! I've been getting up early all summer which is not something I've always done. Because of that, I've been able to enjoy a couple of solitary hours before I'm joined by the girls. I've read, written, and just enjoyed the peacefulness of a quiet house. Some mornings I'll sit on the deck and just soak in the view. Nearly every morning my friends join me while I'm sipping my green tea (I read that I should drink it hot. Yuck, but it does help with bloating and cleansing.). Yesterday morning they nibbled along the driveway for about fifteen minutes. This picture isn't very clear because it was taken through our bedroom window. Sorry about that.

In terms of happenings around here, Parker has been the busiest of us all. She has worked at her pizza job, attended the MASH program through UAMS, babysat, and, naturally, socialized. Her participation in MASH seems to have confirmed for her that a career in medicine is in her future. I have lots of feelings about this, but the bottom line is that I want her to have the desires of her heart and seek God's will throughout this process. She's beginning her senior year of high school and I am feeling all the feelings about that, but I've decided this will not be a year of over the top emotion. We raise them to leave us. I'm sure I'll have more to say about this later :) 

Molly has been learning to drive. I am glad we have started now, almost a year and a half before she's able to get her license. After we'd been practicing for about a month ( we try to drive a few times each week), she asked me, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad am I?" I rephrased the question for her... "Ask this instead: on a scale of 1 to 10, how ready am I to get my license?" I really don't want her to have this mindset that she's. Bad driver...but, the answer I gave her was "3." We have lots of work to do. I am concerned. She'll get there, though!

Lilah has been to a week of tennis camp, VBS, and has been promoted to the next level in her

gymnastics class. She has played and played and played. I think she ins very ready for second grade to begin!

We didn't take a family vacation this summer. That kind of stinks. We've tried to make time for some fun, though, which means we've been to a couple of our favorite swimming holes.

I started a summer project with my fellow teacher and dear friend. We launched a podcast about books, life, teaching, and anything else that seems worthy of discussion. We call ourselves "The Sassy Schoolmarms" and we are having a great time. Sara's husband, Matthew, is our editor, producer, technical person extraordinaire which means our podcast sounds incredibly professional (in terms of the technical stuff). Check us out and rate us on iTunes. You can also find us on Facebook.

http://sassyschoolmarms.com

I've done some reading, repurposed an old coffee table, deep cleaned Parker's room, weeded flower beds, spent time with Mom, and gotten a pretty dramatic hair cut. This has been a rather laid back season which is, I think, exactly what I needed.  I hope your summer is going well and that you've found time to rest and reflect and recreate!