I recently read "summer should get a speeding ticket" and I feel like that sums things up pretty well. Summer moves so much quicker now that I have children in school. We had a plenty full yet low key summer. I stuck to my two big activities - a church VBS/camp and swim lessons for my oldest two. Then we spent the rest of the summer keeping things simple and it still went by in a flash.
Even though we had our baby girl last summer, I forgot that she was a newborn (and slept all the time) and Brent was home on family leave. This summer looked very different and to my surprise was a lot harder and exhausting than I imagined. It was wonderful in many ways, but having four busy children at home was a new experience for me. I did not get a lot done for myself in a day to day way. I was cooking dinner at nap time to tend to the grumpy pre-dinner hours better. And then I felt like my quiet alone time during naps was stolen by cooking so I started cooking dinners in the morning! Even as early as 6 am!
But as I look back and reflect on our summer, I was happy to acknowledge that I actually did accomplish a few big projects that were on my 2024 goal list - which feels really good.
I transplanted our giant hydrangea plant so something evergreen would be by our front door, I painted our back door (which I will show in this post), and I tackled a bunch of our family videos. These each took a couple of days of dedication and then I was back to normal mom routine with the kids.
So while I may not have the sense of productivity I like by being busy with my own tasks, I am reminded that keeping to my long term goals (powersheets help me so much with this), I am moving forward with things, just in a different and slower way than before.
Because, really, soaking up these days with my kids is how I want to be spending my life. Their need for attention at this age forces me to slow down and focus on them. So for that, I am grateful.
Here are some of our summer highlights and projects I tackled this summer...thank goodness for photos otherwise it would all be a blur.
We got a new adorable splash pad that sadly just popped. It lasted just long enough I suppose. And though Brent would roll his eyes, the aesthetics were worth it to me for a one summer use! But maybe next year we will buy one that is a little more sturdy. ;)
Our baby girl is busy, on the move, and opinionated! It has been so fun to see her play and interact with her siblings this summer. A lot of good quality time together. My big girl got a new swimsuit this year (we have had the same style swimsuit in different sizes since she was a baby). I love that they are cute and sun protecting.
Getting into all the things. Who needs toys when there are kitchen cabinets to empty?
I felt really genius using chopsticks to dry out our reusable silicone bags. We later got a new dishwasher after ours broke that now dries these things like a champ. But for awhile this was a great solution. I love the Stasher bags and these cute bunny ear bags for snacks.
I have created a new system for myself for our front patio. We rearranged furniture to better suit our needs. We no longer were sitting and hanging out on our patio furniture on the front porch - I think there are too many of us now for that!
So I split up the chairs and table to create different seating areas around the yard. The kids are usually playing so we need one or two chairs in different spots so that an adult can sit while the kids play. Plus this also opened up our front patio for Brent to work on things since we have a dirt driveway and no garage. We also now sit on the grass when we have meals making our old seating arrangement no longer useful.
We also had a collection of heavy cement planters the previous owners left. We cleaned them up and moved them to new locations. I now have these two large pots as my sort of showcase plants. I can see them from the kitchen window and it's the main area you see when you come to our house. So now I buy two seasonal flowering plants for each pot and when the season is over I plant them somewhere in our yard. I keep them in the plastic pots they come in so I can easily move them. There have been times where they needed to be out of the sun temporarily so making them easy to move has been great. The cement pots are extremely heavy so this has worked out well.
The loveseat size chair now faces our driveway which is great for watching the kids ride their bikes. It also looks nice from walking up the stairs to our house. I was really inspired by how resorts or hotels spread out their seating. There are always a few chairs tucked here and there. As well as potted seasonal plants. Our yard feels more spacious now and is proving to be more practical as we use all of our yard and not just one seating area.
I have been working on this little garden in front of our greenhouse (that we use as storage). It took me a year or so to get the area established and for the grass to mostly stop growing here. This year I rearranged some of my transplanted plants from the yard, added rhododendrons, and some petunias to a a bird bath. It actually feels intentional now and I just love it. A good reminder that it takes time for plants and new garden beds to feel established.
For our other pots and planters, I went with plants that are evergreen that I transplanted from our yard.
We love lemonade in the summer so I keep coming back to this easy recipe. The recipe has changed slightly since I printed it out. Instead of 9 lemons I use 1.5 cups of lemon juice.
I brought some meals to moms who had babies this summer and so I included this lemonade concentrate. To make the concentrate I just omit the extra water that is added at the end. I will make this for us as well to have premade lemonade in the fridge.
School didn't get out for us until mid and late June. For the last day of school we wrapped up flowers from the yard for teachers and included a handmade card from the kids.
My sweet girl all ready for the last day of pre-k!
My father in law was in town for a visit over Father's Day this year so I put together a little basket of treats. We had an ice cream sundae bar which made hosting easy on me but still fun for all.
Popsicles and water play make for fun summer days.
Always trying to capture these quiet moments alone when I can.
My kids are more into free art forms these days. I miss some of our more structured projects at times but it also is so fun to see what their imaginations come up with.
A sweet moment captured walking to the school bus. As my littler ones get older, it is so wonderful to see them build individual relationships with each another.
More patio photos on a nice day.
I am not great at making my kids do chores. It is just easier to do things on my own sometimes! But we are working on helping with the trash which includes collecting the house garbage each week.
My sweet girl arranging flowers.
Discovered some new blooms to put in a vase. Sadly they made a mess but were beautiful for a couple of days.
I finished up our oldest daughter's baby book. Cue the tears! I can't believe how quickly she has grown up. Get my free first haircut certificate printable here.
Our yard flowers on display! And baby girl waving! She loves to wave and say hi. :)
More last day of school flowers.
These two cuties off to VBS at a local church. They missed the first two days because school wasn't out for us yet. But they still had the best time.
We keep coming back to the same camp each year because it is so fun and well planned. It reminds me how lucky we are to live in a wonderful community.
Summer is salad time for me. Here is a copy cat Costco salad I recently made. I even save the Costco containers to store my version in. I just scoop some out for lunch and this can last me a couple of days to a week.
Look at that cutie!!! I just love the little sun hat. I researched this one far and wide for our first daughter. It has continued to serve us well and still looks like new.
Easy garlic bread recipe - I use whatever leftover bread we have including hot dog and hamburger buns (which are actually really good as they are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside). I butter the bread and then sprinkle with garlic powder and salt. Then cook in the oven until lightly browned. It is so good and ridiculously easy. It kind of reminds me of Texas toast.
My Mops group had a bunch of pregnant mamas this year. I was able to bring a few of them meals this summer. Here is one of the more elaborate meals I was able to put together. Ham and cheese rolls that are easy to make the day before and then cook the day I deliver it. I added brownies, cut up fresh fruit, and a salad. I also included my lemonade concentrate. It took some time to make but most of it I could prepare a few days ahead of time so that the day I dropped it off I wasn't slaving in the kitchen all day while my children whined for my attention! ;)
I also grabbed some goodies from my toy back stock for the new older siblings. This was a huge hit and was greatly appreciated by the moms!
And a little something for the tired mamas. I didn't get a chance to take pictures of everything but for some of them I included chocolate and a hair claw clip. Just some little things to make the moms feel special with things I had back stock in.
I have been meaning to share about our cup carrier we keep in the car. This is one of those pencil holders you can buy during back to school season. Brent bought them to use for Costco. On our pizza movie nights he will sometimes also get lemonade. So he brings this with him to easily carry out to the car. People at Costco always make comments to him! "That is so smart!" "You are the guy with the drink carrier!" It is so funny but is truly a great hack. Here they are in use with some Wendy's frosties!
More photos of the garden.
Always so sweet when they are getting along.
Cutest mini arrangement from my girl.
We love our new church and they put on some really great events. They hosted a dad and me camp out at the church. It allowed our eager to camp kids get a camping experience without actually going camping. They had the best time.
During the summer I try to combine our grocery pick up with a playground outing. I put our order in for 9-10 am and then we leave first thing in the morning to hit up a playground. I pack cereal in bags for the kids to eat in the car. Then we usually get the playground mostly to ourselves which I enjoy. It makes me feel good about getting out with them at least once a week. It is a special time together and beloved tradition.
Another week of salads!
Brent built a little house for our generator! It came out so cute. He used leftover roof tiles and painted it to match our house. It is adorable and protects it from the rain.
Here is our new dishwasher! Our old one broke and after trying to fix it multiple times, we decided it was time for a new one. It is never fun to have to replace a major appliance but now that we have it - wow! A new dishwasher is a dream! I, of course, choose it by how pretty it was. But it has been truly a daily joy to have clean dry dishes. The things you enjoy as a grown up!
We tried a new 4th of July parade this year. It was just as busy, hot, and crazy as a different one we went to last year. But still so fun and worth the memories made. We attended one that was closer to where we live and we ran into a couple of people we knew. It was a fun sense of community and a new tradition we will continue.
Everyone was hot and tired but I am trying to remember to get a family selfie when we can. Some don't turn out great but every once in awhile we get a good one.
Brent usually takes the kids to get donuts on Saturdays but was away on travel for work. So I DoorDashed us some donuts because I didn't dare try to take them all on my own. It was such a fun surprise and we rarely get food delivery. It made for a good memory together.
More petunias in bird baths.
My girl's flower arrangement on display in our stairway.
Some cute thrifted clothes for my daughter. Gap and Cat and Jack!!! I was so proud of my thrifted finds.
For two weeks of swim lessons I started taking lunch with me. I was just sitting there with the two little ones so it seemed like a good time to eat. I packed up a salad and dressed it with dressing right before we left. It was so good!
Swim lessons drying space. I finally tried out the quick dry compact towels and they are awesome! They really take up very little space which made hauling all the things everyday so much easier.
I love sunflowers!
I had it on my goal list for this year to paint our back door. It always takes a good couple of days to do and I have to do it during naps when children aren't around. It is a time commitment but I am so happy I finally made it happen before our rainy season is back.
I moved both of our umbrellas to the front patio mostly to keep my flowers from dying during a little heat wave we had. But it looks very resort like so I have been enjoying having them together.
Another grocery and park day outing!
Sally Clarkson always talks about having tea times with her kids. We finally started ours this summer after I got us some stainless steel tea cups. They are espresso size so they are nice and small for the kids. We have a special drink (tea, hot chocolate, steamer, lemonade, juice, and even just milk sometimes) and a little cookie or snack. It is such a sweet time to act calm and politely, enjoy our treat, and chat. They are still pretty wiggly and all about the treat but I hope this tradition will form into a special time that we can connect and talk as they get older. We have been doing it after nap time in the afternoon and it has been a good transition time.
My tea pot is from when we came back from a trip to Victoria, BC. I would make a pot of tea on my own and it would take me back. I haven't used it much since having kids so it has been such a treat for me to use again.
They love digging up rocks to find bugs. I love that this is their childhood.
I sometimes have to force them to go outside and they will put up a fight or whine. But when I do, they eventually find their way to playing together. My rule for the summer is that we have to spend hours outside each day when we are home. I thought that 3 or 4 hours sounded crazy before. But when we make it an expectation and a habit, they actually will spend this much time outside and end up enjoying it. Some days are easier than others but it has been good for us all to create this summer rhythm.
Testing out our tent before the dad and me camp out provided a few days of tent fun outside.
While the two big kids had their camp out with Brent I took the little ones on a long two mile walk. I have not walked this long in our neighborhood in a long time. It seems daunting with all of them! So this gives me hope we may start walking more again once the older ones are back in school.
This was our first year of swim lessons so to start them out, they both were in the beginner class. They will be staggered next time but it was fun to see them get to experience it together this year.
Everyone finished their summer reading goals and got to put up a star with their name on it at the library.
Sally Clarkson offered a free homeschooling planner to her newsletter subscribers. We do not homeschool but I found the planner very helpful in setting goals of how I want to educate my children in our everyday. She is passionate about education and I have learned so much from her in how to be more intentional about the conversations I have with my kids.
The sweetest Father's Day photo!
The hydrangeas I transplanted are now in front of our laundry room window. I loved seeing them here. I also put up a temporary curtain I made out of an old sheet so that our baby girl could nap in here!
I did not know what we were going to do for nap time/quiet time over the summer. But after I spent some time purging and reorganizing our laundry room, I opened up enough space for the pack n play. It ended up being a sanity saver to have a little time every day quietly to myself.
Baby girl loves the water! She is so precious and so fun. It has been such a joy to see her little personality bloom.
Back to school shopping at the outlets!
We attended a local firehouse pancake breakfast. It was such a fun community event and I finally got to see the EMT who came to our house twice (for a panic attack I had and for our younger son's febrile seizure). I got to personally thank her and it meant a lot to me to make this connection.
Heading to a summer parade afterwards with baby girl on the back!
The girls dressing up in aprons together!
Packing their bags with back to school supplies. Last year we shopped in store which was more stressful than fun. Everything is so very specific and hard to find! But I get so caught up in nostalgia that I often make more work for myself. I decided this year to just order it all online and it made things so much easier. I want to just enjoy my kids in the day to day and they were just as excited to pack up their backpacks.
Playing restaurant outside.
After our splash pad popped I pulled out an old sprinkler we had. The kids loved it! Such simple joys.
And here is the finished painted back door! I am so proud! It turned out so good and I am so glad I finally made it happen. What a difference it makes and very motivating to keep our back porch tidy and looking nice. I would like to maybe get a larger door mat. But besides that, I am so happy!
I had this long garden box on the back porch before. Luckily it fit right in between our bike/toy shed and garbage cans. I switched things around so that the kids could also use this for ball and sports storage.
Flowers for mama from the babies.
Whenever we have any type of Asian food for dinner I make these easy green onion inspired noodles. It is just whole wheat spaghetti that I mix with olive oil, soy sauce, and onion powder. It is really good and the kids love it. It is inspired by a local dumpling place we love.
We found a really fun new to us park on one of our grocery days.
Goggles gang!
Some fun summer crafts we did.
Rug shopping in HomeGoods with four children! It was quite humorous!
For my birthday Brent built me an outdoor dining/picnic table for our back patio. He followed this really simple tutorial that we found online. It was pretty easy to make and turned out so great! We have been enjoying it for many outdoor meals and little projects for the kids outside.
Just weeks before summer was over we finally took the kids out for getting good report cards.
And we stumbled upon this great beach area for dinner and swimming.
Trying out our new table!
Once we finished up the table, Brent put up our outdoor lights. Now we will have a cozy place to sit, eat, or play when it starts getting darker.
I love the cozy ambiance it adds to the house as well! I am not excited about when it will start getting dark at 4:00 but at least this will encourage us to still spend time outside.
Flowers picked by the kids from the garden.
A walk to visit the neighborhood alpacas.
We tried out a new playground that has a cardboard slide! It was so fun! I even slid down a few times!
Crumbl cookie bribe for getting their flu shots. Nobody cried this time! Yay!
The most beautiful summer bouquet with a few greens from the yard for added flair.
And our first date night on the back patio. It was lovely! Our kids tried watching from their windows while in bed!
We got some favorite local take out, a thrown together bag salad and we try to keep some Martinelli's always on hand for impromptu occasions. And my battery powered diffuser to try to keep the bugs away.
Our last weekend before school started - we celebrated with a lunch picnic and play.
And ice cream after dinner before the first day of school!
Summer ending was especially bittersweet this year. I love having us all home and not having to be on anybody else's schedule. Plus I think it is becoming another marker of time - my children another year older and going into a new grade. There are lots of unknowns ahead but I am trying to take these emotions and remind myself to enjoy and be present in the everyday.
There is beauty in every season - to some cozy and more structured days ahead.
