About a month ago, I told Derek that I thought we needed to give our balcony a little facelift. We have a small balcony porch off of our master bedroom, and it's a nice place to sit and read my Bible in the morning, but I've had a vision of turning it into a summer outdoor living and movie night space. I wanted lights for ambience, and a TV mounted on the wall so we can enjoy the summer evening air while watching our shows at night.
We picked up a few things from the store, and he really has turned it into the exact sort of oasis I was envisioning. We are still working on the TV situation, but we've already enjoyed a movie night outside, and I happen to be sitting on the balcony right now, enjoying the mountain breeze as I type this post.
(The balcony in progress.)
Every morning for the last month or so I've been trying to start my day with some sort of workout. I recently realized I needed to put a little more effort into getting in shape for a variety of different reasons, and the summer is a good time to make a new workout routine a habit. Now, as we are approaching the start of the school year, I'm thinking I need to start setting my alarm earlier to see if a first-thing workout is something I can manage during the school year, or if I'll have to go back to squeezing it into the afternoon (which didn't always work that well for me, but I suppose it would still be better than nothing).
So my summer days have typically been going something like this - one of the kids wakes me up with a latte made by Derek (I know, I'm a lucky lady!), I drag myself out of bed, wash my face (etc.), and start a workout at home or head to the gym. After sweating it out, I freshen up, then I might spend some time cleaning up toys or dishes before working on a project around the house. I remind the kids to do their summer chore assignments sometime in the morning, and we have been reading a chapter of Narnia every day during lunch (or sometimes picture books on a special topic, such as sharks for Shark Week). Either in the morning or the afternoon I make time for myself to read, because summer is my most productive reading season since we are on a break from school. If I'm not reading, I'm probably baking something, or taking the kids to the library or park. Around 4, I start thinking about dinner (I need to learn to plan ahead more), and then we eat around 5:30. We might watch a show together as a family before bed (lately that would be either Alone or Shark Tank, or possibly a movie on weekends), and then we get the kids to bed around 8. Then Derek and I might watch another movie, perhaps on this lovely balcony.
This routine has been really restful, especially over the last few weeks. A part of me is dreading having to give up the summer relaxation, but a part of me is looking forward to the different rhythms that the school year brings. I can tell the kids are getting a little restless, though certain children-who-shall-not-be-named would like to put off the start of school as long as possible.
In an effort to fit in some extra summer fun over the last couple weeks, we've done some porch camping and a backyard campfire, gone swimming twice, and fishing once. Fishing was particularly lovely - the only time we could go was in the evening, and the softly lit sky reflecting on the water was so pretty and immediately relaxing. Stargazing is on the list of things to do over the next few nights, and I'm hoping to visit an aquarium or amusement park for a last hurrah of summer break. And of course I'm going to squeeze in as much personal reading time as I can before we jump back into the school year.
Today I spent time fighting with my printer, getting workbooks ready for some of our subjects. I have yet to map out a plan for how we will implement all the curricula I have, so that will be on my to-do list next week. I did, however, organize our school room and purge our curriculum cabinet before filling it with our new books, and it is always exciting seeing everything lined up, ready to go. I am most excited about incorporating the artist study portfolios from Simply Charlotte Mason into our morning time this year. I am not particularly strong in the area of art study, so it's something I think we will all enjoy learning together! We are starting the year with the Vermeer portfolio, and I think it will be wonderful to learn more artists and art pieces by name.
In between getting ready for the school year, the other goal I have for this next week is to finish my summer stack of books. Right now I am reading Persuasion by Jane Austen, and Two Truths And A Lie by Megan Mitchell Moore, and enjoying both of them quite a bit! The other books in the stack include Tears Of The Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith (part of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series), First Impressions by Charles Lovett (more Jane Austen connections), and The Bodyguard by Katherine Center (pure chic-lit fluff, and I hope it's good).
Today I filled the the kiddie pool in preparation for tomorrow, so the kids can play water games, and I can cool my feet while I sit in the hot sun with my beach hat and read on the porch. Maybe I'll even throw in a limeade for me and grape pop for the kids, and we'll make a whole summer thing of it.
Who says summer is over already? Not me.
This all sounds so familiar! We even have a little balcony off our bedroom that we could technically fix up, but I'm always nervous that it won't bear weight well. I've enjoyed checking some things off my list this summer, but I'm realizing that once school starts up, it's going to be really hard to fit everything in, including fitness. I want to do a homeschool post sometime, but we'll see if I get around to it! My husband changed the printer cartridge, but I have to hand-feed the paper. And, I really need to reorganize all the materials! I like the photos of your mountain life, very beautiful and restful-looking.
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