Weekend and beyond

Now that we're half-way through this week, I guess I'll post about our weekend. ;) (Always a day late and a dollar short!)

I'm so excited we are finally in purge mode around here. Whoo to the hoo, baby! I started purging the kids' game/toy cabinet Thursday and Friday. Kelvin and I spent Saturday and Sunday cleaning out the garage. Friday morning I cleared some stuff out of my closet. I found a little braided bag of which I was going to cut off a strap. The scissors and I got a little tangled. Let's just say the scissors won, and I found myself in the urgent care room getting my arm glued closed! GRR! and double GRR! Anway, we've been chipping away at the piles of stuff. Hopefully this morning I'll get in the attic and drag out some stuff. I'm pricing like a mad woman, and Saturday we're opening the driveway for our second-ever Garage(guess I should call it Yard) Sale! I really prefer just taking stuff to Goodwill or Purple Heart and getting the tax receipt, but there's too much to load this time. We might need to make this an annual affair. It's a pain in the hiney to do, but I'm SOooooooo tired of the clutter and stuff. A yearly purge would be so much easier than waiting five or six!

We had big plans of going to Palm Beach at Moody Gardens in Galveston on Sunday after the early service at church, but when we about melted going from the church to the car, we decided to stay home and continue working on the garage. I know, great Father's Day celebration. Oh well. I went to the grocery store and bought some shrimp, corn and potatoes, and we had a little shrimp boil on the back porch. I set up Cora's little wading pool, and I swear, she played in that thing for five hours! The big kids hopped in and out of it too. We had a good day, even though we changed the plan.

For Make It Monday, the kids and I made a coconut cream pie from scratch (except the crust. I know, don't shoot me. I'll tackle homemade crust next time.) It was a first for them and me. I've never been much on baking. I don't know why. I kind of think I'm afraid of messing up whatever it is I'm doing. Well, this summer one of the things on my personal bucket list was making a coconut pie and a chocolate pie. The coconut pie came out beautifully, even if I did have to scrape out the filling because I forgot to bake the pie crust first. Coconut pie is one of my dad's favorites, so that was his Father's Day gift. :)

Luke was the carrier. He's sporting a short "do" for summer. It's finally not a sore subject.
Carleigh and I made the cute little "Happy Father's Day" banner.

The kids and Papa (not sure why I write it like this. It's pronounced "pawpaw."

My dad and me :)

Part of the summer plan for the kids and me is a bit of a schedule. We're doing Make It Monday, Take a Trip Tuesday, Wet and Wild Wednesday, Thinking Thursday and Friend Friday or Fresh and Fun Friday (do something fun we found on Pinterest.) I'm also encouraging reading daily, and doing a small journal entry and some math facts at least a few times a week. We're into our second week. They've done pretty well. Next week is VBS at church, so we'll probably put the schedule aside. I think they've enjoyed knowing there is sort of a schedule, but we're flexible too.

Yesterday we took a trip to the library, and they stocked up on books. :) I remember going to the library as a child and loving it. I've always enjoyed reading. I still remember my third, fourth and fifth grade teachers reading aloud to us. One of my very favorite books was Summer of the Monkeys. Mrs. Hearn and Mrs. Albright, my fourth and fifth grade teachers, read it to us. LOVED it!

Hope summer brings with it many memory-making moments for you.