We are enjoying our summer and I've got the mountain of dirty laundry to prove it! But it is so worth it! My love threatened to handcuff me to the washing machine if I don't get it under control. Ooops.
Obviously, my washer and dryer are not the only things being neglected these days. I have certainly not paid as much attention to my little ole blog either. Ooops, again. Blame it on the pool!
My kids and I have been doing a lot of playing and relaxing. It's gotten to a point where I am going to have to stage an intervention for iPod addiction. Those guys are glued to their iPods, which does NOT make me happy. I worry about their brains turning to mush and their eyesight failing by the time they're 12. Momma's gotta make some serious rules limiting video games drastically and insisting that they practice their math facts and sight words. Thank God there's an app for that! {I secretly love it when I sound like a commercial.}
I am pleased to announce that my baby daughter has become quite the little swimmer. No. Really. My 3 year old can literally swim nearly clear across the pool on her own! The girl's got gills, I swear! All those years of practicing holding her breath in the bathtub has really paid off. It is absolutely amazing to see!
There's still so much that I want to accomplish this summer. And we're slowly crossing things off and adding new things to our "Summer Bucket List". I'm doing my best to make this a summer to remember. In more ways than one. I want to make sure they have pure, unadulterated Fun. But, I also want them to walk away from this summer with a few life lessons, too.
I'd like to think that I am a fairly compassionate girl. But, if I'm being honest, my compassion doesn't usually move me to "get off my mule". I want to make an effort to grow, along with my kids, in the compassion department. It's easy to say you're compassionate, but, if you're not moved by it, are you really? Empathy and compassion are two different things. I think I am usually more empathetic than compassionate. Compassion would have me sacrifice of myself, while empathy allows me to sit in my La-Z-Boy all the live long day.
I also want to walk away from this summer in the habit of being actively kind. I want words of encouragement to flow from my lips without a second thought. I want the tendency to hold back compliments to completely leave me. I'd like to put aside my own selfishness for the benefit of others. I want people to want to be around me because I make them feel good about themselves. I want them to see that there's something Special about me, and I want them to be able to recognize that it's Jesus. And hopefully, I'd like my kids to learn from my example. It sounds easy on paper, but, in reality it is not quite so simple. It's gonna take a lot of effort on my part.
Summer Bucket List 2011
- Take a break from school
- Fall behind on laundry every week
- Go to the beach
- Spend lots of time in the pool
- Go visiting often
- Work on a killer tan
- Get some "spring cleaning" done on rainy days
- Spend time with (great) grandparents
- Make sure Drake learns his multiplication facts
- Drill Brant with sight words
- Have Brant read books to me, often
- Go to the movies
- Take the kids bowling
- Work on lesson plans for school
- Work on becoming truly compassionate
- Practice being actively kind
- Spend a day doing crafts with the kids
- Wash the van with the kids... at home, the old fashion way
- Spend the day with my (super busy) sister and her kids before they go back to school
- Lose a few more pounds
What's on your "Summer Bucket List"?
"Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing." 1Peter 3:8-9
"But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?" 1John 3:17
"Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins." 1Peter 4:8
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