Glad it's over!

Sometimes when life gets really busy (like even busier than usual) Joe and I console ourselves by reminding each other that someday we will be old with not much going on, wishing we had something to do.  The sole reason I am writing this post is so that when we look back we can remember "the good ole days".

From Monday to Saturday we did this:
*11 soccer games (because of some silly tournament that I think was totally ridiculous to have in a recreational league), none of which overlapped times. That translates into about 16 hours spent at the soccer fields,
*2 doctor/orthodontics appointments,
*1 band concert,
*1 orchestra concert,
*1 piano recital,
*2 birthdays (ok, that's kind of cheating because it's kind of two birthdays in one, but it still includes 2 birthday cakes, etc.),
*1 school birthday celebration attend
*1 birthday party which involved 13 7-year old girls,
*1 day hike for scouts (Joe and Tyler)
*1 all-day school trip (Veronica, state orchestra),
* young men's, young women's, activity days, 4-H activity, 3 early morning orchestra practices, 3 after school drivers ed, 2 wrestling practices, piano and violin lessons,
*1 garden tilled and planted
*1 after school end of year activity (Veronica)

Keep in mind that Joe is working nights, Monday through Thursday, and leaves at 5:00 pm.  That means I am the sole driver to get kids where they need to be and still have the usual activities: work (only 4 hours a day, but still), cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping,  exercise, primary stuff, reading, homework and music practices to nag about oversee, errands,  and laundry.  Add in a few extras this week:  Birthday party invitations made and delivered, birthday games planned and ready, treats bought and/or made for 3 soccer games, school birthday celebration, and 4-h activity, dessert and rice to cook for ym/yw activity, babysit friends' baby and toddler, buy plants, seeds etc. for garden,  and soccer team mom duties to accomplish.

We had 5 crock pot dinners in 6 days and didn't sit down as a family for dinner (which is a high-priority item for me) the whole week.
Last night as I was in the middle of Brenna and Braelynn's birthday party, I realized it was almost the end of "the week" and that I had done it, it was almost over!
And now...5 more days until school is out!  yahooooooooo!

Love the Bug

Braelynn has been bit...by the reading bug!  I think reading is a necessary tool in anyone's life, and always worked really hard to make my kids fluent readers.  

Veronica was a piece of cake and read at 4 years old.  In fact, if she got in trouble I would sometimes take away her book.  It was the only thing that worked.  I know, bad parenting!

Tyler hated to read until...about a year or two ago.  Imagine my delight after years of MAKING him sit down and read EVERY DAY, suffering through years of complaining and whining whenever it was time to read, not allowing television until he got his 20 minutes of reading in, when he came to me and told me about a book he liked and (more recently after walking into his room and seeing him reading a book on his own).
Note to parents that have children that are struggling with reading.  Be patient.  Make sure they read every day.  They will get it.  Tyler always had low reading score until he reached middle school.   Now he is reading two grade levels ahead.

Samantha never had a "moment" when she just loved to read but has gradually and steadily gotten better at reading and enjoyed it more as the years went by.

Brenna and Braelynn entered first grade a little behind in their reading.  Their teacher assigned them (us) extra reading to do every night.  So in addition to homework, spelling words, running 5 kids around to various activities, etc.  I would spend between 50-60 minutes reading each night between the two of them, sometimes a little more if there was a long story to read. They have both made huge progress, by the way!
One day last week, it kind of clicked with Braelynn.  She found the confidence in herself, had enough knowledge on how to do it, and found a love of reading.  She spent about 20 minutes going through the shelf on the bookcase that has chapter books and stacked them up in her room ready to read them.  I made a special trip to the library to get some books that I knew were on her level and that she would love.  Junie B Jones, anyone?

Why does that make me so happy?  One, because that means I only have to find time to read with Brenna.  Two, because even though I don't get much time to read anymore, I love to read and love to see my kids have a love for reading.  Three, because it makes my heart happy to watch my kids learn anything new.  That is one of the reasons why we are on this earth, to learn.  It also is good for kids to see that hard work eventually pays off.

Now, go read your kids a book!