Summer Break

 This is our last week of school. The children are just doing math this week.

I always get pretty tired of school by this time of year. The kids are always tired of school this time of year. So a win win situation to take off a couple of months.

I usually start up gently in August and we are at full throttle in September.

This coming year, I will only be teaching three children. The older fived have graduated high school and Angela is taking college classes as a high school student.

It is definitely easier than when I was juggling teaching and babies and toddlers.

Naturally I won't be sitting around all summer. I hope to do a lot of writing. I also want to go through the children's clothing and figure out what they have outgrown and all that. Our pool will be open starting next month and there will be lots of swimming.

I intend to keep getting good books from the library and telling the kids to read them.

So it will be nice.

Sunday

 We try to go to church every week but sometimes life happens and we cannot or do not.

Rose had a puffy eye yesterday morning; she said it had been bothering her for a couple of days. The white of her eye was very white so not pink eye or anything. My best guess is an insect bite. It was bothering her a lot and she asked if she could stay home this morning and sleep in. Kevin is currently with some of our girls on a vacation to St. Croix so I stayed home with her this morning.

Yesterday when she was really unhappy I stayed home instead of helping with our church's food pantry. I asked Joseph and Isaac to go instead and they did. It was very busy, they said. Actually, all things considered, they are more useful in some ways than I am. I am good at talking to clients and getting information, but a lot of the job is carrying heavy bags up and down stairs and taking them out to cars, and my back isn't up to that mostly.

Her eye is better today. Still hurting her but better.

Joseph's start date at his job got pushed back to this week; he starts on Tuesday which is exciting.

It is hot. Like 80s many days. 

My newest book comes out early June. The audio book is done. Kevin has worked so hard with editing both the book form and the audio book. Our narrator is really good; his name is Harry Frost and he is a Brit. 

I am about 40,000 words into a new book. I have written about 30,000 of those words; our editor/ghost writer has written the other 10,000. We make a great team.

Oh, I was going to talk about TV!

For years I didn't watch much TV because I wasn't too interested, plus I was super busy.

Now that the kids are older and less needy, I am able to watch TV.

It is a whole new world compared to when I was a child, when there were four channels.

There are a bunch of cozy mysteries that I really enjoy that are on Britbox and Acorn TV. 

Here are a few in case you also like Cozy Mysteries on TV:

1. Death in Paradise

2. Brokenwood

3. Beyond Paradise

4. Sister Boniface: this one is really fun, about a forensic scientist/nun in the years following WWII. 

5. My Life is Murder

So yes, fun. Now Beyond Paradise is a spin off of Death in Paradise and I like it very much except for one thing; the main couple are living together, have been trying to have a baby together, are foster parents together, and are engaged but not married. At the end of Season 2 they tried to get married and then don't for various reasons that don't have anything to do with love. That annoys me. I think maybe the writers want the tension of them possibly finding other romantic partners but still, it is annoying. Marriage is a good thing and these two people don't have any legal commitment in spite of living together and trying to raise kids together.

But that is a vague rant. These are not "Christian" shows so I don't expect them to have Christian world views.

All of these don't involve much gore at all, and they are all puzzle type mysteries.

I appreciate the options for watching shows nowadays. Again, back in my youth, there were four channels including PBS, and you couldn't skip the commercials. 

Mid May

 

Kevin and the children worked on our garden the last few days. He planted tomato plants yesterday! Hopefully they do well this year.

That is chocolate; namely, Sam's Club's chocolate almond crisps. I love them.

More chocolate. 72% cocoa so quite bitter but still wonderful. 

Trader Joe's has these dark chocolate peanut butter cups that I have zero control over. I mean, I love them so much. I eat them too much. I love them.  They have too much sugar for me to eat with abandon so I really shouldn't eat them at all if I can't control myself.

I have been putting peanut butter on my very dark chocolate and that is tasty (not as good as the peanut butter cups) and I can control myself.

Eating carefully is annoying sometimes.

But I am blessed to have good chocolate and good food for a diabetic.

All the kids were at church so we had a picture. Rose is trying to smile but she is working on her smiling.

Six of the children wrote letters about me and gave them to the church; there was a Mother's Day thing where certain mothers got a gift card based on the letters their kids wrote about them. I won for Isaac's letter. I got all the letters and they are sweet and delightful and all of them were deserving, but of course they weren't going to give me more than one gift card.

It is nice to be appreciated!

New Shelves

 

Kevin is super handy. I am not. It is just one of the many ways that our marriage is a union of different skills!

This is in our pantry; he added shelves. I am so happy! I like organized spaces. Also, we eat a lot and have a lot of food stored so yes, delightful!

Thanks, honey!

Parental Visit

 

My parents visited us for a few days.

We went to Pearl's Fen, which is a little park near us. There was rain off and on the entire visit and the boardwalk was nice. I don't like wet feet.

Then we had a little celebratory experience for Miriam and Joseph for their graduation from formal schooling.

It is rather extraordinary that two of our teens are now working full time in IT, but so it is. 

We are proud of them. They worked hard to pass the Security Plus Exam.

It was a very nice weekend with my folks.

Warm, Early Summer Days

 It is about 80 degrees outside, which is warm! I took a shower this morning and will take another tonight. Those pesky chiggers are doutbless stirring, and eager to bite me!

Except for chiggers, summer is awesome. The pool will be open, and we will take a break from school, and it will be wonderful.

The pool is not open yet. We usually open it late May - early June.

I finished this Jane Austen inspired1000 piece puzzle a few days ago! I usually go for fewer pieces in my puzzles, but this puzzle had lots of little people (all dressed up in Regency attire) and lots of buildings with different colors, so it was a ton of fun and not too wretchedly difficult!

Isaac started his internship at the Air Force base on Monday of this week, and Miriam started her IT job on Tuesday of this week. Joseph just got word that he will be starting his IT job at the same place Miriam is working in the middle of this month!

So that is pretty awesome! I am proud of and happy for our kids.

Soon, there will be only four kids home during the day during the work week. That is gonna be kinda weird but good, because legally, we have five adult children so it makes sense they are all off working and doing things.

For now, Isaac and Joseph and Miriam plan to live at home for at least a while. Isaac is finishing up his engineering degree in the next year or so, and Joseph and Miriam are still very young to be off on their own.

Things are changing in our lives and that is a good thing, but also a trifle stressful because I find change to be difficult.

But it is good. It is God's plan that they grow up and work and live independently when the time is right.