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My goal this summer has been to start some good routines with the children.  We’re in our second week and I’m pleased with the results so far.  I made two signs.  One for morning and one for bedtime.  Here’s my morning sign:

I cleared out a space for all the math books that came home from school.  The kids can either do math from a book or online at Khan Academy.  The school sent home summer reading and math forms.  At the beginning of next school year the children get scoops of ice cream for reading and toppings for math (more reading = more scoops and more math = more toppings).

Here’s my bedtime checklist:

Day One was a little rough for some of my kids because they had big messes to clean up in their bedrooms and play areas, but since day one, the messes have been small so the routine is easy.  Nicole is the exception.  She makes big messes everyday.  She also says she just likes the morning routine so I’ve had to let a few things slide at night.  She races through the chores in the morning and she’s the first one up so it works out ok that way.  Thomas fought against the dressed before breakfast routine on the first day, but now he accepts it and does well.

Charlotte used her allowance to buy inline skates and she LOVES them.  She skates up and down the street several times a day.

Isaac still loves to ride his bike and goes out for a ride a few times a day as well.

Ila wants to keep up with the big kids, especially Charlotte.

We took Isaac’s grade card in for free doughnuts at Krispy Kreme.  They give doughnuts for every A.  I didn’t take the other children’s grade cards in because they don’t get letter grades yet.

Everyone loves watching the doughnut machine.

Ila has never eaten a doughnut and she decided she wanted to try one.  This is the face she makes when she’s working herself up to trying something:

Here she is taking her first nibble.  Usually we have to all avert our eyes so I had to be a little sneaky to take this picture.  In the end she took two small bites but didn’t want to finish the doughnut.  I don’t know if she’ll ever try one again.

Thomas loved the machine and probably could have watched it for another hour.

On the way home from a doctor’s appointment we stopped at a local nursery and Nicole picked out these petunias.  She loves them.  I overheard her talking to them on the way home.  She asked “Do you want a drink of water?”  As I was unloading a few things from the car she gave them a drink and then tried feeding them dirt (she shoveled some dirt into the middle of the flower).

I told Charlotte that I thought she looked lovely and I took a picture of her.  I told her she didn’t need to smile because I like catching a picture with a natural expression on her face.

Isaac said “take a picture of me, mom.  I can just ignore the camera.”

Then I took a picture of Nicole, but apparently she scowls a little when she eats.

The children put on a talent show for me.

Thomas saw me taking a picture of Ila and said “take a picture of me. mom!”  I wonder if my kids will ever become camera shy.  I take enough pictures that they mostly ignore the fact that my camera is out.

I helped Nicole plant her flowers in pots.  As we planted them I told her that the plants get nutrients from the soil and drink water through their roots.  Nicole responded by asking “Are roots the plant’s mouths?”  She talked to them as she watered them.  A short time later, I noticed that she had added something to each pot.  When I asked her about it she told me that she gave them toys to play with.

The disparity between the plant’s “toys” made me smile.  One plant got a colorful pinwheel while another got a thorny stick.

Grand Heidi and Aunt Laresa brought the children some gifts from their trip to San Antonio.  They gave each of the girls a doll.  My picture quality isn’t ideal, but I love the looks on their faces.

Each of the girls came up to breakfast the next morning holding her doll.

They gave Thomas a wooden snake that he was afraid of at first, but he eventually warmed up to it.  Isaac was given a slingshot with a hacky sack.

I took this picture of Charlotte and her friend Lucie being goofy:

Nicole said “take a picture of me, mom” and I obliged.

Thomas wanted me to take a picture of him and then he made a mad face.  As soon as I took the picture he smiled real big and asked if he could see the picture.

He experimented with a few more grumpy faces.

Thomas wanted to help his Dad fix the car.

Grandma Bunny, Grandpa Bird, and Uncle Bryan arrived late on Friday.  Grandpa Bird bought doughnuts for the children.  Thomas ate all the frosting off of his.  Ila did not try one.

The children showed off their tricks.

Grandma Bunny and Thomas:

Nicole said something that amused me when she came to me dressed like this, but I can’t remember it.

Nicole has been going to “Arts and Autism” camp at the Scera this week.  She has loved it.  They sing fun songs, do yoga, dive into big imaginative scenarios, do art projects, eat popcorn, and play games.  I stayed with her the first day and she kept asking me if Art Camp was magic.

Uncle Bryan loves to be tortured, so when he said he was bored, we decided it was time to get started.  We duct taped him to a tree and filled his mouth with marshmallows.

Two neighbor kids showed up just as we were about to start so they joined in.

We put ice on his head and in his shirt.

We even added a little bit of ketchup and shot mini-marshmallows at him.

He started to break free as we were rinsing him off.

Nicole was confused and then inspired by the whole event.  She kept asking me if we were going to kill Uncle Bryan or if Uncle Bryan was dying.  As we were cleaning up the mess we made, Nicole was inside decorating herself with toilet paper.

The next day, Bryan was ready for more torture.  First the kids covered him with shaving cream.  A different set of the neighbor kids joined in this time.

Once he was sufficiently covered, the kids threw cheese balls at him.  If you frequent my blog, you may have seen where our inspiration came from in a previous post.

Then we had to rinse him off.  I was the only one who could lift the bucket when it was full of water so I handed my camera over to Isaac and had some of the other kids help me soak him with water shooters.

We got out the slip n’ slide for more water fun.

Isaac gathered some friends for a nerf gun war. I love having my house be the place where all the neighbors like to come play.  I hope it stays that way forever.  I like that I get to know all my kids’ friends and they all get to know me.