Here comes summer

Summer is here! It comes when the schedule clears and we enjoy time at home. Summer comes when the Rose of Sharon bloom. I can see these beautiful flowers from my kitchen window. Early this morning I ran across the lawn in my pjs to snap pictures as the sun rose and the blossoms opened to the light. Later in the morning after the girls dressed for church, I got another picture of with their beautiful shining faces.

Summer is here when we bring in the first cucumbers. We made our first batch of Sweet and Sour Cucumbers, my mother's recipe, and we ate them all in a day. Here is the recipe if you would like to try them. Just mix all this together:

3 cucumbers, sliced thin

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

2 T. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. oregano

Summer is here when we get to read. Now that most events are over, the girls and I are going to try to have daily reading time. D-E-A-R. Drop everything and read! Dropping my compulsion to complete tasks is the hardest. But we did it--all three of us in the living room, silently reading as we snuggled on the couch. It was heavenly! We're also going to do some read-alouds together. I bought a book at the homeschool conference just for this purpose. It is the true story of Olive Oatman who was captured on the Santa Fe Trail by Yavapai Indians in 1850. But Arielle discovered the book and she is almost finished with it, so I guess I will just read it to Liana. I love when we all read one together though.

Summer is here when Lana spends the night! She had a great time playing with Liana and vice versa. Those two are lost in their imaginary world for hours at a time. At 10pm last night I had to gently tell them the toys would have to wait until morning because they had to get to bed. But their eyes weren't opened for 30 seconds the next day before they were back playing. Neither one said to the other, "Let's get up and play." They must just think alike because they both awoke and ran to the kitchen without a word. Jon is worried Lana plays with toys too much. I told him they are little girls for such a very short time. Let them play!

Summer is here when we have A DAY WITH NOTHING PLANNED! Hurray! That's tomorrow. I can't wait.