A Perfect Summer Day To A Little Boy...

Summer Journaling...

The unofficial start to summer is here.  School is out and the weather is warm.  It feels and looks like summer here in Mid-Missouri.  We just have a few plans this summer.  We hope to do a lot of outdoor activities like fishing, swimming and picnics.  I hope to be able to pull the boys away from riding bikes and skateboards and hanging out with friends and do a little journaling with them.  They both like to write and enjoy taking pictures so I'm hoping we'll be able to work it in this summer.  If nothing else, I hope to fill my own journal with thoughts, dreams, photos, magazine cutouts and sketches...just like I used to do as a young girl.

However, I'm not a young girl anymore as my 25th high school reunion is this summer...GASP...how can that EVEN be possible?  With age...and responsibilities like kids, a job and a house to run it's harder to feel those carefree summer feelings that I had when I was younger.  Summers were magical and really seemed to go on forever.  I hope to capture some of that in my journal this summer.



Here are some summer journals that are inspiring me...

Summer Planning...

Great Idea For The Boys...

Garden Journaling...

And Writing...

---jackie

The Haze Of Summer...

Old Chair Swallowed Up By DayLillies In My Backyard Garden

It's hot, folks!  Sure Is!  We're in the Dog Days of Summer and it's not even August yet.  It's 100 degrees today and I'm not hating it.  There is no snow, ice and frigid temperatures.  My A/C is working, flowers are blooming and we have a swimming pool down the street to jump into.  It's July and all is well. 

As I write this, I'm at The Shack in the new Student Union at the University of Missouri.  I'm floating around campus this week while our office is being remodeled.  Today, I'm working on budgets...which has proven to be difficult because I keep listening to the conversation at the table next to me. 

Here is what I now know...

...the two girls are MU cheerleaders, they are here for the summer while they are trying to get residency, they aren't 21 yet so they are counting the days until they turn 21 (in two years), there is a strange girl living with one of them and while she is their age she looks like she is 40 (gasp) (heehee)...

I need to focus...but those girls definitely make me reminisce about those carefree days of my late teens and early twenties. 

But...

Not interested in going back there, though!  Thank.You.Very.Much. 

I tell you what, getting out of my office this week has been great for my productivity.  New workspaces...new people...new views...it's all good to get the creativity flowing.   I must remember this when I'm feeling creatively blocked and not producing as much at work as I should in the next few months (because it will happen).

Slow Down Summer....Please....

Jackie   

It's a Long and Lazy Summer...

Well.... Hello!

We haven't done a darn thing this summer. Really. Pretty much nothing and I kind of like it! We have barely been out of town. We are literally having a long Staycation except Pat and I are working through most of it. We were feeling slightly guilty about not doing much this summer and asked Kobe what he would like to do that he hasn't gotten to do yet. We're thinking, theme parks, water parks or even fishing and he said the only thing he hasn't gotten to do is visit his cousins. Well, that will be arranged.

Kobe has spent most of his summer on his bike and playing with friends. He has had a great summer so far. This is what I see most of the time as he's riding by the house to meet up with the neighborhood gang. Have you seen the movie The Sandlot? If so, you've got a good idea of what's going on here. A lot of boys and a LOT of drama.

He's doing a lot of work perfecting his trick riding skills as well...

Kyler has been working hard this summer and has graduated to the 18 inch bike...with training wheels. He'll be two-wheeling it soon though!

Oh, and Kyler went to soccer camp. As you can see below he was thrilled. I don't think I'll be buying one of those Soccer Mom magnets for my car anytime soon.

We've been pretty crafty too. This is one of our best creations this summer. Really!

We are starting to pick a few of these and we're loving the fresh produce from the nearby farm stands and farmers market...I won't even tell you how many watermelons we've eaten so far this summer.

All in all it's turning out to be a pretty good summer. No plans. No projects. Just a lot of relaxing. Nice.

Hope you're having a good summer too.

Until Next Time,

Jackie

A Prayer for Summer

Let Me Live Grace-fully
from Guerrillas of Grace
by Ted Loder

Thank you, Lord,
for this season
of sun and slow motion,
of games and porch sitting,
of picnics and light green fireflies
on heavy purple evenings;

and praise for slight breezes.
It's good, God,
as the first long days of your creation.

Let this season be for me
a time of gathering together the pieces
into which my busyness has broken me.
O God, enable me now
to grow wise through reflection,
peaceful through the song of the cricket,
recreated through the laughter of play.

Most of all, Lord,
let me live easily and gracefully for a spell,
so that I may see other souls deeply,
share in a silence unhurried,
listen to the sound of sunlight and shadows,
explore barefoot the land of forgotten dreams and shy hopes,
and find the right words to tell another who I am.

Until Next Time...

Jackie

The First Day of Summer Means...

Lots of Time Spent in The Sprinkler...

Lots of Dirty Feet...

And...Lots of Looks Like This When It's Time To Come In...

Until Next Time...

Jackie

Summertime Is For Reading...

You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend. ~Paul Sweeney

Summertime is perfect for sitting outside in the shade and losing myself in another world. My summertime choices are light, fun and easy to get lost in. Out in the sunshine and reading on a lazy summer afternoon while my oldest reads beside me is pure happiness.

My current reading stack...

...With the spotlight on another novel about Home Renovation...

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.
~James Dent

*Top Photo - Red Begonias and a Yellow annual that I can't remember the name of between pots of Morning Glory

Until Next Time...

Jackie

June Chit Chat

After a cool and stormy morning the sun is shining again and it's warming up. Summer has almost officially begun in our world. The kids are out of school this week, the pools are mostly open and we've grilled several times already. We've replaced our jeans and jackets for capri's, shorts and sandals and the kids have been spending more time outside than inside.

Besides work, gardening and kids activities I have been spending my free time reading and watching movies. I have watched more movies in the last few weeks than I have in the last year. I have discovered on Netflix that I can play movies on my computer. I've been watching movies while I cook, do laundry and even at work one day when I was putting together a rather boring mailing...shhh...don't tell anyone. The most recent movie I watched was The Answer Man. It was cute and just what I needed...an enjoyable and easy to watch movie.



I've also been reading fun novels. What I'm reading right now is The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews. I'm always drawn to southern fiction and fiction based around home renovation. Go figure...that's what I enjoy the most too...doing stuff around my house. So, this book fits the bill.


I've been writing...just not on this blog much...not much to report...just that I'm doing it and enjoying writing for myself again.

Oh and the gardening is going really well. I have a little helper this year. Kyler, my 4-year old, follows me around as I'm doing all my little garden chores and wants to help with everything. He has planted a lot of seeds and plants, pulled weeds and even helped me with a major flower bed renovation this past weekend. He is quite the little guy and I'm thrilled that he wants to spend time with me in the garden.

And Kobe is almost finished with 3rd grade. For the first time since he started kindergarten I am happy the end of the year is here. We all are!! He is loving spending time with all his neighborhood friends and I love watching them form their clubs, make plans and all the projects they come up with.

My plan for this summer is to worry less about the unfinished projects and spend more time relaxing and having fun. I look forward to catching up with all of you to find out what your summer plans are.

Until Next Time...
Jackie