Company Girl Coffee "Summer Time"

Today is the last day of school! Summer break is finally here and I am looking forward to spending time with all my kids at home. We have two scheduled weeks of traveling. One is next week and we are going over the mountains to visit Grandparents. The other is in July, at the Oregon Coast. The last time we went to the Coast my oldest was turning 3. She'll be 9 in July, so you can see why we're a bit excited to spend a week at the ocean! We were blessed at Christmas with season passes to a nearby theme park, so we'll spend some time there together too.

Other than that, we spend our Summers pretty laid back. I am going to have some fun and make a poster with my kids that has suggestions of things to do when you get bored. I got the idea from a friend of mine. "50 Things To Do This Summer." All written out with boxes next to each suggestion so they can check things off as they go. We'll also take pictures as we go so that we can make a scrapbook at the end of summer. (Which will go on our list!)

I made a decision that I'm not going to put off making memories with my kids out of fear that everything won't be perfect. Not too long ago I read Beth Moore's book "So Long Insecurity," and there was a chapter in it that was basically a prayer for healing. One part of the prayer still lingers with me every time I hesitate to do something new that stretches my creativity abilities.

"Forgive me for being such a perfectionist that I resist doing something good out of the fear that it won't be great..."

On that note, I'm off to take my kids to their last day of school. It's only a half day, so maybe if the weather turns nice, I'll prepare a picnic lunch. Otherwise, we just might have a picnic in the middle of our living room. :)

Have a great summer all! I'll be seeing you around.
~Melissa~

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

This morning it started snowing, and well, it just didn't stop! By the time I picked the kids up from the bus stop at 3:15pm, there was already about 6 inches. Of course, the kids wanted to go outside and make snowmen, but it is really too cold, and it's not packing snow.

They were so disappointed that I came up with a different idea instead. I printed off a fun snowman project called "Snowman dress-up." Each of my 4 older children got a snowman and accessories to dress him with. They picked their favorite combo and glued Mr. Snowman onto the background of their choice.

Who says you can't build snowmen indoors? We had a lot of winter fun while staying dry and warm!

Creativity Matters

I've been following Rachel Anne's Small Things blog for a little over a month now. Today's small thing was to create a centerpiece for my table. Since I am creatively challenged, I had to think about this one all day. Finally, when I was looking at my overstock pantry shelves in the laundry room an idea struck me. There, sitting on the shelf, was a container of various types of candy. I only let my kids have candy every once in a while, so I thought, why not make a fun centerpiece of it to enjoy? I also rounded up a Veggie Tales placemat, and some cute plastic bugs to add some color and fun. It's no masterpiece, but its the thought and the creativity that matters. Plus, my kids love it! I'm so glad I didn't just count myself out for this one.

Company Matters

As much as I believe that routine matters, I am also working on being flexible when the situation calls for a detour from routine. This past weekend was a four day weekend for us. We decided to have family out, which is always fun. I am a hostess at heart, so the more company, the better as far as I'm concerned. It's just the day after that kills me!

As hard as I try to keep up with my normal routine when we have company, things always end up getting out of hand. Usually it's laundry. Today I will be doing a laundry marathon session! : ) What I find myself having to work really hard at, though, is patience with my kids as they come down off of their "company high". I don't know what else to call it. They get so excited about having so much attention and then it goes back to just plain old mom. That sounds terrible, I know. It's just the way it feels. It's amazing how many times I hear the words "I'm bored" after company leaves.

Today, in order to curb that boredom, I am going to plan a project. Nothing elaborate, just something fun that we can do together that will take the edge off of the company's gone blues. A distraction of sorts. It will be a nice break in routine to brighten our day here.

That's all for now,
Melissa