Paper Sloyd: Portfolio, Thread Winder, Match Scratcher

Three more paper sloyd tutorials for your homeschool day. Enjoy! 

Summer Break Day 5 and 6

I'm getting used to no school! Things are evening out. This is good.

Friday I woke up feeling ready for our busy day. I made bagels and sausage for breakfast and served it with tea in our new tea cups. It was almost like having our own little tea party at breakfast. I just needed a cleaner floor.

Daddy had the day off but we all let him sleep in.

Friday a local pool hosts pay-to-swim for anyone, and since they usually require a membership we try to go every Friday. (We don't have a membership and the pay-to-swim is only $5 a kid!) Daddy stayed home for some alone time but Reuben, Becky and Esther and I went swimming from 9-11. My friend Amy and her four kids came and we had a blast. At one point during our swim they opened these bay doors and two goats from some neighboring farm walked in and Reuben was like, eh mom is there supposed to be goats in here? And no, there was not supposed to be goats in there. 

We came home exhausted and I made sourdough pizza for lunch and then Esther and I promptly took a two hour nap. I was glad she and I both took such a long nap since we would be going to Reuben's game later and would be up late, and there is nothing worse than a tired, screaming toddler at a sporting event...

Anyway, Reuben's game was postponed until the next day due to intermittent thunder storms. This is the third time his game has been rescheduled due to rain. Crazy. 

Esther didn't go to sleep until 10pm. That also was crazy. Daddy made dinner which was really nice, a beef and broccoli dish that everyone loved. But he only made one cup of rice and everyone was lacking in rice. I told him we are a 2-cup of rice family now, but does he listen? No, he did not. 

I finally got to bed at 10:30 which is really late for me. I like to be in bed by 9 but it is impossible to go to bed with a very awake baby crawling on your face. 

Saturday we all woke up late, threw on our clothes and ran to the farmers market before Reuben's game where I bought donuts for my kids for breakfast. I'm the best mom. They were thrilled. I ate a bagel. I did eat a donut after lunch... Reuben's team won their football game and they get to go to the second tier of the playoffs! Next we play the Dolphins on Tuesday, but I am not holding my breath because rain is forecast. It will probably be rescheduled. 

We came home and every Saturday I make a salad for lunch with sourdough bread. Esther took a nap but this time I just watched meaningless YouTube videos that while entertaining, make my head feel like it's full of cotton candy. I really need to have better boundaries with the internet. Right now I only get on YouTube on the weekends but maybe that is too much! I always end up enjoying it while watching but after I feel like I have wasted my time and gotten nothing done, which makes me stressed. I do not feel that way when I read a book. We contact nap, so I am stuck wherever she is. Usually I read to the kids during this time or finish up school, but I take Esther contact naps for myself on the weekends and...veg out. This is okay right? I have no idea.

Brian mowed half the lawn, and is currently grocery shopping. And that ends our first week of summer break from homeschool!  

I made it through Summer Break Day Four!

I don't know why but today I woke up feeling anxious. I think it was because this day was jam-packed and I need to remember NOT to do this next week! Or any week. ONE outing outside the house is enough! Today we had three and I should not have done that.

Anyway, we had sausage, eggs and sourdough for breakfast and then Esther and I ran off to volunteer for an hour and a half! That was soothing, I love talking and hearing about birth. The class I was mentoring today was on labor and delivery. Esther was actually well behaved this time and we had a relaxed group chat that was interesting and heartwarming. 

Esther fell asleep on the way home for approximately five minutes and that proceeded to be her only nap of the day. Her nap time is 1pm. Not 11am, when I was driving home. Oh well. 

We had about an hour until we had to be at our homeschool evaluation so I heated up some leftover spaghetti for lunch and chatted with my mom who had stopped by. It was awesome to see her and I already miss her. I didn't clean my kitchen or dining room which made my anxiety worse, but thats okay. Anyway, I took my anxious and stressed self to the library (with our homeschool portfolios and nature notebooks) where we were supposed to meet Sarah, the evaluator...but we couldn't find her anywhere! It turns out she had forgotten to come and since she lives an hour away she was not able to come that day. For some reason this caused me to feel loads better. I told her it was fine, we will reschedule later--and took the kids out to bubble tea followed by a nature walk with our nature group.

We were all hot, sweaty and a little bit muddy but we made it home and after showers and tick checks I popped on The Wild Robot for the kids and cleaned the kitchen and dining room and made tacos for dinner. Esther only watched half the movie in typical toddler fashion and needed cuddles and milks for second half, but that was okay. I love her so much! 

That was really our day. Brian got home at 6 and hurt his back, I gave him a massage and now I'm going to unload all the dishes and do even more laundry. The busy day is done! Tomorrow ends our first week of summer vacation, and all the weeks to follow are filling my head with dreams of deep cleaning and decluttering.

Not to mention knitting, reading, and doing crafts with the kids. School starts again in August it will be here before I know it!