Moody [lawnmower]

Today I broke the lawnmower. You can interpret the title of this post any which way you want: is the lawnmower moody? (yes) Am I moody? (yes) Is anyone else moody because of us? (yes)

Free-flowing creativity doesn’t need a search engine

I sometimes wonder if the internet actually does the opposite of inspire…especially when it comes to creativity.

We all seem so taken with the internet…don’t know something? Type it into a search engine. Want to be inspired? Check Pinterest (or whatever). Feel like procrastinating? Social media.

But when it comes to actually creating something artistic, frankly, I don’t feel like we need to do any Google searches at all. Especially when it comes to the imagination of children. Let them think up their own thing, and create freely and without the constraints of someone’s preconceived idea.

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Summer vacation started on Friday at 3:15 pm and it’s been a pretty good start so far. We had tennis lessons, a birthday party, a visit or two, and we set up the backyard pool and a new canopy for shade over the picnic table. Which is where I’m sitting right now typing…this, ladies and gents, is my new office.

*LOVE*

Last week of summer vacation and…

I am:

The summer of sugar

This has been one heck of a summer of sugar.

Where did all this sugar come from? Why did we have so much sugar this summer? Who is responsible for this terrible horrible dietary faux-pas?

It’s not back to school yet, but it’s back to hockey

Yesterday, the last day of July, I tweeted this:

Look, I realize that after that humidity-drenched few weeks in July the cooler weather was welcome by most of us. But that is no reason to hurry the kids back to school just yet. (Says the mom who cherishes her sanity by sticking the kids in front of the boobtube with Netflix.)

Point is, I am not READY for schedules and routine. I am NOT ready for hockey practices….

Except.

The next person who complains about the heat…

…will not get any ice cream for the foreseeable future.

It’s hot outside. It’s humid. The pool out back is no longer refreshing.

Why did I not sign them up for summer hockey? Hockey rinks are so cool and pleasant right now…

Sigh.

We’re on week 3 of summer vacation and still getting along. I blame it on the lack of schedule. Heck, the constant schedule keeping and all the minutiae I had to keep track of to never lose track of what and where and when had us all so exhausted, we’re kind of enjoying the complete lack of obligation.

No one is in camp.

DH is on vacation for another week, for a total of four weeks.

We eat when we’re hungry and often I just point at fruit or cereal (or sometimes junk. Whatever. I don’t care just grab what you can reach).

We sleep when we’re tired.

She watches endless hours of tv.

He’s on the old laptop playing I don’t know what, free NHL hockey games or something.

I drink wine. Often I skip dinner and just have wine. It’s too hot to eat. (Or cook. See above.)

No one wants to exert energy and we hang in the pool when we feel like doing something different.

We had a fantastic vacation in Ottawa, our nation’s capital, last week, and I can honestly say the kids probably learned more in those four days of museum visits than they did the entire school year in the public system. Too bad his job isn’t getting relocated to Ottawa, I’d be packed and halfway out the door by now…

There are many new things happening with the coming school year, and when I find my missing propulsion, I’ll blog about it.

Until then, we’re enjoying summer. Before you know it we’re back to making lunches, enforcing homework, and watching the clock for the endless activities.

Family vacations on a budget, but not camping

Normally, we camp or do glamping (glamour camping) for our break during summer vacation.

When the end is near, but oh so far…

I realize I’m not the only one, nor am I the first (or will be the last) to complain about the last few weeks of school, but seriously. Can we just get to the end?

I’m spent.

Backyard pools and all their issues

Wednesday was…pretty good. Might have been the coffee. Had a lovely cup at Tatsu’s Organic Bakery before I went grocery shopping and the weather was glorious and the kids were normal-ish and everything was fine.

Must have been the coffee. Or the coffee gods. 🙂

* * *

We’re thinking of getting a little pool.