well here we are again

Oh for heaven's sakes where has the time gone?

Here's the dealio.  I can't keep up. And I don't want to. And I don't have to, because I have been smart enough not to commit to having sponsors. Sometimes to do something right. Like every 10 years or so.

Summer is just too, hummm, (busy? no. scheduled? no. hot? no, not in Carlsbad.) lazy. Summer is too lazy to blog. 

I could give a bunch of lame excuses like we are getting all new flooring and traveling for almost four weeks and I'm focusing on sticking to my workouts.  All these things would be true, but really, I just need to slow down a bit.

I think I will give myself permisson to take a Summer break. Not that I won't be around. If I have a stroke of genius you know I'll be posting it all over the internet. But if I don't, and I want to go to the pool, then I won't be here.

Until after Labor Day.

BUT, you can still connect with me on Instagram. You can find me under Secondsister. I love The Gram! Do you have the app on your phone? It's available for iPhone and Droid.  Get it. You won't be sorry. 

And I leave you with a gift. Because that's how I roll.  

A little gift, to make life with your kids this Summer just a wee bit more organized. 

These job charts are 12X16 inches. I had mine printed out and laminated at Kinkos. It cost me $8.  I laminated so we could use dry erase markers instead of printing a new chart each week. But you could do that too. Whatever! It's Summer! No worries!

My boy earns extra money around the house by doing extra chores. I made these tickets so we can keep track of how many extra chores he has done. Heaven forbid we forget. He has important things to save up for, like gum and legos.

Silly boy. Happy Summer!

I'm going to be sending out my freebies through my email list from now on. Sign up and you can download the charts and tickets and get those kids of yours doing their chores!

the jubilee and other some such stuff

I think Queen Elizabeth is just absolutely charming.

Now I don't know her personally. But I like her M.O.. She's classy like. And she's been at it for sixty years.

I can barely keep my kids in check long enough to pay for groceries, let alone rule over a country for sixty years.

She's classy and evidently made of steel.

Her diamond jubilee starts this weekend. I'm not one to watch these sorts of events, but I wish her the best of luck. The world needs more female role models that look like a well dressed grandma.

I also wanted to mention that it's Summer. I mean like officially. The Boy still has a few days left in school, but there's no doubt that Summer has arrived. I've decided to spend the next two weeks going to the pool everyday in an attempt to teach the babies to doggy paddle.

This hard work is my plan to better the chances of not having to get off my lazy butt every other minute later this Summer.

Here's hoping you have a great weekend. I'm still working on getting a post together about the workshops. One can't rush these things. Maybe Monday.

Maybe.

Cheers!

summer

I spend a fair amount of my life trying to be original. Trying to come up with fresh new ideas. Different things. Things not done before.

But lately, to be honest, I'm enjoying the over done and cliche'.  Summertime brings it out in me. There are things that must be done in the name of Summertime that may seem unimaginative and almost trite, but they make the season what it is.

Kitchy western photos from the amusement park- check.

I swear if I see one more photo for sale on Etsy of this ride I'll puke. But when you are standing there, underneath, in all it's wonderment, the compulsion to snap a photo is so great it cannot be overcome.

We are eating lots of frozen novelities. The one's that have been around since I was little. We are lazing in the hammock. We are schelping to the swimming pool with our Playmate cooler full of snacks and sodas. We are driving with the windows down to breath in the cool evening air.  We have been eating s'mores and cooking burgers on the grill.

We have been very busy with the business of having fun.  Which is what Summer should be about. All my creative juices are now going directly towards Spark. There's no need to come up with new things to do.

Our Summer time fun is tried and true.  Even if it is cliche'.

We are calling it tradition.