Happy summer! Our kids have been out of school the whole month of June, but I’ve been working summer school. I did the same thing last year so we plan most of our summertime activities for the month of July. I’m so excited to share weekly posts of our fun just like last year. Before we get started on our summertime bucket list, I wanted to share what we’ve been up to lately!

At the end of the school year our school had an art show. Klara was so excited to show off her artwork.

I love documenting the most simple things that we do as a family. There were happy squeals and high fives when we looked at the kids and said, “Everybody go to the car, we’re going across town for our favorite pizza and to walk around the mall.”

We’ve spent so much time in the pool so far this summer. It is hands down the best purchase we’ve ever made.

Lately I’ve been slowing down and soaking in all the childhood memories. Watching Klara run barefooted in the grass blowing bubbles, catching lightning bugs and ladybugs has been so special. Our boys have been out of that stage for awhile and I miss it so much that my heart aches. I’ve tried to be more intentional with this precious time with Klara because it passes so quickly.

We celebrated Klara the end of May with an Encanto birthday party!

She asked for rollerblades for her birthday so we spent the next several days trying to get the hang of it.

Probably some of my most rewarding moments as a mom happened this school year. I am constantly blown away at how incredibly blessed we are with Kylan, Koby, and Klara. Kylan’s 8th grade graduation was so special. He received awards for the Beta Club, the President’s Education Award for outstanding academic achievement throughout the school year, an award for having an Advanced Writing Score on his state test, an Academic excellence “A” average in advanced English all year, an A and B Honor Roll certificate for his 8th grade year, a special award from his middle school basketball coach, a straight A award for the last nine weeks, and his middle school diploma. I’m still in disbelief that he’s officially going into high school.

Jordan and I were able to attend Koby’s awards ceremony the next morning, and we were finished in time to make it back for Klara’s awards at 11:30.

Koby received four awards. He had the highest grade average in his math class, the highest grade average in his English class, he made the A-B honor roll all school year, and he received a straight A certificate for his last 9 weeks of school.

Klara received five awards. She had straight E’s in both science and social studies, all E’s and G’s in math, all E’s and G’s in reading, and she received her second grade certificate.

Our principal planned a “bring your kids to work day” and surprisingly our kids were so excited to go with me. The boys were excited to see their old teachers and were happy to help clean and move furniture. They were paid with pizza, Chick-fil-a, and Italian ice.

Every Saturday and Sunday morning Jordan has been surprising me with breakfast in bed. French toast and coffee are his specialty.

If you’ve been following along on our journey for awhile, you might remember our son being hospitalized in 2019. You can read about it here. I’m sure you can imagine how terrifying it was to have had almost three years pass and out of no where, his left leg start hurting him in the exact same place it did in 2019 when his symptoms stumped doctors and he ended up in ICU. I’m going to share all the details on our most recent hospital stay in an upcoming post.

Once we were discharged from the hospital both times (all the details on that coming soon) we had a night out with Kylan. We took him out to dinner and to TCBY for dessert.

We FINALLY got around to getting Crumbl Cookies! 10/10 recommend.

Klara and Koby spent the night with their aunt Lisa and came home with a kitten. We’re just trying to keep everyone alive aka, not part of the food chain. The dogs have tried eating her and she’s eventually going to try catching our guinea pigs for a snack. We’re a zoo over here, y’all.

Klara lost her second top tooth! Each time she loses another tooth, it’s just another painful reminder that our babies are all grown up.

To God be the glory for these moments because when Kylan started experiencing pain a few weeks ago, we weren’t sure he would be able to play basketball this summer. Both the boys JV and varsity basketball teams attended a summer camp at UVA Wise from June 17-19. The JV team played seven games that weekend. Kylan got several rebounds and assists, and put up 30 points.

All three days, these were our road trip necessities.

In the Classroom

Towards the end of the school year we had water day, spent lots of time on the playground, and had a nontraditional graduation ceremony.

Summer school started in June and we do lots of learning from 8 to 12 Monday through Thursday. The kids are growing lettuce, lavender, and dill and are journaling their progess.

We have been using wiki sticks to form letters and have been practicing writing sight words during small group.

We even made snow this week!

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing what we’ve been up to lately! What are some of your plans for July?