School is officially out for summer break. I don't have to get up early tomorrow to wake children for school. It does seem to take my body some time to adjust to the new relaxed schedule., so I probably will wake fairly early anyway.
Do any of you other parents find this to be true? The kids seem to flow with whatever the day brings, and I'm slower to adapt. I don't know if that is age or just responsibility showing itself. What do you think?

I hope y'all had a lovely Memorial Day. My family had a mix of busy and relaxing all weekend. We got to spend time with dear friends beside a beautiful lake. We even got to eat s'mores around a campfire. It was wonderful.
We also had a pipe burst under our floor and had to make a temporary fix to stop the water. We have gone from two toilets to one for six people. I keep reminding myself it's just for a few days. The good news is the sink and shower still work.
Sometimes it feels like everything that can go wrong, does. It's important to focus on what is going right as much as possible. Sometimes, in the moment, that's very difficult. I have to remind myself how blessed I am.
This weekend was focused on remembering those that have served our country, and we should always remember our freedom was not free. It was paid for in blood, in grief,  in great sacrifice.
Now that the weekend is over, I would like to take time to remember how blessed I am. In the day to day whirl of activity, it's easy to lose sight of that.
I thank God for all He's blessed me with. And I thank Him for being with me and strengthening me as I walk through the hard times.

It's that time of the year again. The end of the school year seems to bring a flurry of activities for my children. So that means I'm busy as well. At least for the two who can't drive yet.
Just counting from yesterday till tomorrow my youngest son has four parties to attend. This is the one child I worried that he didn't have enough social connections. When he entered middle school he just blossomed. Now I'm not the only one who knows what a great guy he is!
I do miss having more time with him. It seems that time is flying so fast. Sometimes I think if I blink my children will be grown and out on their own.
But isn't that what a good parent does? We love them, meet their needs, some of their wants; all the while letting go a little at a time so they can stand on their own when adulthood is reached.
I'll always love them and be there to help if necessary. But mostly I'll stand back and let them be uniquely who they are. Trying very hard not to burst with the love and pride I feel while they do just that.

Candles and cool days

Hello! Today we have had lovely, cool weather. It's been in the eighty's for a few weeks and very dry. I live in a rural area so most driveways here are gravel. When it doesn't rain for a while, it gets dusty. We had rain yesterday and partially through the night. The high was around sixty degrees! Can you tell I love cool weather?
After getting my children off to school, I decided to spend part of my day making a lovely candle. My son gave me a candle for Christmas that smelled like cinnamon rolls. It made my home smell warm and inviting, so I lit it for an hour or so every day.
It didn't take long for it to burn down in it's cute ceramic jar. At this point the wick was gone. The problem was it still had a lot of wax left in the bottom.
I carefully removed the remaining wax from the jar. I had a glass jar set in a pot of simmering water.  I added the wax plus more from another candle stub to the jar.
While it was melting, I added two fresh wicks to the ceramic jar. Then after the wax was melted, I carefully poured my new candle back into the jar my son gave me.
It took a while to set, but my home smells like cinnamon rolls once again!