Thursday, May 31, 2012

I couldn't wait to throw away those lunchboxes!

Today was the last day of elementary school for my 2 older kids.  I am so excited to start our easier summer schedule!  And have a 3 month break from packing lunches!  I celebrated by throwing their lunchboxes away.  They'd gotten pretty nasty throughout the year and all the washing them with baking soda or vinegar to get rid of the smells just never quite did the trick.  We'll start fresh in the Fall.

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Somewhere between attending my 3rd grader's awards ceremony this morning and my 1st grader's end of the year luau lunch party, the 2 littles and I made cookies and this "Happy Summer" sign to help celebrate the occasion.  


 
Every year as an end of the year gift, I give each of my kids, even the preschool ones, a big (550 page) workbook for their next grade level, to keep them fresh over the summer.  It seems like a real "Seriously, Mom?" kind of gift, but the funny thing is my kids are always so excited with the workbooks that they immediately start working on them!

Then there was this:


Nothing like a slip n' slide to ring in summer!

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After the slip n' slide fun was over, I dumped off the water and hung it up on the swingset to dry.  Then I got busy with laundry, dinner, helping little ones with workbook pages they wanted to do, and cleaning out the workbook drawer to make room for the new books.  Without thinking (or maybe because I was doing 4 things at once) I let the dog out into the backyard.  The light blonde dog that just got a bath and blow-dry yesterday thanks to an hour of work by my 9 year old and I.

A few minutes later, this showed up at the backdoor:



She apparently had a fine time rolling and rubbing around in the mud generated by the slip n' slide!

I declared her to forever more be an outdoor dog.

My husband came home from work about an hour later, though, had pity on the filthy creature and bathed her.

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There's no school tomorrow and early swim team workouts don't start until next week, so what are the chances my kids sleep in, in the morning?


Mommy's Idea

10 comments:

  1. I had to chuckle about the dog! At least your hubby bathed her for you!!!
    Visiting from Mrs. 4444!

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  2. Got to love the slip and slide. I used to love that was a kid though ours was just a piece of plastic we borrowed from a construction site and the water came from a fire hydrant that needed to be ummmm tested.

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  3. Is that a mini goldendoodle? She's pretty cute. Love the photo. I don't know why (maybe it's the break I've had since March) but naughty dog behaviors don't seem to bother me as much anymore. Hm.

    Love your summer workbook idea. I did the same, and my kids seemed to approach each summer day grateful for their chore chart responsibilities, as well as their workbooks. I also had them free-write once a week. I think kids need a replacement for the structure that school provides. Or maybe they'r like "working" dogs, who need to be given a job to do to feel centered :)

    Even your dog looked very satisfied with the work she'd done :)

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    Replies
    1. Yes, she is a mini goldendoodle. With 4 kids, 1 of which has bad allergies, we fell for the hype of a non-shedding, in theory hypo-allergenic, good-with-kids dog. I can say the no shedding is really nice, but she sure requires a lot of brushing to keep her fur from matting when we let it be long. Recently we got her more of a poodle clip for summer (and because I'd neglected the brushing and she'd gotten really matted), where the fur is a lot shorter. She's not quite as cute or soft with the short fur, but I don't have to mess with the brushing!

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  4. Aww...Glad your husband took pity on her. No way I could turn that face down.

    Yeah, I bought my youngest,who is now finishing up 3rd grade, some of those workbooks last summer and they are still blank! Oh well...I tried!

    Happy Friday and Happy Summer! :)

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  5. My 1st grader came home with a math workbook and is VERY eager to get started. I have to put together a weekly plan for math and reading- the fight is me doing it, not her participating!

    Stopping by for FF! Today was my first time in 3 months!!

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  6. When my kids were younger they loved the slip n slide too!

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  7. Here's to hoping you get to sleep in! Have a great weekend!

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  8. One more reason for me to add to my arsenal to NOT get another dog - - -

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  9. We started the summer with a slip-n-slide, too! The first day of summer break, my kids spent 8 hours playing school. Love the look of the muddy goldendoodle!

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