Summer Is Here!

Happy June!

Paprika still has three more weeks of school left, if you can believe that! It seems like everyone else is out for summer and we are left with a month more. But we don't go back to school until September, so it all works out somehow.

It feels like a second ago the school year started and I was so nervous about Paprika going to "real" school. Now we are old pros. Haha.

Paprika will do "Senior Kindergarten" next year (that's what we're calling it around this house). Since this year was also Kindergarten, it's good to differentiate. This year had its ups and downs for sure - both good and bad parts - and overall, I am glad that we decided to give her this "extra" year to grow and mature. Next year she'll only go 1/2 days again, which will be great. I don't think either one of us is ready for her to be in school all day long.

I think what I am most nervous about for next year is that Paprika is going to be BORED. Yup, very bored. There, I said it. I know I sound like I am bragging, but it's my blog and I'm documenting this for our family, so I've gotta be straight about it.

Paprika is reading something fierce now. The other day she was doing a reading game on the IPad and I set the level to "Third Grade - Fast" (as opposed to medium or slow) - and she got every problem right. She can read anything and everything...and she does!

She can count and recognize numbers to 1000. She can add and subtract really well...two columns now without carrying (so like: 96-43=?) I will probably teach her to carry over the summer, and maybe start on multiplication/division, if she's ready.

We started a book challenge a few weeks ago where if she reads me 100 different books, she gets to get a stuffed animal from a store at Disneyland (she wants the $20 Lotso Bear from Toy Story 3). We are working on earning things around here - so anyway, in just a few weeks, she has already read me over 50 books aloud.

If I had it to do over again, I would have just set the challenge to 50 books because some of these books are LONG (so we can only read one or two/day)...and I don't want to be headed to Disneyland in the middle of summer to get that bear (because it will be HOT and crowded then - two conditions that don't mix well with this mama).

I have also learned what motivates Paprika. Haha. She is very motivated by earning money. Yesterday I offered her $1 to help me clean the house, and I have never seen her jump up so fast. Then she got to spend her earned money at Target, and she had a difficult lesson in economics and the value of a dollar. She ended up getting some sidewalk chalk and was happy. All's well that ends well.



For the summer, both of the big girls are signed up for swim lessons Monday - Thursday. You have to be three years old to take lessons at the pool, and so it is GREAT that Ginger turns three years old five days before the summer session starts. She is excited about it, but we'll see how it goes when she has to actually get in the water. ;-) She is kinda attached to her floaties and they don't allow those at swim lessons. Ginger has a mind of her own and I pity the fool who separates her from her floatie. It should be interesting!



Baby Violet is six months old now and has two big chompers (teeth) right on the bottom. She can push herself up and can almost crawl. She is really good about getting where she wants to go all by herself. She loves to be held...and is pretty vocal about not being happy whenever she is put down. She only sleeps when she is touching someone (truly). So any naps she gets are in the Ergo or if I am holding her. She is nursing great and weighs a little over 20 pounds now!

She is just now starting to sample foods - I am trying to expose her to a lot of different tastes and textures. So far, she seems pretty happily surprised with what she's tasting. As if to say, "Oh, the novelty!" One of these days soon I'll be able to leave the house for more than an hour - right now that's about all I get because when she's hungry, it's a frantic cry of "Where are you, Mama!!!"

I have about a gazillion things on the To Do list - and they are very slowly getting done. One big project I have got to do is get our main computer up and running so I can transfer photos from my "big camera" (digital SLR) onto the blog. For the past few months, I've only had my ancient little laptop to work from, and it can only handle pictures from my little camera (point and shoot). So, I have literally thousands of photos from the big camera to transfer and edit. Eeek! I can't wait to do that because it's going to feel like Christmas for me seeing all those photos for the very first time all at once.

And, of course, I also have a gazillion other things to do, too. One thing I've actually been working hard on is going through all the clothes and organizing everything. It is a pretty big feat - I look at how many clothes the girls have and am a little embarrassed about it, honestly. So, I have been donating a lot of stuff that we don't need anymore. I have to keep a lot because it gets passed down - but wow, it is kind of crazy to manage. First world problems, I know! It's a good problem to have.

Mr. M has one more week working up in Santa Barbara (for now...he will have to go back up again for awhile in a few months). Next week he starts working on Top Gear, which is a car show he cut the pilot for a few years ago. He's locked that down for the summer, which kind of puts a damper on our travel plans as a family, although I hopefully will be taking a trip with Baby Violet to Indiana in July! :-)

Yes, this post is long-winded, so I should wrap it up. I am just amazed that SUMMER IS HERE. It's always my favorite time of year, although where I live it's kinda always summer...but still, the Indiana part of me just rejoices at the thought of June - the month I always looked forward to as a kid!



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