Lists for Summer

Today was the last day that teachers had to report at school.  The school year is now officially over and summer vacation has officially begun!  YAY!

Now it’s time to start tackling my summer lists.

I’m a big list person.  As in, I like making lists for almost anything and everything.  Of course I like checking things off my lists too!  For weeks (okay, make that months!) now I’ve had a few lists in mind for this summer.  The two main lists being my “to do” list and my “summer fun” list.

(And now I feel like I’ve said list too many times… it’s starting to sound funny in my head, haha!  Anyway, carrying on…)

The “To Do” is full of projects that had to wait for me to have more time and/or warmer weather, such as re-finishing/re-vamping some furniture, painting, and organizing our closet to name a few.

The “summer fun” one is just what you would think, ideas for fun things we’d like to do this summer.

Natalie can do so much more this year than she could last summer, and I’m looking forward to having lots of adventures together.  Many of my ideas revolve around being able to get outdoors, so hopefully the weather cooperates!  Even if it doesn’t, I have quite a few inside activities I’m excited for as well.

I like brainstorming all these ideas in advance so we can start setting aside time to do things.  I think it helps me do a better job of spreading the fun out along the whole summer, instead of trying to cram stuff in at the last minute when I realize the weeks are passing too quickly.

If you’re interested in starting a summer fun list of your own, or would like some ideas as a bouncing off point for your own family activities, you’re welcome to check out (and print if you’d like!) this list I created – Summer Fun List (Printable)

A few things on our own list are more personalized, but for the most part these are the ideas.  Hopefully I’ll have some fun stories to share as we check off the boxes this summer!

PS Last summer I wrote the Summer Challenge Series.  We enjoyed doing that as a family, but I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up with blogging quite as often this summer (read: shorter nap time for a certain little someone!) so I’m not going to do it again this year.  If you’re interested in looking back at last year though, this page has the links to each of the eight challenges.

These Days

I’ve always enjoyed summer… fresh air, swimming, flip flops and sundresses, green trees, birds singing, long days filled with warm sunshine…

This summer is extra special, though, because I get to share it with Natalie.

Watching her experience the joys of summer for the first time is amazing.  So many things are new to her, fresh and interesting, and sometimes I feel like I’m re-discovering the world through her eyes.

These days are full of sleepy smiles after a nap and playtime in our pajamas.

These days mean extra time for walks around the neighborhood (she wants to help hold Jackson’s leash!)

These days are for relaxing in a lounge chair…

… and swimming in the pool (which she loved!).

These days are full of wonder, joy, and beauty.

These days are a gift and I am so thankful.

 

 

 

 

Summer Challenge Series

As mentioned last Friday, I’m planning to do a series throughout my summer break.

I started thinking about this idea a while back as something to do for myself.

I like to set some goals for the summer since I have more time and freedom than usual.  Some of my goals are more serious – things I need to get done, projects that I have put off until now, etc.  Other goals are more fun – a sort of “wish list” for things I’d like to do during my vacation.

Back around April or so, while sitting in study hall with my students, I was thinking ahead about summer and some of these goals and another idea came to mind… Why not share some of these things?  Partially to hold myself accountable to accomplishing them, but also because I think it could be pretty cool to spur on some different activities and discussions among the people who read this blog.

And so, the Summer Challenge series was born.

Here’s how it’s going to work.  Every Monday morning I’ll post a new challenge for the week.  Later that week or weekend (depending on what the challenge is and how my week goes!), I’ll post a follow-up about what I did to meet the challenge.

Through it all, I’d love to hear your feedback.  If you decide to participate in a specific challenge, you can share what you did by commenting on that weeks post.  Or just use these ideas as a springboard for your own challenge(s) and feel free to share what you come up with for yourself too!

There will be 8 challenges total – starting this coming Monday and going through the last full week of August.

I’m looking forward to doing this as something fun and different throughout the summer and I hope you’ll enjoy it as well!

The Summer Routine and the School Schedule

When I started graduate school, working towards my teaching certifications and masters in education, there was a story that circulated about one of my fellow grad students.  As the story went, she was in a class where the professor asked all the students why they wanted to go into teaching.  Her response was, “so I can have summers off!”.  I’m pretty sure it was meant to be a joke, although the professor didn’t think it was funny at all!

I certainly didn’t become a teacher so that I could have the summers off, but I won’t deny that it’s a very nice perk!

Truth be told, there is no “summer routine”.  Sure, there are things I have to do each day, but there isn’t a specific schedule to follow.  I make my to do list for the day and follow it at my own pace, with the flexibility to change it as needed and the freedom to drop it completely if something else comes up!  It’s a pretty nice feeling and totally different from the rigid routine of the school day.

I’m very thankful for this time and am trying not to take a moment for granted!  I certainly know it won’t last forever.

As if to reinforce that idea, several nights ago I had a dream about my school schedule.  In my dream it was the new year and I had been assigned to teach two new classes – chemistry and football.

Okay, chem I could probably handle, although in my dream I had no time to prepare anything at all so I was freaking out.  But football?!  Who in the world has a class about football?  And, if you know me outside of this blog, you would know that football is not my thing.  I try to get into it a little for my husband’s sake, but I am in no way qualified nor would I ever enjoy teaching a class about it!

Needless to say, it was a relief to wake up… but it got me wondering about when I would find out my real schedule.

I logged into my school email the next morning and, what do you know, there was an email saying our schedules would be available in a couple days!  What timing!

My schedule was posted today and the layout of my day seems pretty good.  I got to take a peek at my students and, although I don’t know any of them yet, it’s nice to get an idea of the kids I’ll be working with this coming year.  Overall I’m pleased with how things look!

That being said… I’ll happily enjoy my summer routine for another month.  I’m not in any rush to be back to the school schedule yet!

 

Fresh Air and Family Time

We kicked off the summer with a camping trip to the Adirondacks. The whole family was able to go and spend the week together which was a very nice treat.

I enjoyed having some time to just relax… sitting by the water, taking in the view and the fresh air…

… as well as reading and enjoying the visits from curious little ducklings.

We designed a frisbee golf course and challenged each other to several matches, until new people moved in on the site next to us and cut off a few “holes” from our course.

We also filled our days with some paddling…

…and some fishing (I only caught this one, haha!).

And of course we ate delicious camping food, hung out around the fire every night, and had lots of laughs together as a family.  It was a great way to start the summer!

The Last Day and the First Day

Today was the last day of school. I am officially and completely done for the year. All done with classes, all done with exam weeks, all done with final reports and cleaning out my room and all the other end of the year business I had to do.

My first year of teaching is in the books.

Today is also the first day of summer. Not just of my summer break, but of the actual summer season according to the calendar.

Double YAY!

I am very thankful for this teaching job, but I’m also thankful for the summer break that is ahead of me. Teaching is tough while you’re in the middle of it, but rewarding as well. And believe me, I know what a good gig it is… I mean, to get summer vacation as an adult? Now that is an uncommon treat that I certainly won’t take it for granted!

Happy Friday and happy 1st day of summer to everyone!

You Know it’s Time for Summer Vacation When…

So I had this dream the other night.  Actually, it probably qualifies for nightmare status even though I find it pretty hilarious now.  At the time, as in during the midst of the dream, it was definitely nightmare-ish!

Today was the last day of school.  Well, the last day of classes… I’ll still be there until next Friday as we have Regents exams going on.  But the past weeks have been even more hectic than usual, especially trying to help a few specific students pull everything together at the last minute so they don’t fail and/or are able to graduate.

I first realized that I was thinking/worrying about my students too much when I woke up at 3am wondering if one of my seniors was going to get his project done for his government class so that he can pass the course and graduate.  3am and this is what is going through my mind?  That’s gotta be bad!

Then I had the dream.  Here’s how it went…

I was up in the Adirondacks with my family, ready for our summer camping trip.  I was stopped at some restaurant or store kind of place outside the campground because one of my students needed me to tutor him.  I spent all this time tutoring and was finally ready to head to the campground when he said that he was coming camping with us.

What?! Ahhhhh!!

I was so upset because I had been looking forward to this relaxing time!  This was my summer vacation!  This was my chance to get away from it all!  How could he infringe on our family time together?

But then his counselor appeared and said that this would be a really good learning experience for him and that I needed to bring him along.  Oh yeah, and not to mention he then went on to tell me that he had no supplies… no tent, sleeping bag, boots, anything… and I had to buy it all for him!

I cannot express how relieved I was to wake up from that one!  Needless to say, you know it’s time for summer vacation when you start having nightmares about your students tagging along on your family camping trips!