SOME DAYS ARE JUST PERFECT

Do you ever have a day that just makes you smile?  One in which nothing spectacularly exciting happened, but the day flowed smoothly and was perfectly balanced beween work and play?  I love those days and yesterday was one of them.

I told the kids over breakfast that if they quickly busted out a chunk of school, then I'd take them to the pool.  The boys each went to different rooms and spent some time reading, while Naomi and headed to another room to read some history.  She and I then moved to science and did several days' worth of reading and worksheet questions.  Since she'd been reading about flowers, we decided to head outside to find actual flowers for her identify parts in.  We threw boots on and off we went. 

The sun was shining, the air was warm, and she had fun comparing the illustrations in her book with real flowers.  Jammies (yes, I see the blown out knee in mine, but I won't give them up yet), crazy hair, rubber boots, sunshine, school, and fish faces.  What's not to love?

Devon came out at some point to ask a math question and ended up staying to soak up some sun while he worked. 

Silas came out a little later to ask a question and I asked if he wanted to work outside.  He said he couldn't because he was on the computer and the battery was dying, so he needed to be near an outlet.  As he was saying that, he remembered we have outdoor outlets in this house, so he plugged in and kept working on geography.



I finished working with Naomi, then she and I went to another part of the yard to pick berries while the boys kept working.  Then the bigs and I each scarfed a banana, threw on swim clothes, and headed to the pool while Tim and Tyler stayed at home. 

The pool was almost empty and we spent just over an hour swimming, swinging, sliding, and somersaulting in the water.  We ended with our usual five minutes in the hot tub, then came home to eat a late lunch. 

I checked the mail when we got home and discovered two packages for me - a book someone bought for me so that I could read through it with a group of friends and an apron from Dizstitches (same person who made my awesome quilted bag many of you have asked about) because I've recently started staining all my clothes when I cook. 

I opened the apron package.

I saw big flowers.

I saw little flowers.

I saw a fun button.

I tried the apron on my still-dripping-from-the-pool self.



I decided, yet again, that Robin does great work and has an ability to make me love fabrics I'm too predictable to have chosen myself.

The kids all napped while I did some stuff online and around the house, Tim left for class, the kids started a movie while I prepped dinner in my new apron, we ate tacos, I folded laundry, the kids happily played together, we finished the movie together, Naomi and I played sight word bingo while the big boys did some reading for school, the big boys played bingo with Naomi while I gave Tyler a bottle, I started a batch of granola, three kids went to bed, I tidied things up, another kid went to bed, I took care of some paperwork, I finished pre-reading a school book, I played online, I started reading the book that came in the mail, Tim came home. 

Days like that are what keep me going when homeschooling, parenting, and running a home aren't much fun.  Mellow, but productive.  Warm, but not hot.  Happy, but not amped.  Pretty much perfect.