I know it's summer when . . .

it's Friday and I'm NOT excited. A week gone by already? (Yes, that was a whine you heard). DH and I were looking at the calendar, planning out the summer, and it seemed to flash before my eyes. I want each day to last and last and last . . .

Last night we got a tip from Grandma Kathy that the International Space Station would be visible in the sky. So at 10:13 we were standing out in the middle of our street craning our necks to see it. And there it was! A big, bright light in the sky moving quickly from west to east. At first I couldn't believe that the light was the ISS because it seemed SO close, like airplane close. So I don't know if the light is just REALLY bright or if during that time of viewability it is closer to the earth. We are supposed to be able to see it tonight, Saturday night, and Monday night as well.

Miranda has started an exercise program with her friends this week. They meet at 7:30, run, and then either go to a friend's to jump on the trampoline or play the Kinect until 9:00. Well, it's only day three of the program and one friend of four are still doing it with her. Maybe just the two of them can stick it out over the summer. Miranda is such a planner and follows through on commitments. I love her dedication.

Lina has been working hard at all-star practices each night this week. The practices are 2-3 hours. I am happy she is still enjoying it. She got on the team at the last minute and is the youngest player. I don't think she will play much in the games (only one inning/3 outs is required) but these two weeks of intense practice will do wonders for her softball skills.

Christian is bored already. I was talking to DH the other night about what I can do for Krish this summer. I have a whole list of activities but he doesn't want to do them. I offered for him to do soccer camp. No, was his reply. He has cub scout camp but that isn't until the end of July. We do a "rotation station" each day that he does enjoy. It takes 2.5 hours. We have five stations around the house (Kinect/computer games, piano/violin practice, art table, read in your room, movie in mom's room) that the kids rotate through every 30 minutes. They move through the stations individually. He has asked each night before bed if we are doing rotation station the next day. He got a Black Stallion book at the library the other day and seems to be enjoying it, but he usually won't read more than 30 minutes. He did have quite a bit of outside playtime yesterday which was great. We have rain in the forecast so I'll need to have some more indoor-ideas ready to go.

Curtis loves rotation station, too. He is so content to sit and read books all day. If there isn't something to do, he reads. I'm going to see if I can get him into soccer camp next week. He would enjoy that.

Merek is actually having a hard time adjusting to the other kids being home. This has surprised me! I thought he would be so happy they are here all day. But I wonder if the activity level is too much for him when he is used to quiet mornings home with mom. During rotation station, he can't do the music and art table stations alone so I play with him or have him set up with some cars or legos. And during reading time, I read aloud to him. But he seems much more agitated this week and clingy. I'm sure it will all work out and he will get used to having them all home (and then it will be time to go back to school. haha).

Talking about time flying by, our niece--Melia, graduated from high school earlier this month. I had this set of pictures taken of her last fall during her senior year. I've been waiting for the right products to scrap them with. The May Hip kit worked perfectly. I wouldn't have thought to use orange with the photos at first, but when I paired them up, I loved the way it looked.

 The big camera sticker sparked the idea to use the kit with the photos. I used the patterned orange paper against the orange cardstock to soften the bright color a bit.

 I backed the stickers with pattern paper or cardstock to make them pop a bit off the page--and to give myself a little flexibility to move them around the page until I decided on placement.

She is so beautiful. We are excited for her adventure off to college in the fall. And that she will nanny for us a week this summer while I'm at YW camp :)

Enjoy your Friday! We have dentist appointments this morning, need to do a little birthday shopping for two birthday parties Miranda is going to this weekend, softball practice, and movie night. Which reminds me, BRAVE is opening today. The girls really want to see it. maybe we will try to go to a matinee tomorrow. That sounds like a fun summer Saturday activity!