It’s hard to believe July is ending and summer is winding down. It’s been a really busy month and, as I look at the calendar and realize we only have a few more weeks until the kids start school, I want to be intentional about setting aside more quality time with them.

As I read the post below from my archives, I smiled, remembering. And I was convicted about the fact that, especially as my kids have gotten older, so much of our time is scheduled with sports and activities and plans.

So as I look ahead to these last few weeks of summer, I want to try to have more unscheduled days.

I want to say yes to things I might normally say no to.

I want to soak in the end of summer, leaving more opportunities for my kids to explore and create and learn…

and make memories.

Who knows, maybe they’ll even swim with their socks on again… :)

Swimming with our socks on…

This week was our last week before school starts. Because our summer has been so busy, I really wanted these last few days to be laid back and fun.

And they have been…

As I write this, my son is conducting an experiment in my salad spinner, mixing shampoo with water and swirling it around. And he just informed me that adding a pen cap, a string, and a piece of plastic into the mix makes an extra-powerful tornado.

Hmm.

My daughter, on the other hand, instead of putting the dishes away from the dishwasher, just finished building this:

And that’s pretty much how our week was, filled with one interesting art project…

After another…

I cleaned out my daughter’s room and moved her furniture around, too. And when she told me she wanted her bed at an angle smack in the middle of her room, I surprised myself and said… okay. It wasn’t the plan I had—her bed nice and tidy against the wall—but it’s cute. And she’s thrilled, which is what really matters.

And then a couple of days ago, when the kids asked if they could swim in their socks, I surprised myself again…

Hey, I even did a cannon-ball into the pool and got my hair wet. My kids were so excited they practically drowned me. But to see their faces, and how happy they were, made the blow-drying-my-hair-all-over-again-in-the-middle-of-the-day worth it. (Which, by the way, isn’t vanity. It’s necessity. If you have hair that frizzes when it air-dries, you understand.)

It’s been a fun and off-the-wall and messy week.

I did things that I don’t normally do.

The house needs to be cleaned. And to be honest, I’m burnt-out on paint brushes and glue guns and projects.

But, you know what?

The week was as good for this scheduled, planned, to-do list nut as it was for my kids.

Probably even better. :)
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