Ordinary Days

This is the last week of school and I'm heading into summer break with equal amounts of excitement and fear. For real.

I am thrilled that I don't have lunches to pack and kids to get out the door by 7:30 a.m.

I am super excited for some very fun vacations we have planned this summer.

And I am relieved to not have daily weekly homework battles and tear over the hated IXL Math program (those of you who know what this is, feel my pain).

However... I am also fearing the fights that will inevitably ensue over:
1. Kids being bored
2. The boys being together a LOT more
3. Computer privileges
4. TV privileges
5. Kids being bored... oh wait, did I already mention that one?

I know it's silly to worry about these things. Hey, maybe they won't happen.

Ha.. ha.. who am I kidding? I know they will argue and fight and irritate each other at some point. But maybe it won't be for a month or so when the novelty of "Summer" has worn off a bit.

For now, I'm trying to focus on the excitement of laid back mornings with second cups of coffee, spending time with extended family that we don't get to see very often, the freedom of open afternoons and the spontaneity that comes along with that, late night swimming, s'mores and bonfires, and the beauty of experiencing summer break through the eyes of two amazing kids.

In the meantime, here's what some ordinary days have looked like around here lately...

We made our annual "Summer Bucket List" with the boys. We all look forward to making this every year. I love hearing what ideas they come up with, and it gets us all excited about the upcoming summertime.

I bought this antique rocking chair at a consignment shop a couple months ago. I absolutely love the width of the arm rests and the depth of the seat. BUT... it needed a lot of love. These were the beautiful cushions that it came with. Yellow floral anyone?

Then I took off the pillow cover to measure fabric to have it recovered and this was what was underneath!

I gave the new fabric and the cushions to my seamstress and she said there was yet another layer of fabric under this one! Incredible. Someone really loved this chair enough to recover it three times. And now, I can say I've recovered it for a 5th time. I'm so happy with how it turned out.

Here's a close-up of the fabric.

Brian (and the seamstress) thinks I'm crazy for choosing white fabric, but I love it. It's so clean and crisp, and it's such a great contrast to the dark wood chair. I haven't recovered the footstool that came with it yet. I know I don't want to do the footstool in white, so I need to find a good coordinating fabric that will hide dirt a little better.

I'm also happy to report that these orchids that I bought several months ago and still thriving! I'm shocked. I have such a black thumb. The first bloom just fell off this week, so I'm claiming it as a huge success in plant longevity in the Heckman household.

We've been grilling and eating outside every Sunday evening lately. It's such a nice break for me from cooking.

Brian loads up every inch of the grill with chicken, salmon and veggies. We all eat whatever we want that night and then save the rest for healthy lunches throughout the week. I hope it continues all summer!

Twinkle lights & candles make eating al fresco a bit more romantic.

We're also getting into "fort season." 

This is the time of the year when thunderstorms hit almost every afternoon and the kids ask me to make them a fort since they're stuck inside. I've actually gotten pretty good at it, and my system makes the evening clean up quite easy. My tip? Use extra large binder clips!

I've also totally got "Cruise Brain." I think about our upcoming cruise all the time. I day dream about it. And then I keep buying cover-ups. It's like it's a disorder or something. I just bought this beauty today:

But for $15, who can blame me? I mean come on... the pom pom ruffled edge - adorable.

In just two short weeks I'll be sailing away...

Back to reality.

Alright, off to get Parker's clothes ready for his end-of-the-year performance tomorrow. Then Payton has his big "Market Day" project on Thursday followed by an hour-long guitar make-up lesson... and then... what did I say about being excited about summer break?!? I can't wait!!