Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Changing Gears

My life is driven in two gears and they are called Winter and Summer. My husband is a landscaper so our personal lives are vastly different between Winter and Summer. As a mother of four kiddos, our social lives change with the seasons, as well. I am just getting ready to switch gears and say goodbye to all the activities the kids and I have participated in for the past nine months. Soon Summer will be upon us and we'll have new activities to enjoy.

Some of the regularly scheduled activities we've done this winter include: Zumba classes for me, Early Childhood Education Class (ECFE) for me and the three littlest, Parents of Multiples class for me and the twins, basketball for Dreamer and Hubby, MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) for me and the three youngest, AWANA for me and the two girls, piano for Dreamer, Sunday School classes for all of us and regular school for the girls. Confused yet? You'd be surprised at the activities we turned down this year!

Two of my favorite Winter activities end this week, AWANA and MOPS.
Me with an AWANA Cubbies leader and some of our Cubbie
kids this year! This was a great group of kiddos (my Charmer is
 the Blondie to the right of me!).


Me (in the white) with my MOPS Table! We were the "80's Ladies"
this year. You ladies are amazing!!

Summer is shaping up to include two Vacation Bible Schools, two weeks of swimming lessons at the lake, basketball camp for Dreamer, MOPS playground play dates and Multiples play dates. Hubby and I are planning a little getaway for our eleventh wedding anniversary for a long weekend and a Twins Baseball game in July. We also have two little girls celebrating their birthdays, not to mention all the lake days we'll spend with family and friends, the little day trips we'll take to the zoo and amusement parks and some fun regional festivals and fairs. We also have a handful of graduation parties, as well as three weddings to attend this summer.  And all of this we'll cram into three short months!

As the seasons change it's hard to say goodbye and leave our routine behind, but this Summer promises to be a great one! And before we know it, September will be on us and it will be time to switch gears again.

What about you? Are your schedules in the midst of changing gears? What fun Summer activities do you have planned?

11 comments:

  1. I loved this! We live in Winter and Summer as well, only here, it's called Hockey and Not Hockey. Hubby coaches and the 3 boys play. I LIVE for the day when the gear can go out on the deck and get sunbaked and de-stinkified. Okay, I live for Jesus, but I enjoy de-stinking day.

    One son is graduating next month. So I get to see him all tux-ed up for prom!! Yes, there will be flashes and crying from the mom, but it will be soooo nice to see him dressed to the nines. The Big Activity for summer will be our trek to the Ontario Camp of the Deaf where hub's family gather every year. His parents (86 and 95 years old) helped found the camp and he's gone there since he was a baby, he's now 51. I adore my in laws and this year we'll celebrate their 65th anniversary. God has used them mightily, it's an honour to know them.

    IMHO, moms only have two gears, "full on" and "not moving".

    Have a great day!

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    1. Hi, Jenny! Our kids are just entering the sports phase and I am looking forward to it and dreading it all at the same time! My husband is a huge basketball fan, but our town is known for its hockey players, so he keeps trying to convince our boys (who are only two!) that basketball is the way to go! He even put a basketball hoop in their bedroom! :)

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    2. I want you to listen vewwy vewwy carefully...hockey is ALWAYS COLD. Basketball is warm. Well, that about wraps it up for me from the advice desk.
      :D

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  2. AWANA! I smiled as soon as I saw the Cubbies vests in your photo.

    Actually, my life isn't divided into seasons so much anymore...and honestly, that was one of the hardest things for me to adjust to after graduating from college. Before that, life was always divided into the school year and summer. It was a struggle for me, that first summer after college, to realize there was no summer break anymore...boo! I like to think I'm all adjusted now, but the truth is, I still get a burst of nostalgia each year around this time when school lets out. :)

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    1. I hear you, Melissa! Although, when I was still working outside the home I was a tour guide for a historic site, so my life was still divided by summer and winter because the site was closed in the winter. I still get that weird sinking feeling when school starts up in the fall, even though I don't have to "go back" to school, I still dread that time of year!!

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  3. We will be traveling a good part of June. First we will head West~ all of us, our first trip to see Mount Rushmore! We will spend about 5 days there, exploring and having a ton of family fun. Then when we get back...we have a couple days to get ready for a wedding in the cities. Then after that the boys all leave to go on their boys only fishing trip up north. And while they are gone, we (Peighton and I) will be heading southeast to Chicago to my aunt's house for an extended weekend!! I haven't been to Chicago in years, so this will be fun to get out and explore and sight see and do all sorts of fun stuff with the girls~ and my mom might fly up to Chicago for that too....we'll see. July and August will be spent out in the sun, fishing and enjoying life before we have to go back into school-mode.

    I feel like we have a fairly smooth transition btwn the school year and summer break~ our family is super excited for summer, especially June this year. It is hard to say goodbye to activities that you've been going strong with for so long, but fun to say hello to ones that you haven't done for a while.

    Have an amazing summer!!

    Jennifer Bailey

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    1. Wow! A fun-filled summer is in store for you! I hope you guys have a good time on your adventures. :)

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  4. I'm sooooo with Melissa on this one! I still find myself talking in semesters...and realizing that doesn't apply to my life anymore. It can get kind of monotonous when you think about only having breaks from work when you take a vacation...

    But I am looking forward to our weeklong cruise in July! And lots of grilling and swimming in our pool. The days are longer too, so I like summer for that reason. I feel more productive. :P

    And yay for AWANA! I went all the way and got my Citation award, so I'm a big AWANA fan.

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    1. Our church is a big AWANA supporter and this was my first year teaching Cubbies - I love those little kiddos and I'm so happy to get to know the children who will be going through AWANA with my daughter.

      I saw some pictures of your house on Facebook! It's beautiful - what a great space to entertain. :) I've always wondered if a pool was a lot of work to take care of? Even if it is, I'm sure it's worth it!

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  5. My husband is a bi-vocational pastor, so he works another job to help make ends meet as well as secure health insurance for us. This past school year, he's been teaching GED classes as well as serving as site coordinator for an after-school program. With the school year ending, we'll be changing gears for the summer. He'll be home more often, which changes my routine . . . at least for June and July. I'm looking forward to having him home more, plus thankful he'll have more time to focus on being a pastor.

    I see you're involved in MOPS. I was the MOPS mentor at our former church for three or four years back a number years ago. Great program for young mother's of preschoolers.

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    1. I love MOPS. I coordinated it for three years at our church and have been on Steering for all but two of the years I've attended. It's been an amazing ministry to not only benefit from, but also to lead. You would be an amazing Mentor Mom, Teri! Our group is blessed to have five Mentor Moms - one for each table!

      Enjoy some more time with your hubby! I love having my hubby home more in the winter when he's not landscaping. :)

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