Ladies. I seriously cannot even tell you how excited I am that it is summer break for us here on the farm! This will be our second summer with Ellie and I know she is going to be so much fun with how much she can already do!
Life really does get better as our kids get older. I can't wait to see what the future holds for us!
//one//
Just like our spring break we have a summer bucket list of projects to do around the farm. And probably once again I am being over zealous with what we can actually accomplish.
- I would like to get another load of rock delivered and spread out in the horse paddock.
- get enough mulch to cover our front flower bed.
- keep up on the weeding and upkeep with harvesting our veg garden (at least better than last year).
- finish up the trim on the chicken coop.
- clean out and organize our "office" room and convert into Ellie's playroom, this will be a huge undertaking but totally overdue!
- complete Ellie's picnic blanket I was hoping to have done by have done by her birthday (oops).
- paint the kitchen.
- organize our closet.
//two//
While talking about summer bucket lists let's go ahead and talk about some of the things we want to do with Ellie.
- go to the park on a weekly basis
- check out new parks
- daily family walks (weather permitting)
- hitting up local splash pads
- enjoying our farm life with staying put at least one day each week
- take a mini road trip
- go on at least 3 hikes
- teach Ellie how to "ride" Paladin
- enjoy family time with both sides of our family
//three//
Another thing I really need to focus on this summer is looking for new employment and to see where God wants to take me. If you have been following my blog for a while you'll know that since graduating college finding secure and reliable employment has been nothing but a challenge for 6 years. Maybe teaching isn't my calling after all and then again maybe it is and the plans God has for me is to touch more students lives than I could have ever ever imagined. Although working from home would be an absolute blessing. Being a SAHM has been my dream since forever and a day.
//four//
It's so funny how people view parenting and the "warnings" they give to you. Before Ellie started
crawling so many people told us to enjoy her being stationary while we could because with baby
mobility comes a lot more supervision. I can't can't even explain how much I loved having a crawling
and mobile Ellie. It was so fun to watch her gain her independence and to see where she wanted to go! Now she has started walking and this is a whole other new ball game that we were "warned" of. Again I love this type of mobility even more, if not for my OCD of cleanliness alone! Now when we of places we can set her down and I don't have to worry about her toes, knees, hands, and clothes getting so dirty from the public floors/ground! not to mention she is just so cute being such a little big person!!! My favorite thing is watching her walk around our house. Sure we have had to "baby proof" a bit with some gates to block off areas and we have had to give her more redirection than before, but I just love it. This part of development is so important and we are able to really work on our behavior expectations with Ellie as well as her listening skills. As she becomes more stable our dogs are becoming less nervous around her and I can't wait to see them running around and playing together in our back yard. This is the stage that I have most been looking forward to with Ellie and let me tell you she is NOT disappointing!
crawling so many people told us to enjoy her being stationary while we could because with baby
mobility comes a lot more supervision. I can't can't even explain how much I loved having a crawling
and mobile Ellie. It was so fun to watch her gain her independence and to see where she wanted to go! Now she has started walking and this is a whole other new ball game that we were "warned" of. Again I love this type of mobility even more, if not for my OCD of cleanliness alone! Now when we of places we can set her down and I don't have to worry about her toes, knees, hands, and clothes getting so dirty from the public floors/ground! not to mention she is just so cute being such a little big person!!! My favorite thing is watching her walk around our house. Sure we have had to "baby proof" a bit with some gates to block off areas and we have had to give her more redirection than before, but I just love it. This part of development is so important and we are able to really work on our behavior expectations with Ellie as well as her listening skills. As she becomes more stable our dogs are becoming less nervous around her and I can't wait to see them running around and playing together in our back yard. This is the stage that I have most been looking forward to with Ellie and let me tell you she is NOT disappointing!
//five//
I kicked off my Toddler Tuesday series a few weeks ago and I am loving it even more than I thought.
I love being able to showcase some of my favorite bloggers (and some new ones too) and also learn what to expect in the near future with my sweet Ellie. The traffic and comments have been so encouraging and I love where this is going! Each blogger has such a unique take on toddlerhood and all of them have great pieces of advice. Be sure to check out the previous posts from Natalie, Jenny, and Courtney as well as what I have scheduled coming up! If you are interested in being a part of this series just shoot me an email. I would love to have you and get you on the calendar.
♥ Ashley
I love being able to showcase some of my favorite bloggers (and some new ones too) and also learn what to expect in the near future with my sweet Ellie. The traffic and comments have been so encouraging and I love where this is going! Each blogger has such a unique take on toddlerhood and all of them have great pieces of advice. Be sure to check out the previous posts from Natalie, Jenny, and Courtney as well as what I have scheduled coming up! If you are interested in being a part of this series just shoot me an email. I would love to have you and get you on the calendar.
♥ Ashley
That looks like a totally doable summer list and I love your plans for activities with Ellie! I continue to ignore people when they complain about older kids and wish for their "babies" back - I have yet to wish for a younger Callie! Walking is so fun because they can explore and learn on their own and you can do so many more activities! Yes they get into stuff but that's part of learning and really a little bit of planning/baby proofing is all it takes so they can explore drawers safely! Keep enjoying it because I think it gets BETTER all the time - daily tantrums included!
ReplyDeleteThose sound like fantastic summer plans! Hope you figure out a way to stay at home with Ellie. Hugs!
ReplyDelete