The Walnut Acre Daily -A Picnic Lunch and a Turnip From the Garden

Walking With the King

"Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord." ~ Leviticus 19:18

Today's Quote

Colors are the smiles of nature. ~ Leigh Hunt

On Our Nature Walk
It looks like these berries that I've been watching are blackberries. It looks like it will be just a few more days until we can start picking these.

In the Garden

I pulled this turnip this morning when I was working in the garden. I'm thinking I should have left it there longer, it's not as big as it looked like it would be before I pulled it. The others in the garden are about half to two-thirds this size so it will be a little while before they're ready to harvest.

Other Outdoor Fun
It was absolutely beautiful outside today and we had a picnic lunch. 

While we were eating CJ looked up and realized Amanda's cat, Sheena, was sleeping on a branch over our heads. 

I'm not sure what CJ and Michael were playing this afternoon but they had the wagon loaded and CJ was trying to figure out a way to pull the bicycle along behind the wagon. Michael was just trying to make sure he got in the picture. 

We Are Learning 
The weather outside was beautiful and Michael is still extra active so we didn't do circle time or our half hour of school work this afternoon. Instead we spent extra time outside. In a couple days it's supposed to be really hot again and there will be plenty of time then to do these kinds of activities while we're trying to stay cool inside.

We Are Reading
Here are some of the books we enjoyed reading together today.
Hanging Out With Mom



Chaucer's First Winter



The Cat in the Hat Comes Back




In the Kitchen

For breakfast this morning we had this Breakfast Sausage Casserole. 
Michael helped me make Sausage Cheese Bread for our picnic lunch.

For dinner this evening I fixed baked chicken, buttered potatoes, Buttery Cooked Carrots,(with carrots from the garden) and we had the whole wheat bread I baked yesterday.


And that's a peek into our day today. Tomorrow afternoon Michael has an appointment with the pediatrician so we can decide what steps we need to take for him since he had a seizure Sunday. Then tomorrow evening Austin has youth group and I have choir practice. We also have more kids than usual tomorrow so it should be an interesting day.


~ Linking Here ~
 

 

The Walnut Acre Daily - First Day of Summer Break

Walking With the King

Everything comes from You and and we have given You only what comes from Your hand. ~ 1 Chronicles 29:14

MORE HERE - Called To Be a Steward

We Are Learning

This morning we started a unit on forest animals. We watched two videos, did a forest animal addition page, and a squirrel coloring page.

This afternoon CJ, Michael and I read a book together twice, and played two rounds of sight word bingo and a game of sight word memory. 

In the Kitchen

Today was Michael's day to help me make lunch. He helped put this cookie dough out on the trays . . .

. . . . and then helped me make these turkey and cheese sandwiches from fish shaped flatbreads. 

For dinner this evening CJ fixed hamburgers, fries and lima beans.

In the Garden

Amanda and Austin both worked in the garden this morning, they're still working on the carrot patch but they're making progress. I didn't make it to the garden today.

Other Outdoor Fun

We had our first picnic lunch of the summer.

Thank you, Karen, for bringing us popsicles at lunch time. It made our picnic a little extra special.

Out and About

I took CJ to a doctors appointment first thing this morning. 

Austin and Doug went to the Boys Scouts meeting this evening. When they come back I am taking Amanda and Austin to Target and Wal-mart. Apparently they have money burning holes in their pockets that can only be spent in one of those two places.

Daily Deals

$10 Off orders of $50 or more with code AFFMM through 6/8 at Burpee.com!

Today's Quote
There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort. ~ Jane Austen

Ten Things We Plan To Do This Summer

With the last day of school on Friday and a long summer ahead of us, I did what I do best. I sat down and made some plans. I love to make plans and schedules and I thought I would share some of the things we are planning to do this summer. 

1. Have fun at the parks. There are so many parks and playgrounds in the area that we can enjoy. So I have each Wednesday scheduled as park day. The plan is to spend the morning at whichever park or playground we choose that week and eat lunch there before we come home to crash for naps. I'm also going to post on facebook when and where we are going and see if I can interest others in meeting up with  us and joining the fun. 

2. Picnics. Lots of picnics. Monday will be our backyard picnic day and of course, on Wednesdays we will be enjoying our picnics in the park.

3. Water play -  We don't have a pool but that doesn't mean we can't have water fun. Friday mornings will be our water play day and I'm planning to set up the sprinkler, put out some tubs with water and water play toys, and provide water guns or squirt bottles for lots of water fun. 

4. Backyard Camping - Our family really hasn't gone camping at all in the past so this year I want to start us out with some backyard camping. My plan is to camp out in the backyard every other Friday night. I'm hoping to make this as realistic as possible - cooking out on the grill or fire pit, making S'mores, sleeping in a tent. We have a tent somewhere but we need to dig it out and see if it is still usable. If not we will make some makeshift tents with quilts. This is one of the activities that I'm looking forward to the most. Maybe, if we do well with the backyard camping, we'll get brave enough to take the kids out on a real camping trip or two. 

5. Berry Picking. On the land behind us there are SO many berries growing. There are at least two different kinds although I'm waiting for them to ripen so I know which two they are. I can hardly wait to introduce the kids to the joys of berry picking . . . and eating . . . and preserving. 

6. Foraging. This weekend I plan to visit the bookstore and find a good book on foraging. Then we're going to have some treasure hunts - with the treasure being wild edible treats. I'm really hoping the kids like this idea as much as I do. 

7. Schoolwork. Both CJ and Michael need to continue with a little work this summer to make sure they keep the skills they've learned so far. So most afternoons we will do about an hour of work. I've found one sight word game I can print, and I have ideas for making two more as well as some fun math games. We'll do some reading as well and some fun online work. 

8. Play Games. I know there will be some hot days when we do not want to be outside and playing games will be a great way to fill this time. CJ wants to learn to play Skip-Bo and I think Michael is ready to learn to play UNO. Both boys know how to play Go-Fish. Connect Four is another option for us. 

9. Gardening. Both vegetable and flower gardening are in my plans for the summer. CJ has already said he would like a small garden space of his own, and I'm sure when CJ gets a garden space, Michael will want one as well. 

10. Sit on the front porch and watch the world go by. What is summer without sitting on the porch on a warm summer evening, relaxing and listening to the summer evening sounds - insects and birds, children at play, a lawn mower somewhere, conversation and laughter. I can feel myself relax just thinking about it.

So, those are my plans for the summer. Do you have some fun summer plans. I'd love to read them in the comments if you do.