Fun Summer Read: Wedding Day Murder

One of the perks of summer is getting to indulge in some lighthearted fun reading. I will be sitting by the pool much of the summer - hanging out with my boys, so a good book is a must for me.

Wanna see the latest book I am set to read next?  It's said to be a fun mystery with just a bit of romance. I am a  sucker for those 'Who Dun-It' books - so this one sounds exactly like my cup of tea when it comes to reading.

Yep. Cannot wait to get started either! School is over after this week for the boys - so I plan to have this book in hand, along with a giant bottle of sunscreen by the weekend. Did I mention that I will be proudly showing off my recently shaved legs - minus any signs of razor burn - at the pool?? 

The Lazy Days of Summer and The Quest to Spruce Up The House

This summer I have been working less on the computer. A. Lot. Less.

Could you tell?

And I am playing much more. A. Lot. More.

By playing I mean hanging out with my kids. We have been improving upon our lazy skills, practicing our swimming techniques, giving quality time to books, board games and crayons, and improving our lazy skills (did I mention that already??)

Yes,  I have been making family time w/ my kids a priority this summer (Note to my blogs: I love you all, really, I do, I just needed some space. You understand, don't you?)

I have also decided that it is beyond  time to do some 'sprucing' up around the house. Sadly, my blogging life has taken a toll on our poor home. How that happened, I just don't know. But I realized that my husband was going to bail I just could no longer hide my head under a pillow and hope all the messes would go away.

I needed time off. I needed to prioritize. I needed to breathe. I needed to clean the house.

So I have been sorting, organizing, tossing and boxing. Things.....I am boxing things up, not boxing with hubby or anything like that. Sheesh.

And I have been rearranging furniture.

Which brought me to the realization that we need new dining room chairs. Like yesterday.

Seriously, we have a fairly nice dining room table, but over the last couple of years, we have lost most of the original chairs that came with it. By lost I mean broken. And we just have never gotten around to doing much about getting new chairs for the dining room table.

The couches and floor have done their duty well as stand-ins, but I have decided no more. It has been far too long since we have had regular sit down dinners at the table as a whole family. I aim to change that.

New dining room chairs will be mine before summer ends. 

I need sturdy chairs that can take the punishment of two little boys. But I also need pretty. I like pretty. 


I have been searching on the Internet a bit, and have found a great selection of dining chairs I think might work. These ones in particular caught my eye...

They look like they could stand up to the rigors of two little boys while still looking pretty.


And I really love these.....




I am so looking forward to having a nice dining room table with chairs again. I really do miss having family time around the dinner table. Le Sigh.

This summer has made me slow down, re-prioritize and enjoy just being mom again. Life got so busy there for a while, I think I was forgetting how.

My new motto: Slow Down, Relax, and Enjoy. And Eat at a Real Table Every Day.


Thanks to Tesco.com for sponsoring this post. 

More Summer Fun: 5 Books To Read With Your Preschooler This Summer

I listed a few ideas for summer fun (and a few minor remarks about my gray hair--which a reader pointed out is probably actually white hair. But I digress.) in an earlier post. So in keeping with the theme of things you can do with your kids this summer, I wanted to share 5 awesome books to read with your preschooler/toddler this summer. These are my favs from a list of eight books I found on Babble.com

About Kids and Summer-- And Gray Hair.

Summer time and kids. I have a true love/hate relationship with my kids summer. I get so excited at the thought of lazy mornings, no lunches to pack, no last minute homework mishaps to deal with, and no carpool. I always envision how happy I will be to spend leisurely fun days with my kids enjoying having them home with me instead of away at school all day.

Do You and Your Kids Know CPR?

As summer and swimming pool season approaches, it is more important than ever that we all know how to perform CPR, as a story in the news today reminds us. This past Sunday, a nine year old boy saved his two year old sister from drowning by performing CPR on her.

Encouraging Your Kids To Read

Summer can be fun and offers lots of possibilities for outdoor play. But keeping kids interested in reading might be a little more challenging during summer. Our family does a few things to make reading fun and I thought I'd share them here for anyone looking for some ideas. Try having a different book each week that the family can read together and make themed activities for that week based on the story.

For little kids, about 3-5 years, read a book together.

Make a play about the story, and have kids pick the character they want to play. Mom and Dad can get involved too-especially if there are more characters in the story than kids in your family.

Make costumes together, and collect "props" that fit in with the story.

If there are any recipes in the story, make them during the week.

For older kids make word scrambles using words out of the story.

Have everyone write a new ending for the story and share them. For very young ones, have them draw their new ending.

Have everyone draw a new picture that would go on the cover of the book.

Take family trips to the library to pick out the book for the next week.


Any tips you'd like to share for helping your kids to enjoy reading?