And whose ANGELS have we here?

Hmmm. Summer activities for 4 and 5 year olds. My BFF asked for advice about how to keep her two kids happy and cooperative during the summer break, so here's the advice I sent her. It's based on my own parenting style, so take it or leave it. It worked for my family: Abbie & Alex

The more structure you can provide, the happier everyone will be. It's hard work to be that proactive, but it's really worth the effort. Keep a set schedule during summer months. Something like:
7-9am tv & breakfast; tv goes off at 9am
9-9:30 dress and make beds, comb hair
9:30-11:30 family activity (zoo, walk, store, errands, park, visit friends)
Noon-1pm lunch and more tv (a.k.a."quiet time")
1-2 project time - make a birthday card, paint with water, start to put together a model airplane or car (Alex) begin cutting out paper dolls (Abbie). Clean up and save more for tomorrow.
2-3 Reading time (and use this time to go to the library twice a week)
2:30-4:30 Outdoor family activities (hammer and nail, catch flies/lady bugs, dig and plant flowers, transplant bushes, pull out old stuff, wash the car and dry it -- better yet, put a coat of wax on and let the kids buff it off, help Grandma with her yardwork, go swimming.....) I never run out of ideas.
4:30 If there have been no melt downs or fights between kids by this time of day, pull out the rewards: mini-play dough one color for him, other color for her; or a package of Skittles to share (split 3 ways it's not a huge dose of sugar).
5-6pm prepare for dinner, eat, clean up dinner (they help, of course)
6-7 baths and a video
9 - bedtime
You're free. Enjoy the solace, cuz it all starts again in 12 hours!

Joy

"Experience is a brutal teacher. But you learn. By God, you learn." -- C.S.Lewis

Everything I've ever read by this man has changed me in some small way. He just GOT IT - what it means to be human. He figured it out, not on his own, and not without heartache, but he learned. By God he learned.

Do a search on this man and find out more about him. Then read one of his books. My favorite is The Screwtape Letters.

Help--I've fallen into email purgatory and can't get up!

Recent photos of Brian Allred's kids. Such sweethearts!

I've read four books since the beginning of June. How's your reading going? Did you know that all Americans have lost some of their reading skills due to lack of use? It's true. According to a 20-year study on American reading habits, the results show that we not only read less, we read with less ability as a result. This study included all age, race, and socio-econ groups. The only age group whose reading skills improved were 9-year-olds. I guess we can thank J.K. Rowling for that significant exception. If you need a suggestion for reading, check out my Shelfari.

AFTERTHOUGHTS:
Hope you enjoyed the Wicked Tinkers video. What's that? You didn't WATCH it? Well, stop reading now and click on the link. If you like Craig Ferguson (or anything Scottish), you'll enjoy watching this.

Back to my original premise: I took the plunge today and deleted 600 emails (many of them unread) from my GMail Inbox. Only 300 more to go. Hence the heading about "email purgatory" -- can't move forward till I settle up. Most of these are things I needed to unsubscribe from long ago.

Scottish Festival 2009 (Wicked Tinkers video)

Wicked Tinkers
This past weekend was the Utah Scottish Festival, which has become an Allred family favorite. We visit the Malcolm booth, watch the weavers, and cheer for the hefty lads competing in Highland games (sheaf toss, caber toss, etc.) We enjoyed the March of the Clans this year for the first time, but our favorite event is always the concert on Saturday night. WICKED TINKERS is one of the BEST Celtic bands I've heard. The digeridoo is an amazingly singular instrument. It's the long pipe in the photo. (Check out my link to Craig Ferguson playing with Wicked Tinkers on the Late Show.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYk6_R0pxJk&feature=related

Honoring this year's Clan Chieftain
March of the Clans

Family Home Ice Cream

Josie
Monday Night found us at Aaron's house, then Arctic Circle, then back to Aaron's. Here are photos of some of my favorite ice cream lovers!
Naomi

Can I get an estimate on the damages, please?

A once-promising squash plant
Holy broccoli, Batman!
The Saddest of Herbs

Garden Done Got Shot to Hell!

Here's an update on my May 20th garden post: thanks to 10 days of heavy rain, including 2 hale storms, my vegetable garden is shot to hell. No photos. I'm too mad to take any. It's ugly - only the tomato plants made it through unscathed. I need some perspective on this, since the work and expense of putting in a self-sustaining and ORGANIC garden has yet to prove wise. Hhhmmm . . . Thinking aloud . . . this might be a good time to take photos and post "before & after" pictures on my blog once the garden actually proves itself worthy of praise. How's that for perspective? :]

Pandora anyone?

This software has revolutionized my work day! If you didn't already know this, I am paid to teach autistic men. It's not fun, it's not easy, and I love what I do. Nevertheless, my office is located in a part of the building that doesn't let me get radio clearly. And our IT guy has nixed the streaming anything -- how autistic is THAT? Enter Pandora. Finding Pandora on my iPhone has transformed my office into a sanctuary of peace and harmony -- except when I have it on the Aerosmith station. Seriously, if you don't have Pandora, get it today. It's free. (Get it before they raise the price.)

Is it SUMMER yet?

I just ate my first nectarine of the season. It was heavenly, even though it was probably harvested a LONG way from here. The weather in the Rocky Mountain region has been insane this June. We haven't even reached 80 degrees yet. My garden is growing, but longs for heat and sunshine.

Follow-up to the strawberries: I've made one batch of freezer jam with berries from my garden. And last night my sweetheart made crustless strawberry pie. We savored each berry and had fun topping the mess with spray can whipping cream. And this, dear reader, is why I am chubby, but happy.

Just a quick note about FaceBook: it's gone. I abhor that snoopy, insidious tool. I don't want to know what the friends of my friends are doing in real time. Nor do I want them reading mine. So, I just bagged the whole thing. I'm sticking with my blog, which includes my email address. I get a rush reading the Comments people leave, so feel free to leave one. And if you really need to talk to me, I can give you my mobile number.

IS it Summer yet????