InstaFriday {June 7}

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InstaFriday is one of those weekly link-ups that I love to do, but forget about. My friend, Candace, never seems to forget though. If I happen to time reading her blog right, sometimes I am reminded to grab some of those Instagram pictures (find me at marcyky) I took with my iPad (because I still have a dumb phone), and give you a glimpse into our week. Actually, today it’s a glimpse into the past 2 weeks. I hope you enjoy seeing a bit of our lives.

There are so many wonderful things about the late spring/early summer season — Memorial Day, the Strawberry Festival, flowers and herbs, grilling and eating out on the deck, the neighborhood pool opening.
We’ve enjoyed all of these in the past couple of weeks.
Since before we were even married, Tom and I have enjoyed going to the Strawberry Festival in Starlight, IN. It’s part craft show and entertainment, part eating and drinking everything strawberry. Our favorite part, and now Ben’s, is the build your own strawberry shortcake tent.

On our way home from the Strawberry Festival, we scored big with this roadside flower stand. Purple Wave Petunias always grace our deck and these were just $12 for each hanging pot. We bought 3 — 2 solid purple and one of those striped ones. Gorgeous.

Speaking of gardens (well, sort of), for the first time this year, I purchased some Earth Boxes for my deck garden. My friend, Kate, raves about them! I have lots of herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers for this year’s crop. Can’t wait to share more about that later!

Speaking of my deck (don’t you love my segues today? ), we love grilling and eating out on our deck. It’s really beautiful out there, with lots of trees and the sounds of many different kinds of birds chirping. I sometimes spend hours out there just reading and enjoying the breeze. This was our first grilled steak and potatoes (with a side of bleu cheese salad) of the year. There will be more of these to come!

Ben’s favorite day of the year is undoubtedly the one where the neighborhood pool opens. We are blessed to live in a subdivision with a private pool just for us. It’s a tradition to head up there the evening it first opens, so we grabbed a friend and headed out. And just because they just seem to got together, we went out for ice cream after!

Ben recently made a purchase. Inspired by the Zelda video game and his friend, Parker, he bought an ocarina. Within hours he was playing recognizable songs and is now sketching the notes for songs he’s making up. He’s even figuring out how to play one of my favorite songs, I’m Yours by Jason Mraz.

Lest you think our lives are just all fun — yep, that’s my washing machine. In my yard. With my son lying nearby in a sleeping bag. At midnght. It got stuck on the spin cycle and nearly caught fire. The smell of burning rubber alerted us. I’m sure it was quite a sight to see us quickly hauling it outdoors just in case it was about to burn down our house. No worries though — after dragging it to the curb, someone politely ~~stole it~~ hauled it off the next day and new one is gently humming in the laundry room as I type.

And finally, just because it’s getting close to summer doesn’t mean that the homeschooling ends around here. No, in fact, we are full-on homeschooling most of the summer, with just a couple of breaks for vacation, drama camp, and a work-related visit to Washington DC with Dad. The Schoolhouse Review Crew has us covered though —

With Moving Beyond the Page, Institute for Excellence in Writing and our usual math programs, there’s nothing else we’ll need all summer.
Well except for sunscreen and field trips. And I’ve got those covered.

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