Goodness! It feels so good to be back home, to be rested and to be settle back into our summer rhythm. I had a wonderful trip to Cleveland and a fantastic time at TNNA. I loved teaching my classes and I had the best students! I'm definitely looking to expand my teaching catalog and will be looking into some other places that I can come teach in the next year. It's a whole different energy than my day to day, and it's nice to have someone other than a 4 year old to discuss ideas and to collaborate with for new designs.
We are in that in between summer lull right now, I'm happy to stay put and home after traveling and being away. Sleep away camp is over for my bigs, and the week-long crazy pants camp for the middles is over. (And thankfully there is a 2 week rest period before VBS for the littlest and I get to stretch my storytelling skills for yet another year!) Everyone is home, and it is HOT outside (it is currently 106), so sending them out to play is out of the question. Transition is hard for at least two of them, and I need structure to maintain my sanity. I also don't want to have to come up with lesson plans and ideas, and check homework for two weeks while dealing with the groaning and complaining.....so Fun School it's been.
I like the rhythm of having that quiet time in the morning, yet lots of room for cuddles on the couch. I didn't even think about or look at the books as I just scooped them out of the book basket and plopped down with the 4 year old in my lap. As we giggled over the silly construction trucks and the funny animals building a park for their friends, the other children all moved close and started to listen too. We didn't learn anything earth shattering or shocking, but we did have lots of giggles and had a fun morning.
I am currently reading Okay for Now. It was a Read Aloud Revival recommendation and I wanted to pre-read it to see if it would be a good fit for one of our Summer read aloud (it's a YA book, so a pretty easy, breezy read!). I think that it's a bit heavy for my 9 year old, and is definitely too much for my 7 year old right now (she is very sensitive!), but I do think that I'm going to recommend it to my older two children. If you haven't ever read it, I definitely recommend giving it a go, it's one of those story lines that sticks with you and makes you think. It also might shift your perspective on the children that you work with, so there is always that.....
Oh, and the knitting? I'm working on a new design in this absolutely lovely Destination Yarn's Letter Plus yarn in Cinderella's Castle and Rainy Afternoon. I am loving this yarn and this new design so much! I'll be looking for test knitters soon, so if you are interested, definitely leave me a comment to let me know.
What are you reading and knitting this week?
~Jessica