June was jam-packed. We finished up school, crossed ten summer activities off our homemade bingo card, and I got my green card in the mail!
Read
My reading was a little down over the past month. I did read Piranesi, which was very interesting to discuss, but I was left wanting more information and more developments. I also read The Westing Game aloud; I ended up not loving it as much as I did when I was younger, but two of my kids were hooked. (Now we are reading one of my childhood favourites that I still adore.)
Eat
Here are a few new recipes we made
- Santa Fe chicken skillet
- Chicken in paprika ricotta sauce
- Chocolate ice cream and strawberry ice cream!
- Strawberry stack cake from Smitten Kitchen Keepers
Drink
I tried out a summery few drink recipes.
The mojito was my favourite and it’s nice and easy, especially with the spearmint plant flourishing near the back door and the simple syrup I made and stored in the fridge.
Do
- We had a picnic with friends after piano lessons.
- Some of us walked to a nearby church for a choir concert (Pro Musica).
- My father-in-law’s retirement open house was a big success! Some relatives even stayed over and the kids made friends with second cousins they didn’t know before.
- We spent three days in the Adirondacks with Andrew’s parents and siblings. The Grand Jay Lodge was a lovely big house that held all 26 of us; I especially enjoyed the hot tub! Some of us climbed Big Crow Mountain and later hiked in Henry’s Woods and at Paul Smith’s VIC (the boardwalk went through wetland with ladies slippers, pitcher plants, and wild blueberries… very different than the cedar swamp where I grew up).
- At WMF I gave my presentation on Saint Patrick, which I enjoyed and I think it was interesting to other people as well!
- My mother-in-law and I took the kids to Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse and did some shopping on the way home.
- We met some homeschool friends to do an art project: tracing drawings onto big paper with a projector and then painting them.
- We went to a contra dance that was broadcast on North Country Public Radio.
- The same night we heard the Pittsburgh Girls Choir at Pickens Hall and were so impressed!
- We went strawberry picking and brought home an enormous amount of berries.
- So far we’ve gone to the local pool twice; swimming lessons will start before you know it.
- I took the kids to a demonstration of aerial and aquatic drones run by Nature Up North, Indian Creek Nature Center, and Nicandri Nature Center.
Grow
Our bucket garden is flourishing. We’ve been eating a lot of lettuce (blacked seeded simpson and some romaine) and have also picked snap peas and dragon’s tail radishes and made a few batches of pesto from our basil. It’s exciting to see the bean and summer squash and tomato plants beginning to blossom.
Meditate
“The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!” – Psalm 50:23