Monday Musings... Morning Basket...

Edited to Add: I just got word, literally minutes ago, that my layoff notice is officially being rescinded! Financially this could not have happened at a better time, though I admit I was looking forward to being at home with the kids more... at least I have 6 weeks off to enjoy with them.

I am feeling very inspired by Wildflowers and Marbles' Morning Basket, which you can read about here and here. So much inspired in fact that I have decided to set up my own, which I plan to start using with the children next week. I think summer is a good time to try something new like this, as long as it is gentle and not very demanding since, after all, summer is a time to relax! Anyhow, I'd like to see if this routine is something that would work well for us before I launch into it full on this fall! Due to the above news, mine will be an Afternoon Basket though.




I do have a lovely basket to use already at hand. It is a strong, sturdy affair made of sea grass, so it also has a lovely smell. Right now it is full of miscellaneous homeschooling papers, perhaps a book or two, so I plan to clean it out first.




Then comes the fun part... filling said basket with books! I've been considering very carefully what all to put in the Morning Basket, and have come up with:


Tales From The Odyssey (which we've already started!)
An Everyday History of Somewhere
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare
Stories of Rocks & Minerals
and
Turn Homeward, Hannalee (this last because there are some local Civil War days coming up!)


I think this will easily get us through July, then in August, I can switch it up! We'll still keep our bedtime reading intact as well, which generally includes some reading to The Girl while The Boy reads on his own, and then a whole-family story.

What We're Up to This Week:

Another quiet week on the agenda:

~ I work every morning this week, and am taking my dad to a doctor's appointment.
~ The Girl has roller derby practice
~ The Boy has a piano lesson.
~ I think our one fun excursion for the week will be Park Day!
~ I've gone ahead and started sorting through more clutter, and "summer cleaning" has commenced! I want the house in uncluttered, spick-n-span condition before fall.
~ BIL is finally actually moving out, so soon we will be moving lots of bedroom furniture about the house. The kids are very, very much looking forward to having their own rooms! I have a plan for this too: 1. Steam-clean the BIL's bedroom once he's moved; 2. Move our stuff into the master bedroom; 3. Steam-clean and hopefully paint our old bedroom for The Girl, move her stuff in; and 4. Clean out thoroughly, and perhaps paint, what will now be just The Boy's room. See? Very organized! We'll see if it really works out as well as I have it working in my head.

And that's our exciting week! Of course there will be reading (see sidebar for what we're reading now), arts and crafts, some TV and computer time, swimming/splashing about in the pool, chickens to care for, a veggie garden to weed and water... and so before we know it, the week will flash right by.

Hope you all have a good week!