First day of summer! Hooray!

It was a terrific day! All yesterday I was dreading the end of school, but I have two amazing weapons in my arsenal against boredom, messes, and fights: the YMCA and MyJobChart.com. I know it has only been one day, but I think I could successfully homeschool with those two things on my team, plus my amazing husband.

We "slept in" meaning my alarm didn't go off until 6:50 am, although honestly, I turned it off and rolled over and slept until 8. I made an apple puff pancake for breakfast to celebrate the summer holiday, but no one liked it, not even me. It looked pretty though:

After breakfast, we were off to the YMCA. I love my YMCA! Working out has made such a positive difference in my life! I finished my workout before El Guapo so I went to run some errands while he finished; I bought 12 cubic feet of vermiculite for our garden, plus some turkey compost and dairy cow compost. Mmmmm! Got some checks deposited and serendipitously stumbled across a Sprint store, where the employees were polite and there was no waiting! Amazing!

After lunch at home, The Girl took a nap, I cleaned up, and then Ethan and I took a drive together to Antonio Strad Violin, where we picked up a rental violin for him to start lessons with me! This was entirely his choice; he has been asking about it for several months, but he was pretty busy during the school year. When we got home, Scott asked if I had picked up a violin for him, too, because HE wanted to do lessons with me. Luckily, they both need a 1/4 size right now.

15 pounds of brains holding that violin!

Ethan and I practiced together for half an hour. No power struggles, no fights, no fits! It was fantastic!

If you're happy and you know it, hold your violin!

Scott wanted to practice, too, so we did half an hour together. Again, it was fantastic! I loved hearing him sing with me. They are both very eager to get the bow on the strings! I told them we had to make sure they had solid foot position (check), solid violin position (check), and solid bow holds (still working on that).

El Guapo even wanted to practice with me. His violin position was excellent, and his bow hold is amazing for a first time learner. He was very helpful while I practiced with the boys by keeping Elizabeth out of our hair. She was also VERY interested in the violins and wanted to do everything, but it was too tricky tonight.

"Fine! If you won't let me play the violin, I'll eat these dirty shoes! Then you'll be sorry."

In case all of that wasn't enough to make this the best day ever, after the kids were in bed, I got the urge to go running. I ran an entire mile without stopping! Then I walked a little, ran a little more, and walked most of the way back. The last time I ran a mile was for a PE class as a freshman in college, if I remember correctly, and that was almost 20 years ago. I am hoping to run a 5K towards the end of July, so this is a good beginning. I feel terrific. This is going to be the best summer EVER!

PS. Have you seen the new food pyramid at ChooseMyPlate.gov? I'm absolutely thrilled - it finally makes sense!