It is good to be back in a groove at home.  Fortunately, our neighbors have been home all last week and this week, so they boys spend lots and lots of time outside with them.

Before school was out, I thought through how I could bring more structure to our days.  So, I came up with this.....

This gives them some structure in the morning, helps to keep the house clean without the dreaded 'it is time to clean' plus they are all doing some type of 'school' work M-F.  My boys seem to lose so much over the summer, especially with math and hand writing.  So far, it is working pretty well and they anticipate it every morning.

I have been very diligent in pulling out my camera and taking more pictures.  I almost always shoot in some mode other than automatic.  It is fun to play with different setting and see how it affects the picture.  Love these two I took of Jacob.  He had been running around and you can see the wet hair and beads of sweat on his face.

I have been trying to freeze the action without a lot of blur....This one cracks me up.  Toes on the board and nose in the water.

I like seeing the actual drops of water.

I was excited to experiment on July 4th.  (Jacob and Joseph went fishing with JR all day and Benjamin and I hung at home.  That evening the neighborhood came to life with lots of big fireworks.  I used a really slow shutter speed and got the trail of lights on this sparkler.

I think I was too far from the big ones to get a great picture.  It is cool though to see the trail of lights.

 This one looks like really cool abstract art.  Would be neat if it were in colors that matched your decor.

We have been getting together with friends with some fun outings in the near future. Guess I better grab my camera!