Rest is not some holy feeling that comes upon us in church. 

It is a state of calm rising from a heart deeply and firmly

established in God.

-Henry Drummond

One of my favorite things when summer comes is doing creative/crafty things with my girls. We try to do this sort of thing throughout the year, but with schoolwork to get through, crafts get pushed to the side a lot. When summer hits, they become the main focus.

Here's a peek of some of the things we've been spending our time on…

Clothespin dolls. These were a huge hit and have been a very popular choice for play ever since we made them. They keep asking to make more. All of our crafts are a collaborative effort. With these, the girls were the designers and I became the constructor/ glue gun manager.

This was all Miss E's idea. Her little Rapunzel desperately needed a tower, and after watching her multiple failed attempts at constructing one all on her own, I decided it was time to lend a little architectural support.

And here you see the popcorn bags. Every Monday night the snack that keeps everyone occupied for Daddy's softball games is popcorn. I had been using paper lunch sacks, but for a girl who's become obsessed with all things cloth, it just felt so wasteful. 

The girls have requested time for sewing non-stop since we finished school, so I decided this was a great first project. We cut together, I ironed and then we sewed together. I've found that the easiest (although not always the most comfortable) way to help my kids sew is to just sit them on my lap and let them guide the fabric while I watch closely and control the pedal. These were a lot of fun and it only took a couple hours start to finish for all of them.

Your turn. What have you been creating lately?

Still haven't found a break in the busy for any real writing, but I wanted to share something with you.

I listened to this while cleaning my kitchen this morning (which had been neglected all weekend). Click the link and turn it on while you're folding the laundry or cooking dinner. It's really good. Very convicting. But I guess that's really good.

(I clicked on the audio only link because the video did not seem to be working well.)

I thought you'd all like to have a little peek at my husband working his magic. That is of course my laptop. The one I was a little too rough on. 

But it's all fixed now thanks to Hombre's amazing skills. 

So, why the lack of posting around here? To give you a simple explanation: this is the first night in a week that we've been home at nine o'clock at night. This is the first night in a week we've been home. Or at least, home without a house full of guests.

As I'm sure you can imagine, I'm not really all that up for writing around ten-thirty or eleven at night. I have thought about writing though…

Don't feel sorry for me. Our busy-ness has been all good things. Just busy. We've officially hit our summer routine, and it's a good thing school isn't a part of it because there would be no time to do it.

We've been staying cool and loading up on vitamin D.

We had our annual end of the school year open house for all the grandparents. This has become such a fun tradition for us. The girls love getting to show off all of the work they've done over the year, and I'm pretty sure the grandparents enjoy it too!

The evidence of summer has been showing up all over.

For the fourth year in a row, this has become our Monday night view. We really do love it. 

Part two of our Monday night tradition.

We've also added a new diversion into the mix. Once a week live jazz on the square. Really who can pass that up?

I'm so thankful for all these sweet memories we get to make with our girls. And all this time we are getting to share as a family and also with many close friends.

So, I have missed being around here to write. But I'm just blessed beyond words that my absence is only because of all this goodness!