Today marked a momentous occasion in Megan's young life - getting her braces off!  She has been a real trooper through the last 20 months of various orthodontic devices, and today all of that paid off.  She walked out of the ortho office this morning carrying a goodie bag filled with formerly-forbidden treats:  bubble gum, popcorn, Starbursts, beef jerky... you name it.  As a former orthodontic patient myself, I remember well that Slimy-Teeth feeling when the metal first comes out of your mouth...   Now we're taking bets on which of our children will be Dr. B's next patient.  (We have little doubt that this is but the beginning of a loooong relationship with the good Doc.  Wonder if we qualify for a group discount?)

As the school year is winding down, my summer "to-do" list is growing like my tomato plants.  First on the agenda is the annual Kids' Clothing Inventory, in which every children's clothing item in the house (including shoes, but not socks or underwear) is sorted by size, counted and tallied on a spreadsheet; which I then keep in my purse.  (Yes, I do have some retentive tendencies...)  With this piece of paper in hand I can determine at a glance what (if anything!) each child needs.  Therefore, when I run across great deals at yard sales, clearance racks, etc., I know what to look for (and just as importantly what not to.  Hmmm - Bethany already has a dozen pair of shorts in her size?  Then I'm not going to buy any more - no matter how cheap they are!  But without the spreadsheet I would have no clue whether she needed shorts or not.  My brain just doesn't hold that kind of information.)  This year, for the first time, Ben is being included in this project.  (And since he's the only male child in the house, he's easy!) 

Actually the first step to this project (which I did a couple of days ago) is to sort Megan's clothes and move everything that she has outgrown into Sarah's closet (or into the trash, if it's useful life is over.)  And so on and so forth, down the line.   Next comes the actual inventory.  And then I'll be ready for yard-sale season... 

During the summer I also set aside time to tackle the "Spring Cleaning" projects that I have no time for in the Spring.  This is also the time when children's chores are re-assigned.  In our house, chores are assigned during the summer (which gives me plenty of time for training everyone), and then kept for an entire school year.  This keeps it simple for me, as I don't have to try to keep track of whose turn it is to do what; and I figure that by the time the kids grow up, they will have had plenty of time to learn everything that goes into keeping our household running smoothly.  Later in the summer, I'll order next year's curriculum (I've already got my Sonlight list going...  ) and plan our school schedule.  In the meantime, we've got plans to do a lot of fun stuff along the way: traveling, swimming lessons, camping, berry picking, park days, etc.    All of us are ready for the change of pace...