What are you doing on your summer holidays?

It is quiet just now, so I'm taking the time to write. Amazing how much less quiet time I have now that the boys are at home! Actually, not that amazing, really. (As soon as I wrote this paragraph, the noise began again, oh well.)

Here's a few things we've been doing.

Day tennis camp 

Last week for our 6 y.o. (one hour a day) and this week for our 8 y.o. (three hours a day). This has helped the dynamics at home, one less boy for a while helps!

Memorisation

Unfortunately there wasn't a summer program item that interested our eldest son at the right time (i.e. when we weren't away with our friends or at conference). So he is a little bored. He started the 11 weeks with goals and plans, but many of them are falling by the wayside out of a lack of motivation to do the hard-yards to achieve his goals. One thing he is finally getting into is the PTA Scripture Memorisation challenge. Each summer the PTA offers a reward of 10, 000 yen (around $100 AU dollars) for every student who can memorise a certain passage of scripture about 100 verses long. Last year it was 1 Peter and this year 1 John. You would have thought the monetary reward would be enough extrinsic motivation, but apparently not. He is awesome at memorisation, but we've had to instigate a daily reward (non-monetary) to motivate him and he's puttering in the right direction now. As for the goal of pre-season training for cross-country. He's a lot behind. But I have to admit I have a quite a lot of sympathy as it has been so hot. But on the other hand, this boy has to move, and sometimes we are throwing him out of the house telling him to run so that we can stay sane.

Baking 

Somehow they eat more when they are on holidays. Maybe it is out of boredom? At school there is always too much else to do than eat. Unfortunately, up until yesterday it really was too hot to bake, but I did it anyway! We're in the middle of a short cool change with a typhoon heading up from the south. Most grateful! 

I've fallen in love with these paper baking papers. Cath sent them to me from Australia. Not only are they gorgeous, there is less washing up (also tough in the heat). These banana muffins I topped with lemon cream cheese icing and they didn't last long!

Sewing 

Yesterday I pulled my sewing machine out. It's been more than two years since I saw it! This year my 12 y.o. did home economics for a term, so he know knows how to use it. It was fun seeing him explore my machine and explain it to his brothers. Their interest in this machine was fascinating. As a friend pointed out, it has moving parts, sharp bits, makes noise and you can "drive" it. Of course boys would be interested! This has helped a little on the 'boredom' front that I mentioned earlier.

 

Of course my idealistic self would love to do a simple project with each boy on the sewing machine. I'd like to make some shorts for each of them and myself too, but will it happen? Probably not. The whole idea of trying to do a sewing project with three boys hanging over my shoulder sounds prone to disaster. I only managed to cook with them because I am so familiar with the recipes I'm using. Sewing, however, is a different matter. I'm a competent sewer, but not so good as I could do it in my sleep. It takes a fair bit of concentration on details. Something that I find myself particularly lacking when the boys are all home from school.

Reading

Lots of reading, as usual on holidays. Every afternoon after lunch we have an enforced SQUIRT time. Supposedly: Super Quiet Uninterrupted Individual Reading Time. Some days we get closer to the ideal than others. It is a recharging time for parents and kids alike. A necessary break from interacting with one another.

Another thing we've been doing as a family is introducing them to a childhood favourite. Enid Blyton. I've been reading the first of her Famous Five books, Five on a Treasure Island.  It's been a fun adventure into literature that is "old" enough to not be attractive to the boys to read on their own, but the story is still interesting enough to hold them when they are forced to. Actually I "force" them no longer, they are now being held captive by the story itself.

Well, that is enough for one post. I need to get and pull together some lunch for these kids. Wow, feeding them every two or three hours; it gets tired after a while!