16 lessons from the summer of '16

Last year I attended my very first Momcon, put on by MOPS International. It was a great experience and part of that was sitting in on Emily P. Freeman's workshop. I liked it so much that I started following her blog. Today she's invited other bloggers to share what they've learned this summer, so I'm jumping in on the conversation over at emilypfreeman.com!

So, here's a spattering of what I've learned this summer:

1. I'm a writer. Did I just say that? Aside from the minimal requirements of a business administration degree, I have absolutely no training, but I'm loving it! Getting this blog up has been so fun and I look forward to continuing to write. Maybe one day I'll be a speaker too. Or write a book.

2. Aldi's has cream puffs for $4.99. This is the perfect snack for 8 kids in the car. It's contained, neat and they all think they're getting a whole bunch! I, for real, bought a box of cream puffs everyday after VBS this year.

3. You can celebrate almost anything, even a job loss, with ice cream.

4. My husband is a genius. Ok I knew that, but can I tell you about his chore system for the kids? Amazing. Professionally, WonderHubs is an executive in the tech field. He uses a tool at work to help manage projects and this week he instituted it at home to manage the kids chores. It's called Trello and WonderHubs is going to guest post sometime next week about all the ins and outs of using it because he will do a better job than I could!

5. A group of goats is called a trip. Thank you Snapple Peach Iced Tea.

6. Dad jokes almost always make me laugh. I though it was downright hysterical when WonderHubs responded to the aforementioned goat fact by saying, "Well that's a trip!"

7. Bryozoans. If you're also unaware, these are globs (scientific term) of tiny aquatic invertebrates that live in a jelly like colony and float around lakes and depending on the species brackish water. The individual animals in the Bryozoan colony are called zooids.

8. Sheepdogs don't like it when the kids get on the trampoline.

9. Growth plate injuries take a long time to heal and can make a 10 year old boy's summer less than ideal.

10. Magnetic marbles, when swallowed, can take longer to pass because of their weight.

11. God has a plan even when I don't, even when I don't know the next step. God has a plan and a way to get me where He wants me. I need only be still and willing.

12. Trust isn't really earned. It's a gift, given by choice. There is no way that anyone can prove their trustworthiness, they can only honor the trust you choose to give them.

13. Not every day of summer needs to be the stuff memories are made of. As parents we're constantly being told that we only have a limited amount of time with our kids. And while that is certainly true, some of those days are just regular days. We do chores, we make meals, we just hang out. Not every moment can be the fun stuff. Sometimes it's just the living stuff.

14. Sometimes you have to get creative with parenting. You might have to ground a kid from reading, or ketchup, because that's what it's going to take to get through to them. Do what you gotta do, people. ;)

15. If you ever see a canoe for a really good deal at a garage sale, buy it. Even if you have to row it home with one broken paddle. It will be epic summer fun, and the kids might like it too.