Hello, Reader.

June is upon us! And past experience tells me it will be gone just as quickly if I'm not intentional about how I spend my time this summer. All the fun projects and field trips in my head won't happen at all if I don't get them on the calendar--and fast!

So I've been making arrangements for craft days and potlucks and road trips and grandkid visits and all the other things we love to do but aren't always able to find time for during the school year.

I'd encourage you to pull out your calendar (or print one of ours!) and pencil in a few special moments that will help make every month more memorable. This week's link list is devoted to sharing a few free resources for making the most of June's holidays & quirky celebrations.

Free resources for you this week:

• June 8: Best Friends Day - Download our free friendship printables to use on this holiday,
• June 10: National Herb and Spice Day – A good day to organize your spice rack​
• June 12: Peanut Butter Cookie Day – Our 3-ingredient PB Cookies bake in about 10 minutes
• June 19: Water Play Day – Try our tips having fun and staying cool at the pool​
• June 20 - World Productivity Day – if you need help, try our 19 Ways to Boost Productivity​
• June 26 - Forgiveness Day – let go of any bitterness or resentment and forgive freely today
• June 27 - National Bingo Day – a perfect day to play one of our free printable bingo games​

What I'm reading this week:

I found the topic of David Epstein's Inside the Box intriguing: How Constraints Make Us Better. It offers compelling evidence as to how, by voluntarily limiting themselves in some specific way, authors, scientists, artists, and creative thinkers of all kinds have made amazing contributions to their individual fields. You may want to try it yourself: Compose children’s story using only 50 unique words (like Dr. Seuss did with Green Eggs and Ham) or pen a poem that fits a particular rhythm and style or make up riddles in which every word starts with the same letter of the alphabet. Constraints can involve tools, materials, methods, or even time — which may explain why some procrastinators do their best work at the last minute.

What we're eating this week:

My son requested I make creamy potato soup for dinner tonight, and I was happy to comply. It's quick and easy to prepare, and since the recent rains have cooled things off a bit, it seemed like a good plan. A couple of our adult daughters dropped by to share it and raved on how tasty it was.

What we're watching this week:

Doug got off work early and took me to see Breadwinner this afternoon (part of the reason my newsletter is so late today). We love Nate Bargatze and had been looking forward to watching this movie ever since we saw the trailer.

We enjoyed a lot of good laughs and found several scenes in the movie surprisingly relatable (like the mounds of wet towels that seem to multiply on the bathroom floor, the elaborate charts Mom uses to keep track of everybody's schedules and chores, and a few of Dad's think-outside-the-box solutions to various problems).

However, the overarching storyline reminded us of Steve Martin's version of Cheaper by the Dozen, and we disliked the same parts of both movies for the same reasons.

Both portray a dad who is successful at his own job but impressively inept at doing all stuff his wife normally takes care of. Both feature a former stay-at-home-mom turned successful inventor/author who leaves home for weeks on end to promote her business/bestseller. Both moms call home repeatedly to check how things are going, and both dads assure their wife everything is fine when everything is really falling apart. And both movies end in much the same way, as well, which I won't spoil by telling you here, in case you, too, are a Bargatze fan and decide to view it yourself.

On the podcast this week:

Loving Life at Home: Episode 112 ​A SCIENCE-BACKED STRATEGY FOR AVOIDING ALZHEIMER'S Today I'm discussing 9 proactive steps you and I can take now to (hopefully) avoid developing dementia later. Listen Now

Progress on last week's goals:

I was able to completely finish 75% of my to-do list last week, but have so much as started the other 25%. Those remaining two items are getting bumped to later this summer (I doubt I'll have time for them this week).

Done and dusted: ✅ sewing a happy birthday banner, ✅ sealing my new lap desk, ✅ attending a homeschool conference in The Woodlands, ✅ taking another pottery lesson, ✅ emptying two more boxes in my garage, and ✅ recording a new podcast episode (linked above).

Ignored, but not forgotten: ❌ quilling with Abby and ❌ sewing new potholders.

Personal goals for this week:

• put in requests for next year’s vacation time
• plan itineraries for remaining summer travel
• box up old curriculum for TACHE used book sale
• oil squeaky door hinges
• replace busted childproof locks on stovetop burners
• read part 1 of new book for discussion group
• keep & entertain grandkids overnight
• embroider letters to spell baby name
• plant a new sweet potato vine

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Thanks so much for all your help! I'll be back next week with more links, reviews, and resources. If you have any special requests, please let me know. 😊