Remember last week’s post about my call to a No Excuses Summer?

So far,the family hasn’t revolted.

Or maybe they just never read it.

But I’ve been thinking and praying and planning, and here are a few areas I’m really the need to focus on. We may have some big changes coming in the fall if I’m able to go back to school full time, I need to work hard this summer to change some bad habits we’ve developed and replace them with good ones.

• Food. Yep, in our house it all begins with food. What we eat affects our moods, our energy levels, our activity levels. I’m working to figure out the best version of paleo for our family – which I think is going to be just a little bit more carb heavy than usual and contain some cultured dairy. I’m realizing it’s better to be 90% paleo all of the time than it is to be 100% paleo sporadically.
  I’ll be posting some simple meal plans and recipe links - hopefully with breakfast and lunch ideas – every Monday if you’re looking for some new ideas.
• Activity. Caleb got an XBOX 360 for Christmas and he loves it. My feelings aren’t quite the same. We’re going to have some big limits on gaming, computer/social media time and tv this summer, and I think they’re going to be connected to activity levels and whether or not a certain picky eater is eating what’s served, but no more than an hour per day.
  We’re lucky in that my grandparents and their pool live just a few blocks away – and I plan on taking advantage of that fact as often as possible - but I’m also hoping to start up some family runs at least a few times a week.
  I’m not sure yet what our daily schedule will look like, and I’m trying to stay somewhat flexible, but I’m definitely planning to include some daily reading time in their bedrooms. We’ve done that most years in the past, and it tends to be just enough break and quiet time to make the whole day move more peacefully.
• Housekeeping. I’ve found it to be way too easy for the house to…hmmm…shall we say…explode during the summer. The kids and I have figured out recently that if we keep the house picked up, it takes about 20 minutes to dust, sweep, mop, vaccuum, clean the bathrooms and kitchen. No joke – we just need the right music.
  My hope is  to do daily “clean sweeps” each evening – a quick pick up to battle the clutter along with daily chores like laundry, dishes and a few other things that need to be done like windowsills - and do a deeper clean twice a week.
• Words. I’m officially banning “I know” from the vocabulary in our house. There are a whole lot of other words and attitudes I’d like to abolish, but I’m not sure where to start. Lots to pray about and gently guide on this front.

How are your summer plans coming? We’ve got just over two weeks to go.