Tag Archives: Summer

Making the Most of this Season of Life

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Summer is in full swing in the Manney home. It’s one of my most favorite times of year. Fall is still my favorite season, but summer is right behind that. Some people complain about the heat, but I am so grateful for it. I think part of it has to do with Pennsylvania winters. Though they’re pretty mild, winter lasts a long time here. So when summer finally comes, I am so ready to enjoy it.

My Favorite Parts of Summer

There are so many great things about summer that I love—cookouts, park trips, playing in the water, sitting in the sun, beach trips, vacation, iced coffee, fresh fruit…the list goes on and on. But one of the things I enjoy the most is sending my kids out to play in the pool.

We have an Intex pop-up pool in the backyard, and I am so incredibly grateful for it. I always wanted a pool and think it’s the absolute best investment ever! I love watching my kids play for hours in our pool.

summer fun in the pool

Summer is about choosing to spend more time together as a family simply because you can. As a natural planner, scheduler, I have to really work to let go of expectations during the summer and just let my kids enjoy the break. They need it, and I do as well. It doesn’t come easily to me, so I have to choose to make it work.

Taking Advantage of This Current Season of Life

Take this morning, for example. After our walk, Matt told me he was going to go cool off in the pool with the kids for a few minutes. I sat outside to watch the kids swim and have fun with their dad. Of course, they begged me to come in the pool too. I had a choice. I could either sit and work on this blog post (which is what I was planning on), or I could get in the pool with them. I chose the pool. It’s summer; I’m not going to get this opportunity in a few months. I need to take advantage of the hot summer days while I can.

There are certain things you can only do in this season of life, both literally and figuratively. There are things you can only do in this stage of life you’re in right now, and there are things you can only do in the literal season we are in.

Whatever stage of life you’re in right now, take full advantage. You are only in this season of life for a period of time. God has opportunities that will only come during this stage of life. So be grateful for it, and make the most of it!

For More Encouragement

For more encouragement, check out Hands Free Mama. It’s all about enjoying the time you have with your kids now while you can.

If you’re looking for a good book to read this summer, check out my summer reading list from 2022.

If you need a devotional for the summer, check out one of our 30-day devotionals, available from Manney Resources.

Our Trip to Colorado

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4,000+ Miles to Colorado

We’ve had a great start to our summer. We started out June by driving over 4,000 miles across country to Colorado. We left Pennyslvania and drove to Illinois where we stayed with my younger sister and her husband overnight. Somehow, I didn’t get any pictures of us all together. Not sure how I did that! I did manage to capture a picture of Culver’s, though. What can I say?

Culver’s

Estes Park, Colorado

After an amazing time there, we traveled the rest of the way to Colorado where we stayed with my parents. We had such an amazing time out there visiting family, relaxing, exploring, and more. We got to go to Estes Park, our favorite place to visit and had breakfast at our favorite restaurant up there, The Egg and I. Acting like tourists, we walked around and looked at all the shops, and the kids bought hats and t-shirts. We bought some taffy, the best snickers caramel apple, and dipped our feet in the freezing mountain creek water.

view in Colorado
view in Colorado

Family

We got to visit my parent’s church, and we got to spend time with my grandma and my dad’s side of the family while in Colorado. We always have a great time with them. On Saturday morning, we did our annual breakfast. My uncle brings his outdoor griddle and cooks up a feast—pancakes, eggs, bacon, hash browns, and so much more. We have so much fun sitting around the table and talking. It’s always one of the highlights of our trip.

Our family with my Grandma
Our kiddos with my parents

Amazing Food

Matt and I discovered a new restaurant that was amazing! It’s called Oreganos and serves Italian food with a Southwest twist. They had the best gluten free food, which is nearly impossible to find at an Italian place. We had the best gluten free pizza I’ve ever had and an amazing bowl of what they call Alfredo the Dark. It’s Alfredo pasta, but they put a spin on it by mixing in poblanos and a blend of Southwest cheeses and top it with diced tomatoes, cotija cheese, and a jalapeño. It was to die for!

This is actually us at Nordy’s- a bbq place that we all went to as a family
Our food at Oreganos

Beauty of Colorado

We had an amazing time. Of course the scenery everywhere in Colorado is simply amazing. No matter where you look, there is something beautiful to see. Add in the low humidity, and it’s pretty much perfect!

view in Colorado
view in Colorado
view in Colorado

Our Time in Kentucky

After our time in Colorado, we began the long trip home. We stopped in Kentucky to see my older sister and her family. We haven’t gotten to see them since before Covid, so we were super happy to see them. Our kids were so excited to see their cousins.

Our kids plus my niece Meya and my nephew Nate
My sister and I
My sister and my nephew Jace (and Milo)

They took us to this place called Rec Bar. It was a restaurant that had three rooms of arcade games. So after you ordered your food, you could go play arcade games. It was perfect for the kids. They had so much fun! I had the best meal there. It was totchos. it’s basically nachos, but they use tater tots for the base. Then they added amazing bbq pork on top and all sorts of other amazing toppings. It was soo good!

My totchos

We had an amazing two weeks! We’re so thankful for God’s safety and for family.

Other News

In other news, we recently released our newest devotional, You Are Not Alone: Promises from Psalms. I have a book coming out on Tuesday. It’s book one of my next series. Bound by Protection pre-order is available on Amazon.

I also created a summer reading guide if you’re interested and a fantasy/romance reading guide as well.

All in all, I’d say summer is off to a great start! Happy Summer!

Love the Life You Have, Not the Life You Want

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Focusing on What You Don’t Have

We have the greatest of comparisons in our backyard. When you stand on our deck and look into our backyard, you can look straight ahead and see our four kids playing in a ten-foot-long, 18-inch deep blow-up pool. If you look just to the left into the neighbor’s yard, you will see an immaculate above ground pool surrounded by a large deck. Their pool is beautiful and always crystal clear. Ours is usually dirty and has grass and bugs floating in it, no matter how many times we empty it out and fill it up again.

Do you know what the biggest difference is though? Our pool is full of life and laughter. The kids play in it all day long, laughing, yelling, and having fun. Our neighbor’s pool on most days sits empty. Once in a while, their granddaughter comes over and swims all by herself in the large pool. Madison invited her to come and play in our pool, but she only stayed for about five minutes. Why would you stay and play in a tiny pool when you can swim in your own huge pool?

A Life Lesson from My Kids

Looking at the neighbor’s beautiful pool this spring when we moved in, I was heartbroken for our kids. They have always wanted a big pool, and we moved in right next to one. I thought they would be sad, but I have been amazed that it doesn’t seem to bother them. They are too focused on their own pool to waste time thinking about the beautiful pool next door. Learning from them, I made a commitment to God to focus on the life I have right now, not the life I want. Sure, we need to bring up our income, we need to move into a larger house before the kids get older and much more. But right now? Right now, I get to stand at my kitchen sink washing dishes and watch my kids hav a blast swimming in a small pool. That’s the life I have right now, and I love it!

I hope you are having as great a summer as we are. If you missed it, be sure to read my 3 Keys to Having a Productive Summer. This summer, love the life you have, not the one you want!

Three out of four taking a break from the pool to eat lunch.

Spontaneous Summer Fun

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kids having fun on side of pool

Pool Fun– my kids and my sister’s kids (minus one of her kids that wasn’t around for this pic)

I am a very planned-out person. I love making plans, schedules, to-do lists, etc. I am not one of those spur-of-the moment types of people. Some people call that boring; I call it productive. Anyway, it is something I am trying to work on. I want to be a more fun person to be around, especially for my kids! Well, this week I got my chance to work on it.

On Sunday night around 11pm, just as I was drifting off to sleep, my phone rang. I picked it up and looked at it. It was my sister. I answered, and she told me that she and her husband and four kids were headed on family vacation the next day. They were going to be stopping just about an hour away from our house, and she wanted to know if we wanted to meet up with them. We only get to see them once or twice a year, so this was really exciting news. I hesitated for just a split second, thinking about how I would make all the details work. I stopped myself before I could talk myself out of it and said, “Yes. We would love to!” We finished talking and hung up.

I realized as I hung up that I didn’t really know any of the details, or how this was all going to work. I looked at my husband and said, “So, we are going to meet up with my sister and her kiddos tomorrow. Is that OK?” He graciously said yes, and we went to bed.

The next morning was a flurry of activity, getting our kids up and ready for the day. They were ecstatic when we told them they were going to spend the day with their cousins. My sister asked the manager at the hotel they were staying at if it would be OK for us to come swim with them.The manager said it was fine. So we grabbed swimsuits, towels, goggles, pool noodles, and packed the van and hit the road.

We met them for a fun lunch at Sonic. Then we headed back to their hotel to get ready to swim. Sometime during the craziness of getting seven kids ages eight and under ready to go swimming in one small hotel room, my husband came and told me that he was going to book us a room for the night. My initial “planner” personality kicked in… We didn’t plan that into our budget. What about clothes? What about cosmetics? But I decided in that moment to put all that aside and just roll with it– definitely something I am not good at doing.

two little girls sitting on edge of pool having fun

Our two little girls– cousins

We ended up having an amazing time! I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time! We had so much fun swimming together. That night we all went to Friday’s for dinner. You should have seen the hostess’s face when we asked for a table for 12! We got endless appetizers and yummy meals and enjoyed talking and laughing some more. After dinner, we went back to the pool and let the kids  go swimming again. I ran to Dollar Tree and got a few cosmetics and then hit Target to grab t-shirts for our family for the next day.

It all worked out. It was a crazy but amazing 24 hours. I can’t think of how much I would have missed if I had said no. It’s summer! It’s the time for crazy plans, pool parties, and family fun. I am so glad I just said yes and went with it!

What is something you have done that was crazy and last minute but turned out awesome? I would love to hear about it! Leave me a message in the comments section!

kids sitting on couch having fun

Five of the eight cousins waiting for a table at Friday’s