Dear Friends,

Welcome a new month and a new Habit of the Month to practice. During the month of June, we work on drinking the proper amount of water daily. Each of us has a different need for daily water intake. It’s already hot, hot, hot in North Carolina, so I have added 20 ounces of water to my normal intake daily.

How do you figure out how much you need to drink daily? The simplest way I can tell you is to take your weight and divide it by 2. If you weight 150 lbs., then you should strive to drink 75 ounces of water per day. If it is hot where you live and you sweat, you need to add 15 to 20 ounces to that. If you exercise and sweat a lot, you need to add enough water to compensate for your sweat loss.

You need to also be aware of how you feel if you sweat a lot in the summer. Your electrolytes can become imbalanced. I use more salt on my food in the summer, and I add enough that I can taste it. I am usually salt depleted if I cannot taste the salt on my food.

We are going to roll through two zones this week, so pace yourself and do what needs to be done the most.

Zone 1 and 2 Missions: The Front Porch, Entryway, Dining Room, and Kitchen

Monday – Take care of the Hot Spots in Zone 1.

Tuesday – Declutter from your kitchen pantry. Reach all the way to the back and pull out stuff that has been there a long time.

Wednesday – Declutter leftovers from the fridge.

Thursday – Declutter from under the kitchen sink.

Friday – Declutter items from the freezer that have been in there too long. Use this opportunity to see what you can use in your menu planning for next week.

Set your timers and then take a break when it goes off!

The beginning of June may signal you that it’s time to dive into a project that you were not able to do during your homeschool year. I typically do this in my home. My caution to you is to break down your project into manageable steps and work on it a little at a time. Don’t neglect your daily routines and Home Blessings in favor of your project.

If you have a large project, use your slow cooker or electric pressure cooker to help you with your meals. You can set either of these kitchen appliances up to cook for you, and you can spend time on your project.

Be sure to schedule in some fun time daily, too. You and your children do not need to constantly check off boxes on your to do list and not have some fun, too.

Look around your area or find a local calendar that lists free or almost free activities in the summer. There are many things you can do in your local area that are fun, and you do not have to spend a lot of money on them.

Plan a picnic lunch and play time at the park with friends. See of your area has free summer bowling for kids. Check out programs at your local library. If you have a local science center, see what they offer in the summer.

Each day of the week can have a theme for your activity, or you can have a theme of the week. Either way, don’t get so caught up in your summer projects that you neglect summer fun.

Weekly Menu Plan

Monday – Chicken and Rice

Tuesday – BBQ Pork Roast

Wednesday – Spaghetti and Salad

Thursday – Chicken and Salad

Friday – Fish Fry

Enjoy your week! Keep your routines simple.

Your Home Blessing for today is to wash the sheets.

Your Zone Mission for Monday is to deal with Hot Spots in Zone 1.

My menu plan for Monday is a chicken and rice.

Have a blessed day!