Ten on Tuesday.

1. I'm happy to report that my crockpot is ON, plugged IN, and making us chicken tacos for dinner.

2. Many of you will also be happy to hear that I have gotten up THREE times now to go for runs before the sun gets hot, and while it's not pretty or fast, I might be getting the hang of it, and at the very least I am certainly enjoying the fact that I can check that off the list before the kids are even up.

3. Kids and I went for a lovely bike ride this morning to a nearby park with big rocks to climb. Sometimes I am wondering as I hear them stirring in their beds what we are going to do today, do they want to do something from our summer list, the summer is so short! And then they rise slowly in only that way that happens in summer, with their books, curl up somewhere with them while I get breakfast going, and I hope not to rush out and do something.

4. I am super happy to report that Fisher has finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, loved it and wants to keep on with the series!

5. Last night we had one of our favorite dinners, crockpot baked sweet potatoes with bacon and cheese. Ron also added BBQ sauce and coleslaw and declared it the happiest meal ever.

6. Today we harvested the first of the beets! It's like magic putting itsy seeds into the ground and ending up with these big leaves growing red round deliciousness at the ends.

7. I had really hoped to finish All the Light We Cannot See before the end of May June, but as we are down to the last 5 or 6 hours of it that I'll be awake and I have 200 pages left to read, still, I am fairly certain that it's going to carry into July. Please don't be scared off. It's very, very good. Maybe it's one of those savor books. Maybe it's just that our May was crazy and our June was settling into summer, but the next two months I'm going to read 20 books.

8. A recommendation for your road trips: listen to The Wednesday Wars. I read it a few years ago so I knew it was good, but it might be even better on audio book, and the kids absolutely loved it. Funny, sad, witty, insightful, and interesting because it takes place in 1968. Highly recommend you run to your local library for it before you road trip again.

9. I've heard Harry Potter is also wonderful on audio book...

10. I can't believe it, but we've made it to the end of June and we've yet to turn on our air-conditioning.