Hello Summer readers. I hope these lazier days find you poolside {even if it’s just a kiddie pool in your driveway} and with something fizzy and cold in your hand. I hope you have a stack of books and magazines at your disposal and the relief of nap-time if there are little ones in your house.

Here are a few goodies for your weekend.

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We had some long-time friends stop by this week for a visit on their way to the beach. They brought these cookies with them to share. My friend left the giant tupperware filled with the leftover cookies at our house. They were gone in a day. I’m still grieving the loss. These cookies are AMAZING even if you’re not a huge s’mores fan.

{I’m not sure what recipe my friend used but this one looks like it.}

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This podcast on The Art of Simple that’s all about the Enneagram.

I love the Enneagram. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s a personality test like no other and it’s been around for centuries. It was sort of life-changing for me when I went through it about five years ago. Tsh’s podcast with Leigh Kramer is a great primer if you’ve never heard of the Enneagram and you’re curious.

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I added a new widget to the blog that’s all about books. “Widget” is computery language for ad or gadget or cute little something on one’s website.

It’s a “On My Bookshelf” widget over there on the right. {If you’re reading this on a phone or in a reader, my apologies — you won’t see it.} Books are one of my favorite things to dish about. And I’ve always got a pile of them on my nightstand. And in my van. And crammed into my purse. And on my end tables. And on my iPhone’s Kindle app.

Anyway, I love to know what people are reading and people seem to ask me what I’m reading so I thought I’d make it simple and just put my current books in the sidebar. Plus amazon has this nifty little widget to make it simple. By the way, I’ve kept booklists all the way back to 2009 so if your’e curious, just click on the booklists tab at the top of the blog. Or click here if you don’t want to scroll up.

Full disclosure: book links are amazon affiliate links. That means that if you click the links and make a purchase, I get a teensy commission. But I’d link to books and dish about them for free. In fact, I did that for years until someone said, “Why don’t you use affiliate links?” I had no clue what she was talking about. Currently I earn a whopping $14 every three months from my amazon links. What can I tell you, I’ve always have a knack for choosing high-income professions — history professor, homeschool mom, writer who earns 15 cents a day from amazon.

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My husband was scrolling through The Wall Street Journal yesterday morning when he started laughing and said, “I found the perfect thing for you. It’s called ‘The Privacy Pod.'” A Japanese father of two young boys invented this tiny retreat so that a parent could find a silent place to restore his or her sanity.

This man is a genius. Except I would totally call it “The Escape Pod.” Actually I’d call it “The Escape Pod for Rich People” because it costs $7,000. Or maybe “The Escape Pod for Rich People Who Are Not Claustrophobic.”

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So on that note, I give you this photo of my dog taking refuge under my bed. {Gah! I’m now one of those people.}

It’s an appropriate photo of our first real week of summer because Jetta is the World’s Most Extroverted Dog but even she is so overwhelmed by all children all the time doing all the loud things transition into summer that she’s hiding under my bed in an effort to get her wits about her.

That pretty much sums up my week. A lot of kids. A lot of noise. A lot of wondering if there’s room for two under my bed.

I forget that it’s like this every summer as we all adjust to being home together. But it’s also been awesome as we’ve enjoyed the gifts we love so much about summertime — sleep, books, watching movies, eating lunch whenever we want, finishing Book 6 of Harry Potter together, playing with friends in the neighborhood, and heading out to the lake to swim and picnic and soak up the sun.

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And speaking of summer and all the kids, I plan to post about once a week this summer — some soulful posts as well as some light posts {like this one.}

This much-needed break called summer vacation is about a slower pace, spontaneity, travel, and togetherness. I’m still writing and planning and pursuing the writerly life but it’s nice to not have the pressure to publish here every few days and to realign my priorities while my kids are at home.

Enjoy your weekend. Enjoy these summer days. Enjoy s’mores cookies. And by all means, enjoy a siesta under the bed if that’s what you need to do. You know I won’t judge.

How are you and yours faring this summer? What are your favorite summer treats?

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