1. How close to your childhood dreams is your life now?
When I was growing up I wanted to be an architect and spent hours designing floor plans for my dream house(s). In high school I wanted to be a pediatrician because I was smart and wanted to take care of children, I thought it was the perfect plan. But then I hit college and realized that I’d need to stay in school FOREVER to become a doctor and that ultimately I wanted to just take care of my OWN children so I switched to an art major (later changing to communications/graphic design). So my professional dreams aren’t exactly on target but the rest of my life is there, I wanted a life filled with family and friends and I certainly have that. And maybe someday I’ll design our next home, we shall see.
2. What is one must have item for the summer?
Teva Olowaha flip-flops – they are the perfect flip-flop and have never hurt my feet; the sole forms to your foot as you wear them so they end up just perfect for you.
3. Do you have your kids stay up on school stuff during summer vacation? (Or, if you don’t have kiddos, did your parents make you keep up on school stuff during summer?)
My parents never made me keep up on school stuff in the summer, at least not that I can recall. Liam will be going to school this coming fall so we haven’t gotten to that point yet, I imagine I’ll try to find things to engage him educationally, but nothing formal. I’d love to work with him on reading this summer, but home schooling and all associated with it is not really for me.
4. Do you can or freeze fresh produce?
I make strawberry freezer jam and freeze berries and rhubarb when it is in season. I’d love to do more and I’d love to can tomatoes, I grew up eating canned stewed tomatoes and I LOVE them (and miss them). Perhaps this should be added to my life list – learn how to can.
5. Do you get ready for the day first thing in the morning?
Weekdays, I get out of bed and literally walk right into the shower and start getting ready. I need that shower to face the day and goodness knows, I don’t get up any early than I have to so there’s no time to waste. On Saturday, if we have nothing planned, we don’t typically get ready for the day until Jack’s nap time so we can be ready to go do something once he wakes up, but it’s quite normal for all of us to stay in our jammies until mid-afternoon, soon enough we’ll have soccer games and t-ball and swimming lessons and parties to keep us busy on Saturday morning so we’re enjoying the down time while we can. Sundays are pretty much like weekdays, since we have church to get ready for (though we aren’t always the best at going with Simon’s work schedule, if we have a crazy Saturday, church is the first thing to get sacrificed – we are trying to be better about that since we never regret going after we’ve been there).
ememby 
Can you post about HOW to can/freeze/whatever these berries???
Strawberries I just remove the stems and freeze whole. Blueberries and raspberries I just rinse and pat dry and throw in a ziplock freezer bag. Then you can just throw them in the blender with juice or milk to make a smoothie and don’t have to add ice. I also freeze peeled bananas when they are getting a little brown (to use in smoothies). Rhubarb I just cut up into chunks and freeze and then when I want to cook it up, I take it from the freezer, boil it in a saucepan with a little water and a lot of sugar and eat it from a dish by itself or over vanilla ice cream. Sarah DB freezes lots of veggies by blanching them first so they are partially cooked.