Oh What Do you Do In The Summer Time?

When we got back from over a month of graduation festivities and visiting family, I was craving a little STRUCTURE to start our summer at home off.  I was talking to a good friend, and she gave me an idea that she was doing with her family.  We tweaked it a bit, but it is just what we needed, and the kids LOVE it!

Each day of the week has a little theme.  Something easy for me to organize that the kids can look forward to, and accomplishes some yearly goals I have for my kids.  Here is a picture of the chart I made so the kids know what is going on each day:

Monday is "Make-it Monday".  So far we have made out own finger paint(which by the way was a pinterest FAIL :)).  It was gooey and clumpy, and to be honest, smelled a bit funny. :)  If anyone has a homemade recipe that is fail proof, I would love to save some money, and make our own.  We also made a Canadian treat for Canada Day, which was the next day.  I wanted the boys to do tons of cooking this summer, so they each got to make a batch(one red, one white), and then I cut out the shapes from each, and put opposite colors in each pan.  The boys thought it was great!  We had our fun neighbors over for Canada Day supper, and had to have at least one Canadian dish, with a BBQ.  We made poutine, which is a heart attack waiting to happen, but it is so good.  It is french fries covered in gravy, and sprinkled with mozerella cheese.  The cheese melts, and you eat it with a fork.  I crave it a lot!

Tuesdays are "Time To Read Tuesdays".  We go to the library, and participate in their summer reading program.  We have such an awesome library!  The whole top floor is the children's section.  They have a giant boat for the kids and an indoor play ground.  There are puppets to check out, tons of fun activities on a regular basis for the kids, lego club, story time, and they have amazing book sales to buy used children's books for cheap!  The library is one of the best parts about this place.

Wednesdays are "Wet Wednesdays".  So far we have done water balloons, and a car wash.  I want to bring out our pool too, and a few other water things.

Thursdays are "Thoughtful Thursdays".  We try to do something for somebody else.  I let the boys come up with these most of the time.  They write letters, visit people, etc.


Fridays are "Friendly Friday".  We have been doing play dates, but I also plan on going to a church play group that meets each Friday at a different park.  We just haven't made it to one yet.

Fun play date!  It is hard to tell because there are so many kids on it, but they made a seesaw by putting an old piece of wood on a rock.  I thought it was pretty creative of them to come up with.

We also continued the Friday tradition of having a picnic on the living room floor and watching a movie into our summer plans.

I thought it was cute that they wanted to both sit by their Dad for the movie.  He is loved!

Saturdays are "Silly Saturdays".  Anything goes, and they never know what we will do that day.  So far we did all our Christmas shopping one Saturday morning at garage sales.  The kids were able to buy pretty nice presents for each other for under 5 dollars, and I played Santa, and got our entire Christmas for 50 dollars.  Tons of great stuff for waaay cheap!  I love garage sales!  I also try to throw in a funny dress theme, like backwards day.  I am pretty sure the people at the garage sales thought I was too frazzled to realize my kids clothes were all backwards.  If it means they will give me a good deal, I will take it. :)

Sometimes when I ask Easton to smile, I get this. :)  He proudly wore his backwards shirt, and brought his money jar to the garage sales.  The people there thought the boys were so cute with their money jars, and let them buy things for super cheap.

Sundays are "Scavenger Sundays".  We go on family walks and scavenge for things that start with a certain letter, or color, photo scavenger hunts, or we tally up the number of a certain item that we see.  It is fun to get out for a walk and turn it into a game for the kids.  One of my favorite things to do is go for a walk.

We have a rough schedule for how the day will go, which includes personal scripture study for each of the kids, family scripture study, prayers, chores, exercise, school time, lots of free play, and quiet time.
I like that they know what to expect next, and we are flexible with it too.

Easton stretching!

We do yoga, stretching, races, soccer, and sometimes they even get to run on the treadmill which they love!

Easton thinks it is a real treat, and I love that they get their energy out!

I have a handful of books on motherhood that I adore!  I read them each once a year to remember the things that are taught in them.  I think I work harder at being a Mom when I am reading a book on Motherhood.  It puts things into perspective for me.  One of them is, "The Parenting Breakthrough".

It basically divides up what your kids need to know about cooking, cleaning, being financially responsible, and becoming completely independent and ready to leave home into a list broken up into years of your child's life starting at 3 all the way to 18.  So that when they graduate they have all the skills they need to well, move out. :)  I love it, because there is a small list for each year that is not overwhelming at all, and totally do able.  She is also pretty funny, and it is a short read.  I take the list she gives for each year and introduce it to the kids at the beginning of the summer(We do summer because there is more time) in a, "Look what you GET to learn this summer" sort of way.  The kids get so excited at this age (Don't worry, I don't expect this kind of excitement level in the teenage years) about getting to do things that they have seen Dave and I do like make lunch, work the microwave, and using a can opener.  I put a picture of each of the kids new chores that they get to learn this summer on a marble.  They get to draw a new one out of the bag each day.  I don't know why but they get so excited about it(Like I said, I know this is temporary :)), that they beg to pick a chore the night before they have to do it.  I think they just like the surprise of finding out what they get.  

Anyway, this is what it keeping us busy this summer.  I have really enjoyed having some type of shape for our day, and sticking to it.  Dave started his first week of residency this week too.  We are so proud of him!  Here is a picture of him on his first day: