find joy in the journey

summer fun 2020

It's time to bring back the Summer Fun list!  We have not made an official summer fun list the last couple years but after spending the last 2.5 months stuck at home due to COVID-19, and watching that time bleed into what is going to be the longest summer in the history of time .... we needed to create a list of fun things to look forward to.

And we are calling this our bonus summer.  With Conner unexpectedly home from his mission in Japan (thanks to COVID) we have all 3 kids in our home all summer long.  This is something we did not think would happen ever again. So let's make the most of it!

First off .... just a couple details on how I made the poster.  Supplies: large poster, 4 colors of cardstock, glue stick, sharpie

• Cut the cardstock into 1 x 8.5 inch strips
• Glue the strips to the poster in two columns
• Trim off the excess poster area
• Print a title from your computer and mat it with extra cardstock
• Write your summer fun items directly onto the cardstock strips with a sharpie

The kids contributed quite a few ideas to the list this year.  So when you read one that sounds a little odd, it probably came from one of them.  The trick to getting teenagers involved and excited about anything, I've found, is to let them plan it.  My own enthusiasm is usually not enough to get everyone on board.  But I do keep trying!

Here's a closer look at the items on our list, with some explanations where needed.

Bonfire/Stargazing at Dry Lake Beds

Purple Penguin - our favorite snow cone shack, but we didn't go at all last summer!  Shame!

Glow stick night swimming (June 20) - We like to eat dinner by candlelight on the winter solstice.  I thought it would be fun to do something on the summer solstice too!

IDAHO - visit grandparents

Learn a new song on the piano - I'm challenging everyone to learn a new song on the piano this summer (bonus points if it is one that we can sing along to!) and then we'll have a little family piano recital at the end of the summer.

Donate clothing - clean out those closets!

Homemade ice cream

Hamburger taste test - We'll pick up hamburgers from several fast food restaurants and slice them Into fifths to sample and judge so we can declare the best hamburger around.

Invite new friends over - for games, or swimming, or dessert ... thought it would be nice to invite someone we have never had over before

Frozen drink Friday -- I found a bunch of recipes for frozen drinks and summer smoothies and plan to try one out each Friday.  Payton is stoked because he loves frozen treats!

CALIFORNIA - visit my dad and Candy 

Bowl of human suffering - this idea was 100% the kids. It's a "craft project" and they are all super excited about it.  Check out the video tutorial.

Send Happy Mail

S'mores buffet - Bring out all the mini candy bars!  Reese's Peanut Butter cups and Almond Joy bars make for great s'mores!

National Lasagna Day (July 29) - I'm going to teach all of my kids how to make lasagna (my mom's recipe) and everyone will assemble a lasagna dish to put in the freezer.  Those will come in super handy on busy days this fall!

Drive-in movie

Indoor archery

Homemade Rootbeer - we did this last year and it was a hit!

BEACH HOUSE - we are so looking forward to a little family vacation at an Airbnb on the Northern California coast!

Make a time capsule - I think this is the summer fun item that I'm most excited about! How cool to put together a time capsule from 2020?!  What a crazy, memorable year!

Donate blood

National French Fry Day (July 13) - Similar to the hamburger taste test, we will do the same thing with french fries.

Bob Ross Paint night - this was Anna's idea!  Get some canvases and painting supplies and watch a Bob Ross painting video

Cooper's 2nd birthday - We gotta celebrate our cute pup!

Make a cursed image - I'm still a little unsure what this means, but again it was the kids' idea and they were super excited about it. According to my search on google: A cursed image is any image that can incite the 5 W's in a person, these 5 W's being, who, what, when, where and why ... usually due to bizarre subject matter or poor photo quality

TEXAS - We now have two brothers living in the Dallas area and plane tickets were dirt cheap!  Looking forward to our first visit to the lone star state!

Horseback riding

National Donut Day (June 5)

Water balloons

PVC pipe project - We'll provide PVC pipe and cutting tools and let the kids' creativity go wherever it takes them!

Wax nose hairs - Oh dear. This was Anna's idea and she might have to do this one by herself.  It looks painful!  THIS

Kanji Lesson - Conner is taking a Japanese class this summer and I thought it would be fun for him to teach us some kanji (one of the writing systems)

Learn & share about an ancestor

My 150 challenge - This is more for Anna and I.  The Young Women organization of the church is celebrating 150 years and there is a challenge to think of an activity we can do related to the number 150.

I think we have a pretty solid list of activities, adventures, and new experiences to keep our summer full of fun!

summer fun list 2013 // finished

Summer vacation has ended and the kids have gone back to school, but here in the desert we can probably count on another 6-8 weeks of summer weather.  Ack!  Even though it still feels like summer, I made Labor Day the cut-off for getting things done on our summer fun list.

This year we did a great job!  We only missed two.  As we completed items I added a 2x2 photo to the card.  I loved having this bulletin board sitting around our home as a visual reminder of all the fun things we were doing.

And then . . . . 

in less than 2 minutes I turned it into a page for my Project Life album!

I used a Design F Photo Pocket Page and two cards from the Dear Lizzy Neapolitan mini kit.  (This kit is only available in digital form -- I was able to get a physical kit through a HSN autoship promotion).  And of course the 3 x 4 White Cards.

I liked how the banner design on the 4x6 title card mimics the banner I created for my bulletin board.

This set-up and approach for our summer fun list really worked for me.  I'm pretty sure I'll be repeating it again next year

summer goals 2013

* Do a better job brushing teeth.  (He wants to have sparkling white teeth and even asked us if he could get his teeth whitened!  We said, do a better job brushing your teeth.)

* Earn the Webelos badge

* Invent something new

* Do the real Fur Elise piano song.  (He played a simplified version at his recent piano recital.  While we applaud him for setting his goals high, I don't think the "real" Fur Elise is going to be a reality for him this summer.  Which is okay, because I think he's forgotten about this goal already.)

* Prepare for baptism.  (She will be 8 in September!)

* Do Yoga one day each week (The 11 circles are for checking off each week of the summer)

* Learn how to whistle (She wants to be like her brother, Payton, who recently acquired this skill)

* Achieve Star Scout

* Earn 8 merit badges

* Learn to play 10 hymns on the piano (We have a deal that when he learns 50 hymns he can take guitar lessons)

* Make a good cartoon (He is dying to learn more about computer animation)

summer fun list 2013

It's finally here! 

Last night for Family Home Evening we sat together and gave suggestions for our 2013 Summer Fun List. I always like to make it a combination of things we know we are going to do (trips & events that are on the calendar),

• Cannon Beach, Oregon
• Idaho
• Cousin Camp
• Mason & Jessica's Wedding

things that are just a given for summer time,

• swimming lessons (for Payton & Anna)
• activity pool
• splash pad
• night swimming
• summer reading program
• bubbles

and things that are on our wish lists or simply pop out of the kids' imaginations

• Children's Museum
• get large snow cones for the whole family at Purple Penguin
• take a silhouette picture (that was my choice)
• kids cook dinner (this was a unanimous kids' choice)
• fry an egg on the sidewalk
• tie dye t-shirts
• watch an outdoor movie
• star gazing with the telescope
• celebrate Payton's 1/2 birthday
• make sudzuu

For displaying the list this year I used the bulletin board again and with some inspiration from an instagram friend I wrote all of the summer fun items on Project Life white journaling cards.  I love how it turned out!  Clean, simple, and ready to be filled with fun.

Here's where it really gets FUN . . . . Each time we complete an item I plan to add a 2x2 instagram photo to the card.  By the end of the summer we should have this thing filled with great memories!

Memory #1 . . .

A blog post on that will be coming soon - stay tuned.

Also stay tuned for a post on our summer chores, goals, & reward system.

3 more days

I'm starting to put together a plan for our summer.  

. . . the traditional summer fun list

. . . deciding on the best approach for summer chores and rewards

. . . coming up with the kids' summer goals

. . . and my summer goals

Lots of ideas circulating in my head and I'm hoping it all comes together this week because school is out in 3 days!!

Here are some ideas that are inspiring me:

• Adding some RAKs to our summer list
• I like the format of this poster
• A zones chart for the kids' chores

And here are my Summer Fun lists from past years if you are looking for some inspiration as well.

2012 - Summer fun list, weekly activities, skills for each child to master, and daily jobs

2011 - A simple summer fun list, and goals for each child

2010 - Summer Fun List on magnets

summer fun list 2012

Summer vacation is nearly upon us!  Just 2.5 more days of school and we couldn't be more excited.  The 2012 Summer Fun List is up and ready to go!

I've mentioned before that our summer is going to be a little different this year.  More time spent indoors, avoiding the extreme heat.  There will still be plenty of swimming.  But not as many outings, day trips, park days, and exploring outdoors.  The thought of getting into a car that has been baking in the 115 degree sun is in no way appealing to me! If we do make it outdoors it will be in the early morning hours.  

Keeping that in mind, I added some daily, weekly, and overall summer goals to our summer fun board so that we could have plenty to keep us busy during the day.  I'm sure the kids would be perfectly happy to play video games all day (and I'm sure there will be some of that), but there's only so much Mario Kart that I can handle.

Here's a run through of what I am planning for the summer . . . . 

SKILLS

The kids have individual skills/goals to work on this summer.  The boys get to work on Scouts & Cub Scouts.  Anna needs to learn how to tie her shoelaces.  Their second skill is taken from my 101 in 1001 list -- something that we can work on together.

DAILY

Our daily job charts include 6 items:

1. HOME - Do one chore around the house.  I will have a jar of popsicle sticks with miscellaneous jobs that they can choose from.
2. READ - 30 minutes of reading on their own or with me.
3. PIANO - Practice the piano!  We're going to dust off those piano books and get back to it.  We don't have a piano teacher yet, so I will instruct & guide them through the summer.  We'll pull out the purple books and even Anna will begin learning.  I purchased a month of piano lessons from a Young Woman (great girl - age 17 or 18) at our Ward auction/fundraiser last month, so I will probably take her up on that to get Anna started.
4. WRITE - They can choose to write in their summer journal, write a story, or write a letter.
5. EXTRA - I'll explain this one in a minute.
6. SB - This stands for Summer Bridge.  Every year I order Summer Bridge Activity Books for the kids and have then complete one page each day.  They are fantastic books.  I highly recommend them as a way to help your child retain what they have learned through the summer and prepare them for the next grade.

I have a personal rule/opinion that I don't pay my kids for doing chores around the house.  You're a part of the family, you live in this house, and so we all work together to maintain it!  But for the summer I'm going to alter things a bit.  

For each task that they complete, they will earn $0.25.  That's a total of $1.50 a day.  And $7.50 a week.  The catch is, that there will be times when they are required to use their own money to pay for some of our activities.  Like, our weekly ice cream outing, souvenirs on vacation, and maybe a couple of our summer fun outings.

This monetary incentive is also meant to replace nagging from mom.  I'm so excited about this part!  I'm not going to remind/nag/bug/fight with them to do these 6 tasks.  They know what they have to do to earn $$ so it's up to them to choose how much they earn on any given day/week.  And if it comes time for our ice cream outing and they're out of fundage, sorry charlie.

Items that are non-negotiable (and have no monetary value):  making your bed, getting dressed, brushing teeth, cleaning your room, and any odd jobs I ask them to do.  Because I'm the mom.

WEEKLY

To make sure we do a variety of things each week, we have an activity checklist to be completed anytime during the week.

• LIBRARY - We will definitely sign up for the summer reading program
• COOK / BAKE - This will probably include a lot of "cold" treats like popsicles.  Things that don't require us to use the oven too much.  I'm also excited to make rock candy with the kids.
• ARTS & CRAFTS - Pulling from my Pinterest boards I have a file folder full of potential projects.  I plan to go to Michael's and purchase all the supplies for 4-5 projects at once, so we have everything on hand when the mood strikes.
• SERVICE - I've seen some great ideas for RAKs (Random Acts of Kindness) on pinterest that I'm sure we will use.
• OUTING - movies, new park, bowling, museum, the mall, splash pad, etc.  Anything for a change of scenery!
• TREAT DAY - We have a great selection of summer desserts around here - frozen yogurt, snow cones, frozen custard, cupcakes, crepes, etc.

I've printed enough of our daily & weekly sheets to keep us going for quite a while.

Ah, and here's that "Extras" list.  This is what I came up with so far, but I'm sure we'll continue adding other options as the summer goes on and ideas come up.

Approved Websites -- I'm in the process of adding some stiffer parental controls to my laptop so the kids can use it a little more freely during the summer (i.e. - without me hovering over their shoulders).  But still, I have to approve any and all websites that they choose to visit.

and finally, THE SUMMER FUN LIST!

I like the list that we've put together.  A few vacation-related items, but everything else is pretty low-key.  Which is perfect for summer.  Conner's only request for the list was to have a pajama day.  He wants a day that we stay in our pajamas all day and play video games or watch tv.  Sounds good to me!

Here's an expanded view of my command station:

You can't quite see it, but that dry erase weekly calendar to the left has been oh so handy this school year.  Never mind that Friday will forever be Field Day -- I had a little oops with a permanent marker.

And this is the woven tray that Target convinced me I needed to buy.  I had no choice.

I like to keep the art supplies out in the open during the summer for easy access. New crayons were in order, along with some twistable colored pencils (the kids really like these, and I don't have to sharpen them over and over again).  The glass jar holds scissors, glue sticks, glue dots, elmer's glue, and refills for the hot glue gun.  

The little coral bucket came from the dollar spot at Target.  The chore sticks have yet to be labeled (soon) and I might add some paint brushes in there too.  On the floor to the side I have a big tote for other craft supplies.  

And then there's this basket which keeps papers, coupons, project & outing info, Scout books, and letter writing materials (envelopes, note-cards) in order for me.

I hope everything comes together as well as I've imagined it in my head.  We shall see how these turkeys do once we get into the thick of it.  

If nothing else, we'll enjoy the swimming pool and a freezer stocked with otter pops and call it the best summer ever!

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See our past Summer Fun Lists HERE

summer fun #26: swimming lessons

it's official.  Our children are fish.  

The kids did awesome in their swimming lessons this year.  Both Conner and Payton moved up a level.  And Anna is doing great with her beginner arm strokes and back floats.

Here are some photos from the last day of swimming lessons:

Payton -- So proud of this kid.  He worked really hard in swimming lessons to improve his arm strokes and floats.  He set a goal for himself to take the swim test on the last day of summer.  At our city pool you have to pass a swim test (one lap arm stroke, one lap elementary backstroke across the width of the pool -- no stopping, no touching the bottom) in order to swim in the big lap pool.  This big pool also holds the brand new giant, twisty water slide which he has watched Conner enjoy all summer.  So after swimming lessons on friday, we went back to the pool in the afternoon for one last swim.  Payton headed straight to the swim test line and was raring to go.  Conner and I watched with baited breath . . . excited/nervous for him.  But mostly so proud that he made the decision to do this all on his own.

Oh, and during the test you can't wear goggles.  Which is huge for Payton.  Remember how sensitive his eyes are to the sun?  Same goes for the water.  

He closed his eyes tight, took a deep breath and pushed off from the edge.  Stroke, stroke, stroke, breath . . stroke, stroke, stroke, breath . . . and pretty soon he had reached the end!  Then he put his skills to use and did his very best elementary backstroke, even bumping into and re-routing around kids who got in his way, and finally made it to the finish by the lifeguard chair.  Woo-hoo Payton!  He actually made it without stopping on his very first try.

But . . . as I suspected (and what was the best decision for everyone) the lifeguard didn't pass him.  He made it back and forth, but he still needs to work on becoming a stronger swimmer.  His little body was exhausted at the end of that test, and I know that I would not feel comfortable sending him into the big pool.  

Conner and I congratulated him on a great job and tried to lift his spirits with lots of encouragement.  A little disappointed and a lot tired, he spent the rest of his time swimming in the small pool and had a great time.  I think it was great for him to see that he could do it, but also to realize that it takes some work to build up the stamina to safely swim in deeper waters.

Like I said, I was so so proud of him that he set a goal and with drive & desire he did his very best to follow through.  Super champ!

 

Anna - As I've mentioned before, this girl's biggest achievement this summer was ditching the water wings.  She doesn't have free reign in the pool, but when we are there she spends half of her time underwater diving for rings, watching her brothers do silly tricks, and swimming like a mermaid.  

 

Conner - Last summer Conner was in the level 4 class.  When we went to sign up this summer they told us that they have changed the numbering of the classes and a 4 was now a 3 1/2.  Conner was not happy.  He was really proud of his level 4 rank and had worked really hard to earn that.  For this over-achieving boy, being bumped down to 3 1/2 was a major bummer.

But . . . it was all good.  He had a fantastic teacher -- Rachel, one of our favorite young women from church (we have quite a few favorites).  She helped fine-tune his strokes to where they are strong, smooth, and precise.  It is so much fun to watch him glide through the water.

This session he finally figured out the diving thing, from a standing position.  And he has got all the strokes down.  It is high on my list to track down a swim team or club when we get to Vegas and sign him up.  He is a swimmer.

Oh, and he easily passed all the requirements to re-enter level 4.  :)

-------------------------------------

I've said this on facebook and I'll say it again . . . . it makes this California girl (and former swim team member) so happy to see my kids love and thrive in the water.

summer fun #4: go to the coast

This is turning into the summer of beaches (May - California, May - Lincoln City, August - Cannon Beach) and I'm liking it quite a bit.  

My mom is in town and she wanted to do something fun with the kids so off to the coast we went.  

Breakfast/lunch at Camp 18 was deeeeee-licious.  Pancakes, sausage, eggs, biscuits and gravy, fried potatoes, mmm-hmm.  Any place that serves cinnamon rolls the size of your head is a guaranteed winner.

There are statues carved from wood all over the restaurant -- inside and out.  Right next to the cashier is a little bear with a chainsaw.  When Payton saw it he jumped and immediately said:  "Rule #862 - never give a chainsaw to a bear."  That boy is a crack-up.

While at Camp 18 you also have to pose with the logger-dude.

And browse the antique logging equipment spread across the property.

Cannon Beach was beautiful as always.

There was this low mist that clung to the beach all day.  I loved it -- very mysterious and romantic looking. 

For the most part it was an overcast day, the sun peeking out here and there.  But the temperatures were perfect -- no extra layers necessary.  There was no wind.  We played for almost 3 hours but could have stayed much, much longer.  In my book, it was a near-perfect day on the Oregon coast.

The kids got to work doing what they love most at the beach . . . digging holes and building damns.

All so they could achieve this . . . "a hot tub".

They later went on to build companion hot tubs which were called Lake Payton and Lake Anna.

In between documenting with photos and video, I got to work doing this

laying on my back, nibbling on Twizzers, and occasionally capturing the action from a lower angle.

{Anna is getting a running head start for her cannon ball into Conner's hot tub}

And after seeing these happy faces, basking in 3 hours of relatively argument-free play, taking some time to relax myself while the kids contentedly played nearby . . . I'm mostly positive that we will need to visit the coast again before the summer is out.

summer fun #20: go to a water park

During our summer fun list brainstorming session, Conner added this one to the list.  I'm so glad we were able to make it happen.  We all had so much fun.

We tried every slide & attraction in the park, avoided sunburns in the 98 degree temps (well, except for one spot on my arm where I had a sunscreen malfunction), and played non-stop for 6 hours.  Payton was a funny one, because he was nervous about several of the slides as we got in line.  He even tried to bail at the last second on a few of them.  But once he made it down the slide he thought it was the best thing ever.

after a full day (and blizzards for dinner) everyone konked out for the drive home.

summer fun #11: frisbee golf

The kids (especially the boys) LOVED this.  As soon as they hit each tee box it was a frenzy of disc throwing and running, throwing and running . . . . Definitely doing this again someday.

But I may practice my frisbee throwing technique first.  Turns out, I'm kind of a spaz.

summer fun #7: trampoline + sprinklers

skin and bones I tell ya.

summer fun list 2011

Happy first day of summer!

We finally put together our summer fun list and from the looks of it, we'll have plenty to keep us busy this year.

This year I decided to put the list on a scrapbook page and it will hang on our fridge all summer long.

We have 28 items on the list with a few blank spaces in case we come up with any new ideas.

Also, I listed a few goals and projects that I would like the kids to accomplish this summer.  

• Conner - complete his Arrow of Light in Cub Scouts and learn to cook 2-3 meals by himself.
• Payton - make progress on his Wolf badge and learn to mow the lawn
• Anna - practice reading & phonics (to prepare for kindergarten) and learn to ride a bike.

Anna learned to ride her bike last week immediately after her training wheels were taken off, so I guess we can cross that one off!

In case you can't read the list . . . . 

go to idaho * go to california * cub scouts day camp * go to the coast * be in a parade * go camping * trampoline with sprinklers * hike * lemonade stand * plan and put on mother/son activity * frisbee golf * water balloons * star gazing * complete the summer reading program at the library * walk to bike to get ice cream * keep a summer journal * make summer scrapbooks * homemade popsicles * summer treasure hunt * go to a water park * see Cars 2 * make giant bubbles * plant zinnias * pajama and movie playdate * pick raspberries and make jam * swimming lessons * send fun mail to cousins * daddy/daughter date

As always, some items are things that are already on the calendar, and most of it is stuff we hope to do.  We're not worried about crossing everything off the list.  It just gives us some ideas and direction so we don't waste away the summer.

Are you ready?  I am.  Have a wonderful summer!

  {summer lovelies from pinterest}

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To see our list from past years click here:

summer fun 2010

summer fun 2009 - We did things in reverse.  We made a blank scrapbook page and wrote things down as we did them.  

summer fun 2008

summer fun 2007 

august 1st: summer fun so far

ahh, the summer fun continues. 

Here's a few pictures of things we did in July that previously did not make it to the blog.

The much-anticipated, long-planned-for cookie and lemonade stand

 

Yes, I know they are wearing jackets in July.  It was a coooold morning.  I sat outside on the porch and actually had to whip out some hot chocolate.  Don't you love their sign?  Especially the upper left, "Babies Free."  Conner was persistent with his sales pitch.  Shouting down the culdesac with no one in sight, "Lemonade and cookies!  Only 25 cents!  Babies 3 and under free on Saturday and Monday!"

A fun nature walk and picnic lunch at the Audubon Society.  I highly recommend it.

A trip to the beach.  Despite the grey weather, we had a great time.  The kids could have stayed there all day digging trenches, jumping in the waves, and rolling around in the sand (Anna).  Breakfast/Lunch at Camp 18 and treats at the candy kitchen make for a delicious day.

 

us + friends + a few random people on the beach (somehow they ended up in every cute photo op, grrr).

A week spent at Cub Scout Day Camp.  The boys were great, everyone got along really well, and they got to do some fun activities.  My primary job was to count heads, enforce the buddy system, and ward off swarms of mosquitoes.  :)

 
We went on our ward campout and it was so great!  From the Primary Pioneer day parade, to our first year with separate mom/dad and kids' tents (no one rolling on me in the middle of the night!), to an entertaining campfire program (which included a silly, costumed, singing, dancing skit that Nicole, Sheila, and myself were asked to do), to the great food and friends who are willing to share their camp cooking skills.

 {corn on the cob, potatoes, shrimp, with lots of garlic, butter, & spice.  No silverware needed.}

Summer is flying by too fast!  Here we are in August already.  But I am comforted by the fact that the kids still have a little more than 5 weeks of vacation left.  And we have done a lot of fun things together and made some fun memories.  Let the good times continue!

july 1st: summer fun so far

Not too bad for the first 2 weeks of summer vacation.

While in California we went on a great hike in Yosemite National Park.  The views were spectacular,

 

At about the half-way mark we made it to a footbridge where we got our first glimpse of Vernal Falls,

 

The entire hike was uphill, and considering this was the first time we've attempted something like this with our family, the kids did great!  I asked them if they'd like to go hiking again when we get home and they all said yes.  Yippee!  This is something I have wanted to do with our family for ages and now it looks like everyone is checked out.

As we walked further the sound of the waterfall got louder, the air got breezier and colder, and soon a damp mist was in the air.  We came around a corner and this was the view,

Isn't that gorgeous?  This is also the point where Payton, my mom, Heidi, Carlee, Preston, and I turned around and headed back down.  Too wet.  The rest of the crew (Dad, Scott, Conner, Anna, and Sam) continued on to the top, yes the very tippy top of the water falls.  As you can imagine, they got soaked.  Anna and my dad didn't actually go to the very top.  They turned around when the trail and steps started getting treacherous and very slippery.  But Anna wanted to keep on going!  They had to make her stop and turn around.  For the return hike I called her "Anna the Brave."  She quite liked that.

Other summer fun things we've done that are not on the list:

*The kids wore Nature Bracelets while on our nature walk to collect leaves, flowers, sticks, and even a lizard tail.

 
* I gave all the girls (mom, heidi, carlee, anna, and me) glitter toes one night.  A sparkly red in honor of the upcoming holiday.  I think Anna is going to get some blue glitter fingers this weekend as well.

*The kids painted t-shirts for the 4th of July, using stencils made from freezer paper.  I got the idea from Family Fun.  It worked great!  I had no idea you could iron freezer paper on your shirt and it would stick.  Definitely adding this one to my bag of tricks.

Okay, that's all the fun I have to share now.  Hope you're having a fun summer as well!
 

summer fun giveaway {winner}

Thanks everyone for your great comments and ideas!  Sounds like a lot of you are making fun plans for the summer.  I'm hoping that this little kit will help you put some of those plans into action!

 

Now, let me put all the names into a bowl.  And my lovely assistant, Anna, will pull one out. 

And the winner is . . . . Patricia!

Woo-hoo!  Congratulations!  You all should read her comment in the post below.  She shares a great idea for summer fun with her 6 year old -- "treasure ice blocks."

Patricia, please e-mail me with your address and I will get this off to you right away!

While we're all here, can I share something we did last week?  It wasn't on our summer fun list, but fun & tasty nonetheless.

Did you know that June 4th was National Donut Day?  Well it was.  I read about it somewhere on the 3rd.  So after the kids went to bed I ran to the grocery store and picked up one dozen donuts (yes, they were a day old. my my kids could care less).  So we had this for breakfast.  And some chocolate milk.

 
 And while the boys were at school we made some donut-inspired cupcakes.

{idea gleaned from the blog eighteen25.  Go check out some of their recent cute kids crafts and party ideas.} 

This week a summer chore system is on my mind.  I have a few ideas floating around, and a few incentives.  Last year it was allll about video game time.  But this year I'm going to give them a few options to diversify their rewards.  There are a few "wishes" out there that I know will be big motivators so I am going use those to my full advantage.  Wa-ha-ha!

Have a great week!