October Was Anything But Dead...

This year is just screeching by... I am still in disbelief that it is already November but I am glad October is over. And I am so glad we are finally at the point of Daylight Savings Time (it felt so good waking up this morning and feeling refreshed even though I was still up "early"). I am hoping this refreshed feeling stays and the rest of this month (despite the fact that the holiday season is creeping up on us) can go at a little slower pace.

Of course, it was fun to decorate the house for the Halloween festivities. (See how "redneck" we are- the christmas lights from last year still hanging from the roof...)

And it was so nice to get out as a family and go on a long drive to Ione and take the train ride.

And carving pumpkins is always a blast- this year we ALL did our own- it's usually me just carving the kids' with their "help" :).

And then there's the dress up play that comes with the end of the month:

(My daughter as a young lady from the 80's for her school party... For Halloween night she opted to be a "dead bride" as you can see from the photo above.)

(My son as dracula -without blood for his school party...)

(And mom as a cat... Dad doesn't dress up. :))

 

And the candy after trick or treating... so much junk food I don't know how I, er, the kids are going to eat it all! :)

 

But now that all of that is over (along with school meetings, food and harvest preservation, a date night with my husband, and the birth of my brand new nephew) I want a few weekends before the holiday rush to just relax. I don't know if that is possible though. I am now looking over my list of what needs to be accomplished before 2013- doesn't seem like there will be any "dead" space in November or December either... Oh well.

 

Life Goes Too Fast- Make A Priority To Make and Keep Summer Memories

Life goes too fast... I am reminded of this every time I browse through photos of my children when they were smaller, or see images of my husband and I when we were younger too. Sometimes we just let life go by while we sulk in the day to day wondering where it went and feel down about how there's never enough time or money to do anything. I don't like feeling like this. I don't like looking back on the past years as a family and only having a few memories of really taking advantage of time together.

Don't get me wrong- just being a family and being together is an amazing experience. I love morning to night ins and outs of being a wife and mother. But I also want to ensure that we all get to spend times experiencing things that leave us with loving memories to look back on and to share with future generations. Feeling down about not getting out much as a family was a motivator for me to encourage, facilitate, and budget for fun times this summer as well as come up with the idea of having my children keep a "Summer Journal" to keep those memories.

First step- I made sure to budget a bit for each month towards a "family activity" or "special event". I also made sure to include a little more in the budget for certain months that I knew would have larger events to take place (a birthday, graduation party, our anniversary, etc). This meant cutting out a bit on a little grocery money, not paying for a TV service, and being conservative with our energy usage so we can have the extra funds. Then, using some of our tax return, we made sure to have some "at home" facilitators of fun for the days we can't get out- putting up a Walmart above ground pool, setting up a trampoline, making sure the board games were all out in the living room bookshelves, stocking the craft cupboards, and making sure the electronic entertainers were all set up for use (movies, Wii, computer games, etc).

For out of the house activity- I made sure to sign my children up for a few summer activities that they could participate in and build memories as siblings even though Mom and Dad were at work. For example: Vacation Bible School with the help of our neighbors, at least 1 field trip per month while attending the Boys and Girl's Club in our area, and a "sleepover" time for them to stay with their aunt and step cousins. 

Then it was planning for certain activities that we could ALL take part in and making sure we made it a priority to set time aside in our schedule to do these things: Family reunion parties, Barbecuing with friends, camping, attending a Theme Park, and going to the movies. I also wanted to plan on a special activity that I could do with just my daughter and with just my son to give them some one on one memories too.

It doesnt seem like we're doing a LOT- but the summer is nearly half over already and it is going so fast! We aren't even near finished having a good time! In hopes that my children will be able to look back on specific details of these simple things we've done and are doing as a family- I came up with a "daily" journal for my children to input entries of their summer into:

Both of them will be able to keep little bits of memorabilia their decorated Summer 2012 folders.

Each will get to write their own thoughts, feelings, and point of view on their summer experiences by filling in notebook paper with the following tabbed subject lines: Fun Times, God Made Me GREAT, Things To Work On, and I Learned Something. The "God Made Me GREAT" and "Things To Work On" are two of my favorite 'tabs' because they give my children the opportunity to see the wonderful parts of who they are as well as see the elements of who they are that could use some improvement. I then comment on what they write so they are encouraged to continue thinking about growing as an individual.

 

These are some of the "God Made Me GREAT" things that my son wrote- 8 year old spelling interpret: 1. God made me smart. 2. God made me good at riding my bike. 3. God made me a good boy at reading. 4. I am good at making friends...

And these are some things that my daughter knows she needs to work on (again, spelling interpreted): 1. Listening better and not fight or argue. 2. I can work on doing my chores better. 3. Math.

I am really looking forward to looking back on these journals with my kids as they get older and going through the memories we've built as a family and seeing the lessons they've learned and grown from. I am hoping to continue this "Summer Journal" tradition as well as continue to make spending time doing some fun things as a family our priority.  Life just goes too fast not to.

Schools out for Summer... What to do with the kids...

With school getting out, we all have the fear of our children getting bored out of their minds and driving us out of our minds too... Here are just a few ideas to help keep kids busy this summer and you can have a good time with these too!

1. Purchase a trampoline. I know these are expensive, and this may need to be a future toy to get after some money is saved up, but this was the best investment in an outdoor toy that I've ever made. We got one for Father's day due to a couple of our bills going down and the kids play on this for HOURS. And they try and keep from arguing so they can both stay and jump instead of have to get off... I love this thing. :)

2. Have a neighborhood bike parade or race. Have kiddos bring their helmets and bikes over to your house, dish out small party favor prizes to winners of "best decorated bike", "biggest bike", "fastest bike", etc and serve up some frozen popsicles and cookies as snacks.

3. Have the kids help plant and maintain a strawberry or pumpkin patch. The plants are easily identifiable which help them not to be picked while the children are "weeding". Then when berries or pumpkins are ready, the kids will have pride that they produced them!

4. Keep a "summer adventures" journal. I had my kids decorate a piece of paper and I slipped it into one of those 3 ring binders with the area for an insertable page. I then put in 4 dividers as areas to write "entries": Summer fun, God made me great, Things I should work on, and Something I learned. This way, the kids can keep up on some of their writing skills as well as reflect on what they have done, who they are, and what they have learned. My kids love it so far- I hope the love lasts all summer!

5. You will have rainy days during the summer when outside is just not an option. Board games, computer games, TV games, movies. Those are all great things to resort to... But maybe building a puppet stand out of boxes would be so much more stimulating to the imagination! My kids had such a blast with coming up with a "design" for the puppet stand, then writing out their story, and then acting it out with handpuppets (which you could totally make out of socks or paper bags too!).

6. Have a pool party! (Sign courtesy of GiggleBees on Etsy- click photo to go to the shop). If you have a pool, great, if not- pretend to! Get some great pool party favors (see my Etsy treasury list below for some ideas), invite a few kids over asking them to wear bathing suits and bring towels, and get wet somehow! Kiddie pools, water balloons, water guns, sprinklers, etc. Can be a great time for kids to play together outside and no need for worrying about entertaining them or organizing any special games... children really can keep themselves busy if directed to a positive outlet!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NTc5MzIxMnwyNzIyOTczMjI0/its-officially-summer-lets-have-a-pool?index=0

7. And even if the kids don't like the idea- have them help with some chores around the house. Have them earn money to go do things as a family- movies and snacks, baseball games, treats at a theme park, etc.

I hope you and your kiddos have a great summer!