Summer Fun Activities

I'm so excited that summer is finally here! We finished up our school year earlier in May, but I've spent the last few weeks just trying to regroup. So today, with Memorial Day, I am officially kicking off our summer.

The small people have some summer camps they're going to attend - Bobby has boy scout camp and church youth camp; Aria, Brailey, and Caelin are going to camps at our local museum and Bible school at our church; and Brittany is going to soccer camp.

When they're not participating in camps, I don't want the small people to spend their summer just sitting around (although that's not always a bad thing). So I've come up with a plan to be purposeful about doing a variety of activities this summer.

I came up with 50 different activities to do with the small people this summer and separated them into categories: trips, indoor activities, outdoor activities, and in the kitchen. I gave each category a color and spray painted craft sticks to match. Then I wrote the activities on the correct color sticks and put them in a pot. Now, all we have to do is choose a stick of the appropriate color each day. (Obviously, if it's raining or too hot, we need to do indoor activities. Traveling isn't always an option. Etc.)

Here's our activity list:

Travel: 

Go to the zoo

Go to the park

Go to the splash pad

Go to the pool

Go on a picnic

Go bowling

Go to Swan Lake

Go get slushes/milkshakes

Indoor Activities:

Make ice boats

Play board games

Make paper airplanes

Do splatter painting

Decorate flower pots

Decorate t-shirts

Make suncatchers

Paint a portrait

Make bird feeders

Bubble painting

Make friendship bracelets

Paint coffee filters

Make recycled crayons

Paint with marbles

Build with marshmallows and toothpicks

Reading day

Make paper bag puppets

Make a mosaic

Puzzle day

Ice painting

Movie day

Outside Activities:

Play hopscotch

Play tag

Read books outside

Play with sidewalk chalk

Play with sidewalk paint

Have a water balloon fight

Have a sponge ball fight

Play flashlight tag

Water gun wars

Melt ice blocks with water guns

Make an obstacle course

Play with playdough

Go for a bike ride

Play Frisbee

Play in the sprinkler

Play Frisbee tic-tac-toe

In the Kitchen:

Make cookies

Make a cake

Make a new recipe

Make s'mores

Make campfire cones

Thankful Thursday - May 24

I am thankful that today is the last day of ballet for my girls this year. Yesterday was the last day of soccer. Next week is the last week of t-ball. Looking forward to a relaxing summer!

Curriculum Choices for 2012-13

This spring I have struggled with motivation for planning for next year. I've finally made myself sit down and plan what I want to teach each of my children next year, and the curriculum I plan to use.

Bobby will be 7th grade:
Bible - Bible Study Guide for All Ages
History - MFW Exploration to 1850
Science - Apologia Physical Science
Math - Saxon Algebra 1/2
Language Arts:
     Grammar - Rod and Staff Grade 7
     Spelling - Spelling Power
     Writing - IEW US History-Based Writing Lessons, Volume 1
     Reading - The Witch of Blackbird Pond Progeny Press Guide
                       Johnny Tremain Progeny Press Guide
Foreign Language - Rosetta Stone Spanish

Aria and Brailey will be 4th grade:
Bible - Bible Study Guide for All Ages
History -  MFW Exploration to 1850
Science - Apologia Swimming Creatures
Math - Saxon 5/4
Language Arts:
     Grammar - Rod and Staff Grade 4 
     Spelling - Spelling Power
     Writing - IEW US History-Based Writing Lessons, Volume 1
     Reading - The Whipping Boy Progeny Press Guide
                      Stone Fox Progeny Press Guide
                      Little House in the Big Woods Progeny Press Guide
 Foreign Language - Rosetta Stone Spanish

Caelin will be in 2nd grade:
Bible - Bible Study Guide for All Ages
History -  MFW Exploration to 1850
Science - Apologia Swimming Creatures
Math - Saxon Grade 3
Language Arts:
     Grammar - First Language Lessons Year 2
     Spelling - Spelling Power
     Reading - Sonlight Readers

Brittany will be in 5K:
Bible - Bible Study Guide for All Ages
Kindergarten - MFW Kindergarten
Math - Saxon K

Happy Birthday to my twins!

Nine years ago today, two beautiful baby girls were born at 1:35 and 1:37 am. I had developed HELLP Syndrome (a severe form of toxemia); my blood pressure had risen to dangerous levels and my liver had begun to shut down. I was taken in for an emergency c-section and had to be completely anesthetized because they feared my body wouldn't handle it.

I remember waking from the anesthetic and asking Robb about how the babies were doing. He told me that Aria weighed 4lbs 1oz and that he had gotten to see her for a minute before she was taken downstairs to the NICU. Then he told me that Brailey weighed 3lbs and had been taken straight to the NICU in an oxygen tent. I immediately feared I would never get to raise Brailey, that she wasn't going to make it - that she was just too tiny.

I waited anxiously all day to see the girls while Robb's mom and stepdad and my mom all came and got to go with Robb to the NICU. They each would come back to my room with news of how well the girls seemed to be doing, especially Brailey. It still didn't ease my fears for her future.

Finally at 10pm, the nurse came to get me and take me down to the NICU. They got my protective gown on me in my wheelchair and wheeled me in. First we went to Brailey. She was already in an isolette. She was SO TINY! I couldn't imagine holding her; she just looked so frail. The nurse explained to me that she had already graduated off the c-pap and was able to breathe on her own in the isolette, which made me extremely happy.

 Then we went to Aria. She was a little bigger but was still hooked up to the c-pap and with all the tubes and wires attached to her, she looked even more frail than Brailey did. I was able to reach up to touch her little leg which was only as big around as my index finger. I still tear up when I think of how fragile my little girls were.

Fast forward to today. I have 2 gorgeous 9 year olds who run around, play sports, dance, and do all the things 9 year old girls do. Aria loves soccer and is a little mama to Brittany.

 Brailey is my ballerina and will read anything she can get her hands on.

Run - Me?

Run? Why? I've often said the only reason to run is if someone is chasing you.

I got on the scale last week to find a number 30lbs heavier than where I would like to be. Obviously, I need to make some changes. Enter my addiction to Pinterest, where I found a Couch to 5K pin. It looked relatively easy to follow so here I am. Running. Crazy! Of course on day 1, there isn't a lot of running, but the running I did made me realize how absolutely out of shape I am.

So, when you see me collapsed on the side of the road somewhere, you'll know it's just because I wanted to lose some weight, found a pin on Pinterest that piqued my curiosity, and now I have completely lost my mind.

Disclaimer: I am not either one of these thin ladies. A picture of me running at this point would just look ridiculous. Someday...maybe.

Sidewalk Paint Fun

One of the favorite activities from last summer was painting the driveway with homemade sidewalk paint. When I asked the small people what they wanted to do this summer, Caelin's first response was "Sidewalk paint!" So today, we painted with sidewalk paint.

It's simple, easy, CHEAP fun. All you need is a box of corn starch, water, and food coloring.

Mix equal parts of water and corn starch in small containers. I used 1/2 cup of each today. You need to mix it really well because it will get gloppy on the bottom. Then add the food coloring to get the colors you want.


Like I said, easy!

Aria decided to do some abstract paint drips by slinging the paint brush.

My Mother's Day Wish

I'm sure most of you are aware that Mother's Day is Sunday. Robb and the kids asked me the other day what I want for Mother's Day. I gave them a few ideas of things I could use for around the house.

Unfortunately, the one thing I would really like, none of them can give me. What I really want is the ability to go back in time. I miss my mom. Had I known in the weeks and months before that she was dying, there are so many things I would do differently. I would have made a point of spending more time with her. I would have taken more pictures of her with the twins.

Mother's Day is difficult for me. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a mother to the 5 small people who call me mom. I couldn't imagine my life without them. But that doesn't change my sadness over the loss of my mom.

Since I can't go back and change my past, all I can do is change how I choose to live in the present. In the past few weeks, I've been reminded of how unpredictable this life is. One homeschooling family I know lost their 6 year old to leukemia, and another family just had their 3 year old diagnosed with leukemia. I want to enjoy the people God has placed in my life - Robb, my children, my friends. I'm planning to spend this summer having fun with them. Of course, being the type A person that I am, I can't just be completely spontaneous; that would make me crazy. So I'm going to be making a summer bucket list of things I want to do with my family. I'm sure that will be a blog post in the next couple of days.

Here's how you can help:
I already have some fun ideas rattling around in my brain, but I need more. What are some of your suggestions for fun activities for the summer?