Come back tomorrow for details about the water slide and our day yesterday.
Join in the Wordless fun at Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Wordless Wednesday: Water Slide!
Come back tomorrow for details about the water slide and our day yesterday.
Join in the Wordless fun at Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Keeping the Kids Busy, and Mom Sane
Now that summer break is in full swing, I'm trying to keep the kids busy and active - most of the time.
I have this fear that they'd spend all summer in front of the TV playing PS3 if I don't lay down some ground rules. Plus, I want Josh to be ready for the routine changes we'll have next school year so I figured summer is a great time to ease into the new workload he'll be getting.
I've reinstated the chore chart. Both kids have some chores they have to do - and honestly it's nothing too taxing and stuff they should just be doing (but don't). When they do their chores they can earn points and trade the points in for things. Like time on the PS3.
I am also making them do "educational activities." Because I really believe they should keep their minds sharp. Sam loves doing the "Homework." Josh, not so much. But, since he can choose what he wants to do, it seems to be getting better.
I'm also trying to do one "field trip" a week and we're taking full advantage of the free summer movies at the local movie theater. This week we went with the mom's group to a "paint your own pottery" place. They had a great time. Josh picked out a guitar and Sam painted a turtle shaped bowl. I can't wait to see how they turned out. We get them next week. I was so busy talking that I forgot to take pictures. I'll take a picture of the finished products so you can see how they turn out.
Other field trips we have scheduled: a trip to the local pizza parlor for a behind the scenes tour, our grocery store and the fire station. I would also like to get up to the Tellus Museum again next week and possibly to the Aquarium sometime this month too.
All this with trips to the pool on nice days and then the normal chores and errands keeps us pretty busy. Thankfully, the boys still have some down time to rest and play like you should on summer break too!
I have this fear that they'd spend all summer in front of the TV playing PS3 if I don't lay down some ground rules. Plus, I want Josh to be ready for the routine changes we'll have next school year so I figured summer is a great time to ease into the new workload he'll be getting.
I've reinstated the chore chart. Both kids have some chores they have to do - and honestly it's nothing too taxing and stuff they should just be doing (but don't). When they do their chores they can earn points and trade the points in for things. Like time on the PS3.
I am also making them do "educational activities." Because I really believe they should keep their minds sharp. Sam loves doing the "Homework." Josh, not so much. But, since he can choose what he wants to do, it seems to be getting better.
I'm also trying to do one "field trip" a week and we're taking full advantage of the free summer movies at the local movie theater. This week we went with the mom's group to a "paint your own pottery" place. They had a great time. Josh picked out a guitar and Sam painted a turtle shaped bowl. I can't wait to see how they turned out. We get them next week. I was so busy talking that I forgot to take pictures. I'll take a picture of the finished products so you can see how they turn out.
Other field trips we have scheduled: a trip to the local pizza parlor for a behind the scenes tour, our grocery store and the fire station. I would also like to get up to the Tellus Museum again next week and possibly to the Aquarium sometime this month too.
All this with trips to the pool on nice days and then the normal chores and errands keeps us pretty busy. Thankfully, the boys still have some down time to rest and play like you should on summer break too!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Updates, etc...
We had the most beautiful weather this weekend!
We seem to have had some very nice weather during the week, but come Saturday and Sunday, we just get rain. I have to tell you, it gets a bit old.
This weekend was fantastic though. The weather was nice, not too hot, not too cold, and almost no humidity.
It started off, on Friday, with Josh's End of Year Baseball Party. It was a pizza party at the pool. I thought the water was way too cold, but the boys both went in and had a great time. Considering how often our games got rained out, we were all so happy to have a wonderful end of season party!
The rest of the weekend was just spent doing yard work, going to the pool, cooking out and sitting on our back deck. Rich installed some outdoor speakers so it was nice sitting outside, listening to music and playing with the boys.
This week the boys and I are keeping busy as well. My goal this summer is to keep the kids active and try to keep them learning. They have some workbooks they have to do to earn PlaStation3 time. And they have chore charts they must complete and earn points to trade in for different things - like PS3 more time. It's been working pretty well. We also have the My Personal Trainer: Math for the Nintendo DS which Josh can do to earn points. He loves that.
I'm also trying to play outings every week from now until we go to Michigan. My goal is to find free or low cost things to do. My neighborhood Mom's Group has one outing planned each week that we'll do, plus there is the free movie once a week. I'd also like to get the boys to the Tellus Museum or Aquarium at least once before we go too, since we're members there already. I'd also love to bring them to the zoo -- weather permitting. We're not members, so that will have to be a "special trip."
So that's us in a nutshell at the moment. On Thursday we're going to a paint your own pottery place. Josh's looking forward to that. I'll get some pictures and post them when I can.
We seem to have had some very nice weather during the week, but come Saturday and Sunday, we just get rain. I have to tell you, it gets a bit old.
This weekend was fantastic though. The weather was nice, not too hot, not too cold, and almost no humidity.
It started off, on Friday, with Josh's End of Year Baseball Party. It was a pizza party at the pool. I thought the water was way too cold, but the boys both went in and had a great time. Considering how often our games got rained out, we were all so happy to have a wonderful end of season party!
The rest of the weekend was just spent doing yard work, going to the pool, cooking out and sitting on our back deck. Rich installed some outdoor speakers so it was nice sitting outside, listening to music and playing with the boys.
This week the boys and I are keeping busy as well. My goal this summer is to keep the kids active and try to keep them learning. They have some workbooks they have to do to earn PlaStation3 time. And they have chore charts they must complete and earn points to trade in for different things - like PS3 more time. It's been working pretty well. We also have the My Personal Trainer: Math for the Nintendo DS which Josh can do to earn points. He loves that.
I'm also trying to play outings every week from now until we go to Michigan. My goal is to find free or low cost things to do. My neighborhood Mom's Group has one outing planned each week that we'll do, plus there is the free movie once a week. I'd also like to get the boys to the Tellus Museum or Aquarium at least once before we go too, since we're members there already. I'd also love to bring them to the zoo -- weather permitting. We're not members, so that will have to be a "special trip."
So that's us in a nutshell at the moment. On Thursday we're going to a paint your own pottery place. Josh's looking forward to that. I'll get some pictures and post them when I can.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
