It's Summertime!!!

It is completely unbelievable to me that the school year has ended.  I fully expect to wake up tomorrow and begin our regular morning routine, sending Chad out the door to the bus. Truthfully, I welcome summer, as I really feel like I get my children back.  Yes, it comes with a price-all the fighting and the "I'm bored, what can I do" and of course, but it also comes with the fun, relaxing days, the snow cone sales, the picnics and hikes, and most of all . . . the memories. 

 Tyler finished up preschool with a field trip to Pizza Pie Cafe' and a program/graduation.  He had a good year but he is so excited to "never have to go back to preschool again. ever." because he is heading off to kindergarten next year.  (Wow!  That's hard to believe too!)

We upped the anti on our 'Welcome to Summer' sign this year.  Usually, it is just a small sign on the front door, but my kids have come to expect a sign when they come home on the last day of school, and this year, I thought I'd welcome summer to the whole neighborhood. 

The real question that always comes as summer approaches is what are we going to do to create memories?  I have great memories of my childhood summers, playing on the slip n' slide (which was really just big, black plastic with a hose set on one end), making wet body prints on the hot cement after running through the sprinklers, playing endlessly with friends and of course, camping.  But it seems that my kids could simply fill their entire summer with screen time if I let them.  And so . . .we create a summer plan.  It has evolved each year, and we take what works and improve upon what does not, but I'm excited to share a little of what we have in store this year.  Mostly just the plan for now, but I'll be sure to post as we are creating memories all throughout the summer.  So . . . here is what I have set up to create a little structure for our summer.

First, in years past, we have given a theme to each day of the week.  For example, Monday was called "My Craft Monday" where we did a craft each week.  We made summer shirts, painted rocks, etc.  We had "Wet Wednesday" and "Field Trip Friday" and one year is was "Friend Friday".  Last year, I tried to create more flexibility with our schedule and it seemed that what happened instead was we never got around to doing anything.  Probably, the "Summer Plan" is as much for me to keep on top of things as much as it is for my kids to know what to look forward to.  This year, I gave up the creative names for each day.  Instead, I chose 5 themes I'd like to do each week, and I printed them out and laminated them.  Now, instead of each day each week being the same theme, we'll (me and the kids) sit down together before the start of each week or even two weeks and we'll place the themes on our calendar that hangs on the fridge. 

 This is our family calendar.  We try to put everything that is happening up on here.  The tags, stuck on the side of the frame, can be placed inside each square to tell us what theme is coming up next.  We'll do this a week or two at a time.  Then of course, we'll have to plan our field trips and what we want to do to get wet on "Make a Splash!" day, but we've started a "Summer Bucket List" for these so that every time we come up with a fun place to go or a great movie we want to see for "Movie Day", we just add it to the list so we have ideas to pull from when we are planning. 

Here's a closer look.  The boys helped me by suggesting what they'd like to do, and we collaborated to come up with these five.  I also created a list of "Boredom Busting Ideas" that the boys can go to whenever they don't know what to do.  It has things like: play a game (Clue, Candyland, Dominion), build with Legos (use the Lego app for new ideas), set up a Kool-aid stand, fly a kite, blow bubbles, etc.  I tried to think outside the box and I got nearly a whole page that we can add to when we think of things.  I am going to try to still limit our screen time to 1 hour per kid each day, so having other ideas of what to do when we're not busy is a must. 

I think summer is a great time to strengthen or create routines as well, so we are planning to strengthen ours.  My boys will have to be up each day before Dave leaves for work to be at family scripture study.  Then, before they can play with friends or have any screen time, they need to make their bed and do a quick clean of their room, get ready for the day, and choose one job that mom says needs to be done.  My kids are getting pretty good at household jobs like cleaning the bathroom and dusting and unloading the dishes, so I imagine the one job daily will keep things in pretty good order. 

In the past, I've set up a "Summer Store" where my boys can earn tickets by helping out and buy treasures from the store throughout the summer.  We're still going to have a store this year, but the way we earn tickets will be different.  I'll offer one ticket daily for each of 5 areas: Order ticket-clean up bedroom, make bed and do one job that mom says needs to be done, Physical ticket-move your body for at least 20 minutes (ride bike or scooter, run, play tag, dance, hike, etc.), Reading ticket-read or look at books for 30 minutes, Writing/Homework ticket-do one homework page (I got a few really fun summer homework books at a local teacher store) or write a story or write in your summer journal (I got each boy a small notebook to record what we're doing this summer), Extra ticket-keep a good attitude all day, no whining, helping others, not being bored.  The goal here was to help my kids be motivated to spend time doing lots of different kinds of things all summer, and hopefully, to lessen the whining in the process. 

Really, there are so many ways to "do summer" and there is no one right or wrong way.  I find that this summer plan helps us to have some structure, which I think kids crave after being in a structured environment at school each day.  I also find it helps us to not over spend during the summer months (there are so many fun and free things to do-check your local library, go hiking, we even have a local bowling alley that offers each child a free game of bowling each day), and it helps us to discover and try new things.  I also find that when I have a concrete plan for our family, it allows me to say "no" to other ideas that might not be a good fit for us and to not feel bad about it.  So, here goes.  We embark on our summer adventure, and I can't wait to start making memories and sharing them here. 

Greyson's Birthday 3 years old

Well, I said it would probably take me a month after Greyson's birthday before I got around to posting about it.  And here we are . . . exactly 1 month later.

Oh my, this little guy warms my heart!  He is such a sweetie.  Mischievous?  Yes.  But oh so innocent and fun. 

He had picked out what he wanted for his birthday cake, a fire truck, months ago when Tyler was looking in the birthday book for ideas for his birthday cake.  He has been talking about it ever since.  We had a lot of fun making it together.  And he was pretty proud of it when it was done.  

He had fun opening a few gifts.  I chuckle because at the same age, we got Chad a set of Legos, but the big, duplo kind.  Greyson plays with the larger ones some, but he wants to be just like his big brothers, and so for his birthday, he wanted small Legos of his own.  Grandma and Grandpa hall got him a very fitting set of them-a fire truck set. 

Greyson is such a great kid.  He loves to tease his brothers, which sometimes causes trouble, but is all meant in good fun.  He loves to cuddle and read together, and he always wants to read the same books each day, over and over.  He has an infectious giggle, and we are so blessed to have this little guy in our family.  We love you Greyson!  Happy 3rd birthday.

As a side note, we start summer here this Friday, and I am just putting the finishing touches on our summer plans.  I can't wait to write about our adventures here and I am committed to keeping this blog a little more updated.  So, check back soon for some ideas on what to do this summer.

Spring Break

It has been nearly a month since our spring break.  That seems to be how on top of things I am lately-about a month behind.  

We had a mini spring break plan to help us fill our time without getting bored.  The boys and I made it together and we hung it on the fridge.  I had no idea that Chad would hold me so tightly to it.  Each night, he would look at the list and tell me, "We didn't do that, or that or that."  Sigh.  But we did our best to get in some fun. 

We did sucker making one day.  The boys seem to enjoy the making of the suckers much more than the eating of the suckers, as a month later, we still have homemade suckers hanging around. 

Chad also got into drawing fruit, for some reason.  He made a whole book of fruit drawings. 

On one warm afternoon, we had a campout in our front yard.  We set up our small play tent and even had a pretend campfire where we "roasted" marshmallows. 

Toward the end of the week, we had cousins come to stay.  OF course, snow cones were a must, and we enjoyed them until we couldn't muster the cold any longer.

And of course, there was Easter, that landed right at the end of our spring break fun.

We had fun hunting for eggs and dying others.  Spring break always reminds me how much I look forward to summer, with so much more time and less demands upon it.  Simultaneously, it reminds me of how much work summer really is, finding fun to keep everyone busy.  But, now we are back in the routine of school, soccer and so much more, and again, I find myself longing again for a nice spring break to soak it all in again. 

The kiddos are growing so fast!  Jenna has so much personality now, and just lights up any room.  Greyson just turned 3 (I'll post about that later-probably in a month).  Tyler is registered for kindergarten, and Chad has lost 3 teeth.  I have so much more I need to get up on here so that I can stamp the memories permanently in my mind.  Happy Spring!  

Jenna 4 Months Old

This baby girl is growing up too fast!!  It is hard to believe that she is 4 months old!  She has sure brought a lot of joy into our home in such a short time.  Dave's sister happened to be in town this weekend and offered to take a few picts for me.  I am so glad she did!  They turned out so cute! 

Her brothers sure love her, and Chad can make her laugh and smile like nobody's business.  And I can already say that somehow, a girl is different, even at this young age.  When she got her immunizations today, she screamed totally different than any of my boys ever had.  It was a piercing, high pitched scream, and I could just hear the drama coming through. 
But, she is such a sweetie.  So glad this girl is part of our family.  We wouldn't be complete without her. 

Debt

This thermometer (see below) has been hanging in our hallway for a year now.  I created it when we bought our car and slapped it up on the wall.  I wanted it to serve as a visual reminder for my kids that we were working really hard to pay the debt that it represented.  When we first bought the car, I told the gal at the bank that did our loan, "I will have this paid off in a year!  And I'll be sure to let you know when I do and you can celebrate with me."  When we decided to have another baby, I knew it would slow us down a little on the pay-off, but I'm happy to report that today, 14 months after we bought the car, we now own it debt free!  Wahoo!  

My boys have been coloring it in each time we paid on it, and they were good reminders that we needed to pay it faster.  It was also nice that we as parents could refer back to it when one of the boys wanted to do something that we felt deviated from our pay off plan.

I joked with the gal at the bank when I made the last payment that it should be like when you vote and as you put your ballot in the box, the ladies always say, "Telena Hall has voted!"  They need to announce, "Telena Hall has paid off her car!"

As I drove Tyler to preschool today in my paid for car, the beautiful Acadia that always passes me on my way there didn't look as appealing as usual.  I just thought to myself, "I'd rather drive a paid for mini-van than a big, beautiful Acadia with a car payment any day!"

It feels good.  We still have one more debt . . .a bit one-Dave's student loans.  That will be a happy day when I can announce that they have been wiped out, but that is still a few years down the road. 

Tyler's Birthday

Tyler turned 5 on Monday.  Five!  That seems hard to believe!  For his celebration, we decided to head out as a family and go roller skating.  Our boys have been wanting to go for a while now, but Dave and I knew that it would take more than just the two of us to make it a reality.  We figured that if we had to enlist the help of others anyway, we may as well make it a party for all that came.

I wish I could say that it was perfect and blissful.  In hindsight, it seems pretty funny.  But . . .

Just getting to the skating rink by 6:30pm with dinner done was a feat.  Before we even left the house, we had two plates of dinner meet the floor.  Once we got to the skating rink, Greyson wouldn't even stand up on his skates.  He was having a meltdown because he was so nervous about the lack of stability he felt.  Tyler was falling ALL over the place.  He was realizing quickly that this was not quite what he had imagined it would be.  I sent Dave out to the car to find the stroller (the skating rink allows you to push a child in a stroller and I thought that might work for Greyson) but it was not in the car.  Eventually, family showed up and I handed the baby off to my mom, my sis-in-law and I took Tyler on each side and worked with him.  Five minutes later, Dave flagged me down to to see if I had brought extra clothes for Greyson.  He had had an accident and was SOAKED!  No-I hadn't remembered extra clothes.  Dave left with Greyson to drive home and get him changed.  While he was gone, I noticed that Chad (who is 7 1/2 -seriously!) had wet himself too!  Whaaat!?!?  I called Dave and had him bring a change of clothes for Chad too.

Once Dave returned, we did finally get to the gifts and cake part of the evening.  Tyler had wanted a beach cake .  

 

 Of course, I forgot to bring candles too, so Dave had Tyler blow out the fire app on his phone.  (For what it's worth, we have since discovered that there is a birthday candle app available that will actually blow out when you blow into the microphone.)  I promise I did remember to bring some things. I actually thought I was doing pretty good to remember cake and ice cream, something to serve them with and on, gifts and socks for everyone.  Sigh. 

Tyler was not even sure what he wanted.  My parents got him a box of Legos, Dave's parents got him some play doh tools-both a hit with him.  We went with a snow cone maker and I can already see the multitude of snow cone sales he will be having this summer with it.  He even received a while sleeve of cone cups and two containers of flavoring syrup to go with it from my brother and his family.

I have recently started reading the book I Didn't Plan To Be A Witch by Linda Eyre.  I thought one of her statements was very fitting for our evening: "Let's realize that crisis plus time equals humor."  Yes, it is already a little funny now.

I sure love our Tyler.  He has the most contagious smile.  He loves to play- Candyland, Legos, school, you name it.   He enjoys building houses and tents with pillows, and he is known to ask often, "Mom, why in 'Lego' does it say 'leg'"?  or any number of variations of this phrase which usually have no answer.  He's pretty excited to start kindergarten, and I think a little disappointing that he doesn't get to start until the fall.  I think he thought that if you start at age 5, then he should be starting NOW. 

Happy Birthday Tyler!!!

Jenna's Blessing

Jenna's baby blessing was this last Sunday.  We had a wonderful time with both of our families being able to attend.  I know I have not posted in months and I have lots of things to catch up on, but I wanted to put up a few pictures of her special day.

This girl is such a sweetie!  She has sure brought a lot of joy to our home and her brothers adore her.  It has been so fun to see her personality stating to develop and she has started sharing her beautiful smile with us.  Here pretty soon, I'll try to get my life back together and I'll get a few Christmas pictures up.