Summer Fun at a Glance

So this year I came across an idea I liked on pinterest( what did we ever do before pinterest??).  It was a poster board for the family where you wrote down things that were going on in the summer.  So that way the kids could see what all they had to look forward to and what was coming up.

I took a step further and had the kids tell me things they wanted to do over the summer.  For myself, it never fails that fall arrives and I think,"Crap!  I really wanted to do 'such and such' this summer but in all the hustle and bustle I forgot about it."

So I thought this was a great idea to help with that problem.

Here is our super simple board-

I just used sticky notes, a permanent marker and a poster board I had lying around.  This could definitely get more fancy but I have little time for fancy anymore with 5 children.

Here are some things we stuck o our board:

Other things we have on our poster board-campout in back yard, campfires(put on hold due to no burn ban), family pool party and cookout, go to local baseball game( not to be confused with the above sticky note which just signifies the kids's baseball league*I always get confused when I should put an apostrophe s and when it should just be an apostrophe after an s*), some summer Bday parties, our vacation to Florida, Bubba's mission trip, family who came to visit us, a wedding, do 1 new dessert a week and 1 new craft a week(details later on in this post), summer reading program at library, go to the zoo, 4th of July fireworks, etc.

As we have done some of the activities, I have put them on the left side of the board so we can see what a fun summer we have already had.

I went on pinterest (again) and found a bunch of desserts I have been wanting to try and each week I pick one for me and the kids to make together.  

Then we have a 'Craft Jar'-

Along with all my dessert pins, I have a ton of craft pins I have been wanting to do.  So I wrote down all the crafts that we could do this summer that were on my boards and told the kids to choose 10 of them( one for each week left in the summer).  I then wrote them down on colorful construction paper and dropped in this cute jar.  Each week they take turns drawing one out.  There are crafts such as Q-tip bow and arrows, Mt Dew lanterns, tin can stilts, glow in the dark bowling, etc.

Now the trick to this is to draw on Monday and figure out what you need to get to complete said craft by the end of the week.  This is where I have fallen short.  We are now 2 crafts behind because I keep forgetting the supplies to actually complete the craft.  Oopsy.  Bad Mommy.

I also came across the idea of an Uh-Oh Jar-

  My boys fight like cats and dogs at time.  Not physically per se( though sometimes it does take a nasty turn) but arguing and bickering and so on.  So what we do now is if any of the kids are fighting, arguing, excessively tattling or whining( can't stand those two things), etc they draw out of the Uh-Oh Jar.

As the name suggests, this is not a good thing.  So what's in the Uh-Oh Jar you ask?  Chores!

And not the typical chores( dust, mop, etc), they are already expected to do those type of things( with out compensation).  These are more unpleasant, time consuming chores like weeding, washing out the garbage cans, cleaning out the fridge(yikes)-things of that nature.

I figure that if they have enough energy to fight and so forth they can put that negative energy to good use by doing some beneficial chores.

Is it bad that I am half wanting them to draw out of the Uh-Oh Jar??  I could finally get some of these groan inducing tasks done around here.  It would be poor parenting to set them up to fight or tattle right?  haha 

Yes, yes it would.   I know.

 Darn (;

I have already gotten the trash cans washed out.  And you would be surprised at how fast the threat of, "Do you want to draw from the Uh-Oh Jar?!" quiets the room.  I usually try to give one warning before they have to draw but sometimes if it's a particularly bad offense( as in they totally knew better) then it's a straight trip to the jar.  

So far this summer we have went strawberry picking( I will blog soon about this adventure ), to the drive in to see Madagascar 3(polka dot polka dot afro circus!), had family come visit, had Filipina Princess's(that darn apostrophe issue again) Bday party, and are in the middle of summer baseball season and we are obviously doing the 1 craft and 1 dessert a week thing too.  

What special things does your family do during the summer months?  Fee free to share in the comments section. (=