Surviving Summer

I really have to be on my A game this summer since Elle is used to doing things all day, Ava is used to having my attention, and Levi now demands a lot of my attention. I devised a flexible schedule to keep boredom from creeping in as well as feel like we didn't turn into TV blobs from 3 months of sitting around. We don't get to every single thing on the list every day, but we do get most of them done. Of course there are days that the whole schedule is thrown out and we do whatever too. One of my favorite things we are doing this summer is working on Christian living. I am talking to them a lot about the Fruit of the Spirit and how we can show it in our daily behavior. They are really soaking it in. We are also working daily on manners. I feel like I've seen an improvement in both of them! We also implemented a Good Deeds Chart which is working marvelously. The girls get a sticker every time I catch them being sweet to each other or us, or I see them doing something without being asked, like throwing a dirty diaper away. Today they actually fought over who was going to throw it away. Of course, I don't give them a sticker every time so they have to just keep doing it, not knowing when they will get a sticker. They each got to pick out 5 prizes they'd get when they filled up each line and then put them in order of importance. Elle picked in ascending order: $5 to spend on whatever, ice cream, a family picnic, candy from our candy stash, and going to the Jump Place. Ava picked the pet store to look at animals, a blow pop, $5 to spend however, a big bubble bath, and ice cream. It's funny to see what they picked and then how they rated it's importance.

Here are a few other pictures of things we got for the summer to help make the days a little less boring.

Window Markers...fun, cheap, and easy to clean up

Wooden face masks...only cost $1 each and gave me a good 45 minutes of time...well worth it!

Watercolor paper--they had been painting on notebook paper and the mess was taking longer to clean up than the actual time they spent painting. Now they can paint there little hearts out and there's no disintegrating paper and stained table from their artist endeavors! Plus, it was majorly on sale at Michael's when I bought it!

Perler beads....this takes me back to childhood!

The final product. Elle had the patience to do a flower, and Ava...um lets just say this is for ages 6 and up. It was too tedious for Ava's preschooler fingers but she was proud of her colorful square!

Even I did one...and LOVED it. It's much much cheaper than therapy and it truly made me feel calm. I was in the zone while I made it and felt a sense of accomplishment when it was done. Yes, I am a crafty dork.