Summer Fun Schedule

The girls & I have begun our second week of summer break. And, if you've been keeping up with our goings-on over on Instagram & Facebook, you'll know that I have gotten super organized this year. The last two years were a doozy of disappointment. I had no energy to coral the littles (who, I know, are not technically little at almost 12 + nearly 14) away from their electronics. I was tired of being their maid. And the girls looked back & felt like they had wasted a potentially fun summer. Which they did. We all did. 

So this summer, things are a-changin'. I browsed Pinterest for inspiration, & I found several weekly schedules with catchy themes for each day. I loved that idea, so I printed out my own version. (Using Picmonkey & importing it into Word.)

Every weekend I plan the next week's activities. And on Monday morning, I display my organized work of art next to the fridge. The girls have requested that I hide each day's theme, so they'll be surprised when they take turns revealing our project or venture of the day. There's an anticipation & excitement. So far, one week + one day in, the girls LOVE it! This might be too organized for some--it's not for everyone. But I needed guidance. And this plan gives me just enough of a general theme to run with it & personalize it. And, really, some of the day's items only take minutes. Others can linger for however long we wish to hang out with them.

The girls also have a small checklist of items they HAVE to do every day. It's so I can combat bedhead & fuzzy teeth all week long. You understand. But it also includes reading, several minutes of writing + math, morning devotions with Jesus, & a minor chore or two. It hasn't killed them to have responsibility. In fact, my youngest wakes up before anyone else in the morning & gets her checklist done lickety-split. And then she naps after lunch because she's so tired from waking up so early. Haha!

Zoey noted that it appears we are homeschooling. It definitely does look that way. Which is why I jokingly call it "Summer School". But remember what I said earlier? The girls LOVE it! And I'm having so much fun planning our weeks. And here is what each week looks like (some of them are self explanatory):

MONDAY = Make Something Monday 

TUESDAY = Time to Read Tuesday (this simply means "go to the library")

WEDNESDAY = What's Cookin' Wednesday 

THURSDAY = Thinking Thursday (whatever we are curious about, we will research that, or do a S.T.E.M. themed project: Science Technology Engineering Math)

FRIDAY = Somewhere Fun Friday (as many free &/or cheap local places I can come up with!)

Ok, so this schedule I created is as plain & boring as can be. But I thought I'd make it available to print your own anyway. (Click the "pop-out" icon in the top right corner for an option to print.) You can jazz it up with markers & whatnot. 

I'll be posting a weekly recap of our Summer Fun Schedule shenanigans, so stay tuned! Hopefully it will inspire you. (Maybe it'll also help me get back into this blogging game.) 

I'm adding our Summer School 2016 photos to an album, so you can always pop over HERE to take a peeksie at all our Monday through Friday Summer School adventures.

Happy summer, friends!

To view all posts in our 2016 Summer School series, follow along HERE.
♥

Zoey's Lemonade Stand

At the beginning of the year Zoey, Pazely, the Mr. & I each wrote down something we wanted to accomplish in 2014– like a goal or wish. Zoey chose "Have a lemonade stand" as hers. She has never had one. Shocking, I know. The girl is almost 12 years old & has never sold lemonade on the corner of a neighborhood street. 

*hangs head in shame*

I knew the perfect place & time for Zoey to set up shop would be at the upcoming yard sale my mother & I were planning. And I wanted it to be big. You know, to make up for all those lemonade stand-less years. The bigger the lemonade stand, the better I felt. (Notreallyyesreally.) 

Since the yard sale would start out in the chilly morning, we thought we needed more than just lemonade. So we added hot chocolate to the scene. 

The night before the big event, we baked chocolate chip cookies, & mini coffee cake muffins. Do you want seriously delicious choco chip cookies? I just use the recipe on the back of the NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® bag of mini chocolate chips. And then I substitute shortening for the butter. (1 CUP of butter = 1 CUP of shortening + 2 TABLESPOONS water)

Oh, & here's the recipe pin I found from Serious Eats for the coffee cake muffins. (We made them "mini", so we reduced the baking time to only 10 minutes.)

Zoey had a roller coaster of emotions in the days leading up to her lemonade/hot chocolate stand. She was excited at first. And then she didn't even want to do it at all because she realized she'd have to buy all the supplies to set it up. But then after I gave her the "Sometimes you have to spend money to make money" pep talk, she was fine.

Though this was not a Pinterest-worthy lemonade stand, it was definitely in our style: We used what we had, borrowed what we didn't have, & made + baked what we had time for. (Being busy helping to set up the yard sale made me a tired mama with not a lot of time on her hands.)

Borrowed: chalkboard, vintage tablecloth, carafe for hot chocolate, fancy pitcher for strawberry lemonade.

Handmade: "Refreshment" banner, pinwheels.

Everything else was ours, gathered from closets & cupboards– pretty much all those things that are saved for special occasions & not used very often.

Sandwiched between the cashier station at the yard sale (which consisted of my mom, sister, or I wearing a leather fanny pack + sitting behind a TV tray) & tables full of low-priced knick-knacks, was Zoey's "Refreshement" stand.

She sold out of her treats at 11 am & started giving away free lemonade at 2 pm. She was giddy the whole day & even received several tips. When all was said & done, she took in $41.75, with a net profit of $27.75. (Math on the weekend?! Woot! Woot!)

One of my favorite details of the whole thing was the banner. I printed the word REFRESHMENTS onto pages from an old, discarded dictionary. Before printing, I cut the pages to 5" x 7", then set my page size in Microsoft Office Word to the same size. I used Baskerville Old Face font in size 400. (Well, except for the letter "M", which was too wide– so I lowered it to size 350.) I fed the pages through the printer one at a time & I LOVE how it turned out! I had always wanted to try printing onto pages from a book.

Zoey's favorite part of the refreshment stand?

$$$

That, & serving people.

In the picture above, little Miss Pazely is Zoey's first customer. (In fact, she bought the first & last chocolate chip cookie of the day.)

  

 Pazely & I made the {non-functioning} pinwheels from scrap paper, fun colored brads, & striped paper straws leftover from her S'mores Birthday Party. She sold a few pinwheels throughout the day, which was quite fun for her. 

I even found a horrible sketch I drew of the refreshment stand in its planning stages. It's fun to see your ideas come to life from paper to reality!

Goal achieved. 

Dreams made. 

Mission accomplished.

♥

Summer Memory: Making Jam with Grandmother

I have dreamed of this day. I'm serious. It was as epic as ever.

Grandma's raspberry jam fits in a category as big as that: EPIC.

As a kid, visits to grandma's house included many things: jaunts down the winding trail to the beach (& the breathless trek back up), long hunts for sea glass, board games with cousins, card games with aunts, a lazy cat on grandpa's lap &, one of my favorites: a biscuit or two smothered with butter & embellished with dollops of grandmother's raspberry jam.

A taste of this jam & I am immediately transported. I am on the ferry boat that takes me to the island where grandma lives. I am in her warm house. I walk past rubber boots in the laundry room & see the cookie jar on the corner shelf where treats are hidden for grandkids. I spy the oval shaped braided rug on the floor in the family room, & smell the wood stove burning. I look through a giant window which overlooks a ginormous yard filled with: plenty of space to run & play, a deck for watching the ocean activity, a forest balanced on either side of the lawn. I walk outside & am surrounded by pine trees. I notice grandpa's rigs & tool shed. I pass by grandma's vegetable garden. 

But I'm getting off topic...

For the last few years I thought how special it would be to make jam with grandma. But I lived so far away & didn't know if I'd ever get to be near her again. Four months ago there were 1,253.18 miles that separated us. Now, I am only .29 miles down the road. Just a simple 6 minute walk away. 

And I returned at the height of jam-making season.

A visit to the Farmer's Market this summer produced 12 cups of raspberries. 12 glorious cups. The berries smelled so sweet & perfect.

Jars & pectin & sugar were gathered next.

This newbie to canning (*points to self*) had a slight freak out moment before it all began, but grandmother calmed my nerves. My mom was nearby to help too. I bumbled around a bit & made a mess far more outrageous than two simple batches of jam should ever make.

Grandmother, taking support from her cane & leaning on the kitchen counter, patiently guided me along. 

I brought her a chair from the dining table & plopped it right next to the stove so she'd be more comfortable. And so she'd be as close as possible in case I needed her.

Grandmother hadn't made jam in years. I think she missed the rolling boil, the skimming of the foam.

She nudged me aside so she could have a stir at the pot. 

That lady got up on her jam-cycle & did wheelies just to show off.

Once the jars were filled, I waited patiently. And then I heard it: PING!!! I squealed. One down, 17 more to go. In a matter of minutes, all 18 jars sealed with that magical sound. I was so excited! The cutest thing was how happy my grandmother was for me. 

The jars of jam are currently down in the cool basement. They are precious to me. I feel like a jam hoarder. But in reality, they are ready to give as Christmas gifts.

The jam is delicious. Tastes just like grandma's.

Made with love. Tremendous big gobs of it.

♥

Long Labor Day Post.

Although Summer will still be with us for another 2 weeks, my fam & I celebrated Summer's end with our final picnic & water play of this season. Our favorite local place to jet-ski & boat is Levey Park on Lake Sacajawea.

I cannot believe the luck of this photo! My brother took my girls & me trolling on his boat & I looked in the water & saw a random floating flower. I snapped a picture but didn't realize until later that I also captured the reflection of the sky & clouds! Love.

I guess Pazely's love meter was maxed out.

I couldn't keep away from the wildflowers.

Summer, you've given me my most favorite warmest season memories yet. Thank you.

And now I wait anxiously for your friend Fall...

♥

Extra Bug Catcher Necklace Post!

Zoey wanted in on the bug catcher action, so today she made this!

These necklaces could also hold tiny treasures.

See tutorial HERE.

♥

Summer

BED IN SUMMER

by Robert Louis Stevenson

In winter I get up at night

And dress by yellow candle-light,

In summer, quite the other way,

I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see

The birds still hopping on the tree,

Or hear the grown-up people's feet,

Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,

When all the sky is clear and blue,

And I should like so much to play,

To have to go to bed by day?

{found in my copy of "A Child's Garden of Verses" Copyright, 1929 Illustration by Eulalie}

Kid's Books

I was so excited to receive this book in the mail today! It's "The Old Farmer's Almanac for KIDS" & it is full of facts, ideas, experiments, projects...

...AND it features a picture I took of wind chimes from THIS TUTORIAL last summer! Cool huh?

Also check out the Almanac 4 KIDS website. It is SUPER fun!

I know it'll be a great resource for my kids & I this summer.

And it got me thinkin'....

What other book recommendations do you have or suggest, pertaining to fun stuff for kids or kids summer activities? Anything from educational to silly to crafty will do.

Celebrate Summer!

They're HERE! Get 'em for the 4th of July or for Summer-time FUN!!

♥ ♥ ♥

Here's a fun PINWHEEL poem exercise.

Do you remember the PINWHEEL television show?

PINWHEEL wreath craft for wee kids.

Paper PINWHEEL wreath.

Crayola Patriotic PINWHEEL Coloring Page.

Pastel PINWHEEL cookie recipe.

Summer Owlies Are Here!!

Visit the I SEW stuff section in my shop to make this owlie yours.

Here's a little WhiMSy love Owlie fun fact for ya...

This is the 6th series of owlies I've made! (Not to mention all the fabulous random custom ones I've created here & there!)

1st--Christmas Green Owlie 2008

2nd--Christmas Brown Owlie 2008
3rd--Winter Cream-colored Owlies 2008/2009

4th--Valentine Owlie 2009

5th--Floral Spring Owlie 2009

6th--Summer Owlie 2009

Molded Crayon Tutorial

Today I had some more crayon fun! This time, I made crayons inside shaped molds--like a candy or candle mold. An ice cube tray would also work. This process is a little more involved than the muffin tin method, but it's still fun.

You'll need to gather tin cans. I also used one of the many rectangular shaped flavored coffee tins I have laying around. Peel your crayons & break them into bits. Toss the pieces into your cans.

You'll be creating a makeshift double boiler. Fill a saucepan with water & set your cans, filled with crayons, inside. I didn't have very many crayons inside my cans, so they kind of bobbed around. That's OK. Bring the water to a boil & then simmer.

I used a plastic knife to slightly stir the crayons & make sure the chunks were melting.

When your crayons are melted, get ready to pour them into your molds. The cans will be SUPER hot, so be careful & use a hot pad or oven mit. I found an inexpensive mold at the thrift store. This design wouldn't have been my first pick if I had a choice, but it does scream "summer!" so that's cool.

Now don yer mitts & pour away. Make sure it's on a flat surface. Those blue dollops on the mold are from the previous owners candle mess.

Let the mold set for several minutes. I poured a few colors into the dolphin mold. In using this method I found that the colors weren't as swirly & cool looking in the end product as they were in the muffin tin method. You COULD pour in a few different colors in the same mold & get a similar "swirly" look though. I think that was my problem--melted crayons burning my fingers in one hand, & the camera in the other.

Here's a view of the bottom as they're drying. Set the mold in your fridge or freezer until the crayons completely harden. Your molded creations will come right out when they're done!


Ta-Da!! I'm happy with the way they turned out! I'm definitely thinking of favors in goodie bags for kid's parties---you can get molds in a numerous amounts of designs. Oooh...what about a cupcake crayon????!!! I'd have waxy colored teeth for sure.