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- Some fun activities with our homeschool co-op, including: “tech apart” day, bowling and laser tag, volunteering at a local organization that serves our local homeless community, a patriotic art lesson, and an island survival game day
- A couple of baseball games in Dallas
- Some swimming, hopefully
- Build bird houses with some inexpensive bowls, cups, and plates
- Do a watercolor tutorial from Brighter Day Press
- Sun prints (I already have the supplies!)
Summer Schedule Inspiration For The Kids
Someone told me last week that her kids were halfway through Summer break (from school). That genuinely surprised me. I learned last year that Summer was the perfect time for us to homeschool pretty consistently, so we’ve still been going (with the intent to use our breaks more in the Fall and during the holidays). And knowing we’d still be schooling, I’ve had some Summer activity ideas brewing in my head since before the season started that fit right into our Summer of learning. But these are great activities for anyone not homeschooling and just looking for a little more structure or even just some random suggestions for things to do. As usual, I’m late to put my thoughts down on paper (or digital notepad). But here I am at the halfway point (for at least some) finally doing it. Not too, too late.
Anyway… I created this schedule with flexibility in mind. Take a trip on Thursday instead of Tuesday, Build stuff on Friday. Make something on Mondays. Or just do one or two of these things in a week. You get the idea. It’s just inspiration.
I also created this schedule knowing that having set days for certain activities is helpful not only to me, but also the kids. They enjoy knowing what to look forward to and can make plans in their heads better with that knowledge.
So, here’s the schedule in written form with a bit more detail than the graphic:
Monday - Build Something
There are really so many ways to bring a building day to life. Use a specific type of building item, theme your build, race to build something, have a building challenge, work together to make something awesome, and so much more.
The suggestions I put in the graphic for building items are LEGO, magnetic tiles, wooden or unit blocks, dominoes, a blanket fort, and a stick teepee. A few other suggestions are Lincoln Logs, a marble run, something with cardboard boxes or popsicle sticks, and a building kit (like this one my kids loved).
We’ve invested heavily in LEGO and magnetic tiles (Picasso sets are our favorite, but we have a few different kinds) since my son was old enough to start playing with them. They were birthday and Christmas gifts from us and other family members, which made it easier to enlarge our collection. So it’s really fun now to have a lot to use to build!
For unit blocks, I’ve found that Jenga blocks are absolutely perfect for building! My kids have reached for them more than anything else recently. They build mazes and castles and pretend wars and forts and lots more! They’ve even used them to make indoor putt putt courses. They have 2 sets each that I purchased when on a BOGO sale at Target.
Several of the other items—like dominoes, blankets, and Lincoln Logs—I’ve collected through thrifting. The dominoes double as pretty decor in a glass container!
Tuesday - Take a Trip
My suggestions are pretty common, but they are easy to do in a day without much (or any) planning. I’m going to divide them into free and paid options below.
FREE - park, nature hike, library
PAID - zoo (a membership is typically totally worth it if you live near one), museum, lunch out, indoor activities (like ice skating, roller skating, a trampoline park, indoor rock climbing, Top Golf)
Wednesday - Play a “Game”
I used the word, “game,” here a little loosely because I couldn’t think of a better term. But basically I just mean anything that challenges the mind a bit without a lot of mess. So things like:
Board Games - A few of our current favorites are Sequence, Blokus, and Sorry. Card Games - We LOVE Play Nine and Skyjo! Puzzles - I pick these up at thrift stores if they’ve never been opened, but also occasionally grab a pretty or seasonally appropriate one elsewhere. Activity Books - Our absolute favorite activity books for a couple years now are these 1,000 dot-to-dot books. They’re frame-worthy once completed! Coloring Books - We’re partial to more detailed coloring books. This Audubon one is on our wishlist right now. Paint-(or Color-)By-Numbers - We’ve done a few of the Mondo Llama brand paint-by-numbers in the past year, and they’re good (not tooooo overly detailed).
Thursday - Create Something
A painting, a drawing, something with air dry clay, a Perler bead creation, a sewing or knitting or embroidery project, an outdoor chalk masterpiece, and more. So be crafty, yes. But you could also take this in a whole different direction and do a science experiment!
Friday - Have a Party
Make this anything you want! Bake a cake just because. Have a cute little tea party. Plan out a fun charcuterie board for lunch. Have an ice cream celebration and make it extra fancy or super simple…I’m sure it’ll be well received either way! Or do a book party where you read a book, make a craft, and have some sort of related food item. There are so many options here. And anything you call a party is sure to be exciting for everyone!
Spent a huge chunk of today organizing and reorganizing things in the house. Felt good.
May Monthly Round-Up: Butterflies, Mother's Day, Yetis, + Summer
I started a monthly round-up last month, so I’m sitting down again to do one for May.
It was a sweet, busy month. We’re not far into June, but when I looked through photos I have from last month, some of those things seem like they were multiple months ago. Time is weird sometimes.
Here are some highlights from our May, which was really just a couple of weeks ago.
BUTTERFLIES
My girl got a National Geographic butterfly kit from her Paw for her birthday. It comes with a voucher to order Painted Lady caterpillars when you’re ready. So, we decided to do it a few weeks after she got it. The caterpillars arrived, and we got them set up in their jar. The info packet says you’ll get five, but she got six. I think it took about seven-ish days for them to start making their chrysalises. Only three appeared to have made it through the process as only three were hanging from the jar lid. The others ended up in chrysalises but were on the bottom of the jar. But when I transferred the three that were hanging, Ro said we needed to keep the others just in case. As you can expect, she was right, and one of the ones that was on the bottom of the jar emerged from its’ chrysalis as well. We got it into the larger container with the others and observed them for a day, then released them. It was a neat learning experience for her.
MOTHER’S DAY
Mother’s Day is really special to me. I always, of course, think about my mom (who passed away when I was 10) and my Memom (who pretty much raised me after my mom died and passed away herself 5 years ago). I desperately wish they were still here with me and my family. But, I’m a mom too now. And it is really, really, really one of my very favorite titles and responsibilities in my life. So, I’m just really grateful that I get to celebrate that and be loved by my children.
The actual day was a good one! My kids (and husband) celebrated me well. We went to church (Matt spoke, and it’s worth a listen), then I chose to go to a restaurant we had not been to in a long time—La Cuisine de Maman. They gave me thoughtful gifts that I really like! And we spent the rest of the day at home together.
Waiting to be seated for lunch. The restaurant–La Cuisine de Maman–is on the grounds of Vermilionville, which is a really cool and beautiful historic and folklife park that is situated alongside the Vermilion River in Lafayette, LA.
My gifts! A LEGO set to add to my Botanicals collection, a 10 oz. YETI that my bud picked out for me, a super cute set of anklets that my girl picked out for me, and a beautiful great blue heron art print from a local artist.
YETI DRINK DATES
As I just noted in the photo above, my bud got me this little YETI for Mother’s Day because I had mentioned that I liked them! My girl already had one from a couple of years back. So, I guess B felt left out. Ha. He decided to get him one with his own money for his weekly coffee.
Since we all had our own, we decided to have a YETI tea time one evening when Daddy had a meeting out. We had a few other YETI drink dates in May as well. And they’re just the best.
Ro made place cards for the occasion. Sweet girlie!
PLANNING SUMMER
Our entire Summer isn’t planned out, but I did manage to get a few things set in stone. I also have several things that don’t require much pre-planning saved in my brain (or maybe on a piece of paper somewhere) that I’d like to do when it works out.
A few things we have planned:
A few things I’d like to do at some point:
It was a family yard day today. The kiddos willingly worked hard. 💚
Our day was supposed to include the zoo after a chiropractor appointment this morning. But the weather was unexpectedly very stormy. So, I got the kids smoothies, then we came home and started some paint-by-numbers I’ve been hoarding.
This is mine so far…
B found a (live) crawfish in the garden yesterday.
Thought my coffee looked pretty from above. I prefer purchasing beans that I know were roasted pretty recently, but sometimes I don’t order in time and it’s tragic to run out. 🤪 So, I’m currently using (and like) Kicking Horse Coffee Three Sisters and Decaf mixed together for a homemade half caff.
A strong regular coffee latte made with maple syrup, half n half, and topped with a lot of Ceylon cinnamon
We got school done early so we could have a “LEGO party.” Kids have their own new sets they’re working on, and I’m doing this set I recently got for my birthday.
A most unusual (and really cold) day in South Louisiana.
Made gingerbread cookies (my favorite!) last night
Currently 🦁🎥🌾🌮👟🐅🍪☕️🧱
Reading: Just finished reading “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” to my son. We’re 4 chapters in on “Prince Caspian” now. I found this whole 1970s Chronicles of Narnia set at a thrift store for either $4 or $5!
Watching: @mtt and I just finished watching “A Gentleman in Moscow.” I liked it.
Researching: Countertop grain mills. I think it would be so amazing to mill our own flour.
Purchasing: Lots of Christmas gifts. ‘‘Tis the season. 🎄 My grandfather graciously gives me money to purchase my own gifts. So more specifically, I just purchased myself a Masienda tortilla press and masa. Something I’ve wanted for a while, but just couldn’t justify. But that’s what makes it a good gift!
Wearing: I got a new pair of classic Vans. Sized up half a size for some toe wiggle room (because I wear barefoot shoes a lot of the time and can’t do a tight toe box anymore), and they are so comfortable.
Enjoying: Took my kiddos to the zoo here recently. It’s not very big, but they’re making some improvements as of late. My kids have visited with their grandparents a lot in the last few months, and they were so excited to show me around because it had been years since I’d been. We had the best morning there.
Eating: I’m making gingerbread cookies this week. This is my favorite recipe! In the past, I’ve just mixed powdered sugar and milk until I get a consistency for icing I like. But I think I’ll try a royal icing this year.
Drinking: Bone broth hot chocolate. The recipe calls for chicken bone broth, but I actually prefer beef. It’s really good either way, though! My kids have actually had the opportunity to have packaged hot chocolate several time recently, and they wouldn’t drink it because they said it wasn’t good.
LEGO-ing: I got 3 Christmas Polar Bears sets for 70% off after Christmas last year. Saved them and got them out this week to do with B and Ro. Fun times.
A glimpse at a large portion of today’s entertainment for these two
Kids are in second day of swimming lessons this year. So, of course, we’re all dreaming of a pool.
We’ve also been discussing getting new bikes as a family. None of us currently have one.
First thing this morning at lessons, Ro said, “Instead of bikes, can we get a pool?”
Even trade, for sure. 🤪
Some Lego Organization
Organized our “imagination” Lego pieces by color a few days ago. Wasn’t positive they’d stay that way. But so far, the kids have played with them more AND put them back in the right trays. ✨
Used these clear trays from Target and tried not to overfill them so that they can easily search for the piece they want.
Inspiration: Color Crushing on Blues from Target
Spring is starting to show up, which immediately makes me think of sunshine and water. 😊🌊 So, I guess that’s why I was drawn to a bunch of pretty blue things recently. Here they are:
Blue Velvet Round Floor Pillow
Habit Cosmetics “Blue Jean Baby” Nail Polish
Women’s Ombre Paper Straw Panama Hat
Women’s Oversized Retro Rectangle Sunglasses
Space Dyed Woven Throw Blanket
Textured Tufted Square Throw Pillow
MINNIDIP Resort Collection Inflatable Pool
Collection: Gold Candlesticks
I recently realized that I have a lot of small (and some bigger) collections of things. So, I’m on a totally unnecessary mission to discover and photograph (appreciate) all the little collections I have around the house.
First up, these old candlesticks.
I thrifted a few here and there, then found a big old box of them one time at Goodwill. I like the impact they make all together. On a shelf. As a table centerpiece. Etcetera. But I also occasionally like to pull one and place solo with a candle as a little statement. Speaking of candles, I’m in the process of switching over to non-toxic and fragrant free options. So if you have any good recommendations, send them my way.
