Recently...

We've been:

Crossing off lots of things on our "Summer List."

One fun item was making sock puppets.

We busted out the craft bin, the hot glue gun, some of Brian's old tube socks and got to work!

 As usual, Payton knew exactly what he wanted his to look like. He wanted a dragon with blue & green spikes down it's back.
(Naughty sock puppet snuck in this picture)

 

 Parker napped through most of the "creation" part of it, so when he got up, he was a bit confused by these new creatures on our hands.

 Personally, I think all sock puppets should have pink feathered hair and a pink & green necklace. But that's just me.
(Speaking of sneaking in pictures... Parker managed a peek in this one)

We've also been playing with Payton's trains. 
We may have a new train-lover on our hands!

 

 Should we hide all the trains now so that we can give them to him for Christmases & birthdays? Is that wrong??

 And I've been dragging both boys with me to Target.
 We start at the snack bar where they get to choose a pretzel or popcorn. Then, if they're good while I shop, I let Payton play the display DS while I take Parker to the toy aisles.

Recently, Parker tore away from me in the toy aisle and ran across into the electronics area for a full-fledged sneak-attack hug!

 Absolutely heart-melting!

And with all the rain we've been having, we've been making lots of indoor forts. 
It keeps them happy until the rain stops and they can go outside and stomp in the puddles. 

This is how Brian caught them in the fort yesterday...

Parker was mad that Payton had Brian's phone.

 So to even the score, I gave him mine.

Peace & quiet ensued for about 5 minutes.

What have you been up to recently?

Last Minute Summer Preparations

Summer break is only 4 short days away, so I am trying to get a lot of things crossed off my list before I have 2 little ones home all day. One item on my "to do" list is... our Summer "To Do" List!

I did this last year too and Payton had so much fun checking off the activities as we completed them. It's also a really fun thing to create together because you learn what your kids want to do with you over the break.

This is how ours turned out this year:

 It is now boldly displayed on the side of the kitchen cabinet ready for someone to just check off some fun! Speaking of checking off some fun... did you notice the very top "to do" item? Payton wanted to make sure that "FUN" was our top priority this summer. :)

Another thing I needed to do was create a "Summer Electronics Rules List." It sounds harsh, but TV and video games can become babysitters during the summer and I don't want that to happen. I want him to keep up his reading level, learn some Spanish, play with his brother, and help out around the house instead of being glued to the TV during his downtime. So I created a document that we can have posted in the house so that we're not arguing about it. He'll know what I expect and he'll have a list of things he can do to earn "bonus" time. Leave me a comment, or email me if you would like a copy of the document.


A fun thing I came across also has to do with keeping up his reading this summer. It's from one of my favorite blogs called "How Does She." It's called the "Summer Reading Star Kit" and you enter the password "Welcome" to download the free printables. 

Basically it's a Bingo board with each square listing a time or place to read. You enter the amount of time you want the child to read for each place and then they get to cross off a square each time they complete the reading. When they get "Bingo" they get to choose a coupon to "cash in." The great thing is, YOU get to fill in the coupons! So, I got to choose things I thought were appropriate (and not a ton of work on my part). For example: Stay up late one night; No veggies at dinner; Special dessert of your choice, etc.

He was so excited when I showed it to him after school today. He loves reading, but this just adds a bit of excitement to it!

Oh! I almost forgot! When the child gets a "blackout" - or crosses off every single square on the board -  they get a "Golden Ticket!" Ours is good for a trip to Chuck E. Cheese with a friend - he can't wait!

(I mounted my Bingo chart onto blue cardstock and then attached an envelope to the bottom to hold the coupons.)

One more thing I printed off today was a little Graduation Certificate to Chuck E. Cheese good for 10 free tokens. I am going to include it in his graduation gift (more to come on this later). You can download it here for free if you have a CEC lover in your household too. :)

 I hope some of these ideas inspire you to create a fun summer for your kiddos! We're bursting at the seams for the summer fun to begin. :)