Summer!!! Time to play a little! Woo hoo!!

The first calendar day of summer was this week and we really want to get the most out of summer break that we can!!  I know getting enjoyment out of summer helps me anyway. It makes all of us a lot more likely to come back to school refreshed, recharged and ready to go. I found this out because last summer.... well, we didn't have one, honestly. It was depressing, emotionally  hard on the kids, they lived at the chiropractors and it was boring but we were thankful still, we were spared from a lot so we couldn't complain.  There is so much more that could have happened but God protected us.

So this summer, we are not over-planning but we are preparing to have a great time and make up for last year, Lord helping us!!! Since I'm the family's 

 "Event Coordinator " if you will, if I failed to plan then I planned to fail right? So I needed to be organized and have one central location for everything having to do with summer break.

Well, pictured below is where it all begins, kind of like a summer bucket list but a "Summer Binder". This holds everything from coupons I'm using, monthly calendars, plans, and of course church events that we will be involved in and a few summer projects. I'm loving this binder. 

I made the children their own little summer folder too so they could feel involved with the following pages in it:

A Scripture memorization checklist has been added too. I think the summer is a perfect time for this. This is something we have done every summer for a while now. We try to "custom fit" their scripture list to whatever we know each individual child to be struggling with. Daddy and I feel personally responsible not only for our kids physical growth and well-being but for their spiritual growth and well-being.

It's important too! this has been my fifth week getting back into daily memorization for myself before I got the kids started and I'm excited how God has been recalling the newest memorized passages to my mind already to help me get through some tough days I've had. 

Anyway, here's wishing everyone a .............

( just a few clippings for memories sake of what we've been into so far...)

HERB GARDEN-

Kids planting their little garden:) 

it's very small but it's a start.

Thankful to my Preachers wife giving me some tips on the medicinal herbs. They seem to be doing better in the ground.

ZOO- (Again this year) 

READING PROGRAM-

We are at Barnes and Noble Book Store picking out their free American Girl book they earned by reading 8 various books of their choice over the course of the summer. Your local library also might have a reading program with some reward at the end as well.

Chalk Art Competition-

 

Skate Free summer program-

Camp-

V.B.S-

Vacation Bible School

Mudcats Baseball game-FREE 

Our friends told us that this stadium has a non-alchoholic section too. Haven't gone yet, that'll be next month Lordwilling. We got 4 box tickets to the Mudcats game free through their birthday program they have on-line, it's pretty neat. And we do plan on bringing umbrellas to the game for shade, it's gonna be hot folks!

Photo Scavenger Hunt-

This was a huge hit with the kids and I had fun helping them. They were all bored one afternoon so I went to my summer binder and pulled this out, which occupied them for about 2 hours. 

They take cameras and go out in the yard or neighborhood and snap whatever is on the list and whoever comes back first, meeting the requirements gets a buck:)

Nature Scavenger Hunt-

The kids did this when their friends came to visit one day. They broke up into 2  teams of three and whoever came back first got to pick a prize from my prize box.

Same idea as the photo hunt but no photos required just a checklist of things in nature.

U-Pick Blackberry Farm-

The red means they aren't ripe yet. But there were plenty that were. Julianna just liked the half and half look going on here :)