50 Days of Summer Fun!

Summer can be such a drag, I remember as a child spending the summer home and being bored out of my mind. I knew we weren't taking a vacation this year, so I really had to step it up! I refuse to let the kids waste away in front of the television, computer, or video games, so I decided to create a fun, inexpensive way to keep us busy this summer! My inspiration came from Pintrest. I realize you're not surprised, but that's okay, you don't have to be.

I decided to create a jar and fill it with fun things to do this summer, each day letting the kids draw something from the jar! I was prepared to fill in the gaps with weekly visits to the museum for kids' day, monthly visits to Home Depot, weekly trips to the movies for $.50 movies. Needless to day, I was a little over ambitious!

I did a little research and brainstorming and came up with 50 ideas of things we could accomplish that would be fun, educational, and would help give back to the community. I took photos each day and will create a master album for the kids to keep, full of memories of our summer 2013. I'm pleased to report we finished all 50 activities, even though by the end, I think we were all completely exhausted! The kids truly enjoyed it, and they still can't pick their favorite thing we did!

I've had many people ask for my list, so here it is, in the order we completed them! My advice if you choose to do this: Make a smaller list!

1. Splash Pad
2. Sea Life Aquarium
3. Donuts for Breakfast
4. Finger Painting
5. Cerreta Candy Company
6. Play a Board Game
7. Bubble Art
8. Pajama Day
9. Pudding Body Paint
10. Make and Deliver Dinner to Someone
11. Bake Cookies
12. Build a Fort
13. Sidewalk Chalk Art
14. Ding Dong Ditch Cupcakes
15. Tempe History Museum
16. Send Someone a Care Package
17. Donate to a Food Bank
18. Decorate T-Shirts
19. Water Balloon Fight
20. Hall of Flame Museum
21. Make Ice Cream
22. Movie Night with Popcorn
23. Splash of Color
24. Build-A-Bear
25. Make Play-Doh
26. Pay for Someone's Order at McDonalds
27. Camping in the Living Room
28. Send Someone a Hand Made Card
29. Out for Ice Cream
30. Visit Police Station
31. Children's Museum of Phoenix
32. Arizona Museum for Youth
33. Tie-Dye a T-Shirt
34. Visit Downtown and Take Photos
35. Wash Car
36. Storytime
37. Drawn on a Mustache for the Day
38. At Home Science Experiments
39. Visit a Fire Station
40. Spa Day
41. Get Library Cards
42. School Supply Shopping
43. Arizona Museum of Natural History
44. Bowling
45. Potato Stamp Art
46. Microwave Ivory Soap
47. Lemonade Stand
48. Phoenix Zoo
49. Chandler Museum
50. Jambo Indoor Amusement Park

Here are photos from some of our favorite activities (in no particular order)! I chose our 10 favorites!

Build-A-Bear!

Pudding Body Paint!

Ding-Dong-Ditch Cupcakes!

Fire Station!

Mustaches!

Police Station!

Phoenix Zoo!

Finger Paint!

Sea Life Aquarium!

Thanks to everyone who followed along, offered ideas, and gave support and encouragement! 

Until next time, all my love.

Back To School!

Kenadi and Laila by the school sign!
(I do one of these each year)

Yesterday, school started up again in Maricopa! Part of me has been counting the days since summer break started, but now that it's here and the girls are really gone, my heart aches for them! I like having them here, close by me, even if they do drive me nuts.

Sisters!

I took the girls in to school yesterday morning so they could have breakfast, and after a few hic-ups were ironed out, the day went on pretty well. I still can't believe how old they're getting, it seems like it's happening right before my eyes. I'm impressed with how smoothly the morning went at home, the kids were so excited they were up before my alarm even went off! We'll see how long that lasts! =)

3rd Grade!

Laila's yearly photo!

Kindergarten!

Kenadi's yearly photo!

Until next time, all my love.

It's been a while...

My heavens, it's been months since my last post! I guess I have some serious catching up to do! I've been so busy I can't even remember where I left off! I find it funny that my last post was titled "Where Have I Been?" Obviously I've slacked in the blogging department. I'm hoping once things get back on track and on a decent schedule at home, that I will be back on a regular blogging agenda again. Truth be told, I sort of miss it!

My last post was nearly 4 months ago, in April! Wow! Let's take a look back over the last few months and see what's been happening around the Smith residence.

May: What a great month May turned out to be! Laila finished up soccer and also wrapped up the school year! Finishing second grade was exciting, in addition to the award she won at school, she also received a letter in the mail congratulating her on her excellent test scores. Despite her diabetes, she continues to excel. She makes me so proud!

June: We really let it rip in June, with summer in full swing we were pulling events out of our jar of fun almost daily! (I promise to do a blog about this another time). We started the month at our favorite place- Home Depot! We made crafts there, and also at Lakeshore Learning Store with friends. We celebrated 7 years of marriage, made a trip to Sedona, and more!

Snuggles from my main squeeze!

Blood donation #4 of the year!

Happy Anniversary!

It was great to catch up with a friend from home!

Sedona!

My sweet angels in Sedona!

July: Double birthday month! I turned 26! (Haha, shut up!) and my son turned 3! I still can hardly believe he's that old! We spent the month plowing through our of summer fun, it was a month crammed full of surprises for the kids, and for me! The month didn't start out so well, my van has had a few brake issues and even though it's less than 2 years old, Dodge won't compensate in any way. So, after dealing with all the lame issues that have come along with that, the rest of the month was fantastic! My dad visited and I was able to get a little alone time on my birthday. I finally took the kids to get their photos done and we almost finished the jar of summer fun!

All 3 kids crammed into Dustin's little Toyota!

My painting! I still don't believe I painted this!

My birthday flowers! Thank you, soul sister!

My girls at Rustler's Rooste, my dinner choice!

Photos of the kids! Finally! Just waiting to be hung on the wall!

I think that brings us to about current, minus the 50 days of summer fun. I will do a blog about that another time, I'm pretty tired, but glad to have at least got back on the blogging horse again! Thank you to all my religious readers, I hope to be writing more in the near future!

Until next time, all my love.