How I Started My Summer Vacation

Today was the first day of summer vacation! Yesterday I was a little sad that my kindergartner was now a first grader, that already 6 years ago I was pregnant with him and wondering just where my little boy went. Today I was over it and excited for what lies ahead. Then I got a little nervous when the "I'm hungry" {right after breakfast} and "I'm bored, what can I do?!?" {at 8:00am} started. I had a thought a few weeks ago that I should plan out some activities to avoid such situations and apparently the thought was a fleeting one. After my morning coffee I attempted to make a simple chart with time displayed on a clock & written out, then put an activity in word and picture - so Lydia can understand too. For some reason my word and publisher programs decided they would freeze up at the mention of clip art. Pansies.

Fortunately a search on google images led me to this fabulous site -  Executive Homemaker  where they have lists and organizational tools galore! I found this particular section very helpful with my clip art issues. More searching on google images led me to a blank clock face with numbers that I printed multiples of and wrote/drew in the times myself. 

So I cut up all my printables, laminated them and arranged them on some scrapbook paper. It turned out to be much larger than I originally had planned but it works. So far. I can make adjustments as needed. Of course this is a general guideline for the day when we're home and the kids have been informed that momma trumps the chart. ;)

I did some more looking around at Executive Homemaker and found an idea for another quick project. This post and this post were my inspiration.

 I used my publisher program (any kind of word program would work just the same) and google images to make my own toy tags. Then I cut, laminated (leaving extra to one side for the ribbon), punched a hole and added some ribbon from my scraps bag. The bottom two labels are on tubs so they didn't need a ribbon.

Now the kids' toy cubbies are labeled with a word & photo making clean up easier for them & their friends that come over to play. I realized after they were up that I really would be okay if everything in my house had a label on it. That's a scary thought.

I suppose the title of this post is misleading. Most would assume there would be pictures of fun at a pool, park or beach {I wish!} but here I am with my print outs, labels and routines. Sigh...there's no denying who I am is there? To top that off I spent more time on publisher {love it second to excel} and have two color coded calendars {June & July} full of fun activities for the kids and our families. I don't have every day scheduled out but there are options for us. Some things like free  morning movie, dollar bowling night and story time at the library are repeated through the week/month so each week I can figure out which day works best. I also put appointments, birthdays and Shawn's days off to make for easy planning. At the top of the calendars I have a list of places to take the kids as a reminder. Though we've lived here 3 years there are lots of places we still haven't been and I'd love to check some off our list.

While I enjoy the slowness of a summer morning I don't want to have a summer overrun with lazy days. I think the calendars with researched activities will help me avoid this. And in fewer weeks than I'm ready to face we'll have a new little member of the family that will throw things off for a bit of time, before she does I want the kids to enjoy summer break.

And now I may be rambling. I started this post when it was still Friday and it's now Saturday and I should get some sleep. Thanks for visiting!