Summer has hit the Stricklers in Liberty Lake in full force. The weather has been crazy warm and our social calendar is in full swing.
The kids had a week "vacation" where they had no chores nor school work, but that week is over and it's back to a little summer structure. Balin and I agreed that the kids would have 15 mins of Math to do as well as 30 mins of reading daily. On top of that they would have chores - today there were 7 chores and boy did I hear about it! But man oh man is the house shaping up and I'm not feeling overwhelmed. From washing windows to taking trash out, the kids are stepping up their game and getting it done. AND, I think they actually like it, even though they would never say so. They like the list of things to accomplish so that the rest of the day seems like a treat. Isn't it that way with all of us? I know if I have a list of things to do, when those things are accomplished I feel flush with time. Take a nap? Sure, I've got all my work done. Go for a swim or boat ride? Yup, I've got time.
Of course there are days that just seem to drag on and on and on, especially if for some reason there are no kids available to play with. So I was reading a book by Kathi Lipp and she had some great ideas for summer. Here are a few that made the Strickler To Do List:
The kids had a week "vacation" where they had no chores nor school work, but that week is over and it's back to a little summer structure. Balin and I agreed that the kids would have 15 mins of Math to do as well as 30 mins of reading daily. On top of that they would have chores - today there were 7 chores and boy did I hear about it! But man oh man is the house shaping up and I'm not feeling overwhelmed. From washing windows to taking trash out, the kids are stepping up their game and getting it done. AND, I think they actually like it, even though they would never say so. They like the list of things to accomplish so that the rest of the day seems like a treat. Isn't it that way with all of us? I know if I have a list of things to do, when those things are accomplished I feel flush with time. Take a nap? Sure, I've got all my work done. Go for a swim or boat ride? Yup, I've got time.
Of course there are days that just seem to drag on and on and on, especially if for some reason there are no kids available to play with. So I was reading a book by Kathi Lipp and she had some great ideas for summer. Here are a few that made the Strickler To Do List:
- Make popsicles out of your favorite juice. (the molds showed up today! Hooray!)
- Put on a sock puppet show. (that wasn't on Sam's list)
- Have a moonlight picnic in your backyard. (or on the lake)
- Make s'mores around the BBQ (burning ban in effect already here)
- Camp out in a living room pillow fort.
- Have a mini pizza cook-off with English muffins and mini ingredients.
- Buy lunch at the farmer's market. (ok, so only Balin and I voted for that!)
- Plan a night of meteor watching.
- Take a family bike ride - do it at night with glow-in-the-dark necklaces.
- Have kids make a list of their favorite meals and help plan & cook.
- Make a water balloon pinata. (not sure how to do this - Pinterest?)
- Host a paper airplane competition.
- Have an indoor/outdoor obstacle course - ending in the lake of course.
- Make your own ice-cream at home. (got the supplies for that today)
- Unplug for a day. (again, only Balin and I voted for that)
- Attend a concert in a park. (we've got tickets to Mozart in Manito Rose gardens)
- Have color wars with water balloons and guns filled with cool aid.
- Paint dad's toenails.
- Watch a movie on the side of your house. (or in our outdoor movie theatre)
- Go on a weekend campout.
- Play a game of flashlight tag.
- Have a surprise pajama ice cream run after dinner
- Go on an alphabet walk to find things that start with each letter.
- Build a sandcastle.
- Go bowling.
- Have a carpet picnic and movie night.
- Make snow cones.
- Have an un-birthday party.
- Carve watermelons instead of pumpkins.
- Paddle board or boat under the stars after sundown.
Comments