Summer Bucket List

Well, Summer is officially over.  You can't tell where I live, though.  It's still averaging in the mid 80's, and sometimes into the 90's, but I'm not complaining.  Hot weather is my jam!

This year I made a summer bucket list.  It was just a couple of things that I thought would be fun and take my mind off of the crazy of the past few months.  Some I accomplished, some I didn't...

Here's a quick breakdown:

♡ Learn Hand Lettering.  This one is still in process, but I'll count it.  I've always envied those that could do this, so I figured, why not try it?  I don't have the right kind of pens, and I don't always have the time, but I enjoy when I do get to practice.

♡ Plan 2016 Garden.  Yep.  I got it all planned out in my head where it's going to go, what I'm going to plant, all that.  I'm super excited to get started on it.

♡ Make Homemade Icecream.  Nope.  Didn't happen.  I would tell myself that I wanted to do it next weekend, then the next, then the next.  Never got around to it.

♡ Plan Trip To Disney.  That one was scratched off.  We decided against it.

♡ Dye Yarn.  Again, a no-go.  I was just going to use the egg dying kit that I bought at Easter, but I still haven't found the time!  It may make it onto my next list, along with some other types of dying methods.

♡ Make Paper Airplanes And Kites.  That one barely happened.  One of the boys got a paper airplane book for birthday or Christmas or something, and Youngest brought it in and we made one each.  Still counts!

♡ Plan Vacation.  That went along with the Disney trip that never happened.  I got to thinking, we live in the exact place where we vacationed every year for almost ten years!  Why would we want to go anywhere else?

So that's all that was on my list.  Time to get started on an Autumn list!

Fall Festival

Photos from Pinterest

I don't know about you, but I am getting the strong feeling of Autumn creeping in!    It's disconcerting because the little family and I moved to Florida, so while my body is screaming "Wear all the sweatshirts!", the heat index is screaming "Yeah, right, you still have more summer to go!"  I am certainly not going to miss the cold weather, but it's messing with my head.

I am able to celebrate Autumn, though, and I have the perfect excuse to get crafty, too!  The boys' new school puts on a Fall Festival every year, and I hear it's so much fun!

This year I am able to room parent in both of their classes, and I am super stoked to get to work my crafty magic And put Pinterest to good use while I'm at it!  Each class gets to set up a booth with games or food or face painting or whatever. 

I put together a board with some ideas for games (I'll be adding decorating ideas for it shortly).  Find the board here.

I also have a board for general holiday ideas, which may include something useful for the upcoming fall festival.  You can find that link here.

Do you guys get excited about Autumn?  Do you decorate your house, or do something fun like the Fall Festival?  I'd love to hear!

See ya!
Amanda

Summer Fun

We found a beautiful little
waterfall while exploring
a local park

Summer break is finally upon us!  Now the hard part begins.  How to keep the kids from saying the dreaded "B" word - BORED! 

I have spent years wracking my brain to figure out how to keep them entertained and not spend a fortune, so I'd like to share a couple of my ideas.

■  The pool.  A lot of neighborhoods have them, the YMCA is a good place to go, but if you don't have access to either of those, a simple backyard inflatable will do the trick.  (Of course there are safety procedures that should be followed if you get your own, so please be aware!)  This idea does have some cost, but I think it more than pays for itself!

■  Rainy day fort making.  The classic blanket/pillow fort is always a hit with my kids!

■  Geocaching.  This is a relatively new activity for my family, but it's so fun!  It's like a scavenger hunt, and the kids love it.  There are apps that will help you locate the caches, some are free, but all have a "premium" feature that you have to pay for.  We use the free apps, and have a ton of fun with it.  There's a ton of information about it online, if you're interested!

■  Rainy day movies.  My kids and I like to spread a blanket on the floor and watch movies.  We pop some popcorn and make some hot chocolate  (yes, even when it's scorching hot outside we enjoy hot chocolate) and binge watch movies.

■  Make juice or Kool-aid popsicles.  These can be done in a variety of low cost ways.  We have used ice cube trays and toothpicks, small plastic cups and popsicle sticks, and the store bought molds.  The method is up to you. 

■  Free parks.  Of course there's always the free local parks.  There are some in my area that have waterworks for the kids to play.

■  Field trips.  The kids can stay busy and learn about the area in which they live.  There's a field trip app that works off of your GPS location, and will bring up all kinds of facts and places to visit.  It's called 'Field Trip'.

How do you beat back the boredom during the summer?