Summer Break Challenge

Hello, friends!  Long time, no talk!!!

A few weeks ago the CF card in my camera went kaput and erased everything I hadn't had a chance to upload to my computer.  Bummer!!!  I had some fun meals and recipes to share and, well, notsomuch anymore! So I took a break for a bit while the end of the school year craziness was in full swing. I used to think this was the time of the year when things slowed down, but HELLO!  Not at all!  Between field trips, field days, musicals, award ceremonies, parties, and everything else, we were WIPED!!!

 Here's a little peek at what we've been up to...

1st and 2nd grade award ceremonies...proud momma!

Field Day, Wave Pool, and the Aquarium field trips...

Last Day of School!!!!

If you live in the Anahuac/Mont Belvieu/Baytown area and are in need of yard greetings like these, Leslee at Creative Yard Greetings has the best!!!  The boys were SHOCKED when they woke up last Thursday to find these in our yard!

Naturally, we had some friends over after school that day and ate popsicles, watched movies, and finished the night off with a cookie cake...

And we escaped to Galveston for a little bit yesterday to pick up some patio furniture and eat ice cream at our favorite confectionery, La King's!

This was my neighborhood on Saturday.  SO.MUCH.RAIN!!!!!  Over it already!  

So that's what's been going on in our neck of the woods.  Now that summer is in full swing, I have to really make an effort to make sure my boys don't just sit around the house all day doing a whole lot of nothing.  Of course, they're kids and I want them to be just that!!  They worked SO hard during the school year and I really do want them to take a break, but I also don't want them to be too sedentary.  It's so easy to get wrapped up in screen time &  I really try to limit that whether it be TV or electronics. 

They have basketball camp this week, friends in town all week next week, and a few trips to Dallas and Indiana after that.  SO while we're here at home with nothing on the agenda, this is their challenge...

I found the idea from a post on FB and adapted it to fit my kids.  Nothing crazy.  Just a few things to keep them responsible and remind them to be engaged in something other than watching TV and playing electronics.  Truth be told, this is more my fault than theirs because letting them watch TV and play with electronics is just so easy sometimes.  And I lose track of time.  I'm really bad about this when I'm working, so I guess you could say this is more for me than them?!?!?!

 They're sure to spend a lot of time swimming in the backyard, but they're at the age when they need lots of reminders and they really need more responsibility, too.  This probably makes me the meanest mom in the world, but I'd like to think that somewhere along the lines their future wives will thank me, hahaha. We won't be paying them or giving them an allowance for any of these things because they don't get paid for things they're expected to do around the house.  

We decided we'll start paying them for going "above and beyond" so that they can gain a bit of a work ethic and learn what it means to do a job well and become (somewhat) fiscally responsible.  I've had this idea pinned for a while and I think it will work great for the boys (with different jobs)!  They're very motivated by "challenges". We'll see how it goes!  

via Nature Moms Blog

I'll be back tomorrow with a delicious one pan salmon meal!!!  DELICIOUS!!!