Summer Bucket List

Some of you might remember last summer when I did "Cool Summer Days" with the boys. It involved this really cute calendar.

Basically I put a small piece of paper inside each ice cream cone. The boys would pull out the paper to discover what the activity was for that day. Super cute idea. The boys loved it. However, it was a lot of work for me. The task of having a DAILY activity all summer long quickly became a stressful chore for this momma. 

I decided to do something a little more relaxed and low key this summer.

Presenting....Our Summer Bucket List Poster

It's a simple white poster board that I decorated with images from PicMonkey.

The bucket hanging next to the poster has slips of paper with different activities written on them. Some of the activities are ones the boys came up with on their own, and some I added. As we do an activity, we write it on our poster board.

Even though I didn't want to have the stress of thinking of an activity to do every single day, I did want there to be an element of surprise on some days. So I made this.

A small banner of buckets with pockets so I can slip a paper in the bucket.

I've decided to just pick a couple of days a week to have a planned activity so the boys still get the thrill of pulling out a slip of paper that reveals the fun for that day. I'll likely use these buckets for planned outings.

I'll also let the boys randomly choose an activity from the bucket from time to time. These activities will most likely be crafts or activities at  home.

As you can see from our Summer Bucket List poster, we have already done a handful of activities. Last week I took the boys to the park for some playtime and a picnic lunch.

Yes they are dressed exactly the same. And yes they both have a mohawk hairdo. No, it was not my idea to make them look like twins. Whenever Benjamin picks out his clothes for the next day, Caleb then chooses a shirt the exact same color (or in this case, the exact same shirt). Benjamin usually bases his hairstyle on whatever Bubba chooses. So that is why they look like twins.

After some playground fun, Caleb wanted to hit up the basketball court.

Like a good little brother, Benjamin would get the runaway balls for Bubba.

 Our summer is in full swing!

Benjamin versus the sprinkler

"I will dominate you sprinkler. You are no match for me!"

"See how I prance around you. You can't get me!"

"I will now attempt to jump over you completely."

"Aaarggg, you squirted me in the eye!"

"You must pay!"

"I shall simply squash you with my foot. You silly sprinkler"

Phone Photo Dump

Since joining the world of modern technology last December (when I finally got a smart phone), I have taken a lot of photos on my phone. I rarely think to post photos from my phone on here but I need to because there are a lot of cute photos that never make it to the blog. So here is a completely random assortment of photos from the last few months.

Sometimes Caleb likes to practice wheelies, and I mean REAL wheelies...without the wheelie bar to catch him. It requires a ridiculous amount of balance in order to maintain a wheelie position without falling back. We stay safe with a helmet on and couch cushions all around.

Daddy decided to run outside in the rain holding Caleb. 

On day Benjamin woke up from his nap, walked over to the couch, and fell right back to sleep. So weird.

The boys on the shaky bridge at the playground. Benjamin was jumping and Caleb was holding on for dear life.

Enjoying a lunch at the park.

Caleb recently got new AFO's and a pair of KAFO's.

This is what the new AFO's did to Caleb's poor ankles the first day he wore them. I felt terrible about it. Obviously, we had to get the AFO's fixed.

Glenn and I in a photo together! That almost never happens.

We were all dressed up for a wedding.

Benjamin still gets out his Halloween costume from time to time.

Benjamin's ensemble of choice one day. Superman socks with mismatched shoes.

My two spikey-haired boys.

Caleb enjoying some pool time at friends house recently.

Benjamin enjoying the water.

Lounging in the sun.

Caleb put tape all over his face. I don't know why.

Caleb wanted to camouflage himself to look like our fence.

And that concludes this session of "phone photo dump".

School Ends, Summer Begins

School is officially out for both boys. Benjamin has been out for about 3 weeks and Caleb finished first grade last week.

I think Benjamin looks a bit more mature now compared to the beginning of the year.

Caleb looks the same, maybe a bit thinner in the face.

This was a bittersweet day for me. Not only was this Caleb's last day of first grade, it was also his last day in public school (in case you didn't know, I'm homeschooling next year). Caleb has been at this school since he was 3 years old. I am confident in my decision to homeschool but there is still some sadness as we close this chapter in our lives.

Caleb's very first day of school, only 3 years old.

So stinkin' cute.

I know that most of you that read this blog because of Caleb. The vast majority of my readers are fellow SB parents and I know that many of you love Caleb and feel like you know him. And you know that it hasn't been an easy year for him at all. He is dealing with some things right now, some significant anxiety issues. Significant enough that it is impacting daily life. I would appreciate prayer for him and prayer for us as we try and figure out the best way to help him. 

Adaptive Sports Extravaganza!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. We are so blessed to live in an area that offers a variety of adaptive sporting events. There are so  many opportunities that we can't even begin to do them all but we try to hit up as many as we can. Every year we take the boys to a local event that offers a variety of adaptive sports including cycling, water skiing, tennis, archery, etc. That event was this past weekend.

Caleb trying disc golf. He actually enjoyed this quite a bit. We learned that there are quite a few disc golf courses in our area (who knew?).

Benjamin enjoying a little disc golf too!

Now this is just cool. I have never seen anything like it. The entire side of the truck comes out!

Seriously, how cool is that! We so need one of these. I was too scared to ask how much something like this would cost. I imagine it is ridiculous.

He enjoyed sitting behind the wheel. I told him not to honk the horn...what do you think he then did about 15 times in a row? Yep, honked the horn.

While Caleb was trying a little wheelchair tennis, I took Benjamin out to the playground.

Throwing sticks into the lake.

Sticks were flying everywhere.

Yep, that's a pink BB gun. He's actually a pretty good shot.

"Tech Tickets" (our anti-couch potato system)

Caleb can be quite the couch potato. That boy will fester in front of the television for hours and hours if you let him and he can get a bit testy when it is time to turn it off and actually do something. Benjamin doesn't ask to watch television nearly as much as Caleb, but he does like the Ipod. That boy can play "Angry Birds" until the Ipod battery dies.  With summer right around the corner, I knew I needed to have a "system" (that's right, another system) in place to tackle this issue. I searched around for ideas on keeping media time in check and I found this cute idea for "Technology Tickets". I liked the idea of the boys having a set number of "tech tickets" so I created my own.

(I made these using PicMonkey, super easy folks)

Each "Tech Ticket" is worth 30 minutes of technology time: television, Ipod, computer, Wii, etc. For now the boys will get 3 tickets at the beginning of each day. They turn in one ticket for every 30 minutes of media they choose to enjoy. They have the opportunity to earn extra tickets if they get a "Yay!" stick that offers that reward. They can also lose a ticket if they pull an "Oy!" stick that has that consequence.

I bought these cheap ($1) wooden boxes at Michael's. I painted them red.

I wanted a place for the boys to turn in their tickets and I remembered seeing how people use shadow boxes to keep movie or concert stubs. I found this shadow box on sale and it has a small slit already cut at the top, the perfect size for the boys to slide in their tickets.

I jazzed up the background with some scrapbook paper and shiny stickers.

Summer doesn't officially start for a couple more weeks but I decided to start our new "Tech Ticket" system this past weekend since it was a long weekend. I figured we could give it a trial run and see how it worked. As expected Caleb blew through his tech tickets by noon each day and then complained the rest of the day because he couldn't watch anymore television. Benjamin usually had one or 2 tickets left at the end of the day. When that happens, I'll let the boys carry their tickets over to the next day...I doubt this will ever happen with Caleb.

There are exceptions when the boys won't be required to turn in a ticket for media time. Freebies will include a family movie night or any program that we watch together as a family. 

We've only been at this for a few days but it really is working well. I think it helps Caleb to see exactly how many tickets he has and eventually he will learn (maybe) to spread them out over the day so he doesn't run out by lunch time! I created this system as much for myself as I did for the boys. This holds me accountable as well. I'm certainly guilty of feeding Caleb's Netflix addiction. These tickets will help me keep track of their couch potato time and I can always reward them with an extra "Tech Ticket" for good behavior....or for when I just need 30 minutes of peace! :)

Chore Clipboard

Okay so we haven't actually implemented this new chore system but I wanted to share it anyway. I mentioned in my previous "behavior modification system" post (i.e. mommy is losing her mind from repeating herself a bazillion times a day), I am desperate to put systems in place that keep me from repeating myself over and over and over again. My ultimate goal is to have so many systems in place that I never have to talk again. Just kidding...sorta. With the success (after some tweaking) of our "Yay!" and "Oy!" sticks, I decided to create a new system to tackle chores, or a lack-thereof. I'm not sure the boys even know the word "chores" because they have never been asked to do any. And I mean never. There are several reasons for this but basically the biggest reason I don't ask them to contribute around the house is because I can do it faster...and better. I realize this is not a good reason and I'm not doing them (or myself) any favors by allowing them to avoid chores. So, starting this summer the boys will have a few chores.

I spent some time looking at different chore charts, I didn't see any one system that I loved but I did find ideas here and there that I liked so I combined a couple of different ideas and created my own system.

Side note: Do you ever feel like you spend more time "researching" ideas on Pinterest than you do actually making those ideas a reality?

 Introducing: Magnetic Chore Clipboards!

 Here's what I did.

I bought 1 inch round labels, used the template to print out a few chores.

I bought these 1 1/2 inch wood circles. I liked these because they were nice and thick so they seemed pretty sturdy. I spray painted them silver just to give them a bit of color and I just happen to have spray paint handy (when you make cardboard creations for Halloween you tend to have quite a few cans of spray paint sitting around). After the paint dried I stuck my chore labels on and did a light coat of modge podge (Mod Podge?, Modge Pod?, whatever it's called I love it) over the top to make sure the labels stay put. Finally I hot glued a magnet to the back of each circle.

Next I made my clipboards. I bought a few small clipboards, about $1.33 a piece. I spray painted them black (this step isn't necessary but like I mentioned before, I have quite a few cans of spray paint so I figure why not use them). I wanted the clipboards to be magnetic but I wasn't sure how to make that happen. I thought about buying magnetic paint but it cost like $20 and I wasn't entirely convinced it would work. So, I went to the local home improvement store and bought these:

I have no idea what these are but I got them in the building supply section and they only cost .60 cents a piece.

I cut them down the middle so I had flat metal plates to add to my painted clipboards.

I glued the metal plates down.

Basketball for Caleb and Race Car for Benjamin.

I also glued magnets to the back of each clipboard so I can stick them to the fridge. 

This is how I envision the system working: I will place a few chores on their boards each day. As they complete each chore they move that chore circle to the "DONE!" clipboard. They must do everything on their clipboard.

 Simple enough, right?

I figure this will play out one of two ways. One, the boys will be completely resistant to the idea of contributing and it will prove to be an uphill battle (that I will win) to get this system rolling. Or Two, the boys will be so enticed by my beautiful, creative, magnetic clipboards that they will jump at the opportunity to tackle their chores so they can move the circle to the "Done!" clipboard. 

I'll keep you posted :)

Oh, and I have a few more things up my sleeve that I will share soon. I've been a busy girl with all these ideas. I think it has something to with my decision to homeschool. For some reason, that decision has led to other decisions. I'm telling you, this momma has been a busy bee.