Summer Activities

  • Happy July 4th!

    Fireworks display taken from our family trip to Disney!

    Wishing you a very Happy July 4th!

    Hope your day is full of fun with family and friends!

    In celebration of Independence Day the girls drew a United States Flag on the sidewalk!

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    Last week was busy with Vacation Bible School for the girls, work, looking for a new vehicle and a bunch of fun summer activities.  The girls have been doing a great job reading everyday and completed a chunk of their goal.  It has been fun being able to enjoy some extra time with them and participate it the fun summer activities.  I was able to tackle quite a bit of my list for last week!

    Last week’s goals:

    Family Goals

    1. Read at least one book or a chapter in a book to the girls every day – I read over 20 library books, a chapter book, and about 20 books from our bookshelves to the girls this past week, they soaking in our reading time together.  
    2. Listen to the girls read at least one book to me or Jake every day
    3. Participate in at least 2 fun Summer Activities with the Kids
    4. Take the girls to Vacation Bible School – VBS – they had a blast!
    5. Get to the 1/4 Goal Mark (500 minutes) on the Girls “Swim Into Reading” Summer Reading Goal (total 2,000 Reading minutes) – they blew past 500 hours and getting close to our 1/2 mark
    6. Go to the library with the kids
    7. Go on a Date Night with Jake

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – at least 5 days this week
    2. Finish reading More Than Enough by Dave Ramsey

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu & Schedule planned out for the week
    3. Start My Summer Organizational Schedule
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    3. 1o minutes a day Cleaning / Organizing my desk

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Email the updated schedule to our Community Group – been a little more relaxed with this since we haven’t been meeting regularly throughout the summer months

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4 – went over on this one
    2. Emergency Fund – save 6 months worth of living expenses – on hold until we get the money set aside for the vehicle
    3. Save money for another vehicle to replace the one that was totaled – moving forward with it
    4. Put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes – on hold until we get the new vehicle

    My goals for the upcoming week:

    Family Goals

    1. Read at least one book or a chapter in a book to the girls every day
    2. Listen to the girls read at least one book to me or Jake every day
    3. Participate in at least 2 fun Summer Activities with the Kids
    4. Get to the 1/2 Goal Mark (1000 minutes) on the Girls “Swim Into Reading” Summer Reading Goal (total 2,000 Reading minutes)
    5. Go to the library with the kids
    6. Celebrate July 4th with the Family
    7. Narrow down what type of vehicle we want to get

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – at least 5 days this week

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu & Schedule planned out for the week
    3. Work on My Summer Organizational Schedule
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    3. 1o minutes a day Cleaning / Organizing my desk

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Email the updated schedule to our Community Group

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Emergency Fund – save 6 months worth of living expenses
    3. Car Fund – save money for another vehicle to replace the one that was totaled
    4. College Fund – put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results

  • Family Outings: Ice Skating

    Karlie and Brina ice skating for the first time with Daddy!

    There is a local ice skating rink in our town that is open all year.  The first time the girls went ice skating was for a friends birthday party and they had a blast!  Even though ice skating traditionally is a “winter” sport it is a wonderful way to spend a couple hours cooling off during the heat of the summer too! If you look around you can often find tickets to your local ice skating rink as well. Who knows you may even run into a friend or two (we have) which makes it even more fun!

    Here are some pictures from another fun ice skating adventure!

    Brina skating backwards?!  No just turning around to look at Mommy

    Karlie getting around on her own….with a little help from the wall!

    Daddy pushing his girls around the ice skating rink

    Daddy and Brina skating

    Mommy pushing Karlie around the ice rink!

  • Family Activities: Roller Blade Fun in the Basement

    Karlie roller blading downstairs….I wonder if she’ll do the splits!

    It was hilarious watching as the girls started to learn how to roller blade.  Roller blading is a fun indoor activity both on the cold winter or hot summer days!   The first few times we had them try out the roller blades on the carpet to make sure they could at least keep themselves upright.  It was a little easier to move on the tile but also much easier to fall down too.  They had plenty of falls, splits, and crashes that first time but eventually started figuring out how to move so they could stay upright.

    Brina working on her roller blading, much more serious and focused on keeping her roller blades together.

    As with any new skill your learning you may “crash”!  Karlie giggling about her fall.

    Brina getting back up after one of her crashes!

    Someone’s having too much fun…..Karlie trying to scare me as she coasts across the room on her roller blades

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    Jake had to travel last week for work so we tagged along with him since the girls were out of school.  We spent a fun week in Charleston swimming, playing, exploring, reading, and enjoying some extra time together.  We even made it to the beach which was a special treat!  Hopefully this week I will have a chance to get back up to speed with my goals and household obligations.  The pets were happy to see us come home too.  You will notice that some of my goals have shifted to reflect my priorities over the summer, it is more important to me to spend time with my family while the girls are on summer break then to ignore them so I can meet all my other goals.  Yes, I will continue moving forward with those goals as well but my highest priority the next couple months will be family since we have more time together.

    Last week’s goals:

    Family Goals

    1. Connect with each family member at least once a day
    2. Enjoy time doing one fun activity with the girls every day – spent a lot of time at parks, swimming, and spending time together in Charleston
    3. Read at least one book to the girls every day
    4. Listen to the girls read at least one book to me or Jake every day – the girls read through a whole bunch of books at parks, in the hotel and in the car, thrilled to see them get even more excited about reading
    5. Spend some extra time catching up with family and friends
    6. Finish 1/3 of the Summer Reading Program
    7. Spend time at the pool playing with the kids

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week – walked with the girls in the parks and went swimming everyday
    2. Spend quality time with my kids & Jake – spent time together in Charleston
    3. Finish reading  Am I Messing Up My Kids by Lysa TerKeurst
    4. Finish reading More Than Enough by Dave Ramsey – started it

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu & Schedule planned out for the week – the dinner menu was based off of Jake’s schedule and whatever coupons we could find for the Charleston area so not every dinner was planned with us being out of town (but every lunch was planned)
    3. Plan Summer Organizational Schedule
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention – did as much as I could remotely
    3. 1o minutes a day Cleaning / Organizing my desk – wasn’t able to do this since I was in Charleston

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Email the updated schedule to our Community Group – didn’t get the email out but prayed for and tried to connect with each girl in our group

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4 – actually stayed under with us being out of town, just brought items from home for some of our lunches, dinner, and snacks (breakfast was included with the hotel)
    2. Emergency Fund – save 6 months worth of living expenses – temporarily on hold as we save for another family car
    3. Save money for another vehicle to replace the one that was totaled – working on it
    4. Put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes – on hold while until we get another car

    My goals for the upcoming week:

    Family Goals

    1. Read at least one book or a chapter in a book to the girls every day
    2. Listen to the girls read at least one book to me or Jake every day
    3. Participate in at least 2 fun Summer Activities with the Kids
    4. Take the girls to Vacation Bible School – VBS
    5. Get to the 1/4 Goal Mark (500 Hours) on the Girls “Swim Into Reading” Summer Reading Goal (total 2,000 Reading Hours)
    6. Go to the library with the kids
    7. Go on a Date Night with Jake

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – at least 5 days this week
    2. Finish reading More Than Enough by Dave Ramsey

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu & Schedule planned out for the week
    3. Start My Summer Organizational Schedule
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    3. 1o minutes a day Cleaning / Organizing my desk

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Email the updated schedule to our Community Group

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Emergency Fund – save 6 months worth of living expenses
    3. Save money for another vehicle to replace the one that was totaled
    4. Put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    The girls are officially out of school and on summer break now we have two 2nd graders in our household!  I am super excited to spend some extra time with the kiddos and have a lot of fun activities planned.  This week didn’t go quite as planned….Jake got in an accident so I am a little behind on some of the goals and had to rearrange other ones but thankfully he is okay and healing well.

    Last week’s goals:

    Family Goals

    1. Connect with each family member at least once a day
    2. Final Prep for Summer Break
    3. Read at least one book to the girls every day
    4. Listen to the girls read at least one book to me or Jake every day
    5. Spend some extra time catching up with family and friends
    6. Confirm the Schedule / Flights for upcoming Family Reunion

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week – didn’t get this one done
    2. Update my goals
    3. Finish reading  Am I Messing Up My Kids by Lysa TerKeurst – time was spent in other areas this past week

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu & Schedule planned out for the week
    3. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up & cleaning the house

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    3. 1o minutes a day Cleaning / Organizing my desk

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Email the updated schedule to our Community Group – didn’t get the email out this week

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4 – went over budget again
    2. Emergency Fund – save 6 months worth of living expenses – still saving up
    3. Save money for upcoming trips – put on hold with the accident this past week
    4. Put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes – temporarily put on hold with the accident

    My goals for the upcoming week:

    Family Goals

    1. Connect with each family member at least once a day
    2. Enjoy time doing one fun activity with the girls every day
    3. Read at least one book to the girls every day
    4. Listen to the girls read at least one book to me or Jake every day
    5. Spend some extra time catching up with family and friends
    6. Finish 1/3 of the Summer Reading Program
    7. Spend time at the pool playing with the kids

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week
    2. Spend quality time with my kids & Jake
    3. Finish reading  Am I Messing Up My Kids by Lysa TerKeurst
    4. Finish reading More Than Enough by Dave Ramsey

    Home Management Goals

    1. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    2. Weekly Dinner Menu & Schedule planned out for the week
    3. Plan Summer Organizational Schedule
    4. Pay all upcoming bills

    Business Goals

    1. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    2. Keep up with the day to day items that need my attention
    3. 1o minutes a day Cleaning / Organizing my desk

    Ministry Goals

    1. Meet a friend or family member for Breakfast or Lunch
    2. Email the updated schedule to our Community Group

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Emergency Fund – save 6 months worth of living expenses
    3. Save money for another vehicle to replace the one that was totaled
    4. Put cash aside for 1 year of Jake’s College Classes

    I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    How did you do this week on your goals?  Feel free to share or link to your list of weekly goals.

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results

  • Teaching Our Children: Spring Into Reading

    Our filled reading tree

    Last year I started a reading tree for the girls in the Spring and we continued to fill it with leaves through the Summer.  I wanted to find a way to encourage the girls to read.  They had blast adding  leaves to the reading tree.  It was a great visual way for them to see how much they were reading.  Each member of the family had a different color leaf to hang up when a book was read.  The girls also did a summer reading program through our local library and one online as well.

    Spring into reading tree full of leaves!

    As the school year ends in a  few weeks and as summer vacation is getting closer it is now time for me to come up with another fun reading activity for the kids.  I have a couple ideas for this summers reading adventure and will be sharing it with you soon.  What ways do you encourage your children to read throughout the summer vacation?

  • Recipe: Beach Bucket Cake

    Beach Bucket Cake (with cake crumbs for the “sand”)

    I made this recipe a few months ago for my Community Group and it was a big hit.  As we get closer to the Spring / Summer season I wanted to share this one with you.  It was easy to put together and has a fun presentation for get togethers with family and friends.

    Beach Pail Cake:

    • 1 Yellow Cake Mix
    • 1 (8 oz) Cool Whip
    • 1 (3 oz) Instant White Chocolate Pudding
    • 1 cup Milk
    • 2 cups Strawberries
    • 2 cups Blueberries
    • Clean beach pail, shovel and shells

    Made the yellow cake mix according to directions.  Cool and cut up into cubes (see picture below) and set aside.  Mix together the instant White Chocolate Pudding and one cup of milk.  Add the container of Cool Whip to the pudding and mix well.

    Put 1/3 of the cubed yellow cake in the bottom of your clean beach pail.  Next put half of the pudding and cool whip mixture over the cake layer.  Add half of the strawberries and blueberries for the next layer.  Then repeat saving 1/3 of the cake but using the remaining cool whip and fruit mixtures.  Crumble the remaining cake cubes and sprinkle over the top.  Add your shovel to serve the desert and favorite seashells for decorations.

    1. Yellow cake cubed and put in the bottom of the beach pail

    2.  Layer cool whip and pudding mixture over cake layer

    3.  A layer of strawberries and blueberries comes next

    4.  Second layer cubed yellow cake

    5.  Second layer cool whip mixture

    6.  Second layer of strawberries and blueberries

    7.  Cake crumbs on top to make it look like “sand”

    8.  Decorate the top with seashells or beach items. Add the beach shovel and enjoy!

    There are a lot of great variations to this cake.  I used what I had on hand in our pantry but you could do it with a pound cake instead of a yellow cake or substitute vanilla pudding instead of White Chocolate or add in different seasonal fruits!

  • Game: Wits & Wagers by North Star Games

    In an earlier post I mentioned the Wits and Wagers by North Star Games that we received as a gift.   On the box it says “The Most Award Winning Party Game in History.”   This game quickly became a family favorite.  We have played this game many times since receiving it and have shared it with several other family and friends as well.  The game is based on facts, however, you don’t need to know all the answers in order to enjoy, participate, or even win the game.

    Our family enjoys having games nights and are excited about finding great games we can play together.  If you are looking for a fun family game you should check this one out or better yet come on over and play a round with us.  The rounds go pretty quickly and you will be surprised at how much you’ll learn.  You may just have a little fun along the way! 🙂

  • Family Outings: A Walk in the Park

    Brina and Karlie pausing “briefly” on our walk so I can snap a picture!

    Every once in awhile when the girls are off school and it is a beautiful day we get to meet Daddy for a quick picnic and walk in the park.  Legacy Park is pretty close to Jake’s work so he can pop over and meet us over his lunch hour.  I think the girls get more excited about going for a walk around the park then eating, ha!

    Legacy Park has paved paths for walking, biking or jogging plus a playground for the kids, beach volleyball, and a big open field perfect for flying kites or playing soccer.  On those hot days they have plenty of shade and restrooms (which are very nice for little kids).  I treasure these moments when we get get together over the lunch hour to grab a bite to eat, walk, talk, and play together as a family.  I think it is important to have some relaxing times built into our schedules.  Not only do we get a few extra minutes together as a family we get fresh air and some exercise which is beneficial for all of us!

    Do you have a park you enjoy going to for a picnic or to play?