Saturday, June 1, 2013

Summer Fun Starts Today!

Cool Summer Days Calendar

What is Cool Summer Days?

Pre-Pinterest days I stumbled upon this adorable idea on a blog. I hosted a little craft party and a few girlfriends and myself made them…no sewing people! Iron on is your friend.

The idea is during the summer months you tuck a paper into each cone with something fun to do that day. I’ve done it for two summers and overall, it has been a wonderful experience! Our excitement for it comes and goes throughout the summer, but overall, it has been a tremendous help! Read on to find out why…

5 reasons why I bother

#1. It helps cut down on TV time, because something else has already been planned.

#2. It gives the kiddos something to look forward to! Check out Cooper this year, he woke up like it was Christmas morning!

Cooper Cool Summer Days Calendar

#3. Cuts down on how often the orange rhino rears it’s ugly head. It’s true! When I have something planned, we’re ALL more distracted and excited. BUT…you have to plan ahead for failure, bad attitudes, or change of plans. Just keep plugging along.

If you’ve never heard of the “orange rhino”, check out the following two blog entries:

Hands Free Mama – The Important Thing About Yelling

The Orange Rhino Challenge

#4. It provides motivation.

The fact of the matter is…my son likes to dawdle.

It drives me bonkers. So…we are FINALLY starting a morning routine that he won’t gripe about. Why won’t he gripe you ask? Because until his morning routine has been accomplished, he doesn’t get to see what today’s cool summer days calendar has in store for him. Here’s what I designed to hang in his room as a reminder:

Cooper's Morning Routine

So the rule is…no TV or calendar fun until this is done.

Check out his bed from this morning, so precious!

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AND finally….reason #5…

#5. It creates lifelong memories! When I first started this, I had no idea what would become of it. But now that we’ve done it for about 2 1/2 summers, many of the silly “holidays” we’ve celebrated are becoming family favorites. Donut Day will always be one we will celebrate, calendar or not.

What should I do?

I will do my darndest to post what we do each day this summer to provide you with some ideas. Feel free to check out my labels on the sidebar of my blog – Cool Summer Days June, July and August, they’ll provide some ideas to start with.

So…day #1 for 2013…

MAKE YOUR OWN FLUBBER!

flubber recipe with borax and glue

Click the picture for the link and instructions on how to. Quite easy! Here are some pictures of my kids after we made our own. **Note: Right after we drained the water, it did NOT appear to be “flubber” and I nearly dubbed it a fail. But, after the mixture sat in the bowl for about an hour, it was ready to be played with! For the next hour! Yay!

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The near fail…but then…success!

Flubber Cooper and Allie

And then, in Allie’s sweet little investigation of this new found Flubber…

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She looks up…

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to find daddy getting in on the Flubber fun! In the way that only a dad can. Faking it as snot! =)

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Have fun making your own Flubber!

Next time I think we’ll make it blue so it looks like BOB from Monsters vs. Aliens.

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