GOIN' CAMPING!!!

School is almost out and Memorial Day weekend is quickly approaching! As I awoke yesterday morning 20 minutes earlier than my alarm was set to go off, to the wailing sounds of Kiss on my husbands bedside radio (why does his alarm only seem to wake ME up?!), I found myself thinking that this weekend would be the perfect one for our first family camping trip of the season. Which of course led me to immediately begin composing my mental to-do list! Generally, it is me that gets the wonderful task of packing and shopping and food prep. Somehow Ken manages to find other things that keep him from helping me with these tasks, but I guess it's for the best. Knowing us, packing together would just create chaos! So I thought it would be great to blog about the family fun to be had camping and how to ensure there are no tears (from kids or moms!) on your wilderness getaway! First of all- understand that camping to me does involve a tent (no cabins here!) but I draw the line at toilet paper in the woods! There must be bathrooms! Maybe I could handle it if it were just myself, but with an 8, 4, and 2 year old, bathrooms are a must. To save space on my homepage, I'll continue this as a "page". Just check out the right hand column of my homepage and click on the "Family Camping!" for more on making your weekend camping trip a blast, even for mom!

Rainy Day Fun!

Rainy Days are scary for me. I'm not gonna lie! With three boys and nannying after school for 3 more, being stuck indoors is NO FUN! But as it is with everything in life, one must learn to adapt to even the most severe of conditions! That is always my challenge. Yes, I could take the easy way out and head on up to the Monkey Joe's or to the mall, but I like to reserve those occassions for emergencies! lol! I've come to realize that by getting my boys involved and creatively planning, we can still get some things accomplished, have a little fun, and hold on to our sanity! Check it out- Yesterday, in my attempt to actually fold the overflowing pile of laundry that has been growing in my bedroom, I put my children to work. I gave each child their own colored dry erase marker (I stress, DRY ERASE!) and let them feel like they were "breakin a rule or two" by decorating mommy's bedroom window! It needed to be cleaned anyway, the boys had a blast coloring and wiping and Logan even practiced learning to sound out a few new letters in his attempt to be ready for kindergarten in the fall. When my laundry was completed, the boys were able to each get some windex on a towel and erase their creations, cleaning my window in the process! This was such a hit, that we actually moved the activity downstairs to the large sliding glass door in the living room while I mopped the floors! Granted, this is not going to be an every day activity, as then it will lose it's luster very quickly, but I learned that having a few "emergency activities" to pull from when I REALLY need them will help shed a bit of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy day! Happy Drawing!