6 steps to really enjoy summer!

Today I'm sharing my plan,
in 6 steps
 to get the most
enjoyment out of Summer!





I love Summer!
It can be SO much fun!

But, it's also A LOT of work.
With my kids out of school,
they want to eat 3 times a day (I know right?)
 plus they want to snack ALL DAY LONG!

They are home all day to make messes.
And they want to be entertained.
It can easily get very overwhelming.


Now that we are about 2 weeks into summer,
we've done lots of sleeping in.
We've relaxed our schedules and routines a bit,
and we've had the opportunity to make some
wonderful summer memories.


So normally about this time everyone starts getting bored and
I start the back to school countdown.
Hey- no judging,
full time mommying is very hard!


After my epiphany last year about how little time
I have left with my kids,
it changed the way I viewed summer last year and
made me want to improve even more this year.

As always, the best way for me to feel on top
of everything and not behind, is to have a plan.

So here is my SUMMER 2017 plan
in 6 easy steps!!  


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Get help!
____________


I hired an assistant.
She's the cutest assistant around-
my daughter.
I have her help me with household chores,
watching her younger brother,
and even some simple blog tasks.

She loves having something to do.
I love having the help.
Plus, it's getting her a little bit of extra cash for
all of her summer adventures.



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Chores!
____________

I simplified my chores
by using my cleaning schedule!!
I'm telling you, that's a life saver.
I could sweep my floors 10 times a day,
and still need to do it an eleventh!

Because of my cleaning schedule,
 I am trying to only concentrate on the area of the
day and leave the rest for the next day!



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Have a Plan for fun!
____________


We have many activities planned,
like these Summer bucket list ideas.
About every other day we try to do
something on our list.

Check out more summer activities and calendar




Once a week we do a big activity,
like going to an arcade.
We also fit in a few
inexpensive/free outings a week, like the library.

Getting out of the house makes such a difference.
We all get grumpy if we've been staring at the
same 4 walls too long,
including me!



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Exercise
____________


We try to do something daily to get exercise.
If we don't go swimming or to the park,
we crank up the music and do a little routine of sit ups, push ups and
running up and down the stairs of our home.

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Read
____________



We have an awesome library in our town,
that we try to visit weekly.
They get all of the latest books!
We can reserve them online and then
pick them up when they're in.

Our library does a summer reading program.
If my kids read for 20 minutes a day,
they get a prize at the end of the summer.

We can also check out kindle books online through
the READS program.


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Meals
____________



My top 2 tips for summer meals are
1.  keep things simple
2.  make a meal plan

I cannot stress that enough.
Not that I'm perfect at it, because I'm not.
But seriously, just writing down meal ideas,
shopping for the ingredients
and having it all ready to go
each day really helps with the stress of meal times.

I also have my kids help make their own lunches
with this summer meal ideas list.




What are some things you do to make
your summer more enjoyable?


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