Have a GRAND Summer! May 29, 2009

They are both clearly etched in my mind as if I was still a little girl.  Nannie and Granny were two of my favorite people.  I loved the way they looked, smelled, cooked, laughed and made me feel so loved.  I remember running my fingers over their wrinkles and asking Granny where “they” came from.  (I certainly know now!!)  I didn’t know my grandfathers, but my grandmothers were precious to me.  They still are even though they’ve been gone for decades.

Grandparent-grandchild relationships are truly special.  Perhaps you’re a grandmother who visits our little blog.  Or a mom whose children have one or more grandparents who provide the roots of your family tree.  Whether “grands” live nearby or across the country — Christians who share our values or unbelievers — keeping that tie is usually very important!  Here are some ideas for grandmothers and mothers to keep “grands” in touch over the summer.

Grandmothers:

• Offer to babysit so Mommy and Daddy can have a night out; and bring their favorite treats or maybe rent a movie (check with their parents first on this one…smile).
• Build a “fort” under the dining room table with pillows for “sleeping”, snacks and a book to read.
• Play dogs and use raisins or fish crackers and apple juice in bowls on the floor as the doggies food and water.  (Yes, get on all 4′s and lap it up with them!)
• Bake cookies together and enjoy warm ones with a glass of cold milk while others are baking.
• Call them just to ask how their day is going — whether near or far, grandkids love to get phone calls!
• Email them an ecard: there are lots of fun interactive ones at places like www.hallmark.com or www.happydaycards.com.
• Kids love getting mail!  Send them a card, note, McDonald’s gift card, simple gift….the sky is the limit!  (Again, even if you live closeby this can still be fun.)

Moms, help your kids to:

• Make pictures and send them in the mail.  Most grandparents LOVE refrigerator pics.
• Take some “grand” pictures with the kids doing different activities and with varying expressions (including goofy ones) to mail or email.
• Make a video of the kids telling stories, talking about their trip to the zoo or just greeting the grandparents.  You can even post this on utube if your parents use computers.
• Call and let Grandma and Grandpa hear their little voices.  I know how much this means to grandparents who live out of town — I’ve heard they LIVE for those moments!
• Train your children to warmly and affectionately greet their grandparents.  (Whether in person or just over the phone.)  Some children do this naturally while others need training.  Whether they see their grandparents regularly, occasionally or rarely, this is a simple way to honor their role in your children’s lives.
• Include grandparents in special events with a call or email:  getting or losing a tooth; riding a two-wheeler for the first time; sounding out the first word they read all by their self; crawling or walking; etc.

Perhaps you don’t have a close relationship with your or your kids “grands.”  If not, I’m thinking this must be challenging for you.  These kinds of little things can actually help to build a better relationship one little step at a time.

Whether you are close (relationally or geographically) or not, make this summer GRAND for your family!

Posted by Kayla, Wyatt, Annie, Danae, JJ, Elsie, Sam, Issac and “coming soon’s” Granma

Single Ladies Needed: Adopt-a-Family May 28, 2009

Ok, ladies. For those of you who don’t have children (yet)…like me (yet)…you may be tempted to just skim the preceding posts about summer schedules for kids and miss the ways they can apply to, motivate and challenge our own hearts and lives. We may not have 2-year-olds that need to be taught a word other than “no,” 4-year-olds that need to spend the summer learning to share or 7-year-olds that need chore-training. We can, however, help the moms who DO!

If each single woman in our church (technically if you’re not married, girls, this applies to you! were to “adopt” a family in the church for the summer, I think every family at Metro Life Church would benefit! Adopting a family could be as simple as babysitting on a consistent weekly basis, spending a Saturday morning a month with the kids or even taking a meal every so often to a family. Get the kids involved in serving with you and look for ways you can make it fun and meaningful:

_ Give Kids the World is an awesome venue for older kids

_ Wash the family car or plant some flowers in the back yard with younger kids

_ Find out what projects the mom has planned for the summer and see how you can help out

_ Take Jaime’s kids for the summer :)

The opportunities are really endless – the purpose is simply to cultivate relationships with the family and find ways to serve the momma.

Would you prayerfully consider whether God might have you focus on serving a specific family over the summer? This could be our very own “Do Hard Things” project and…who knows? It just might develop into a lifelong friendship with the entire family!!!

Posted by Jennifer

Three Summer Goals for Training My Children May 27, 2009

As I mentioned last week, maintaining a routine is very important in our family right now.  Having four children 7 and under, NOT staying focused on training, disciplining, and making sure I am busy at home can really end up messing my kids, my husband, and myself up.  This summer has given me a great opportunity to set some realistic goals in preparation for the school year.  The start of Kayla’s 3rd grade year is a great motivational tool for me to really buckle down and work on things I needed to work on anyway.

My first goal is to get my children to be more involved and independent about chores. Kayla (who is 7) has grown so much in that area.  Mostly due to her mommy having three babies in three years, she has been forced to really step it up in the area of serving in the home. It’s much easier to just look to her for help rather than train Wyatt (4) and Anniston (almost 3) to help as well.  I know that it’s important to start working with them.  The problem is that getting my two little crazies to help ends up making everything take longer, is sometimes messier, and often drives me crazy! Yet the the long term benefits of training my kids to be diligent and serve is worth it.  We will be using charts and rewards for the summer, and will hopefully get into a good pattern before the fall.

My second goal is to totally reorganize my dining room/school room and all supplies.  The kids love helping me organize. They love putting things in the correct boxes (although they don’t seem to “like” keeping it that way) and we all grow in excitement about all the fun things planned for the fall.  Again, it is going to take much longer to do it while involving them, but any time I have the opportunity to teach them something, I really do try and take it.  On the other hand, if there is anyone that would like to take them for the summer so I can do it alone……  :-)

My final and most important goal is to implement a consistent family and personal devotional time.  I especially want to make sure my 7-year-old daugther is getting up and spending time in God’s word and beginning what I hope will be a lifetime habit of journaling.  I know this has to start with mommy being a good example!

PJ and I realize we need to model a commitment to consistent devotions for our children.  We want our children to not only be in the Word, but to see us in God’s word.  It amazes me what children pick up on.  When they see their parents desperate for God it makes them want to be as well.  We want our kids need to see and hear us excited about and needy for God.

I’ve heard my dad say for years that “more is caught than taught.”  Lord, please help my children to catch passion for You and Your word from Daddy and Mommy!

Posted by Jaime

Summer Plans May 26, 2009

We are only about two weeks into summer vacation and I am already thinking about how nice it will be when we start school again so we will have a consistent routine.  I haven’t gotten my summer schedule together yet and my children don’t seem to know what to do.  Don’t get me wrong…..I love summer vacation and the opportunity to do some fun things which we don’t have time for during the school year, but I know from past experience that if we don’t have a plan and get too far off our routine, it isn’t going to be as much fun for anyone. 

Part of my plan is to keep a lot of things the same as during the school year.   Devotional times, chores and character issues aren’t just for the school year.  In fact, summer gives us extra time to practice some of these things without the necessary distraction of school.  One of the things I like to work on during the summer is my children’s relationship with each other.    If you are like me, the task of training your children not to provoke each other and how to respond when they are provoked can seem never ending.  When you try and fit this into a school day it can seem daunting.  Summer is a time when I can be very specific in training them.  One little thing I like to do is what I call “together time.”  Each day, my two oldest have to play a game or do something together for a specific period of time without arguing with each other.  This time gives them a great opportunity to grow in their relationship together. 

With just a little thought and planning, we all can think of ways to make this summer more purposeful and fun for everyone.  It is so easy to look at summer as a much needed break from everything and desire to put “normal” things aside.  But I know for me, too much of that without any routine, makes summer and the ensuing school year ahead a lot less fun for all.   So, take a little time to plan and ask the Lord what He would have you do this summer.

Posted by Elyse

Focused on Summer May 25, 2009

I have written before about how my husband usually has a word or a phrase for the year.  Last year our phrase was, “Simplify & Strategize.”  This year, our word is “focus.”  One of the definitions of “focus” is: “to concentrate attention or effort.”  So in keeping with that thought, I have been thinking & praying about what we should focus on this summer.  We have actually completed our school year, so summer is here for us.

I really sensed that this summer we are to focus on the boys’ responsibilities (i.e. chores, etc.)  This has been a challenge during this past school year – messy rooms, not being diligent to complete tasks, etc.  So, summer seems to be a great time to FOCUS on that, since we have extra time in our days.

My goal is to train, or re-train where necessary, the boys in how to complete their tasks.  My hope is that by taking the time right now to do this, we will reap the fruit next school year (at least some fruit, please Lord?!)   I want to be faithful to train my children and to use my time with them wisely.  If I don’t have a plan, the summer will be gone before I know it.

Do you have a plan for this summer?  What would the Lord have you focus on with your children – with yourself?

Lord, I just ask that You will help me as I endavor to train my children in very specific ways this summer.  Please give me the grace and wisdom to teach them in a way that will glorify You.  Please help us to be intentional this summer, even while we are having fun!  In Your Name…Amen.

Posted by Stephanie.

Friday Fun May 22, 2009

I was one of “those” children who would have much preferred to continue with school during the summer. Yes. Weird, I know. I loved the routine and structure of having things to do (more on routines during the summer next week). So for me, a perfect summer afternoon meant being curled up on my bed with a good book.

If your children aren’t as odd as I was and really enjoy “going and doing,” here are some fun things you can do with them around the house and Orlando (for our readers who are not in the area – this means you get to come for a visit to try all these places out!). They are all either free or the cost includes benefit: count it as a school day! ::smile:: None of them are earth-shattering…few even take much planning but almost all of them have extremely fond memories for me growing up. And for all my single sistas out there: consider planning a Saturday or Sunday afternoon outing with some of your friends’ kiddos…just don’t forget that diaper bag!  

_ Orlando Science Center (the kids place has great memories – we played for hours and hours…makes me wanna go back for a visit!)

_ Story time at your local library

_ Story time at Leu Gardens

_ Downtown Library and a picnic at Lake Eola afterwards

_ Pet store visit (just be prepared for saying “no” to the requests for a new pet.:)

_ GatorLand and then a visit to Ft. Christmas

_ Picnic at Crane’s Roost or some other local park (it’s amazing how much fun kids have doing this!)

_ IKEA (ok, so I didn’t do this one as a child because the store only opened a year or so ago. But I thoroughly enjoy it as an adult – and they even have a fun kids place for when you need to continue your shopping…in quiet.)

_ Downtown Disney Marketplace (ohhhhh, so fun – legos, princesses, and gi-normous water fountains to run through!)

_ Pottery painting (Painted by Hue has pretty good prices – and the projects the kids do can easily double as a Father’s Day gift, a “thank you” to a sitter or a birthday present for Grandma)

If you have other ideas, please share them with us!!! Just comment on this post…and have fun with your kiddos this summer!!!

Posted by Jennifer

Having Fun While Maintaining Our Routine May 21, 2009

I have four children (you see 4-year- old Wyatt doing his typical harassing of his younger sister Annie here).  Three of them are not yet school age so summer can sometimes feel like every other time of the year for me.  My small kids don’t see anything different about this time of year — except that it’s hotter outside.  Not much changes from our “normal” lives whether it is January or June.

My almost 8 year-old, Kayla, realizes now that summer means family vacation (with Papa, Granma and all the aunts, uncles and cousins!) and no school.  Yet I want to find the balance of doing fun things with the kids while not drastically changing the routine of the little ones. Here are some things I plan on doing this summer:

1.  Going to Granma’s (a lot) to swim.  Mom has convinced me that this is actually  “educational” because I teach the little ones pool safety (like not to jump on your brother’s head when he’s in the pool) and train them in self-control (like the importance of playing nicely while Mommy and Granma talk while sipping iced tea).  Smile.

2.  Downtown Sanford just built a new huge playground and splash park. It’s  beautiful and has a large picnic area as well.  Since it is five minutes from my house, this will be an easy way to get out and do something “special”.

3. I am going to do a summer reading program for the three oldest that I make up myself.  I have started making charts of books they are to read (or me read to them).  We’ll get them from the library, and after reading or being read to each week they will get a trip to a little ice cream shop down the street.

4. Spend lots of time in the sprinklers getting dirty and eating popcicles.

These are neither grand nor all that exciting ideas, but I want to start making sure I make the summer a fun time for my kids without losing the much-needed schedule and routine that my little ones need.  I’m sure that as they get older the summers might be a little more flexible and interesting, but for now making times at and near home is what we will be doing.

Posted by Jaime

Summer Fun Without the Fuss May 20, 2009

In thinking about fun summer activities…immediately my mind jumps to big things to do or places to go.  But I am learning from my kids that things don’t have to be big for them to be exciting!

Things like having a friend over, playing in the sprinkler or getting out the paint are “mundane” things, but during the school year may not always fit into the schedule.  During the summer, we have more time for some of these fun (and often messy) projects.   Let the kids create, imagine and we can even join them!

Another fun little thing we do around here is we have a snow-cone maker.  When I take the time to get it out for a special treat – my kids couldn’t be more excited!

So this summer, take the time to make the ordinary, extrordinary!

Posted by Stephanie

Summer Fun Ideas May 19, 2009

Summer is upon us again, hurrah!  It is wonderful to have days filled with fun and no school.  But I know that all too quickly the summer will be over and we will have missed some great opportunities if I don’t take time to plan.  As the summer approached I was looking at different classes and summer camps offered for children.  There were so many things which I thought would be great fun and even educational, but alas not enough time or money to do all that we would want to do.  Then, I had a great idea…….Most of the camps were very simple concepts.  I thought I could do some of them myself for little or no cost, on my schedule and with just my children’s friends.  

My first undertaking is a Stitch & Bake Class.  It is a class for my 7-year old daughter and a few of her friends.  We are going to get together at my home five or six times this summer and I am going to teach the girls needlepoint and cross-stitch.  They will also learn how to bake muffins, quick breads, biscuits and cookies.  We will then finish our time together by having tea together, listening to good music and eating what we have baked together.  We are all very excited about our times together.  I know that at the very least we will create some wonderful memories and hopefully we will all learn some things as well.

Posted by Elyse

Summer is Here… May 18, 2009

…Now what?!  This is the time that moms greatly anticipate and passionately loathe all at the same time.  Why?  Oftentimes it’s because there is no plan.  Thus the purpose for our new series titled Summer, Schedules and School – Oh My!

It is in the summer when we have a more relaxed schedule and time to do the things we normally don’t have the time to do.   Without a plan, however, these longings hang over our head like a puffy cloud – ever present but totally unrealistic.  With such high and lofty expectations we are setting ourselves and our children up for great disappointment fraught with  temptations to sin.

The remedy for this is to make plans now with your husband first, and children second.  Talk about what needs to be accomplished and the best way to see that it happens.  Talk about desires and expectations.  Determine how realistic your goals are, and if they are attainable, begin planning your master calendar.

Summer is a great time for fun activities which we’ll talk about in later posts, but it’s also a great opportunity to train your children to do tasks around the home with proficiency.  I discovered a great resource to help your children become more responsible with their chores.  It’s called Handipoints.com and it provides free chore charts that are customizable and printable.  There are rewards for completing tasks and each child is given an imaginary pet your child can name, earn clothes and toys for, and care for.

Don’t forget yourself!  What things have you been longing to accomplish, but never find the time?  Be sure to include these things on your master calendar.  It may be helpful to set aside one week to do this.  I remember one year I called this week my “Organize My Home” week.  I made plans for my children that would keep them busy, so I could stay focused on my goal.  It was only five days, and knowing I only had this short amount of time made me work hard and fast.  It may work for you to switch weeks with a friend so you both have a week to finish those much needed jobs.

At any rate, summer is a great reprieve from the normal routine, but a plan is essential in order to make the most of this “free” time.  Plan now and you’ll be able to rejoice later!

Posted by Debi