Chocolate Fever!!!

I decided that I want to take the time each Summer to read one of the chapter books that I remember from my childhood! And, this Summer, after giving Q a few options, he quickly chose Chocolate Fever! I knew that after we finished it, we would have to have a “Chocolate Day” and today was that day!!!

We started with a trip to get donuts and chocolate milk in our jammies…  


Then came home to watch the classic Storybreak version of the book. The boys LOVED it…even though the YouTube version is a little sketchy. And, I loved how Quinn was quick to pick out the differences from the movie and the book…

To watch it, click here: Part 1 and Part 2

Then, it was time for my favorite part of the day…reenacting Henry Green and Dr. Fargo! I got my chocolate scented marker and drew spots on their arms. Then, they took turns playing doctor and diagnosing the problem. It didn’t take long to figure out that they needed “Vanilla Pills” (white chocolate chips) to make it ALL better. Nash, especially, took it so seriously! So cute!


 



  

 
Later, I had Quinn think of what kind of fever HE would probably get. Then he had to come up with a prescription to cure it. I love his creative mind…

While Nash was napping, we made chocolate chip cookies, and, after dinner, we HAD to make a trip to Hey Sugar! The candy store owner in the book is named Sugar, so it was only fitting!

It was a fun day doing a little extra with my boys…they ate it up…LITERALLY! ;)
 

ThePoeFam's Summer Schedule 2013

It's Summertime! And, I must admit that, as excited as I was for it to begin, I knew I had to be strategic! My boys can be the BEST OF FRIENDS in one second...and NOT SO MUCH the best of friends in the next. So, I made us a schedule. I thought I'd share to hopefully give you some Summer Fun ideas. Obviously, some of these are my ideas and some came from great resources. But, ALL of them are sure to help make our Summer successful, non-stressful and FUN!

Here's our Schedule:
Mondays: Splash Park Tour & Review Sheet
Tuesdays: Summer Movie Club & Lunch Bunch
Wednesdays: Church Book Club & Public Library
Thursdays: CHILL at home & Super Servers/Summer Fun Checklist
Fridays: Daddy's Day Off!

It's nothing fancy, but it gives us something to do when we need it. Here are some details about each thing...
Mondays: Splash Park Tour:
I did some research (a.k.a. asked my Facebook Friends) and compiled a list of fun Splash Parks in the area. Some of them are fancy...some of them are not. Then, each Monday, we'll travel to that park with some of our favorite friends and play, play, play. That afternoon, Quinn will fill out a little sheet about the park. At the end of the Summer, he'll be able to rank the parks and choose his favorite/least favorite.

Tuesdays: Our local Harkins Theatre has an awesome Summer Movie Club deal for RIDICULOUSLY cheap. I know Cinemark does the same thing. So, when we're in town, we can see a previously released movie for 50 cents! Can't beat that!... Then, after that, we'll head to church to hang with Daddy and the youth group for Lunch Bunch!

Wednesdays: Our church is having a Summer Book Club. There are many options but I chose to participate in The Hiding Place. I can't wait to get started. Then, we're going to make that our day to visit our local library! Most libraries have SO many great things in the Summertime...so, check yours out!...Below you'll see my boys carrying their awesome new Library Bags from Stuck On You! They're precious and so proud to carry them to the library!

Thursdays: This is the day that we'll tackle some of the fun things on our Summer Fun List, play video games, watch shows, swim or stay in our jammies. It's also the day that we want to focus on doing our weekly Super Server task! (Super Servers is an awesome group that reminds us and our children to focus on others. For more info, here is the Facebook page!)

And, below are links to other items that we are using this Summer or supplies that I'm using for the ideas listed above.

*These Q&A journals are SO fun! It gives a prompt a day and a few lines to answer. Q is really enjoying this and I know it's something I'm going to look back on and smile! It's fun for me too!!!

Here's a peek at his from today...Talk about conviction. This was almost two years ago that he "accidentally stole a Jibbitz!" Bless his heart!

*These Read-Aloud Bible Story Books are AMAZING! The pictures are so bold and colorful and I love the way they retell some of our favorite Bible Stories. They were written in the 70's, but are timeless! We're going to be spending a lot of time reading and discussing these this Summer!

*Summer Bridge is a great workbook to avoid the "Summer Slide!"...

*I found this series and have gotten them for Q this Summer. It is about a group of Christian friends. Super cute and easy reads!...

*I decided I wanted to take some time in the Summers to read aloud some of my favorite childhood books. I know Q and Nash are going to eat these up...

*Here are the products I'm using for our Snowcone Reviews (I'll do a separate post on this SOON! You're going to love it!)...

*We just finished filling out his Kindergarten pages in this. It's a great and simple little keepsake!!!...

So, HAPPY {productive, fun and non-stressful} SUMMER TO YOU!!!

Alphabet Parking Lot

To spend some QT with my little love today, we headed outside with our bucket of Hot Wheels and some sidewalk chalk. I quickly made an “Alphabet Parking Lot” with a street running to it. Nash loved choosing a car, starting at the star and driving it all the way to the correct letter in the lot. He wanted to play again and again…and, when we were finished, he had successfully covered his entire body with sidewalk chalk. I love it when they’re learning and they don’t even know it! :)

 

Magic Colors!

On Monday, Nash and I decided to do a fun little {Pinterest-found} science experiment. We filled clear, plastic cups with water and food coloring. Nash LOVED watching squeezing in the drops of food coloring and watching the water turn to pretty colors. Then, we rolled paper towels and dipped one end in the colored water…and placed the dry end in the empty cup in the middle. We watched the water creep up the paper towel (and while Nash wasn’t looking, Mommy MIGHT have soaked the paper towel a little further) and drip into the middle cup. Magically, the water in the middle was a brand new color!

I was amazed at how much he loved this…and at how he could remember what new color the two primary colors made! It was another successful “fun time” with my second born!  
 



  
 

Goin’ on a Color Hunt…

Oh, sweet second born! It’s sad to think how few things like this I’ve done with you! Please promise me you’ll never look back at the blog and see all that I did with Quinn! ;) …

Anyway, today, I vowed to myself to do something fun with Nasher every Monday! Just one activity that we’d enjoy doing together! Nothing fancy…just fun and a little educational at the same time! So, today, we went on a “Color Hunt!” No frills but SUCH a blast! And, leave it to my B.O.Y. to find dog poop for brown and some sort of hair ball for grey! Blech! Regardless of the roses that he stopped to smell, I loved that we took time to enjoy God’s beautiful world today as we went on our ColorHunt!

And, coming home and downloading the pictures was just as much fun as the actual hunt. He loved looking at his findings over and over again!

{My hunting buddy and me in the reflection of a “black” car he found!}