Homemaking

Summer Planning Questions

May 17, 2013 By Kara Chupp

I have been wearing flip-flops all week.
And it’s 82 degrees outside as I write this, which is amazing for Oregon in early May.
But I’m getting excited about summer!

Usually around this time of year, my husband and I sit down, look at the calendar and do some Lord-willing-planning for the summer ahead of us.
Keeping in mind that…

“The point is fruitfulness,
not efficiency.

You should want to be fruitful
like a tree,
not efficient like a machine.” ~D. Wilson

And remembering that my favorite summer was probably–
The summer we didn’t do anything.

But just in case you’re a-bit-of-a-planner, like I am,
or even if you just want to be a bit more intentional about this next summer…
I wanted to share our summer planning questions with you.

And in the comments below, I’d love to hear some of your fun summer ideas!

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring… Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ~James 4:13-15

Summer Planning Questions to Consider:

What places would we like to visit locally this summer?

What specific educational goals do we have for each child?

What 3 books (or more) would I like to read this summer?

How am I going to spend time in God’s Word?

What am I hoping to study in the Bible?

Are there any friendships we’d especially like to invest in this summer?

What household tasks do I need to keep up on?

Are we planning to take any extended trips or vacations?

What reoccurring weekly activities would we like to include?

Are there any specific skills we’d like our children to learn over the summer?

How am I going to invest in my marriage this summer?

What are some easy (or new) meals that I’d like to make this summer?

What specific character traits or heart issues do we need to work on with our children or as a family?

Are there any specific skills I’d like to work on over the summer?

How can I make sure we have down time?

Are there any fun movies we’d like to watch together?

How/where will we celebrate any birthdays, holidays or special occasions?

What will hospitality look like for us this summer?

Is anyone coming to stay?

Who do we want to invite over?

Does my husband have anything that is important to him to include?

Do we have any house project goals?

What will our kiddos’ summer chores include (now that they’ll have a bit more free time)?

What are some “fill-in” activities that we’d like to do more often (Legos, reading, painting, nature walks)?

Are there any schedules I need to collect to keep with my summer calendars (libraries, farmer’s markets, community theaters)?

How are we going to serve in our community, church, and/or neighborhood?

Do we have any other goals for the summer that I haven’t included elsewhere?

We’re getting close to June !!!
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer…

And please share your summer plans or ideas below!

Love,

Kara @The Chuppies

6 Comments | Filed Under: Babies, Boys, Family Management, Following God, Fun For Kids, Girls, Home Organization, Homemaking, Homeschooling, Hospitality, Marriage/Relationships, Parenting, Teens, Toddlers, Uncategorized Tagged With: character training, children, Defying the Culture, God's Word, healthy meal planning, holidays, intentional, meal planning, motherhood, parenting, Summer

Are you a better summer mom?

May 16, 2013 By Nicole O'Dell

Are you a better mom in the winter or the spring? The fall or the summer? I feel like a better mom in the summer. Here’s why:

In the winter, I tend to hide out. I love the cold. I love the snow. But I find it excruciating to search for 47 gloves, socks, scarves, and hats to pile my littles outside when someone will invariably have to go to the bathroom almost immediately. It’s so much easier to stay in and put on a movie…and 10 pounds.

Another reason why I feel like a better mom in the summer is that, while the spring is lovely, rain brings me back to point number one. There’s nothing worse than having to pick up the kids from preschool when it’s pouring rain. Not only do I have to walk a mile to the door to grab them (okay, not a mile, but it feels like it when the rain is beating down) and then back to the car, but then I get to load them into their seats while my backside gets drenched. And this always happens about an hour after I washed my hair and gave it a nice blow out.

Fall is my second favorite, but the hard part about fall is that school has started and we’re easing into the blend of multiple over-full schedules again.

Summer. There’s something freeing about those months. Reduced schedules. No major early-morning requirements. Kids can go from pajamas to bathing suits and back to jammies again with no mommy guilt. In fact, I feel quite proud when they have spent the entire day outside playing, when the TV has stayed cold all day long, and when everyone has sun-kissed cheeks and noses.

But along with the settling of the routine, and the lightning of the load, there can tend to come a misplacement of other priorities. For us, morning devotions are a big priority. This is something I do with my kids, most commonly led by the teenagers, on a daily basis. It will take strict intentionality to make sure the daily devotions continue through the summer months when everyone is waking at different hours and heading in different directions.

Another concern is mealtimes. Do we relax the guidelines and the schedule so much that we let go of things like family dinners or family breakfasts? It takes intentional commitment to those family times to make sure they happen even in the relaxed schedules of the summer.

The third thing is communication. Without the extra time in the car going from place to place and with the lightning are some of the stringent requirements like meals and sporting events and things like that, when do we make up for the lost time for communication? Maybe a month before we’d have spent 40 minutes in a car chatting with the kids on the way to this or that, but now that time is gone.

It all comes back to that intentionality. Plan ahead for the coming summer months. Be intentional about Bible study, meal times, and communication. I guarantee you’ll feel like an even Better Summer Mom!

What are some of the tips you have for really making it work in the summer?

Blessings,

Nicole O’Dell

Photo by Ian Kahn, courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net

3 Comments | Filed Under: Boys, Family Management, Fun For Kids, Girls, Parenting, Teens Tagged With: Nicole O'Dell, parenting, Summer

Decorating Your Child’s Room with Disney Paints {Part Three}

May 14, 2013 By Ruth Schwenk

I hope you have followed along for Decorating Your Child’s Room {Part One} and Decorating Your Child’s Room {Part Two}. My daughter Bella is thrilled to FINALLY have her room painted and re-done.

We celebrated and had our own Disney Princess Party with Bella’s friends to reveal her new room! It was so much fun! All of Bella’s friends loved her new room, especially the glitter paint! Of course it didn’t take long until most of the girls had princess dresses on . After filling up with yummy treats, the girls snuggled up for a princess movie.

I have to say that I absolutely LOVE these new paints and specialty finishes from Disney Paints! I have told all of my friends about them because they are fantastic! There are so many great choices in colors and finishes. For Bella’s room we used the color Mike’s Mayhem in the Ultra Durable Paint with the All That Glitters Specialty Finish.

The girls showing their “love” for Bella’s room.

{It was hard to capture the full effect of the glitter wall via photo. (see professional one below )}

The painting process was actually quick and easy (especially when my husband offered to paint a coat ). After applying three coats of the Ultra Durable Paint, we added one coat of the All That Glitters Specialty Finish to one of the walls. The All That Glitters Specialty Finish is so easy to apply and adds so much fun and sparkle to the room! IMPORTANT: If you want a lot of glitter you need to apply thick layers of the All That Glitters Specialty Finish. I didn’t do this at first and had to go back over the glitter wall with a thick second coat.

Here is a little info on the All That Glitters Specialty Finish:

What would a princess’s world be without a little sparkle? This clear topcoat actually contains glitter that, when daylight or room lighting shines on it, gives paint an absolutely amazing effect! The All That Glitters finish can be applied over any paint in any color or sheen to make an entire wall shimmer or just light up a magical accent area. With the All That Glitters finish, you can realize fairytale-worthy bedroom wall ideas in a twinkle!

Pictured below is my princess posing in her new room! She especially loves the glitter. We are already looking forward to trying more finishes.

So now that Bella’s room is finished, I would love to hear from you! Are there any plans for painting in YOUR near future???

Disclaimer: Compensation and products for review were provided by Glidden via MomTrends. The opinions expressed herein are my own and are not indicative of the opinions of Glidden.

3 Comments | Filed Under: Decorating, Homemaking, Uncategorized

The TTYL Tradition {Happy Mother’s Day!!}

May 12, 2013 By Ruth Schwenk

We want to wish each and everyone of you moms a Happy Mother’s Day! In case you didn’t see our announcement earlier this week, I am thrilled to share with you our very first resource from The Better Mom team of writers. We are calling it Rhythms!

As you read the Bible, you begin to notice that God instructs His people to follow certain rhythms. In the Hebrew Scriptures, this came by way of yearly feasts, holidays, or appointed times. In the New Testament, we are told to “remember” and “proclaim” Jesus’ death and resurrection as we gather regularly at the Lord’s Table. These rhythms were, and are, meant to be reminders. They are sacred traditions containing sacred truths.

This is a book about family rhythms. Each of them, in their unique way, is a family tradition meant to instruct, inspire, and help pass on memories worth remembering. Our hope is that these family rhythms will help you to establish your own traditions worth passing on to the next generation!

In this book we have weekly traditions, all-the-time traditions, and holiday traditions. Here is an example of a one tradition that is included in the book from contributor, Nicole O’Dell.

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TTYL by Nicole O’Dell

The years of texting descended upon us and my girls dove right in. But something just didn’t feel right about it to me. It was clearly unbalanced as my girls were spending a lot more time texting than talking to me, and way more time texting than talking to God. I worried about disordered priorities and also about what kind of influence my daughters’ friends could have on them with that level of access.

Short of banning cell phones completely, what could I do? Did I want to make rules about number of texts allowed? Time limits? Friends?

I definitely did set some of those boundaries and then allowed them to morph as the girls get a bit older. For example, we have rules that they aren’t allowed to text after a certain time and friends need to be approved before being added to the list.

But something still wasn’t right.

I realized that the problem was in the order of priorities. If the first thought and the last thought of each day was about text messages, something was wrong. So, a little over a year ago, I instituted a plan that they would earn access to their cell phones for the day by reading a daily devotional, talking to God about it, and then talking to me about it. When they brought it to me, they were to share what they read, what it meant, and how they could apply it to their current circumstances in life. If they overslept or didn’t do it, their cell phones would remain untouched.

The goal was that they would experience a natural order to the priority of the right kind of communication. God first. Mom next. The world last.

Almost instantly, they noticed changes in themselves: closeness with God they hadn’t experienced before, and a connection with me because of the meaningful conversations we were having each morning. They began to look forward to those talks and thanked me for thinking of it.

It’s almost a year later, and we’re still going strong. This will probably be my favorite parenting tradition, and one I’ll employ with all of my children, because it teaches important things about life, relationships, and God, that I could not accomplish with mere words. Especially not texted words.

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I want to personally thank you friend, for joining our community and sharing life with us. I pray that this book will be a tool that God uses in your family to create traditions that will last a lifetime.

Click the subscribe button below to get our free eBook….and have a wonderful Mother’s Day!!

(NOTE** You can also subscribe in the link in the sidebar. Once you subscribe by email, you will receive the link for the free eBook at the very bottom of your next email from us.)