Make Some Back to School Memories!

This is the last week in July…..Ahhhh! Summer is running through the lawn sprinkler, down the street and out of my reach much too quickly. Okay, it’s hot, but it’s supposed to be, isn’t it? 🙂 It’s hot so we can swim, wade in the creek, go to the lake, eat ice cream, Popsicles, and cold slices of watermelon!

I understand that the schools in our area are starting up a about two weeks. For those of you who are having to begin thinking about school routines, I thought I’d share a few ideas good ideas with you that I’ve recently come across.

While culling through all my stuff in the basement (it’s going well, by the way!), I found folders of articles that I’ve clipped from magazines. I came across some great ideas on school lunches and snack ideas. Let’s face it, lunch is a much anticipated time for students, no matter their age, so why not make it really special?

A special Message
One fun way to transform the inside of your child’s lunch box lid into a message center or game board is to stick white Con-tact paper there. It instantly turns it into a dry-erase board. Start a tic-tac-toe game and include a marker so they can make the next move. Or write a message to them to let them know you’re praying for their day!

Include a picture or a joke written on a post it note.

What to fix for lunch?
I read about one mom who really went extreme with her menu and planned themed meals. She began cooking up menus for pioneer adventures and cowboy cookouts, ocean voyages and circus parties. She’s packed tiny tea parties (finger sandwiches, grapes, and mini muffins on doll dishes), round meals (a bagel with cream cheese, an orange, carrot rounds), and a backward lunch (a sandwich with meat and cheese on the outside and a note written in reverse telling the child to eat dessert first). On the first day of winter, she sends a snowman shaped sandwich, carrot noses, and hot chocolate, while the first of spring nets fruit soup, bunny biscuits, and a flower. She also themed lunches around colors, holidays, and a slew of shapes and nationalities. I believe she would get the most creative lunch award! What child wouldn’t be excited about lunchtime with that kind of creativity?
Picky Eater?
One mom struck a deal with her daughter – she upped her allowance to $10 a week. She could either buy lunch at school and pay for it herself, or she could pack it at home and pocket the money. The daughter never bought lunch! 🙂
Instead of regular bread, make turkey and PB&J sandwiches on pita, bagels, English muffins hot dog rolls or hamburger buns. Another option is a tortilla rolled up and sliced into pinwheels.
A good idea to help simplify your life is to let your child help pack their lunch. One mom had three plastic baskets and filled one with fruits, another with vegetables, and a third with snacks and desserts. She lets her boys choose one item from each basket for their lunch, then she adds a sandwich.
Recycled Book Bag
This picture is a little shiny, but I had to show you this cute idea!
As this article says, it’s never easy to part with a favorite pair of jeans, but this sewing project makes it a cinch to recycle them into a book bag.

1. Zip the jeans and turn them inside out. With a pair of fabric scissors, cut off both legs 3 inches from the crotch.
2. Fold the cutoff jeans, matching up the side seams as you would to press front and back leg pleats.
3. Using a sewing machine, sew closed each leg opening 1 inch from the cut edge. Then, trim the denim 1/2 inch from the stitching.
4. Turn jeans right side out. for a handle, thread a cotton belt through the belt loops and tie the ends together.

Whether you’re sending your children off to school or keeping them home to teach them there, these can be special days. It will take a little bit more effort to be creative with the meals, routine, or supplies, but it will be worth it all to create in them a connection with a mom who loves them!

Do you have a special memory of something that your mom did for you while you were in school? I’d love to hear about it!

Does this picture put a chill in your spine? This was last winter – a snowy winter for East Tennessee. I thought summer would never get here! Well, we’re now experiencing mid-summer weather with temps in the 90’s, but I am not complaining!

I love going outside with no coat on, having flowers blooming in my yard, and the fact that it’s still light outside at 9:00! I love having local fresh vegetables and fruits that are sweet and tender. I love the sight of lightening bugs at night and the sound of the cicadas in the trees. I love swinging on my swing on the deck early in the morning or late in the evening. I just love summer! I hope you’re enjoying it too.

Just in case you’re a mom who might have run out of ideas to keep your children busy this summer, I thought I would post some great suggestions I found in a home and garden publication.

1. Make a summer scrapbook. Include everything–even the little stuff. The price tag from your fave sundress, amusement park ticket stubs, photo booth pics of you and the crew and vacation postcards are all awesome additions to your book. It’ll be a summer you’ll never forget.

2. Grow a green thumb! Purchase some packets of flower seeds–cosmo, poppy, sunflower (unsalted, of course!)–and plant them in your own garden patch. Tending to your sprouts will keep you super-busy, and it’s oh-so satisfying to watch as your blooms blossom.

3. Rent a tandem bike for a day. It’s a bicycle built for-two. Grab a pal, hop on and pedal off for some good laughs: Yeah, it’s goofy…. So what?

4. Head for the nearest gumball machine. Now, get four gumballs for a buck for you and each of your girls, and have a contest to see who blows the biggest bubble.

5. Hit the kiddie section of the dollar store, and buy a few bottles of soapy bubbles. You’re never too old to blow bubbles!

6. Buy some zany sunglasses, and wear them in public. They can be ultra-glam, ultra-goofy, ultra-big, ultra-anything! The trick is to find a pair that really attracts attention. You’re guaranteed to have an ultra-hilarious day!

7. Play the claw machine two times for a buck. You know–the one in which you try to pluck prizes with a mechanical crane. Yeah, it’s usually a waste of money… but it’s sooo irresistible!

8. Fly a kite on a windy day. Haven’t flown a kite since you were a tot? You’re missing out! It’s not easy to keep that thing gracefully floating up there–but that’s what makes it challenging! Fly your kite on the beach or in an open field, where the wind is often at its strongest mph.

9. Go backyard camping. Call your pals, pitch a tent, grab some sleeping bags, and head out your back door. OK, you’ll have to forget about the campfire, but that’s no reason to forgo the traditional campfire songs and tales. Have a blast sleeping under the stars-while enjoying the indoor plumbing just steps away!

10. Become a bookworm. Make it a goal to finish off a certain number of books this summer. Pick a genre you’ve never tried before–biographies or historical fiction–and then stake out a few reading spots. Climb a tree, stretch out on the porch swing, or even curl up on the couch on a rainy day.

11. Visit the library for the afternoon; it’s cool in there and you can occupy yourself with books, magazines, computers, story time, etc.

12. Have a water fight. Get all your pals together, and designate teams. Then grab your water guns, water balloons, buckets, hoses and whatever else you’ve got…and ATTACK!

13. Catch fireflies in a jar. Make yourself an all-natural lightning-bug strobe-light lantern for the evening. Don’t forget to throw in a few blades of grass and poke holes in the lid. Just be sure to let them go after a few hours!

14. Become a volunteer at your local nursing home. Your electric smile and enthusiastic personality will have folks at the local home uplifted in no time. Spending even an hour a week playing board games or just talking with residents whose families can’t (or don’t) visit makes a big difference in their lives. Oh, and the stories they tell!

15. Start a cool collection. It doesn’t matter what you collect–just pick something you like, and go for it! Sea glass, shells and bottle caps are popular summer collectibles. Or be a collector of something totally unique, like ceramic cats, cute bandannas or vintage buttons. To get into the collecting groove, visit a local museum and check out its collections for inspiration.

16. Play tag–in the rain. Why stay indoors just because the sun’s not shining? Nothing screams summer like a game of soggy tag. Running around in the rain (um, as long as there’s no thunder and lightning!!!) is a great way to cool down.

17. Set up a lemonade stand.

18. Make homemade play dough.

19. Get a cardboard appliance box and turn it into a playhouse.

20. Go bowling. Some lanes have special rates on certain days of the week.

What other things are you doing to have a great summer?
See you in church Sunday,