1 on 1 time with kids in a big family!

If you have a large family you know how hard it can be to find ways to have 1 on 1 time with each kid. I blogged a while ago about doing date nights here, but sometimes time and money don’t allow for frequent date nights so you have to get creative.

One of favorite ways to have 1 on 1 time with each kid is grocery shopping. I know… I know…most moms dread grocery shopping and when I have to take all 4 kids with me I do too. Thankfully, most of the time there is another adult (or 14 year old) at home that can watch 3 kids while I take 1 grocery shopping with me.

Here is how we do it…. I do one big grocery shopping trip a week and on that trip I take one kid. They get to help plan out one menu item and pick out 2 treats for the week (usually gummy snacks, Popsicles, or a treat for lunch boxes). They get to help read the list at the store and put the groceries in the cart. When we are finished, if they have been helpful and have had a good attitude, they get to pick out a candy at the register. Then they help load the groceries into the car.  When we get home all 4 kids unload and put away all the groceries.

While we are grocery shopping I am sure to give them opportunities to explore different aisles, food products that we don’t normally buy, and ask questions without interruption. I honestly wouldn’t trade our 1 on 1 grocery shopping for anything. This week was Monkey’s turn to go shopping with me and we had a blast.

I would love to know… how do you find new and creative ways to spend 1 on 1 time with each of your children??

 

 

Beating Summer Boredom

I’m Bored… How many times do you think you will hear that this summer?

Now, I am not one to think it is my job to keep my kids entertained every minute of summer, but I do try to help them find ways to use their boredom to be creative. So, this summer we have decided to put together art books. I find art projects and lessons on Pinterest then make an example and teach my kids how to do the project. Today I will share with you the first 3 projects of our art books.

1. Watercolor Shapes-  What we used: a blank piece of white copy paper, a small card board circle, a medium cardboard circle, a rectangle, crayola watercolors, a black sharpie and a pencil. First, We traced around the shapes with the pencil until we achieved the look we wanted. I traced the shapes for the younger kids as they weren’t able to hold the shape still and trace it without the shape moving. Next, we filled each space with it’s own color. After all the paint was dry we went over each line again with with the sharpie.

What we learned: use card stock instead of copy paper and to achieve darker colors use less water in your watercolor.

 

2. African Akuaba Doll scratch art- What we used: Card stock, 96 count crayola crayons, black acrylic paint, sponge paint brush, a paper plate (to put the paint on) and a thick nail. First we colored all over the card stock with the crayons. As you can see there is no specific way to color your paper. Next, cover the paper with a thin/medium coat of black paint using the sponge paint brush. Allow the paint to dry overnight.

After the paint is dry use the nail to scratch off the paint in the shape of an African Akuaba Doll.

What we learned: doing this project later in the evening will be easier if you are expecting a younger child to be patient waiting for paint to dry, it is easier to lightly draw the doll with a ball point pen and then scratch off the paint, every few scratches rub the scratch with the tip of your finger so the paint doesn’t peel too much and you may want to go over the scratches with the end of a pair of scissors to make them thicker.

3.Oil Pastel flowers on black construction paper- What we used: oil pastels and black construction paper. For this project the only instructions I gave were to color a flower/flowers and take up as much of the black paper as they could.

What we learned: you can use a paper towel to smudge the pastels to give it a much different look and using light and dark colors together makes the oil pastels stand out better.

After we are finished with our projects we put them in clear plastic sheet protectors and place them in our individual art books. Below is an example of the binders we are using for our books. We purchased them for only $.88 at Walmart.

How are you helping your kids beat the summer boredom?

Family Adventure!

We love adventures! Our summer goal is to go on as many road trips and family adventures as possible. Well, school got out on Friday, June 10th and we went on our first family adventure on Monday, June 13th.

We decided to head East and check out the Fort Walla Walla Museum for our first adventure. We all love history and being from the Pacific Northwest we REALLY love to learn about the history of our area. This museum is packed full of awesome information about both World Wars, local agriculture, military, transportation, an old time pioneer village and much more.

Our favorite part of the museum was the pioneer village. There are 15 original buildings from around the Walla Walla area that have been filled with real artifacts, making the little village seem so real. Seeing all of the the tools, furniture, and clothing made it easier to imagine how the old pioneers lived. We highly recommend this museum to anyone looking for a day trip from the Tri-Cities or any other city near Walla Walla. The only thing we would do differently next time is bring our own lunch and picnic at the play area instead of spending $60 at a restaurant.

On our way to Walla Walla we happened upon a small sign that said “Blue Mountain Lavender Farm 4 miles.” So, on our way home we decided to drive the 4 miles and check it out. We were so glad we did! It was a cute little house and the backyard had several rows of lavender. They had lavender lemonade samples and a cute little lavender themed boutique where you could by soap, lavender wands, and much much more.

A few of their lavender rows are you-pick. They provide the scissors and you cut your own bundle of lavender for just $7/bundle. We came home with 2 bundles, a couple items from the boutique and some great memories. We will definitely go back soon!

Be sure to check back often to see what we are up to this summer.

Here are the kids with the lavender bundles we picked.

In this picture the kids are checking out the replica prison at the museum.

Family update

Holy Moly it has been way too long since I posted a blog update. Life got away from me and I hope to never let that happen again. I truly love blogging and I need to remember that. 🙂

We had a couple major life changing things happen in the last 9 months…

First, we bought our first home in October! It is a 7 bedroom house on a little over 1/2 acre and we LOVE LOVE LOVE it. It has raised garden beds, a small raspberry patch, we put in an above ground pool, it has plenty of “wilderness” places for the kids to make forts, and we got some chickens!

Second, we are expecting our 5th little bundle of joy! I am currently 19 weeks pregnant with a little girl we will call chipmunk (for now until she arrives and we give her a proper nickname). We are all very excited for our new addition and can’t wait to meet her.