summer fun ideas

my sister, melissa mentioned to me a few weeks ago about how a friend of hers made a list of things to do during the summer and each day the kids would pick something. I decided this was a great idea because trying to come up with something to do each day can be tough, but if you don't put some kind of effort into it you could end up sitting around a lot more than you intend do (maybe that's just me), and that leads to boredom and boredom leads to bad attitudes, cranky people and a multitude of other not-so-good things. so, today i started making a list. i came up with surprisingly quite a few things in a relatively short period of time. so, the plan is to print these all out, cut them up into little strips and put them into some kind of "fun jar" that we can pick from everyday. i'm kind of excited about this.

MY LIST:

write letters/thank you notes (color pictures to send, etc) for family members, friends, whoever

movie day

park day

sprinklers/water fun day (water balloons, squirt guns, etc . . . maybe we will combine that one with "washing-the-'burb' day", haha)

fort making day

baking day

board game day

lake day

swim at a friend's

craft day

beach day

go on a hike

backyard campout

hike & seek/outside game day

library day (they really like going to the library)

play date (i may have to rig this one so they pick it on the right day, getting it set up with a friend)

have a picnic

go out to eat

bike riding day (we'll see about this one, since the two little ones can't ride bikes and i don't have a trailer...)

dance party

unbirthday party (we don't have any birthdays between may and november, so this would be really fun.)

art day (drawing, coloring, painting, sidewalk chalk, etc)

scavenger hunt

doorbell ditch day (thinking we could spend half the day making things and then deliver them to various peoples of the ward, or possibly something non-food. we'll see.)

service day (similar to previous, but something more thoughtful and directly personal that, hopefully, fills a need)

play restaurant day (the kids have a little kitchen that they love to "make" things in, so i'm thinking playdoh)

that is 26 things. not too bad, if you think about sundays and paul's days off so we'll do something different in there, plus trips to family and hopefully a camping trip or two).

tell me what you think, or if you have any other ideas. i would love to hear them!

mysterious ways, indeed

first, paul didn't get the construction job. he doesn't have the depth of experience they were looking for. of course he doesn't, the economy crashed less than 6 months after he got his degree. and he's been out of the field for almost 4 years now. and it doesn't look like he will ever get back in.

anyway, he did get another job. and a decent paying job . . . after the first three months anyway. i assume, since it's basically a line job, that there's a high turnover rate, so of course, they give people a 90 day trial before they start really paying them.

he had started the process of getting his contractor's license, which he clearly needs to complete. but when he didn't get the construction job i (and i think he, but i didn't ask, and we hadn't really had time to talk about it) took it as a sign that he needed to start focusing more on creating and trying to build his own business. i thought swing shift would be perfect for that. work from 3 pm - 11 pm, sleep and in the morning, before work he could start doing small jobs and building a name for himself. that sounded perfect, like there was a fix, though one that was going to take quite some time, obviously, to fix.

the problem is, they hired him for graveyard. i'm not sure how he can do small jobs between the hours of 4 and 10 pm. maybe he can. i don't know. i'm so very confused. where are we going? i just feel like we're wandering without a direction, career-wise. that's okay when you're young, but once you get older, it just feels dangerous. (and before you point out that i'm still in my 20's, remember that paul's halfway through his 30's. not old, but certainly old enough to be concerned with having a career.)

if my kids were all in school, it would be an inconvenience at best. but they're not. and they're loud. and he's a light sleeper. hopefully he'll learn to not be such a light sleeper. and fortunately, he does fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

mostly, i'm worried about him getting enough sleep, and about him making it past the first 3 months when we can actually receive the benefits of the job (i.e. enough money to pay our bills!) he will burn out, though knowing him it will take closer to a year. gosh, i sure hope something else comes in that time. 

this last year was the first time in our marriage that he didn't get up and out of the house before 6 am (and sometimes as early as 3:00). it was nice while it lasted.

this will be a new experience for sure.

wish us luck.