Trial Week 1

I am giving the idea of an activities plan a try.

On Sunday evening I went through some of our books and things and made a short list of things to do this week. The kids are in camp half-days and we have some other things planned so we have 5 things on our list.

Popsicle Stick Boxes
Marshmallow Sculptures
S'mores on a Stick
Penny Toss Game
Painted Flower Pots

And today, Tuesday, was Sprout's "Make a Rule" day. Tater is Thursday.

Her rule today was that we had to call each other by our "Captain Underpants" names. I was Fartsy or something, Mike was "Pinky", Tater was "Poopsy" (which he wasn't happy about) and Sprout was "Stinky". Entertaining I must say.

Anyway - after I made the list and printed it out, I felt a sense of control over the week that I haven't felt since having the kids home. Like there wasn't just gaping empty space to be filled. Much like when I started to make weekly dinner menus. Calming...

Yesterday we had to spend some time running around for supplies. So, note to self, plan ahead more than 1 day! We needed popsicle sticks (craft aisle at Target), mini marshmallows , graham crackers, condensed milk, chocolate chips (grocery store...they were actually on my list on Saturday - but on the back and I forgot them!).

Today I went to AC Moore for acrylic paints (major score - on sale for 4/$1!) and some flowerpots at Lowe's. Nothing major, but with a few more days notice it would have been less intrusive.

So yesterday the kids looked at the list and chose Marshmallow sculptures. We used dried spaghetti and stuck it into mini marshmallows. Kind of like tinkertoys, but stickier. It was pretty fun. It probably would be better for a younger kid to use toothpicks. Long pieces of spaghetti made for a pretty wobbly structure and Tater didn't have the patience to reinforce things. So at one point he picked the whole thing up and flung it across the kitchen. Whoops.

Today we did a lot of outside playing. But at 4:30, Tater looked at me and said "When are we doing our craft?" So we picked the popsicle stick boxes. They stacked up popsicle sticks log-cabin style to make a little box. Turned out very cute. Pretty easily accomplished by both kids with minimal stress. I had to square things up a bit, but no big deal.

Tater asked me today when he gets to make the rules. Sprout asked if she always gets to do a rule on Tuesdays, she liked it.

Three more activities on the list. No more shopping required. I am feeling good about the rest of the week!

Hope you are having a good one, too!