Places To Play in PA: Blue Marsh Lake

For a Jersey Girl who grew up with frequent trips every summer to the beach nearby I have to say that going to the shore is one thing I miss living in PA.... but, I think that we found perhaps the next best thing thanks to a tip from my dear friend Tawnya-- Blue Marsh Lake! My parents came to church with us this past sunday and then we all drove on together up past Reading to Blue Marsh Lake. Just an fyi, the GPS took us to the fishing part of the lake, but three more lefts and then you arrive at the swimming Day Use Part of the lake. It was a gorgeous July day with just enough breeze, warm water, and clean sand to play in.

The beautiful scenery around the lake is worth the drive alone and unlike the beach, there are a dcent amount of trees for shade and I was able to hang out with the baby there while watching everyone else swim.

Everyone else enjoyed some lounging in the shade and playing in the sand too!

And when did this girl get so big? Love her so very much!

We easily spent over 5 hours there and left after one last swim just as the storm clouds rolled in! We can't wait to go back again :)

Summer Decor and Fun!

It may have taken me awhile, but the kids and I finally finished a simple little summer display for the shelf in the family room. I wanted bright and cheerful décor to celebrate the fun season and we actually picked up all the supplies at a.c.moore long before the baby came-- yes, it took me that long to find some time to do it, but the end result was well worth it. It adds a lot of summer cheer to the room. Its hard to believe that as schools across the nation have just finished their year up, we are about to begin ours in a little over 3 weeks! Im excited! The kids are excited-- it's been nice having this time off and adjusting to life with our new little love, but I think we will all be ready when we begin again come July 8th! http://kojo-designs.com/2011/09/49-fabulous-fabric-flower-tutorials/ Want to make some of your own fabric flowers? Don't be scared-- they're really simple and heres a great site with lots of ideas!

Movie & Concession Night

Like all great ideas these days, the seed for this one was planted in my mind by a similar idea I happened upon on pinterest. I took the original idea and tweaked it a bit and made it work for our family. Tonight will actually be our third movie and concession night so after doing this for almost a month straight, I can honestly say this works and it works well. The premise is simple-- the kids earn tickets by practicing first time obedience and doing some extra jobs around the house. The tickets can be cashed in once a week for a movie and snacks. Here are some simple guidelines for our movie night: 1. All tickets earned that week are only good for that week-- there are no carry overs till the next week. We did this so that they wouldn't work really hard one week and then slack off the next-- we want them to learn the value of consistentcy and diligence each week. 2. The person with the most tickets picks the movie-- a little extra incentive even if you have enough tickets to afford everything 3. Your tickets can't be taken away. You can loose the right to earn a ticket for a job if your attitude is less than desirable, but once you have earned the ticket, its yours for good. 4. We announce which night will be movie night a few days in advance so the kids know when they need to have all their tickets by. How the kids can earn tickets: This varies by age. For our 3 year old it might be wiping off the table, emptying the small drying rack, wiping off the bathroom sink, and other small tasks that are a big deal for our little one. For our 6 and 7 year olds they do things like vacuum a room, sweep steps, dust, windex the front door, water plants, and other helpful things. We had a plumbing emergency one week and our 7 year old was a big help to my husband and so we rewarded him with a few tickets in appreciation. On certain days if mommy, baby, and 3 year old desperately need a nap, they can earn a ticket for resting and reading quietly in their rooms. This is going to vary by family, but these are just a few ideas. They do not get a ticket for their regular morning jobs (making beds, getting dressed, and one household job each morning) or if they earned a job for misbehaving. What Tickets are good for: 10 tickets earn you the right to watch a movie. 3 tickets earn you snacks and 3 more tickets earn you a smoothie. Even though its a very special night, I still try and keep the treats healthy. On the first night my husband got a little carried away with some candy, but since Mommy and our oldest son cant have it, we have left it out the following weeks. This has worked really, really well for us. Especially after having a baby and having mommy doing feedings-- they aren't constantly begging to watch a movie, but rather asking how they can earn some tickets. The house is being kept tidier by everyone-- again a huge help after the baby. We also are currently on break from school, so this has made sure we aren't plopping in front of the boob tube all break long either. I did make one extra movie exception one day when daddy was working a longer week-- but they had all earned a good amount of tickets that day so it was a bonus and mommys pick (Annie get your gun). Hope this becomes a family tradition for years to come-- the best part is seeing the proud ticket bearers counting their tickets on movie night and then "buying" their snacks on their own! And check out a post from long ago on caught being good tickets--

Gearing Up for Summer/ Spring Vacation!!!!!!!

We are down to single digits left of our school day. Most of our textbooks are finished, recycled, and laid to rest and we now are spending our last few days reviewing and playing some educational games. But, we are so excited for our Summer Spring break that begins soon. Its technically more in the months of Spring than summer, but we still call it our summer vacation. I still would like us to be good stewards of our time off and not merely letting the days lazily slip away. So, we made a family checklist of some things we'd like to do: And then I got some journals and decorated them for each of the kids so we can record in pictures and with words some of the special memories that happened: We're also going to do a unit study on the fruits of the Spirit and then give each person some verses to work on memorizing that correspond with a character trait they need to work on. For example, Mommys will all be centered around patience. ********************************************************************* Oh, and we plan on having a new member of the family who will need lots of snuggles and kisses. We are anticipating this break and looking forward to using the time to grow closer to each other and to our Lord :)

Summer Fun Thanks to Pinterest-- Frozen Toys

If you are not on pinterest, you really are missing out. It is worth your time to spend a couple of minutes and see how easy it is amd then to enjoy it.




I got this idea of freezing some of the kids toys in a block of ice off of pinterest. It is so simple, so easy to do and I just have a couple of tips to add to your summer fun.


1. It might be a good idea to wear some sunglasses as the ice tends to fly.
2. Provide some real hammers and supervise the activity and it will be much more gratifying to the whackers.
3. Freeze small and big things and things that float and won't float-- this will spread the objects out a bit within the ice
4. Think about adding some dye to the water for extra fun or freeze it in layers with different colors.



Above all, have fun and enjoy! We sure had ourselves a fun half hour ;) Happy summer!