10 Summer Mom Hacks

It feels like we're getting into the swing of things for summer over here.  The weather has warmed up and our schedules are even more flexible now that we're all on Summer break.  Kevin's still mostly working and counseling from home, Olive and Fletcher are just doing school work that I plan and we are spending tons of time outside.

I thought I'd share some things with you that are making our lives easier.

Hope you find a few things that would be helpful for you at your house.

1. Mini Drums
These mini drumsticks have been such a hit this Summer.  The kids and adults love them.  We also love the Lil' Drums that are about twice the size of these.  They are about 3 inches long and they are SO good.  They're the perfect little treat on a hot Summer day.  We've gone through a couple boxes of them already.

2. Positive Pom Poms
I talked about these on instagram last week.  I noticed I was spending too much time focusing on the negatives with my kids and wanted to shift my focus to be more positive.  I gave each kid a jar and the idea was to keep an eye out all day long for the good things they were doing.  They'd earn a pom pom for them.  They couldn't ask for a pom pom - the grown ups had to notice the behavior.  We also didn't take away pom poms for poor behavior.  Just focused on the positives.  Once their jar was full, they get to pick a reward.  Olive filled hers first and requested a sleepover in mom and dad's room.  We are all enjoying this.

3. Free Library Programs
Check out your local library and their free programming for Summer.  Ours is doing amazing things.  We're using their curbside pick up, personal librarian services to have them select books for each kid and then I signed the kids up for a free painting class.  We registered online, picked up our free supplies a couple days later and then did the facebook painting class the following week.  They loved it and I loved adding some new art to our playroom.

4. Lego Masters
The kids are still enjoying building challenges.  I give them a theme and then they create.  I give out fake awards built out of legos.  They do all the building.  Olive built a cupcake for me for this edible build challenge.

5. Teach Your Kids to Help You
We're learning how to help water our plants.  The kids are great helpers with a little bit of guidance.  It really cuts down the work time for all of us when we all work together.  I've done this with folding towels, putting away laundry, cleaning up toys, setting the table and unloading the dishwasher.  It's fun to teach the kids new life skills.

6. Summer Meal Prep
Meal prep looks a little different now that I'm not packing lunches and it's HOT.  I'm doing some things once a week like shopping, washing and chopping and making hard boiled eggs.  Carrots, cauliflower, broccoli and melons are great to cut up in advance. 

I'm doing something new to give us healthy snack options.  Every morning I pick a couple of things to chop up for easy snacks.  Cucumbers and peaches have been my go to.  That way when I'm feeding the baby or busy doing something else the kids know that there are healthy options for snacks right inside the fridge.  We love it!!

7. Surprise Your Friends
A sweet friend texted me last week to say she'd left a surprise on my porch.  We opened the door to find a box of donuts waiting for us.  It was a sweet surprise.

We surprised our neighbors with some sourdough bread.  I love to bake, but don't necessarily want to be eating tons of baked goods.  Baking for others is the perfect solution.  We introduced ourselves to some new neighbors and shared another loaf with neighbors who helped us with a project.

8. Eat outside
We have a really shady backyard that works perfectly for eating outside.  The kids requested lunch in the dome.  I said yes because that meant easy clean up for me and a fun lunch for them.  We do snacks and meals outside whenever we can.

9. Flexible Fun
We had a big storm roll through last week and lost several giant branches out of our cherry tree.  I was sad at first, but then these two had the best time playing in their tree fort for several days.  They used their imagination and played outside for HOURS.  It's hard to capture all the details of their build, but trust me, it had sections, rooms and they did lots of cherry picking.

10. Go on Walks
We've been sneaking in nightly walks whenever we can.  Leo loves them and the exercise has been good for all of us.  I'm hoping to get into a good routine of walking with a friend or walking by myself to clear my head.

What things are you doing that make your life easier/better this Summer??