Summer Bucket List Update | It's August!
Every summer, I make a list of fun & practical things I want to do before summer "kicks the bucket".
Cook with my kids.
I did better this month! I taught Sonia how to make bread (we started with French bread because that is super easy.)
I know I cooked with Zoe once, and there was at least one other time that both of them cooked dinner.
Definitely still room for improvement!
Go see (3) movies at the theater.
⅔! We saw Cars and also the new Pirates of the Caribbean at the cheap theater.
I'm not sure what our third movie will be...maybe the Despicable Me movie will make it to the cheap theater soon?
Keep Sonia and Zoe supplied with books.
Many books are checked out from the library, and many books are being read.
Make photo books.
(I'm making a book for September-December 2016, and then one for January-June 2017.)
I made progress here! I started on the September-December book, and I'm into the mid-December part of the book.
So, I just need to finish editing and adding the Christmas photos, and then take care of the front and back covers and I'll be done with one.
This page is about our last vacation, which was a mixture of womp-womp and fun times.
Get Joshua and Lisey squared away for college classes.
A few more things are knocked out here, and I believe we'll get the rest finished in the next week or so.
-Register Lisey online
-Take her in for a placement test (She did great! Tested into the highest level. Yay Lisey!!)
-Have her take a CLEP test for Spanish
-Sign her up for fall classes
-Buy books
Joshua's already registered, so his list is shorter.
-Register for fall classes (He took care of this 95% on his own. Woo!)
-Buy books
Buy schoolbooks/supplies for Sonia and Zoe.
I'm going to call this done. I have a small stash of spiral notebooks now, although I'm still going to keep an eye out for any more great sales on them.
Paint my kids' bathroom.
DONE. Photos to come.
Declutter my house.
This month I did the kitchen and the laundry room and I started on the downstairs entry area. I'm getting there!
-linen closet
-coat closet
-kitchen
-my room
-laundry room (THE WORST. Which you know if you saw my instagram story about it.)
-the under-the-steps closet (second worst thing)
-office
-downstairs entry area
-living room (not a lot in there, but I'll give it a once-over)
-Sonia and Zoe's room (they'll just need a little help)
Joshua and Lisey can handle their rooms on their own...the only thing I'll do there is to go through the toys/games that are stored in Joshua's big closet. Lisey's closet has a bit of communal storage in it too, and I plan to look through that.
Make new chore lists.
Nothing done here.
Make lemonade from scratch.
Do random fun things as they occur to me.
Hmm...we did go get $0.50 Frosties at Wendy's. Sonia and Zoe have had lots of sleepovers.
Bike rides are happening. And lots of swimming.
And we've had lots of friends over to play.
Repaint part of Lisey's bed.
Done! Photos to come.
Refinish the front soffit.
Since I tackled the back, I think I'll try to get the front finished before school starts too.
_______________________
You guys, here's a sad thing. My next bucket list update is going to be when summer is over. WHYYYYYYY.
(Here's the part where I remind myself that a whole month is still a nice long time.)
How's your summer coming along? Have you been spending it the way you wanted to?
Wowza! You're really making some great headway with those summer bucket list items. Can you believe it's already August? I can't believe it! I do wish my parents had cooked with me more so I could have learned their recipes. You're doing something really great for your kiddos!
You're much more organized than I am; all my lists are in my head. I've done zero with my plans for chores and allowance stuff for my kids, but pretty well cooking with them. All three boys (7, 5, and 2 years old) helped me make pesto this morning, which was . . . well, it got done. And it's a good activity for small children, what with all the pulling of basil leaves, smashing them into the measuring cup, toasting nuts, and pressing buttons on the food processor.
We haven't done as many small day trips as I'd hoped, but that's mostly because of me and my limitations due to pregnancy. I really can't be chasing after my kids all over the many acres of the Montreal Botanical Gardens, for example. So maybe those will wait until next year when I'll have a baby in a carrier or stroller and will hopefully be less incapacitated myself.
We have taken a lot more trips back to our old house/my MiL's house than I anticipated. Those are very stressful for me, but they make my children very happy, and the last one coming up in a couple of weeks will be the last time we go anywhere for a long time. Thank goodness.
I'm always fascinated to see your summer bucket list! It's so close to home yet so inspiring! I love French bread btw. I can eat it with omelets for days on end without getting tired of it. Also, I'm Vietnamese, so we love the Vietnamese sandwiches which use French bread as an ingredient!
I like the idea of a summer bucket list! I find that summer flies by wayyy too quickly and I often miss some of the things I planned on doing. It looks like your summer has been productive and full of fun so far!
And that lemonade looks delicious!
Great progress, and I love the style of that chore chart! What did you all think of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie?
Well, my expectations were very low. So that helped. Ha. It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but it was also not the worst. How's that for a ringing endorsement??
Beats the Emoji Movie, by all accounts. That one had a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, until some joker posted a positive review.
I was telling Lisey this morning that I don't even think I could go watch that movie at the cheap theater. I don't even think I could watch it if it was free!
So, this past weekend we wanted to see Spiderman at the Drive-in (ours is super cheap and you can bring your own food), and since they always do a double feature, we had to suffer through the Emoji Movie first. It was rather forgettable and somewhat cringe-worthy, but some parts were cute. However, we had a very, very low expectations because of the Rotten Tomatoes rating.
My kids liked it enough to see it twice (they are 5 and 7), and the adult going with them (not me!) said it was well done...
Low expectations make all the difference in the world. 😉
My summer has been amazing so far! We've already done some traveling: went on a 1 week vacation and spent few weekends away from the city.
I'm hoping we'll get to see at least a couple new places over the next few weeks. This is basically my summer bucket list every year: visit new destinations and proudly pin them on my travel map 🙂
I think your progress on the bucket list is terrific! For me, I have to be careful not to fall into the "envy the blogger's perfect happy family life and productivity" This summer I wasn't so lucky to be able to focus on bucket list fun - in our family we've had highs and lows (very low) which are currently sapping my emotional energy. I'm hoping I will have patience and faith to navigate this season, and in the future make - and fulfill - a summer bucket list.
Aww. All the love to you. I'm so sorry this summer has been hard.
I wish that a blog was an appropriate space to share the harder things of my life with you. I hate that I mostly end up having to share the good things and not the hard things. I'd be totally willing to share, but the problem is that the hard things are often not just my story to tell, so I have to stay quiet.
I'll say this, though: the last year has been one of the hardest of my life, on multiple accounts. I lost almost 15 pounds due to stress. I've learned so much and grown so much, but boy, it has been HARD. So, you are not alone, I promise. And my life is not as perfect as it looks.
I hope things look up for you soon.
I did a real purge of my closet and dresser, which wasn't actually on my list this year, I don't think, but it's done.
Oh, so many other things still need to be done! But my BIG thing was the mission trip, and that was absolutely done. Once committed to that, I couldn't just put it off, so it was easy to follow up on that one.
I still need to go through my junk drawer, and we have SO much work outside to do, but super hot and rainy weather has kept us indoors a lot. My best accomplishments are usually in the fall.
Without kids at home anymore, summer is just another season to me now -- and an uncomfortable one at that. Bring on the fall, I say!
A summer bucket list is such a great idea so that you don't just fritter away your days like I tend to do and then blink and summer is done. Side note: what's going on with your kitchen backsplash? (cooking with my kids photo) Did you tear out your tiles?
Haha, yeah, we got new countertops, and so Mr. FG took the old backsplash out (it doesn't line up right with the new counters). We have the new tiles, and the backsplash should be up in a few weeks.
For now, I've got torn-up drywall as my backsplash. 😉 But gray subway tile will soon be replacing it!
I tried to write a summer bucket list and never actually sit down and do it. I have the same to do of painting my kids bathroom.... it's not done though. Along with our bedroom, and lots more. BUT we did manage to do quite a few things this summer too. Your kiddos look like they are loving the summer break!
I love hearing about other homeschool moms and where they are. I'm in the early years of HS, but enjoying the whole process.
I don't have a summer list but I do have some major goals on the list for this year:
- Update will & related docs. I'm dreading this one - the one doc I don't understand is a persistent roadblock.
- Replace windows in house. This may move to a future date, as this year AC needed substantial repair and furnace may need replacement.
- Test for black belt. This involves going to class 3-4 times a week, week in and week out. So far, so good.
- Stand up straight. Which will help the martial arts, in addition to being a good idea. Never too late, right? So far, so good.
- Job transfer. Accomplished! Different role, same company.
- Notable but routine preventative medical procedure. Accomplished!
Very happy to say that I don't have a summer bucket list this year! I'm home with the kids all august and the plan is to chill: activities at Michaels, swimming pool, parks, picnics, movies, etc. School supplies were bought this morning, so that's done. Yay vacations!
Who are you using for your photo books these days?
AdoramaPix!
Thank you! Love your blog. 🙂 So inspirational.
I was thinking about the chore list, and what if Joshua and Lisey had zones? Monday Wednesday and Friday could be the bathroom(s) for one and the living room for the other? Then on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, whatever space they didn't have the previous day they are responsible for tidying? That way it's a communal space that can be done at anytime versus clearing the table. Ideally they would only have to do a general pick up or straighten, dust, vacuum, etc., much like clearing the table and only need about 10 minutes time?