The Mediocre Mom's Guide to Greatness » outdoor

Wednesday July 28th, 2010

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 06:01:55 +0000

Today’s Activity:

Have an at home Olympic event.

Note:

Don’t forget to make awards.

Evaluate:

Today my nieces and nephew were over so we decided to have the Human Olympics. This consisted of relay races and even an opening ceremony with the National Anthem and all. Following the competition I gave everyone a “medal” which was really just a round piece of paper. I gave out different awards like “Best Sport”, “Most Graceful”, “1st place”, “Most Improved” and things like that. I made sure everyone got an award and a piece of candy. The kids had fun and got some good exercise which was nice and it broke up the day which had been filled with a crying little boy, an upsetting email, and a overflowing toilet. It’s nice to just take the time to play and not worry about overflowing toilets. Max didn’t get to play at first because he had a really bad attitude but eventually decided to cheer up and have fun.

Tuesday July 27th, 2010

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 06:01:50 +0000

Today’s Activity:

Go to a local sporting event.

Note:

If there isn’t anything near you or you don’t have the cash stop by a park in the evening and see if there are any games going on.

Evaluate:

We went to a baseball game. This was a great thing to do as a family. Max was even given a foul ball by a guy that worked there. We went with my BIL and his family and Elese enjoyed eating all their peanuts and popcorn. After Max got the ball he asked the Bee to sign it. He was so excited when he looked and saw the signature of “Bumble.” It was a great night.

Friday July 23rd, 2010

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:01:45 +0000

Today’s Activity:

Play in the sprinklers.

Note:

You can join them or get some things done while they are entertaining themselves.

Evaluate:

After turning on the sprinkler for the kids I came in and folded some laundry while watching them from a near by window. It was nice to have some quite time until Elese came in and decided that she needed to use warm water out of the sink “like a blow dryer.” I’m not sure what that means but I do know that it involved a nice little puddle of water on the bathroom floor. Silly girl

Monday July 18th, 2010

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 06:01:19 +0000

Today’s Activity:

Go play in the water.

Note:

Whatever you can afford to do or have time to do then go do it but be sure to get wet!

Evaluate:

My husband had a shoot this weekend so we got to go on a quick boat ride with him and then hang out at the beach while he worked. By far our favorite part was the boat ride. I don’t love water in general so making sure the kids didn’t drown all on my own wasn’t my idea of a good time but they had a blast. At one point they saw some stroller tracks in the sand and were determined to find their origin. It wasn’t all fun and games though. Both the kids were having trouble listening so just as I was punishing them by making them go back to the picnic where my husband was filming, he pulled up in the car and said that he was all done with the shoot. Hopefully they learned their lesson about the importance of listening when they are around water because they really wanted to have some splashing time with daddy but we decided that if they couldn’t listen then we didn’t want to play anymore. Oh and Max would not take off his life jacket because he thought it made him look buff. That kid seems to think that helmets and life vests are SO cool. Elese on the other hand wanted nothing to do with her life jacket unless she was actually in the water.

Friday July 16th, 2010

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:51:27 +0000

Today’s Activity:

Have a family bike wash.

Note:

Kids seem to love playing with hoses so be sure to let them rinse off their bike.

Evaluate:

Max seemed to think it was lots of fun to spray the water into the air and wait for gravity to do it’s job and cause it to fall down on everyone moments later, Elese didn’t like this. Elese had thrown a fit just a few minutes before we went outside so she was still very emotional. Both of the kids loved drying off their bikes and saying, “Wow, it’s shinny.” This was a really nice way to help them show a little more respect for their bikes. It’s funny that Max’s bike wasn’t just thrown onto the lawn but it was carefully leaned up against the house.

Friday July 9th, 2010

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 06:01:19 +0000

Today’s Activity:

Take your little ones on a bike ride.

Note:

Don’t forget your helmets.

Evaluate:

This was a great little break from the day. Recently Max has really become quite the rider. On Saturday he rode about a mile with his dad to go visit his Grandma and Papa and today he was riding really far ahead and then coming back around to meet us. Elese hasn’t done much riding and the peddles on her little “bike” don’t function very well but she was very good about warning us when cars were coming. On the walk (I was walking)/ride back I decided that we need to try and go on this little outing more often.

Wednesday July 7th, 2010

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 06:01:34 +0000

Today’s Activity:

Go have a picnic in the mountains.

Note:

If you can’t make it to the mountain at least make some indoor smores.

Evaluate:

Things started out pretty fun but it wasn’t long until I was ready to go home. The kids had a blast but they kept sticking their hands in soot and asking for food so I didn’t even get a minute to sit and enjoy the great outdoors. Although it wasn’t the much needed break that I needed I’m still glad we went. Max and Elese had a blast and were in dire need of a bath afterward.

Saturday June 26th, 2010

admin — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 06:01:53 +0000

Today’s Activity:

Have some races outdoors.

Note:

You can run, skip, hop or even do a long distance jump.

Evaluate:

This was a great way to get in some extra exercise with the kids. I had to work today so they didn’t to much but sit inside and watch tv so it was a great excuse to get them moving. Too my surprise there wasn’t any crying when they didn’t win.

Tuesday June 22nd, 2010

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 06:01:00 +0000

Today’s Activity:

Wash the car.

Note:

If the inside of your windows are filthy like mine then get out the windex and clean those too.

Evaluate:

Well Elese just told me that washing the car was boring but Max had a fun time spraying everything with the hose and I’m happy to have a clean car…well clean on the outside.

Monday June 21st, 2010

admin — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:23:50 +0000

Today’s Activity:

If your kids are like mine they love taking pictures and if your like me you don’t want them to break your camera. Give them some freedom with your camera.

Note:

Stay close by so that nothing gets broken.

Evaluate:

Max had a lot of fun taking pictures of random things and it was fun for me to see what they wanted to take pictures of.