I wish I could take full credit for this idea, but I can’t.  Part of this idea is something we have been doing every summer for several years but it was not until my friend Stacy Julian shared her Summertime Bingo idea that I was able to really expand on our idea, one that has become a huge hit with our kids!  In a nutshell, Summer BINGO is a little game the kids play each day/week of the summer.  The Bingo cards are made on the computer and printed, a new card each week.  The boxes are filled with fun activities to make their days pass while Mom gets to tuck in some learning, exploring and other interesting things along the way. The cover is made up of card stock but you could use just about anything you have around the house.  I used some rings and punched a hole but you could use a clip from your office drawer.  I took a photo of the kids and stuck it on the front so they could see whose card what whose and I hung them on the fridge.

Because I was strapped for time, I took Stacy’s template and modified it to make it our own (you can find a link on this page) and I am glad I did.  Not only did it save me time, her card has so many great ideas - good for most families!    To give you an idea, I kept some of Stacy’s ideas (she has so many) and I added a few of my own and they include: Ask Jeeves, “What Causes Hiccups?” - Make brownies for the family - Try a science experiment from your Xmas kit - Go on MSN for 1 hour - Spend the afternoon at the Library and Pick a chore from the Chore Jar.  As you can see some of the tasks are about learning or helping around the house and others are just for fun.  One in particular my daughter liked was, Soak and paint your toenails.  To her, it is fun and to me it is clean feet (have you seen summer feet when they run around in crocs?!)

I have been keeping a master list of ideas when they come to me and will add new ideas each week as we move through the summer.  Some things will be a staple on the card (like reading, smart computer program time, pages in our Summer workbooks) but I will change it up enough to keep them interested (that was the problem with our old system.  It got boring as the summer went on).  If you want more ideas there is a facebook group where you can find ideas for kids of all ages - do a search for Summer Bingo!

One other thing I should mention is the basic rules Stacy setup work really well but you can modify them to work for each of your children.   My kids have to make their bed, play on their instrument (piano and guitar) and do their morning chores, eat and get dressed before they can play Bingo.  And for rewards, I kept what Stacy had as they are great and simple.  Each row earns a ticket and tickets can be traded in for more Wii/Computer time, sleepover, ice cream etc…   I am using dollar store stickers but you could use a stamp, check mark or intial the square when the kids are done each task.

I love this idea and encourage you to try it if you want to keep the kids busy and direct their energy a little.  By the end of the summer our kids will have learned things they wouldn’t have considered, helped more around the house, and possibly played togehter more (some squares have them helping each other with a task or playing games together).

Oh, one last thing.  I made up a bingo card for myself, it is a bit of a creative “todo” list.  I put things like Exercise: Treadmill, Read a Novel, Write a note to a friend, Call Mom - all the things I should be doing but find time gets in the way.  I am not earning ice cream but I know as I cross each off (or have the kids put the stickers on my squares) that I will feel a sense of accomplishment and I will have made time for some of the things that really matter!

And one last summer fun idea - Cheater S’mores!  My son had an end of school party last week.  Considering it was a gang of boys I was looking for some quick and easy food and snack ideas and lucky for me while I was watching the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network the night before the party, I found the perfect solution to S’mores!  All you need for each smore is a roasted marshmallow and two chocolate sided biscuits.  Put the chocolate side in and squish the marshmallow in the middle and you are done!  The kids loved them and I am pretty sure this is our new family S’more solution.  So much easier than graham wafers, chocolate and marshmallows.

Have fun playing Summer Bingo and eating Cheater S’mores!

Before Christmas we did a countdown that was really just a creative to-do list. I put all of the things we always want to do into a countdown activity and it helped us to focus each day on something we could do together to celebrate the holidays. I kind of think having a bit of a set schedule can do the same thing for us busy moms - in a way it is a creative to-do list!

Recently, I sat down and made a list of all of the things that need to be done each week and added in some time for ME and my favourite pastime, scrapbooking. I don’t’ always get to go out to scrapbook with friends so I have decided to make Tuesdays my scrapbooking day. I love to take photos and I love to scrapbook but I just don’t take the time. By making today my scrapbooking day - my ME day, it means that I don’t schedule other things on this day (other than the must dos with the kids). My weekly creative to-do list allows me to take that time on Tuesdays and not worry about it on other days - kind of like my laundry day!

I recently moved my office to a new room in the house. We haven’t painted yet but I have reorganized things a little. Tonight my scrapbook plans are more related to finishing my organizing as stuff everywhere tends to get in the way or me being creative! Besides wanting to get this done, I need to get it done!  In just about a month I will begin an Alumni class at Big Picture Scrapbooking (if you can get in to take this class - do it! It is the most amazing class you will ever take. ) The Library of Memories class is part scrapbooking, part organizing and part celebrating life and the reason behind my love for this favourite pasttime.

So as I say goodbye and get on with my day I leave you with a few photos of my partially organized scrapbooking stuff - I will add the finished photos when the day is through.

This is part of my problem - stuff piled into the closet where I keep my supplies.  The bottom is just a filing cabinet but the 4 drawers are part of my Library of Memories way of scrapbooking.  On top of that is more photo organizing and all of my tools which as you can see, I can’t even move for fear of it all falling down!

We love to make cards but often don’t because the stuff is not easy to get to.  The baskets and piles are going and hopefully being transformed in a way that makes it easier to grab, create and send!

If you read my wish list before Christmas you will know that I was wishing for some Ikea wooden boxes.  The group of 8 were a gift from my Mom a few years ago and I have been using them to sort my scrapbooking supplies by color.  The only problem is I didn’t have enough drawers.  So, I was lucky enough to get two more sets, the 4 you see below.  My job now is to separate the mixed colours and get them in order.  Right now it is a big mess behind the ‘closed’ drawers!  By the way - if you haven’t organized by colour you should try it.  It makes finding things so much easier.  Oh and the binders beside the boxes - another tool I have created from the Library of Memories class.  You know all the memorabilia you save for pages - these pages in progress books make it easy for me to tuck things away in a more organized fashion so coming back and scrapbooking about an event is so easy (of course, you have to take the time - my problem!)

Here is another LOM concept  - these boxes hold the supplies I use in the albums I update annually.  I have a Christmas album, school of life albums, disney album etc… and I can easily grab the box and sit down and get the page completed in a short amount of time.  The boxes contain paper, embellishments, and stickers too.

This is the only part of my office where you can actually see scrapbook supplies.  I like a clean space to keep my head clear but I didn’t have anywhere to put this stuff so it is ontop of my desk.  The black boxes are my alphabet boxes - I keep my letters stored together (another idea from Stacy Julian!) and the clear boxes are for stamps and other supplies.  They are not very organized and don’t look great so my goal here is to make them organized and pretty!

There you go - I will share some photos of what I accomplish.  I am sure I won’t get it all done but I am going to put on a movie and get to work.