a Year's worth of fun

Instagram knew the new year was coming and kept blowing up my feed with "12 months of..." ideas. I saw date nights, mother/daughter days, girl's nights in, the list was endless. My family and I do plenty, but I thought this would be a fun little craft for me to give my family something to look forward to. It also guaranteed one on one quality time during stressful or hectic weeks. I called my friend, scheduled a chill day, and packed all the scrap paper and markers. 

We tried to theme out each month depending on if we are camping, traveling, or doing something local. My friend joined in and did some of the same ideas for her daughters, so we can have fun together. They are not all outings or expensive. Some are easy, at home events. Some are nature based or food based. We switched it up. 

I ended up doing a year's worth of activities for my husband, too. I had the time. I had the paper. Why not? One huge sheet of paper folded in an envelope and done. 

January: plan a resale shopping day and do lunch. Husband: Let your wife take you to dinner (we have some giftcards to use).

February: watch the movie Valentines Day and bake heart shaped cookies. Husband: go see a comedian at the Metrocentre. And so on and so forth. Picnics, Souptober, a day at the beach, and so much more will be coming. 

I love all the New Year's challenges so much more than resolutions. They give us something to focus on for growth and happiness. Resolutions make me feel committed and then disappointed if I fail or forget. I even added directions to the envelope: Open on the first of the month. Then we discuss together and put it on the calendar so the plan is legit. Here is to a Year's worth of fun!!!

It's about that time!

 

Fall is on the back burner, ya'll! We already hit up Curran's Apple Orchard to get our apple cider slushies with a dozen apple cider donuts. And now it's time for the best fall food of them all... Soup season! You make a crockpot of chili for football Sundays, I make soup.

We already made our loaded baked potato soup and even bought bread to make bread bowls. I can already feel the warmth of the crackling bonfire, smell the spiked hot chocolate, and envision the leaf piles waiting to be jumped in. Don't get me wrong. We LOVE summer! No work, no alarms, no worries and tons of camping and day trips, BUT fall... Sigh...

Football, soup, bonfires, movie marathons by a fire in the living room, pumpkin decorating, homemade costumes, fun townie events. I love it! Even as I write this, my heart is fluttering with all the happiness from those cutie fall crafting sessions. Before I get too far ahead of myself, though, our favorite weatherman is informing us it's going to be a HOT weekend. Oh, Illinois! Get it together! Lucky for me, I get one more crazy summer weekend with flip flops and swimsuit options before I pull out my oversized sweatshirts and fuzzy fleece socks :)

gotta love the Highlights!

I still remember rolling into the dentist's office looking for the latest Highlights magazine to read while we waited. This magazine HAS been around that long! Short articles, quizzes, puzzles, jokes, photography, search n finds. I mean, what's not to love!? Now they have a variety of choices geared to even more age brackets for age appropriate fun. It's a classic!

We moved three years ago to our new house and somehow our junk mail followed us, plus even more. Right around Thanksgiving we got the three page sample magazine that was sent to the wrong child of mine, but we opened and looked at it. My youngest was excited and wanted to make sure she got mail once a month. She loves puzzles, pictures, and search n finds, so we agreed to get a year subscription. It was definitely worth it to fill out the tiny mailer and let her send it back. She loves magazine time!

This morning she finished early and we waited for the bus with her newest magazine. We laughed at the cheesey jokes and found almost all the hidden items in the search n find page. It occurred to me that (like everything else) this cuteness and childlike fun will only last for so long (cue tears). So, yes. I sat on the front steps in my pj's, aka sweats, and pretended not to see the hidden ruler on the page so she could find and highlight it. 

I will sit there as long as she lets me. I will enjoy all the giggles and fun of this simple, easy thing we decided to do together each month. I will balance a hot coffee on my lap and wave to passersby in my pj's while we look for silly hidden images. Because, who knows how long this will last! I can preserve the nostalgia and also promote good reading habits by getting her a yearly magazine subscription. 

If anyone finds the pause button, please let me know. This growing up thing is TOO much! :(