Operation Spencer Summer 2012

I feel like I'm getting a very small taste of what teachers feel like the week before school. Preparing schedules, getting the classroom ready, making charts...

Summer starts on Thursday and all the troops will be here, all day every day. Even if it were just Micah and Abby here all day, I would have to be at the top of my game. I can't turn my head for one second with either one of them. But throw in a rambunctious, fearless 6 year old who only wants to play with the boys outside (that should be fun in 10 years)... and an 8 year old who, while very helpful, will NOT STOP TALKING  is an endless reservoir of things to say and really wants me to listen to every last word. ;)

And mind you, I'll still have a busy baby who's learned she can crawl to the top of the stairs by herself but the only way down is falling... And an overly, ummm, "dramatic" 2 year old who can be running and laughing one minute and laying on the floor screaming with tears the next...

I have to have a plan. One that includes schedules, chores, charts, rewards, crafts, activities and books. Lots of books.

I'm tweaking my schedule from spring break (which you can see here). That one seemed to work really well. And I found some chore cards on Etsy that I'm going to replicate.

Click here for the Etsy listing

For rewards I'm deciding between a treasure box of goodies or sort of a coupon book of rewards. Like, "Good for one treat from the Ice Cream truck" or "Good for one bubble bath in Moms tub". Or maybe I'll do the treasure box for the little ones and the coupons for Ashley and Emily.

I also want to have an arsenal of craft projects up my sleeve. Pinterest is amazing for stuff like that.

And activities. I can't take them to the pool. At least not by myself, I'm way out numbered by kids who can't swim. (Micah alone will just jump face first into the water and sink like a rock.) The pool will have to wait for the weekend when Jake's home. But this list has some great ideas that we'll definitely do.

Click here for link.

Lastly, I'm making sure that we've got some good books for summer reading.

There will be some breaks. Like VBS. And later in the summer we're taking the big girls to the Dominican Republic to visit their Grandma and Grandpa. I'm super excited about that trip!

But that leaves 8 1/2 weeks, so I need to have this planned. Operation Spencer Summer is underway.