yay summer!!!

i love to surprise my kids with some fun "summer" stuff to kick it off.
i had to give it to them a couple days early...so that i could pack some of it for our first trip!

their faces when this was set out when they got home from swim team was priceless. and then their hugs and thank you notes were so sweet. the transition to summer will be a little dicey, i'm sure. but i'm looking forward to it...once we get in our groove!

 "spot it" on the road!!

we don't have stuff like this in the budget.
i plan for it MONTHS ahead.
their summer workbooks go in the "school" line in the budget.
but the rest of it has to go in the "other" line...which is often already taken by more pressing things...like batteries, or a new bike for joshua when he needed one :/ the "other" stuff is anything that doesn't fit in any other line...and that's a lot of stuff! but when the $ is gone, it's gone. that's why i have to start months ahead...and get a little bit at a time...