our summer plans
my cover-up | sunnies
Bear's swim set
Boone's swimsuit
photos by Ban Avenue Photography
location: Hotel Alessandra
With today being the first day of June (and the heat index being out the wazoo), I'm in full summer-planning mode over here and deciding how we will fill our days. Since Bear is starting kindergarten in the fall, I want him to stay on track with his learning this summer so he'll be prepared come August. We spent the afternoon today printing up a chore chart for Bear (free printable here) that he will complete each day and at the end of each completed week, he can pick out a small $5 or under toy. What can I say- he is my child and works well with an incentive :). I buy him toys often anyway, so this will be a better method that he can work toward and learn more responsibility this summer.
Another thing we did today was print out a list of kindergarten sight words (find it here) that Bear will be working on every day. He is so close to being able to read and his pre-k teacher told me to do sight words daily with him, so we are doing 4 new words a day and going over the ones he already knows in the hopes he will be reading by the end of the summer. We're also reading a lot of Dr. Seuss, which is how I learned to read since the words rhyme and are repetitive. I'm far from an expert when it comes to this stuff but before I started Hello Honey, I got my teaching certification in EC-6th grade and planned on being a teacher. God had other plans and here I am, but I do love all things education. Both of my parents are retired teachers, so this has a lot to do with it I'm sure! I can thank them for teaching my brothers and me the importance of reading and education.
Aside from preparing Bear for kindergarten, we don't have too much planned. We have a few weekend trips coming up in July- we'll be going to SeaWorld with Zach's family and are going to Hyatt Lost Pines which we are really excited about! We'll also be going back home to West Texas for several weeks to spend time with family and Bear can't wait for lots of cousin time. Zach will be traveling to North Carolina for work, but we don't have any out of state travel plans for this summer since we are planning on moving. Our house has been on the market for a few weeks and we are just starting to dive into the house-hunting process which is fun yet a bit stressful when you're on a time crunch- any prayers appreciated! I know it will all work out in God's timing and while this summer may be a crazy one, I want to enjoy every minute of it while the boys are at such fun, sweet ages. I also hired a summer nanny that is helping us 12-15 hours a week so I can get some work done and not just stick Bear in front of the TV while I'm doing it. He is LOVING her so far and they're doing tons of fun things, like story-time at Barnes & Noble, trips to the splashpad, and picnics. I want him to have the best summer yet and even though we're pushing kindergarten prep, I'm trying to make it enjoyable. He's also starting swim lessons next week at FINS; I will keep y'all posted on his progress! He absolutely loves the water and constantly asks to go to the pool, so I'm hopeful that he'll be swimming by the end of summer. Reading this post it sounds like I have a lot of expectations for summer 2018 (HA!) but mostly, I just want to soak up this time with my boys. And not melt in this Houston heat! Maybe I can accomplish at least one of the two.
xo, Britt