Pool Party, Cool Party!

I'll admit it.  We are pool party animals.  It is not uncommon for us to have 10+ kids in our pool every single day (mostly boys).  Since we live in the desert, we use our pool from April until October which is fabulous.  We even have a theme song that I love to sing to my poor children (Pool Party by the Aquabats).  So since we are in our yard so much, we decided to do some fun and practical things around the pool.  I took pictures to share my ideas with any other fellow pool party animals.

 

One big problem we've had is all the "stuff" that kids bring over.  Usually we end up with a basket full of other people's towels, shirts, socks, flip flops, goggles, etc.  I used to try to find the proper owners, but now I just wash the towels and add them to my collection.  I figure that the poor kid who lost his towel will recognize his towel one of the next times he comes to swim and when he say, "Hey, I used to have a towel like that," then I'll give him his towel back.

Well, in order to prevent that situation from happening, I created this lovely basket system.  I went to the dollar store and bought these baskets.  I used some colorful coordinating 1-inch ribbon that I had on-hand and tied the baskets to our pool fence (one ribbon at the top and one further down to make sure the baskets didn't blow all over the place or fall down.  I awarded myself a GENIUS AWARD for this invention!

Now all the kids and teens can pick their own basket and keep all their "stuff" in it and it won't be on all over the chairs, picnic table, ground, etc.

 I grew up at the beach so I miss it.  We joke that living in the desert is "all beach, no ocean" which is a lot less fun.  So we decided to make our pool a little beachy.  My surfer brothers and friends donate their old surfboards to us and we use them to decorate.

My handy husband thought of making these fun signs to go around the walls near our pool.  We were inspired by similar signs at Bahama Buck's shaved ice stores.  They have beach city names and the distance from our house on them.  He used the router to put the names on and then painted the words and stained the wood.

 

Even though I grew up at the beach, I really don't like being directly out in the sun.  So during the hot part of the year, we put up these shades that we bought at Costco (online).  They weren't very expensive themselves, but buy the metal posts and putting in the cement to hold the poles up was more costly (but well worth it).  The posts are put in sleeves that were set in cement so we can take the shades and posts down in the cooler weather.  You can't really tell, but one end of the pool is shaded a lot which is great when we have little ones over to visit too.

I decided to invest in a decent chair for me to sit in during my countless hours of life guarding.  I bought this one at Lowe's for under $50.00.  It is a "zero gravity" type chair so when I lean back, it reclines and lifts my feet up.  It also folds up to transport easily.  I picked the bright apple green color because it makes me happy.  The rest of our chairs are boring and neutral.  If you notice behind my chair, there is a big half basketball court.  We decided with three boys that we would have a practical and fun backyard rather than "pretty."  It was a great decision for our family and we use our yard more than most people I know.

Thanks for reading and I hope our ideas will help you enjoy your pool parties this summer.

Pillow Talk - Questions to Ask your Kids at Night

1. What do you like to dream about?
2. What is your best memory this school year?
3. Who is your hero? Why?
4. How would you describe your family?
5. If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be?
6. What are you most proud of yourself for?
7. Who is the kindest person you know? Why?
8. What do you like most about your best friend?
9. What is one thing you would like to learn to do well?
10. If you were an animal what one would you be and why?
11. When is the last time someome hurt your feelings? How did you react?
12. Do you know someone who is going though a hard time? How can you help them?
13. What is the scariest thing that happened this year?
14. If you could keep only one thing, out of everything you have, what would it be?
15. Who do you think is really successful? Why?
16. What’s the best thing about your teacher this year?
17. When do you feel misunderstood by grown-ups?
18. What three words best describe you?
19. What’s something that makes you angry?
20. What’s the best compliment you ever received

Father's Day Gift Ideas

Click HERE for details on this cool Father's Day treat bag.

Click HERE for the website that I found this fun treat jar idea.

 Click HERE for this cute Father's Day printable that would be great for younger children.

This picture idea is SO wonderful.  We have three sons so I am thinking I'll make one of these for my hubby this year.  My kids are older so I hope they'll go for it!

Click HERE to see how one mom made this darling Father's Day photo collage.

I think we'll also have to do these cute soda bottles this year.

Ding Dong Ditching

For Family Night, we are going to go DING DONG DITCHING!  We bought individually wrapped Ding Dongs at Costco (around 24 for $5.99).  Put them in a bag, slap on this fun note, and then put them on someone's porch as you ding dong ditch.  My boys are very excited for this new tradition.

Feel free to use and share the sign I created.

Update - We went Ding Dong Ditching and it was a huge success.  Kids and teenagers alike thought it was super dooper fun and clever.

Book - Pig Kahuna

Found this awesome book at the school Book Fair yesterday.  It is a beach story about two cute little pigs who find a surfboard, name it "Dave" and eventually learn a life lesson. Of course I HAD to buy it for my surfer brother Dave's kids (and one for my family)!  I love finding the perfect book.

This is the horse barn of my relatives in Wyoming. Maybe I really am a farm/ranch girls genetically.... that would explain why this city girl likes chickens so much! 

 Notice that it says "Hohnholz" on the roof of the barn? That is my grandma's maiden name. We were reconnected with these relatives a few years ago when we did some research and tracked them down when we took a road trip through Wyoming. They are "good people."

Teacher Appreciation - Daily Themed Gifts

Here are the gifts I made for my son's elementary school teacher.  We had daily themes at our school which was very fun (see flyer below).

(Monday's theme is a "Flower and/or thoughtful note."  Here's a note from my son and a package of Thin Mint cookies.  My week is going to be too crazy to worry about a real live fresh flower.)

(Tuesday's them is "Favorite Candy" - We weren't sure what her favorites were so we just threw in a couple kinds since we knew she liked chocolate)

(Wednesday's theme is "Favorite Drink."  This is a regular water bottle with decorative duck tape on it.  I added cute ribbon on the top.  We threw in some of those Crystal light flavor packets because they are easy to keep in a drawer at school to be added to water anytime.)

(Thursday's them is "School Supplies."  I decorated these gigantic paperclips so that the teacher could use them to group papers.  The paper clips are about 4 inches tall and an inch wide.... not sure where to buy them since my mom gave these to me.  Then I threw in some thank you cards because teachers go through lots of those!)

(Friday's theme is "Favorite Pampering Item."  These are some cute fluffy socks that I got in the dollar section at Target, well the $2.50 part of that section.  I bought the shower gel on sale at Bath & Body Works.  It helps to plan in advance.  I buy things throughout the year when they are on sale.)

(I got these cute boxes at the dollar section of Target a few months ago.  It doesn't show it, but I added the daily theme signs to each box and attached them with a colored binder clip.  My son will bring one gift each day.  The teacher can also use these containers in her classroom later on if she chooses to.)

(The boxes are cute with little handprints all over them.)

Literacy Tips

I stumbled across this great blog that has helps for literacy.  Click HERE to visit the blog directly.

This chart shows the benefits of "oral retelling" and I am going to use it with my kids this summer.

This is a great story map that children can use when reading works of fiction.

Clothespin Dolls

My childhood friend makes these cute clothespin dolls for her daughter.  Aren't the DARLING!  Too bad I have all sons.  Maybe I should make some for my nieces this summer.

Visiting Teaching Handouts - May 2012

For May, 2012, we get to choose our own Visiting Teaching message from the General Conference Session.  Click HERE to read the entire May 2012 Ensign which has all the talks.  Here are some handouts from a few of my favorite talks.

Here are some handouts to go with President Uchtdorf's talk entitled "The Merciful Obtain Mercy."

Here are two handouts for another talk I loved called "Special Lessons" by Ronald A. Rasband.

This handout is from President Boyd K. Packer's Talk called, "And a Little Child Shall Lead Them."

Talk - Applying the Atonement

My mom gave this talk on Easter Sunday in Sacrament Meeting.  She wanted to share it on my blog... 

            Brothers and sisters, it is a great honor to have the privilege of sharing with you this morning my testimony of the Atonement of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  What a joy it has been these last two weeks studying and contemplating this transcendent gift of love.

            In 1998, President Gordon B. Hinckley declared:  “I believe our problems, almost every one, arise out of the homes of the people...if there is to be a change or return to old sacred values, it must begin in the home.  It is in the home where truth is learned, that integrity is cultivated, that self-discipline is instilled, and that love is nurtured.”  The sacred values he referred to are the first principles of the gospel.  The power that makes it possible for these values to be incorporated into our lives comes from the atoning sacrifice of our Redeemer and Savior, Jesus Christ.  In our world where evil is called good and good evil, the words declared by Mormon (found in Moroni 7) give us hope and confidence as they teach us that “Jesus Christ claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing.”  There is no better place to build faith than in the home, where the lessons and practical applications are realized and lived day to day.

        

Flower Pom Poms

We made a bunch of cute pom pom flowers last night to use for our Teacher Appreciation "Fiesta" Luncheon next month.  I know that it is still a month away, but I am SO not a last minute girl so I wanted to work on them in advance.  A big SHOUT OUT to the ladies at church who helped me make all these last night.  I'll make the rest soon.

The large pom poms were made using 10 sheets of tissue paper.  The medium and smaller pom poms were made using colored napkins from Walmart (dinner napkins and cocktail size napkins).  I used 6 napkins for each pom pom.  The napkins were 24 for $0.99 at Walmart so that means each pom pom cost around $0.25 since I can make 4 from one pack of napkins.

Here's a LINK to see how to make them.

We're going to use fishing line to hang these from the ceiling at our Fiesta Luncheon next month.  Our school ceilings have metal frames on them so I'll use magnets to attach the fishing line to the ceiling.  I'm sure it will look great!  I'll use some of the smaller pom pom flowers for bouquets on the tables.

Paperclip Bookmarks

I found this pack of 500 jumbo paper clips at Staples. There are red, blue, green, yellow and pink.  They have some other colors there as well in smaller packages and sometimes have seasonal colors too.

I saw a cute idea on Pinterest that used fabric and large paperclips to make bookmarks.  I drive my husband nuts because I never seem to have a bookmark for my books so I dog-ear the pages or just lay the book down open to the page I am on.  He is constantly finding me makeshift bookmarks that I find in the book I am reading.  He'll be excited to see this craft.  But my main purpose in making this was for Teacher Appreciation week.

I gathered up some ribbons that I had laying around.  I cut them into smaller strips (experiment to find the length you like).  Then I just looped the cut ends through the end of the paperclip and put the ends through the loop of the ribbon, pulling tight to get it to stay.  Be sure to put it through the correct end of the paperclip so that the paperclip will continue to function.

Here are a few close-up examples.

I had this fun teaching board to display them on.  It is one of those word charts that teachers use to put vocabulary words in.  My mom gave it to me when she retired from teaching and I'm hanging on to it in case I become a full-time teacher down the road.  We'll put these out in the Teacher's Workroom area during Teacher Appreciation week and the teachers and staff can pick the bookmark they like best.

 This would also be fun to do with Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Activity Day girls, grandkids, students, etc.  Cheap, easy and fun!