Saturday, June 29, 2013

Santikos Free Summer Movies


Santikos is offering free summer movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in our area. We've been lucky enough to catch two of them, The Lorax and Despicable Me. It's been a great experience so far. Bro Bro Monkey, almost 4, has finally displayed the capacity to sit through a movie at the theater (as long as it's not 3D). 

We're looking forward to catching a couple more movies in the coming weeks. It's a nice treat to be able to do this with the kids. We buy a couple of kid packs (popcorn and small soda) and sit back and relax for a couple of hours. The only downside is it's wildly popular. The movies start at 10 and, despite arriving 30+ minutes early, we barely managed to get seats together this last time. However, you have to love the people who feel the need to 'reserve' the 10 closest seats to them for people who magically never make it. Eh, I won't delve into that nonsense. Overall, we're having a good time this summer and kudos to Santikos for offering such a program.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Fiesta Float

Better late than never, but here is Monkey girl's Fiesta float. Don't be too critical, this was a first time experience for both of us. Next time (if there is one) I know we need more sparkle, defined decorative edges, and a clearer theme. Though on the latter, my hands were tied since she kept insisting on a very general flower/garden theme. However, we were proud of our work!


Sunday, June 23, 2013

Motivated Moms


I am severely lacking in domestic engineer qualities. It's a struggle to not only figure out what household items need to be done, how often, or finding the time to actually tackle them. I've seen the '30 days to an organized home' articles and I get through about 5 days (being generous) before I fall behind. Once I'm behind, it's all over. 

Anyways, I discovered this Motivated Moms app that I download to my kindle and it's set up like a calendar. Each day I open it up and it has the days chores listed. You can check them off as you go. There area daily regulars like cleaning the kitchen sink, sweeping the kitchen and entry areas, making beds, laundry, etc... The paid version allows you to make changes ... like changing laundry from a daily chore to a weekly/bi weekly one (daily laundry is not a service I provide) or adding custom chores like watering your garden! The best part is they even say, if you miss doing some chores, relax, they'll come up again (music to my ears). I love how thorough it is, items like washing my garage door, flipping the mattresses, and even cleaning the cabinets aren't things I'd remember to do very often (or at all).

We'll see how it goes. I've already gotten a couple of days behind, but have manged to catch up. Their philosophy of don't worry about catching up, just keep going is great, but I've got family coming to visit so I want to get as many of the obscure items done on the list as possible. I kind of missed the whole spring cleaning phase, so we're doing mid-summer cleaning! The other great thing, is it gets you in a routine and the extra items are done one or two at a time, so there's not a lot of time spent accomplishing your tasks. 


I'd love to say more, but I'm off to wash all the brushes and combs in the house!

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Father's Day Burn

Unfortunately, Dadda monkey only had an okay Father's Day. It started well with a nice breakfast of crepes with nutella, strawberries, and bananas. Then we headed to the pool where we had a nice relaxing time, but Dadda monkey's back is bright red. Monkey girl tried rubbing some aloe on him and now they're both watching TV. Oh well, at least it was memorable.

Happy Father's Day!

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Summer Solstice

In just a couple of weeks, June 21st will signify the beginning of summer. I happen to remember this day because it is the birthday of my best friend when I was growing up. Despite, it still being spring, San Antonio has had some really warm days and we're lucky that our pool is open. We've taken advantage and spent quite a bit of time in the water so far. In addition, watermelon and other summer produce has been abundant in the stores.

The beginning of summer and the end of summer are probably my two favorite times of year. The excitement of a summer vacation, warm days, time at the pool and/or beach, and summer produce lead up to great memories. Then as summer is winding down, you look forward to the weather cooling off, leaves changing (unless you're in San Antonio...), and apples, pumpkins, etc... But who wants to look down that road now?! It's almost summer and this monkey family is planning to have a fun one!