Graduation Gift Idea

My niece is graduating from high school this weekend. I know she would prefer to receive cash gifts instead of anything else. I really don't like to give checks as gifts and I did not feel like making a money tree so I thought I would conceal her cash gift in a book.

I found this cute little book at Barnes & Noble

I thought about getting Oh the Places You Will Go by Dr. Seuss, but I am pretty sure she already has that book. Reach for the Stars has cute little drawings with each bit of advice.

 It is a small book so I put a bill in between each two-page spread.

 There were a lot more $1 bills than any other denomination.

 I hope she reads the book and finds her gift.

Other ways I have given cash gifts:
origami folds, money tree, inside balloons, inside a box of chocolates, inside a tube in a jar of candy, rolled up as candles on the front of a handmade card, disguised as trees on a card, and in treat bags.

How have you given gifts of money?

This post is linked to:

Be sure to check out the wonderful sites I link to on my sidebar!  I would love for you to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by.

We Are Getting Ready for Summer

May is flying by so quickly! Boogs and I spent the first week of May at home together while he had the Chicken Pox (he was vaccinated for it but the vaccination did not work). I admit that I let him watch way too much tv and play way too many video games. He loved it. We also spent some time making Lego marble mazes, reading, playing games, working on crossword puzzles, and trying not to be bored out of our minds while we were trapped in the house.

 

To make our maze more challenging, we had to place the marble at the start of the maze using chopsticks.

Boogs had a very mild case of Chicken Pox and does not have a single scar. He recovered in time for us to go out for brunch on Mother's Day. Here's my Mother's Day pic with my sweet boy. Daddy treated us to a delicious brunch at Z'Tejas.

Swim season has begun! This is Boogs' 4th year to be on a summer swim team. On the first day of practice, it was only 64 degrees and very windy. Boogs enjoys swimming so much he does not mind the cold, even when his nail beds start to turn blue. Boogs was very proud that he was able to move up a swim level this year.

The first week of swim practice was rough. It rained quite a bit and it was very chilly, but the kids kept swimming. One day we had to clear the pool because of lightning. Shortly after the lightning the sun came back out, but we still had to wait 30 minutes for the all clear to get back in the pool. We played at the park while we waited.

Boogs' team had a mock meet last Saturday. The mock meet was a practice meet to get a seed time and to get the volunteers comfortable in their new volunteer positions. The meet check-in time was 6:40. The real meets' (starting this weekend) check-in times will be an hour earlier. I am not looking forward to trying to get out of the house every Saturday morning by 5:15.

 Boogs has improved his swim times from last summer.

 For the Mock Meet, he swam the 25 yard and the 50 yard freestyle.

 He swam the 25 yard backstroke.

During his 25 yard butterfly heat, his goggles fell off. Boogs kept swimming and made it to the end of the lane.

Boogs is really looking forward to swimming at every meet he can this season. Swim practice is Monday thru Friday and meets are every Saturday until July 11th. We are ready to spend our summer at the pool.

We had a day off from school this past Monday and spent part of our day at the park. Can you see the bunny who visited us on the playground? He is camouflaged very well.

 He hung around for quite a while before running for the woods.

Boogs and I challenged each other to run backwards on the basketball lines around the court.

Then we found these little critters everywhere on the court.

Boogs thought they were creepy and did not want to be near them. I think they are black slugs.

While we are happy to have rain after such a long drought, we really hope the sun starts coming out soon. I know I will regret saying that in a few weeks when the temperature will be over 100 degrees on a daily basis. We have two more weeks of school until summer begins. Boogs is already making plans for ways to fill our days.

I think we are definitely going to work on Boogs' handwriting this summer. Have you started making summer plans?


This post is linked to:

Family Day

Last Sunday, was a great day to have family time. My husband decided it was time for Boogs to learn how to cook some "man food" on the grill. They grilled a couple of Kielbasa sausages for lunch.

We took a bike ride to a nearby park. Well, they rode bikes to the park. Somehow I have managed to bend the back wheel on my bike. I had to ride a scooter to the park. I could barely keep up with them.

 It was a beautiful day for a bike ride.

 We played at the park for a couple of hours.

 

Boogs made dinner for us. He grilled pork chops and asparagus (with Daddy's help) and mircrowaved some baked potatoes.

 Dinner was delicious!

It was the perfect way to spend a lazy Sunday. The next evening, I noticed spots all over Boogs' side. I took him to the doctor on Tuesday morning and we were told he probably had Chicken Pox. Boogs had to spend the rest of the week at home. The Chicken Pox vaccine is supposed to be 98% effective, I guess he fell into the 2% of people who don't get immunity from the vaccine. It has been a very long week. We are hoping he will be able to go back to school on Monday.

This post is linked to:

Mud Run and Carnival

Boogs and I had a great time participating in the Muddy Miler Family Adventure last weekend. Whenever I run in a Warrior Dash, Boogs asks how old he has to be before he can join in. The Muddy Miler was the perfect event for little mud runners. We were filthy by the end of the course. Boogs enjoying crawling through the mudpits, climbing the ramps, going over the hurdles, being sprayed with water while climbing mud hills, and wading across the lake. The only part of the course he did not enjoy was the ice and mud filled trenches. His feet and legs went numb during the trench walk and he did not like it at all. We were lucky enough to have a kind stranger take this picture for us at the halfway mark of the race. We were pretending to be Mud Monsters!

Here is what we looked like at the end (after being sprayed slightly clean with a hose on the last hill climb).

It was a fun way to spend the morning! There were fire trucks in the parking lot with running hoses for cleaning off. We tried to clean up as much as possible before getting back in the car. Boogs said he will DEFINITELY do another mud run.

Boogs and I went home and cleaned up. After a quick lunch, we picked up a friend and went to Boogs' school carnival and book fair. He spent 2 1/2 hours running around having fun. The weather was perfect for outdoor fun.

Boogs always loves to go to the bugger picker booth.

 Since we are in Texas, we have to have cattle roping practice, sort of.

 Dunking the teacher booth is always fun.

 The jousting sticks weighed almost as much as the boys.

 Boogs spent quite a bit of time at the Minecraft Build and Destroy booth.

 

 I laughed so hard when Boogs was trying out the Pilates equipment.

 Look at that face when his legs go out of control.

He thought it was funny, too.

Boogs and I were worn out by the time we made it home. We spent the rest of the day snuggled up on the couch watching a movie and reading.

This post is linked to: