Here we are, week 4 of the Make a Memory series. Each Monday now through the end of August I will feature a special family tradition from one of my favorite bloggers. It is so important to create lasting memories with our families and this will be a fun way to get ideas for fun traditions we can start with our own families. So let’s dive right in and see how Heather from Whipperberry and her family make a memory!

We are soooo excited to be participating in Make a Memory Monday at A Little Tipsy today!! Happy Monday all… This is Heather from WhipperBerry. We live in sweltering Las Vegas and any good Summer memories involve water for sure!!

A few years ago I was planning an activity for our youth at church and I came up with our version of water dodge ball. We used large car wash sponges and several huge buckets of water in a large field, broke the kiddos up into teams and let them go to town. They LOVED it!!! It has become a tradition every summer here in these parts. When Michelle asked if I had a fun memory maker this was the first thing I thought of… but of course I needed a fun WhipperBerry Spin!! I found this picture on Pinterest from Positively Splendid…

… and thought it would be a fun addition to our water dodge ball tradition. I bought sponges, a mop and some drawer liners. All very durable materials!

The girls and I then cut up the mop, sponges and drawer liners to make our components for the sponge bombs.

You then decide how big you want your bombs to be… I cut each sponge into thirds {tall thirds} and used two sponges per bomb. and then randomly added the color strips.

We then gathered them and wrapped them with a cable tie.

Cinch the cable tie down really tight…

… and then trim the tail.

You may be worried about he cable tie… but don’t. By the time you cinch it down real tight the hard knob gets lost inside the sponges and it doesn’t cause any problems at all. My kiddos have played with these for HOURS without any complaints.

Trim the long strips to make it a little more uniform. Fluff and grab a bucket!!!

Aren’t they cute?!?

Even my little guy LOVED them. He had to play with them while dry as to not get his poor cast wet. The good news… his cast came off today!! YEA!!

Let the kiddos go WILD! They LOVE these!! Who needs Sponge Bob when you have SPONGE BOMBS!!!!

Happy Summer everyone and thanks Michelle for letting us join the party!!

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Heather never ceases to amaze! These are so fun and with two boys, I love that they are super durable! Thanks so much for a another great way to make a memory!

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Here we are, week 4 of the Make a Memory series. Each Monday now through the end of August I will feature a special family tradition from one of my favorite bloggers. It is so important to create lasting memories with our families and this will be a fun way to get ideas for fun traditions we can start with our own families. So let’s dive right in and see how Leanne from Organize and Decorate Everything and her family (of 10, she is supermom!) make a memory!

Thanks Michelle for inviting me to participate in the Make a Memory Series. I remember so many wonderful traditions from my childhood and am trying to incorporate some of those and also new ones with my own family.

One of our favorite traditions is our Family Backyard Camp out. The weather hasn’t been great so we haven’t had one yet this year, but we will be able to get in a few camp outs before the cooler weather hits.

Camping starts with the boys and hubby setting up the tent and the girls bringing the supplies out.

We play games before dark. Either croquet, Frisbee, jumping on the trampoline, baseball, or the swing set.

Then we roast hot dogs and make s’mores in the fire pit.

Once it’s dark we lay on the trampoline to find stars and constellations.

Then head back to the fire pit for more s’mores or roasted starburst before we turn in for the night.

The kids pick a movie to watch on the computer and hubby and I usually end up falling asleep about 10 minutes into it.

The next morning hubby makes pancakes or french toast. Yum!

We love our Family Backyard Camp outs and the kids always look forward to it. I hope they always remember these fun family times. And also remember some of the most fun we’ve had as a family cost little or nothing, it was the time spent together. As they get older I think this is even more important.

I also love that the back door is just a few feet away and I can shower first thing in the morning.

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I am tired of being the “mean” one. I make the kids do their homework, I make them do their jobs, I break up fights, I send them to time out, I take away privileges, I threaten, I make them hug when they are mean to each other, I make them clean their room (everyday), etc. I think you get the idea.

And my husband? He comes home from work and wrestles and plays with them until it is time to go to bed. So in an effort to be considered some what fun and nice I instituted a new tradition that my kids have named their “special day”.

Every Saturday I take one of the kids and we do some activity of their choice. The only stipulation is that is can’t cost a lot of money. We spend part of the day having some quality one on one time. We have been doing this for about a year now and I have to say I think it has improved my relationship with my kids.

Some of the things we have done are: ice cream cones at McDonald’s, the park, feeding the duck at the local pond, picnics, going up the canyon, visiting the “cowboy” store (Cal-Ranch), a trip to the local garden center, and catching butterflies with a butterfly net in the fields by Grandma’s house. My oldest boy is the first, then we take turns down the line. Pretty much whatever my oldest picks to do the others want to do for their day. So I have done some of those things 3 times!

It takes an effort to remember and to set aside the time to do it. But I would highly recommend it. My kids look forward to it and start planning their day weeks in advance. It gives us a chance to have some much needed one on one time where we can really talk. Sometimes we are just silly the whole time. I don’t think it matters what you do. The point is they feel valued because you took the time to be with them. I am still primarily the mean one, but at least now they know I CAN be fun!

Guess who the guest was last Friday? Hmmm, you guessed it. ME! Grab yer mateys and walk the plank on over to see me ideas for a pirate play date! Here’s a sneak peak…

There’s a treasure trove of fun for yer little land lubbers where that came from so follow this map (aka link) to find a wealth of ideas.

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