Second Week Of Mommy Lesson Plans

Very excited to have finished next week's "Lesson Plans". It seemed like they took forever to make because I kept getting interrupted. As moms, I'm sure you can relate. In fact, I just got interrupted again trying to write this post!
The Dinner recipes have been taken from the website Ready Set Eat. I like this site because it offers simple, inexpensive recipes that take little time to prepare. If you ever want to access past plans, just click on the tab above.
Mommy Lesson Plans Week 2

Water Fun

Vegas in the summer is about as close to hell as you can get. Unfortunately, 6 months out of the year requires us to be inside. I hate this! Kids should be outside playing! The only way that this is going to happen is if we play water games. Here are the top five water activities that I found (besides the pool). The links will take you to lists that offer other activities as well.
Bouncing Balloons Game sounds like a blast. Basically what you do is have the kids bounce a water balloon on an old sheet. The trick is getting them to catch it back on the sheet. My kids would love this!
Frozen Feet sounds hilarious. Fill a kiddie pool with ice and  have the kids race to remove the ice to fill their own personal bucket. The person with the most ice wins.
Jump Rope on the Sprinkler seems like an easy set up. All you have to do is turn on the sprinkler and have the kids twirl the jump rope through the spray.
Freezing Water Tag is a variation on freeze tag. The "It" person runs and sprays others with water using a spray bottle. When someone is sprayed they have to freeze. The last one to be sprayed wins.
After reading the above activities, I realized that I didn't really pick good activities for my toddler. So, this one is for him. Break the Ice requires some prep work. Make large ice cubes using plastic bowls or pans. Hide little plastic toys in them. Let the kids use plastic hammers to free the toys.
So why are you still sitting here on the computer. Get your kids outside! (I guess that goes for me too.)

Geocaching and Letter-boxing

My boys are adventurers. So, when I tell them that we will be going on an adventure, they get involved whole heartedly. So, geocaching or letter-boxing seems like the perfect fit. But, I really have no clue where to begin. This requires research. This is what I found.

According to Wikioedia, "Geocaching is an outdoor sporting activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device^[2] and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world."
I think my boys would love this. After all, it includes mystery places and treasure. But how do we begin?

• Make and Takes has a cute and easy explanation of Geocaching for kids.
• The Outdoor Guy also has a wonderful description of this fun activity. So, I think that is a good start. 
• But, the official website for GPS locations and explanations is http://www.geocaching.com/.

Another similar activity is Letterboxing. Wikipedia describes this as, "Letterboxing is an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, art, and puzzle solving. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly-accessible places (like parks)^[1] and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on one of several web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual letterboxes usually contain a notebook and a rubber stamp.^[2] Finders make an imprint of the letterbox's stamp, either on their personal notebook or on a postcard, and leave an impression of their personal stamp on the letterbox's "visitors' book" or "logbook" — as proof of having found the box and letting other letterboxers know who has visited. Many letterboxers keep careful track of their "find count"."
Oooh, art and puzzles. What's not to love? I like that this uses riddles and clues instead of a GPS.

• Letterboxing North America has pretty much everything you need in order to start this fun hobby. I like the section on Getting Started. It is a very easy site to navigate.
• This post Letterboxing with Kids also offers some great information. I love the example that they posted as well. Very cute! 
• Atlas Quest has a ton of information, as well as clues on where to find letterboxes in your area. 
• And check out this super cute letter boxing kit (photo above).

So here's my plan. We are going to make our own "adventure kits" to use for both activities, since we are not sure which one we are going to like better. ( I will post our creations in a later post.) I think I will also get a big map of our state to post on the wall and we will pin where we find each cache. What a wonderful opportunity for us to learn geography!

Exercise

This year I have been noticing that I have not had the energy that I need in order to get through my day. I was told that exercise would boost my energy. What? Exercise makes me tired..and sore...and sweaty. Why the heck would I want to do that? Well, according to science, it does a lot for you. According to the Mayo Clinic, "physical activity delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and help your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. And when your heart and lungs work more efficiently, you have more energy to go about your daily chores." Not to mention, it boosts health, maintains weight, enhances mood, and  improves sleep. Okay, I am sold.
I guess this means I will be scheduling exercise into my lesson plans. I have not really taken exercise seriously before, as my job had always kept me moving. So, I have done some research to try to find some exercise plans that are free and require very little equipment. This is what I found.

1. Body Rock TV would be an easy way to do have a regular routine. It is an online program that schedules new workouts regularly. It requires very little equipment and is free. All you do is log in and do the daily routine. It has 5 routines a week and two rest days.
2. Woman's Health magazine has printable workouts with fantastic explanations. They are free and once again require very little equipment. I think the bikini workout looks very interesting because it is a plan that has three different routines that you do for six days. Then, you have one rest day. It is recommended for 21 days. There are so many great workouts on this site.
3. Livestrong wrote this great article on how to exercise as a family. I love some of the ideas. I think the dancing together is a great idea and I plan on using the video games that we have at home in order to do so. My kids love their gaming system and I think if I could convince them to do 30 minutes of dancing with me, I could get my exercise in as well as spend quality time with them.
4. Prevention magazine also has some great workouts. I have always been interested in yoga. The yoga workouts (among others) on this site look interesting. Plus, this would be a nice way to try something new without a large investment.
5. Divine.ca is a great website. Select what part of your body you want to work on and it will give you different exercises for that specific area.
6. Hiking is a great activity for the family and is often free (we usually have to pay for parking). Trails.com is an excellent resource for finding local trails and for getting information. I like the feature that allows you to create a profile and save the hikes that you are interested in.

My plan is to make weight and inches goals using a measurement tracker. I will then pick a workout plan and do it for three weeks with a sprinkle of family workouts as well. I will check my measurements weekly and check for progress. If the workout is interesting and is working, I will continue it. Otherwise I try different workouts until I find the one I want. Also, workouts will need to vary based on the results I am looking for. For example, I am not happy with the jiggling in my arms, so I will want to choose plans that address that.