Kalena Langford

I mentioned in my May Montly Round-Up that we had several things planned with our homeschool co-op for Summer. I organized one of those days and wanted to share it here because it was really fun, really easy, and went over really well!

Once I knew I would be planning one of our Summer sessions, I started brainstorming. I didn’t want to do a craft (because I’ve done a lot of those and just wanted to do something different), I knew we had a painting day already on the schedule, and a couple of physical activities (bowling and swimming) were already planned. It took a couple of weeks of thinking and searching, but I finally came across the idea to take apart things. (I wish I could claim the clever title, “Tech Apart,” but I saw it somewhere else. :)

I researched a little more, then decided to just bring my husband in on the plan. His knowledge of tech helped a lot, and he helped me choose items that would be safe to deconstruct (we chose not to use anything with glass or batteries in order to avoid potential cuts and corrosion). And we actually made a date of going to thrift stores to find items that would work.

Here’s what we gathered for our group of 8: 2 printers (we took out the ink ahead of time) 1 printer/fax machine (again, took out the ink) 3 keyboards 1 calculator (the kind with receipt paper) 1 cash register

All of that cost about $22 (the cash register was donated).

Set up was simple. I put 4 rectangle tables together in the middle of the classroom we use (our usual set up) plus set up an additional rectangle table against one wall with all the items to take apart placed on it so that the kids could make their choice then take it to their seat at the main tables.

Prior to the meeting, my kids helped me place a paper towel, a few q-tips (for more precise cleaning, if needed), a tech pry bar, and a pair of gloves at each seat. And we put a couple of rolls of paper towels and cleaner in the middle of the tables for easy access.

We have a big dry erase board in the room, so I wrote a few very general instructions on it (mostly so I wouldn’t forget, but also so they could refer to if desired). I don’t remember exactly what I put, but it was something like 1) Disassemble as much as you can with just your hands, 2) Remove all screws, and 3) Use the tech pry bar and/or a hammer to continue disassembling. I told them it would be easiest to work in this order when possible.

I also wrote a few challenges in case we needed some encouragement to keep going (because I was unsure of how it would play out beforehand). Things like 1) Who has the most pieces?, 2) Who has the most screws?, and 3) Who has the biggest/smallest part?

We have painting aprons in our co-op storage, so I knew we could use those. I brought a large set of different size and type of magnetic screwdrivers (similar set here), some pliers, and a hammer that my husband lent to us. I also brought some safety goggles. And I asked other members to bring a few pairs of safety glasses and some other tools if they had them in order to have enough for everyone.

Really, there wasn’t much direction to give. I went over where everything was, what it was for, and the general order of things that might be the easiest way to proceed. But other than that, they just dove in. The printers were the hardest to break into and take apart. The keyboards, calculator, and cash register all had lots of keys that were fun to pop off (pieces flew across the room, but all was well!). A couple of the kids decided to take apart as far as they could without destroying anything, then put the item back together, which was really cool. Some got to the point of absolute destruction, and that was cool too.

I wish I had taken before and after photos. But the few photos I have of the morning mostly speak for themselves. Fun was had. The great thing about this activity is that it can be done in a group or co-op setting, but can also be done at home with your kid(s). It’s also appealing to a wide age range. It’s a super versatile option.

It’s September! I rounded up some whimsical and colorful Fall finds from Amazon (here), Walmart (here) and Target (below).

TARGET FALL FINDS

Wood base with rattan shade accent table lamp

Large preserved fall cloche

Halloween patterned tray

Glass candy bowl burgundy

Set of 4 wavy edge mini berry bowls

Round turkey pillow

Just got back from a relaxing week in Florida. I could EASILY get used to morning (and evening) walks on the beach. Thankful for several of those this past week.

These photos are from Wednesday AM. 💙🤍🩵🩶💚

My sweet boy made me my pizza for dinner yesterday. It was delish.

I recapped our Waco/Dallas trip from a little over a week ago on Instagram (the likes of which I haven’t done in a long time), and I thought I would do the same in a (really) longform blog post. But I haven’t. Simple as that. I still want to, but not all at once. Otherwise, I’d probably be posting it in December. Anyway, I think I’m going to just put out bits and pieces here and there as I feel so inspired. I’ll still have it to look back on that way.

So starting backwards, here’s my souvenirs from our trip:

IN WACO

Magnolia - I got a cute spoon rest. We’ve been here before, so I have a magnet for our fridge and a couple of other things. The spoon rest was the perfect little souvenir.

Dr. Pepper Museum - Again, we’ve been here. My husband got a lot of stuff because he’s a big DP guy, but I just did a smashed penny. Might put a pin backing on it and add to my travel pin collection.

Waco Mammoth National Monument - I got a pin for my travel pin collection.

Homestead Heritage - We’ve also been here. This time, I bought this beautiful matted roadrunner watercolor to add to my bird art wall.

IN DALLAS:

Globe Life Field / Texas Rangers - This was a revisit too, so I have things from here. This time, I got another pin for my travel pin collection.

Sweet and simple things. I didn’t spend way too much. Not everything is “branded.” And I really like it all. Exactly how I like to do souvenirs.

Tea party florals, me and my girl

I’ve had 2 cups of coffee today, but considering making another. Probably won’t. But I might. Making myself decide in the next 11 minutes.

Summer colors. Hot coffee. ☀️☕️💚

Organizing thoughts and things after a trip last week (arrived home yesterday) and yard work this morning. ✨

Coffee at home is the best. And even better when it stays hot in a fun Yeti (we like Yetis).

I just saw a Baja Blast in a Taco Bell commercial. Haven’t had TB or a Baja Blast in YEARS, but I could allllmost taste that bubbly blue drink for a moment.

In just three months of recapping my months, I’ve realized how quickly we move from one thing to the next. Not necessarily in a bad way. But it does make me want to slow down even more. I’m pretty intentional about not saying “yes” to everything. In fact, I’ve probably lived the opposite of that in a negative way at some points. Mostly since having kids. Because they definitely make you reevaluate everything (and for the better in most cases). But I do want to be more intentional about saving space to just be versus getting caught up in the “do everything” mindset. Even at home sometimes (which is its own can of worms). It’s nice to not have plans all of time. Actually, really nice.

June was a pretty good mix of planned things and not planned things. Here’s some of what we did…

ZOOSIANA

I already posted a few pictures from a zoo outing last month, but wanted to journal a little bit more about it. It was really such a great day with my kids. Just me and them. We were supposed to have gone a couple of weeks before we actually did. But, rain. Lots of it. And there was threat of it (and existence of it) on the makeup day too, but we still went for it. Zoo memberships helped make that decision easier knowing if we needed to leave, we wouldn’t have wasted our money.

So, we planned this out, but it didn’t involve meeting anyone else and was easy and relaxing. Woke up, ate breakfast, then headed there. My kids have been many, many times with their grandpa, so they know the layout well and are always excited to lead the way. So, they did. And I just went at their pace. It was wonderful. We all had a great time taking in each animal, them spouting off allllll the facts they know (mostly from Wild Kratts), and enjoying just being outside. Thankfully, most of the zoo is shaded and a lot of renovations have taken place over the last year or two to make it nicer.

I’m pretty certain we saw every animal, which was awesome. There were tiny baby squirrel monkeys and red ruffed lemurs as well as 1-day old peacocks (SO CUTE). The tiger and porcupines were especially entertaining. We got caught in a super heavy downpour while feeding donkeys. But we were close to the train pavilion, so were able to take cover there (along with a few other visitors and about 20 peacocks). One of the keepers gave the kids peacock feathers while we waited for the rain to stop. I think that’s a fairly common thing if you catch them with enough to hand out. Super fun (and cheap) souvenir. After the rain subsided, we picked up the pace to see the last little bit of the zoo we had not seen up to that point and left just before another rainstorm began.

OYSTERS

I like oysters. At least the smoked, chargrilled/charbroiled, or fried varieties. I’ve yet to try them raw. Maybe one day. Anyway, even though I like them, I don’t eat them often. But they made it to my monthly round-up because I ate them two different times in June. Matt and I went to Uncle T’s Oyster Bar for our anniversary (ha we’re fancy). It was our first visit there. As an appetizer, we got the Holly Beach sampler, which includes four different kinds of fancied up charbroiled oysters. They were good. And when we told our son about it, it piqued his interest. He requested he and I go to Uncle T’s for our next date night together. So, we did. Ordered the same thing as when Matt and I went: the charbroiled oyster sampler and alligator tacos. He loved it all too. Yum.

DOT-TO-DOTS

Every so often, one of the kids decides to pull out a dot-to-dot book. Not just any dot-to-dot book, though. Ha.

I stumbled across a 1,000 dot-to-dot activity book at Sam’s a lot of years ago. I did a couple, then stuffed it away and rediscovered it a few years back. My son, who was (I think) 5 years old at the time took a big interest. So, I shared and ordered another. In fact, he really learned counting to 1,000 well doing these dot-dot-dots. And June happened to be the month for my daughter to start doing the same. She actually started in an up to 500-ish dot-to-dot book that I got at Dollar Tree. Went from needing help several months back to plowing through them fairly quickly. She requested her own 1,000 dot book. I have to admit, they are super cool. Frame-worthy.

500 dot-to-dot book from Dollar Tree

1,000 Dot-to-Dot Wonders of the World book

1,000 Dot-to-Dot Cities book

FLOWERS

I love having flowers at home. Here’s just a few from June:

Bachelor’s Buttons

Montbresia

Zinnias