Creativity By Way Of A Broken DVR

This past Saturday, I cut the grass in the front and back yards and burned over 500 calories doing so (our backyard is fairly large with lots of things to work around).  Afterwards, I turned on the kids' car wash that Hubs made for Calah's birthday party the week before.  See photos here.  I filled up the baby pool with water and the kids just had a blast.  We grilled turkey burgers and turkey hot dogs for lunch.  We ate outside (clean up is so much easier!!) and just hung out together.  We were outside ALL DAY.

Then, at dinner time, we came inside and watched a movie together while we ate.  The only time the TV was on all day. One of the items on our summer bucket list is to have a screen-free weekend, but we haven't decided when to do that just yet.  This was just a preview and I was très excited to see that we can actually do this.  We can spend a whole day outside playing without feeling the desire to go in and watch a show (or three).  I've always known the boys could do it but sometimes I get too lazy to want to be outside when it's hot and humid.

Sunday, after church, we had lunch at Cracker Barrel, one of our favorites.  Then, Benji and I went to a friend's house for a bit and then we met Hubs and the little kids at his softball game.  On the way to the game, I noticed that I received an email from our TV provider that we were receiving a new DVR.  My first thought was that the email was spam and almost deleted it but I called Hubs instead and he told me that our DVR had just stopped working.  What?!  It was only just over a  year old, how could that be?  The new one would be shipped out on Monday and we'd receive it by end of business on Wednesday. 

It's not like my life would be over without TV for four whole days but it would make things different for sure because while I clean at night, I watch a movie or a few of my shows.  It makes folding mounds of laundry a little less mundane.  Plus, I'm constantly working towards clearing things off the DVR because we're always around 98% of our Terrabyte capacity.  (We may or may not have roughly 250 movies recorded).  So it's always like a challenge to me and satisfies my OCD tendencies.

Thankfully, we didn't get home until bedtime on Sunday night, because that gave me some time to figure out what we would do the next few days.  The house seemed a lot quieter but it was a nice quiet.  I have been having issues with my hips for the past week, so I haven't been able to attack my to-do list nearly as much as I want each night. 

Without TV and with the Hubs busy with a big project,  I was left with reading and going to bed early.  Going to bed early is a natural consequence of reading at night for me.  I only last about 10-15 minutes before I just pass out!  So, the last few nights, I was asleep by 10:30, whereas I normally go to sleep between 11:30 and midnight.  (Note to self:  Brainstorm why I'm always so tired when I wake up at 6AM for work...).

Here are a few things we've done this week with no TV:

Bubble Party

Impromptu "dress up" and face making

Perler Beads - Joann Fabric for 50% off this week

We also bought Benji a Kindergarten activity book to make sure that he is up on some of his skills before he starts school in the fall.  He is blasting through that book and seems to know all the letters, shapes, and can sound out most words.  We also came back around to working on his addition and he does pretty well but he needs to have ongoing exposure to it.  Jo got a Preschool book even though he still has another year before preschool because of his late birthday and he hasn't shown much interest in it so far but we'll be working on it with him this summer as well.

I have been working on my cousin's baby blanket for quite some time now and every once in a while, I need a break. I need to work on something with a little shape to it. Something smaller that I can complete in under an hour. So I have been experimenting with crocheting different shapes and even tried my hand at some fabric flowers, thanks to my friend Holly, who showed me how to do them.

Here are a few things I've made so far.


1. 4th of July headband
2. Fabric flower
3. Fabric flower with button
4. Crocheted baby barefoot sandals

 I've got some other ideas in the pipeline as well and am getting pumped up about them.  I am not naturally crafty so it's a great feeling when I see that I CAN do it.

How have you been creative this week?