Summer Camps We Would Like To Ship Our Kids Off To, But Won't #summercamps #NC

There are so many options for Summer Camps in NC, I know you would love to send your kids to summer camp and have them come home potty trained, doing chores with no argument, learning some awesome common sense and how to drop that lovely teenage attitude, but............summer camps these days are just plain fun instead........for the kids that is. There are many mommy worries that go along with sending your little darlings off to a camp with total strangers. Here are some great tips from Carolina Summer Camps 

How can parents save money when enrolling their child in a summer camp?
	• #1 Register early to take full advantage of all early-bird discounts!  • #2 ASK if they have scholarships, financial aid or a sliding scale.  • #3 Offer to volunteer at camp for a reduced or free camper registration.  • #4 Ask friends of your child(ren) to register together for a group discount.

How can parents prepare their children for attending their first summer camp?

• Day camps are more fun when children know at least one other camper who will be attending. Don't assume that they will be in the same group, let the camp director know your preferences when you initially register your child. • Take a tour of the facility. Let them view their website ahead of time. The more familiar they are with the environment, the less overwhelming they will feel. • For residential camps, make sure that this isn’t the first time your child will be sleeping away from home. Let them practice overcoming their separation anxiety with a couple of sleep-overs with friends or family before going to a residential camp.

How do parents find if a summer camp has had any complaints filed against them?
	• Look up the camp on the Better Business Bureau for any grievances. (BBB.org) • Ask your friends through social media (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.) if they have had any positive or negative experiences with the camp. Your friends will tell you!

When should teens start sending in their resumes to camp directors for summer jobs?

• Many Camp Directors start receiving resumes in January and February.  Don't wait. With the high levels of unemployment, there will be a tremendous  competition for jobs.  Send follow-up emails and make phone calls to show your interest.  • Camp Directors want fun camp counselors who campers will enjoy being around,  while also respecting and obeying them.  The more experience you have working with kids, the better.  Volunteer with your local schools, YMCA, churches, scouts, and other civic organizations  to build your experience levels. What qualities should parents look for in a great summer camp? • A high percentage of returning campers shows that the campers had fun last year. • A low camper-to-counselor ratio. 10:1 is good. 5:1 is great! • Staff trained in CPR, first aid skills, and conflict resolution techniques. • Low staff-turnover shows good experience. What different types of summer camps are there? • Arts Camps • Sports Camps • Academic Camps • Church Camps • Residential Camps • Specialty Camps If my child takes medication during the school year, should he/she take it for summer camp? • First, consult with your child's pediatrician before ever deciding to stop treating your child with any medication. • Most children with allergy, asthma, diabetes, attention and impulsivity  conditions are not "healed" during the summer months. Many times it can be worse with the heat, additional exercise, and being outside.  Children with medical issues usually need special treatment to help them enjoy their summer camp experience the most. • For children who take medication for their attention or impulsivity, it can be especially hard for them to listen to instructions, get along with peers, and control their impulses when they are not on medication. How are campers disciplined? Are refunds given if my child has behavior problems? • Ask the Camp Director for a copy of their discipline policy. If they don't have one, inquire how campers are disciplined for misbehaving, It can vary from Time Out to clean-up duty. • Most camps do not give refunds for campers who violate  camp rules and they are expelled, but ask the Camp Director  ahead of time for clarity if this is a concern.  How safe is the camp? • There are always accidents. How often do injuries happen? Ask the Camp Director if they have had any serious injuries in the past. Is there much turn-over in staff? Are there first aid kits easily accessible? • Be sure to let the camp know if your child has any severe allergies. Most day camps have a time for kids to play outside, so they need to know if your child is especially sensitive  to bee stings, sunburn, or accidents.   A Mom Can always Dream can't she............lol

Image credit to nickmom 

A much better option! Check out the Carolina Summer Camps site!

Find the Summer Camp in your area by clicking on the websites below

Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Raleigh, Wilmington, Winston-Salem

A Night To Remember.....BOO!!

How was your Halloween? spooktacular? Ours was full of mischief with vampires, ninja warriors and teenagers! What more could a momma ask for? Her youngest daughter transforms into a Vampiress( she called it a "Monster High" girl) that is out to eat all the
candy in the land of BOO!! (or trunk /treat and the mall). My middle daughter steps out to save the night as the "Blue Ninja Warrior", the Zombie daddy walks the mall in a really wonderful mood, an escort for the Vampiress of the night. And the teenager is a typical teenager with his ipod blasting rock music, texting and chatting away via the wonderful cell phone.....
At least the night ended on a good note with a trip to eat (not zombies) at Chili's, where we had lots of family giggles about our night on the town....I do cherish making memories that will last a lifetime.....even with the vampires, ninja's and grouchy zombie daddy's.
Enjoy our pictures via my "Storie" app, click to see each slide..

Leslie~~ aka Vampiress Mommy

Wordless Wednesday A is for Apple's and cutie pies

Wednesday brings hump day, my favorite blogging day because of all the Wordless Wednesday pictures that everyone posts, I enjoy seeing them all and posting them myself via my own blogs and social networks for The Mommies Network. This week I found some of last years apple picking photos and a diva that lives at our house, she loves to have her picture taken and loved the apple orchard trip. Next time you take a field trip think of all the wordless Wednesday cute pictures you can save for the year. Start with the alphabet A - Z .

Halloween Painted Rocks

I found this really cute and cheap idea on the FamilyCorner.com website for painted rocks for your Halloween decor.
If you are looking for some inexpensive, easy crafts for your kids this Halloween

, head out to your backyard to start the fun. Have the kids hunt around for different shaped rocks. Long, slender rocks for ghosts, oval shapes for spiders, and just about any stout rock will make a great pumpkin!

PUMPKIN
stout, roundish rock                                     
orange tempura paint

black marker
small amount of raffia
3-4 silk leaves
tacky or hot glue
3/4" piece of green chenille stick
bits of Kleenex tissue

The texture of the rock for the pumpkin can be smooth, bumpy, or even jagged, as was in our case. Before you begin, stand the rock up in the position you would like it to be when your craft is complete. Ours was a little tricky, we just leveled him off using the raffia and tissue.

Paint the rock orange and let it dry. Using a black marker, draw on pumpkin's face. Glue silk leaves to the bottom of your pumpkin. Using bits of Kleenex for leveling and bunches of raffia, glue rock onto "straw bed". Top off your pumpkin rock with green chenille for the stem by folding in half and gluing on top of pumpkin's head.

GHOST long, slender rock
white tempura paint
black marker
handful of cotton batting
tacky or hot glue
white glitter glue

Paint rock white and let dry. Draw face onto ghost with black marker. Glue cotton batting to the bottom of the rock to give the appearance of a ghostly trail following him. Smear white glitter glue down the sides of the ghost.


SPIDER
oval rock
black tempura paint
pair of wiggle eyes
6-8 12"-long black chenille sticks
red glitter glue
small piece of paper plate or white paper
scissors
tacky or hot glue

Paint rock black and let dry. Wrap chenille sticks around body to secure legs in place. Bend sticks to form legs. Glue chenille sticks in place on the bottom of the rock. Glue on two wiggle eyes. Cut little fangs from paper plate or paper and, using red glitter glue, glue onto rock-face, underneath wiggle eyes. use red glitter glue to create a few drops of blood on fangs and paint around mouth to finish up.




Editor's Note: Be sure to keep these cute crafts out of the reach of small children under the age of 3 years. Wiggle eyes can be easily removed and swallowed, or worse yet, choked upon.

Imagine the other holiday possibilities you can make with those rocks that might be laying around in your yard, put those kids to work making some cheap decorations for your front porch and walkway, spray them with clear coat to shine and be waterproof. 

Have fun !!

Ms Leslie ~~

Our Homeschool yearbook picture 2009-2010

 As you can tell this homeschooling mom also has the photography and digital scrapbooking fever, I have given up my glue and scissors for my mouse and Photo-shop Elements 7. I can't just post a plain picture without adding some color and elements to it. Our home school association puts together a yearbook for all the families in the area that are interested, the top digi scrap is a recap of our year. We celebrated the birth of a driver as Mr K turned 16, we saw Miss S loose both of her 2 front teeth and Miss L get more and more sassy as usual. We also mourned the loss of our "Papaw Tom" (my daddy) as he lost his long battle with cancer. Being a homeschooling family made it all the more easy to spend his last days at his bedside and let the kids say their goodbyes and "I love you's". Our family has only grown and came closer together since we started homeschooling, I don't think that we would ever be able to do it any other way.

~~~Leslie~~

Snowfun January 2010

A little digi scrap of our fun day outside

Spoiled rotten piggies, the bottom step was hidden beneath the snow

Got to feed to birdies and the squirrels some food

Goofy goober did not want her picture taken

This pink diva was throwing snowballs at me :)

On January 29, 2010 it began to snow, by morning we had a thick blanket of white stuff

all over our yard, totally 11 inches in some spots. What a mess, I am so ready for spring, but these girls have had a blast outside everyday playing in the snow.

The weatherman is even calling for more ice and rain tonight, yuck. This busy mom has to work the next 2 days and drive in it. More pictures to come soon.

Snowed in~~~~ Leslie

Trip to the big house 9/25

Above slide show is a few pictures of our trip to the Biltmore house
in Asheville, NC. for the fall homeschool festival. Our family and
another homeschooling family visited the estate on Thursday.
I was most impressed that they took time for all of the
homeschool families. The staff were most helpful and
answered dozens of questions about the house ,gardens,
winery, farm and grounds. My youngest was fascinated by
the history of the house and the people that lived there, she
is only 4, I could not believe some of the questions she asked,
and wanted to see inside Mrs Vanderbilt's vanity to see her
makeup. A very nice staff person accommodated her and let
her see inside the furniture that was hundreds of years old, they
did not have to do that. Then out the window
we saw a young bride getting her pictures made for an upcoming
wedding on the Biltmore grounds. S. was sure that was a princess
that lived in the castle. We had to follow her outside to the garden
area after we were done climbing all those stairs inside the house.
We plan to return to Biltmore for Christmas and see the wonderful
decorations. I plan on doing a little unit study and
lapbooking/notebooking about the estate and family, they gave us
wonderful workbooks that are
age specific for each child, even our teen. Check out their website
if you want to know more or visit http://www.biltmore.com/ ,
a wonderful vacation trip for your entire family.