Float into summer with these home tips

It is that time of year- school is out and the fun is in! In my house we absolutely love this time of year so we can kick back and relax, sort of, or at least the waking up at the crack of dawn/school lunch/snack duty/homework/another end of the year performance/recital/one last game of sports shuffle is coming to an end!!! While it is bittersweet, the truth is my husband and I were basically doing the Lambeau Leap into the end of the school year as it.was.nuts. I know all of you parents can relate to this as each one of my friends also had similar school years this past year. May is almost busier than December and worse, more dreaded. For my family, I think it was so crazy because this was our first year where both of our girls were in primary school. It almost seems too hard to believe how quickly they grow and Kindergarten proved no less insane with her walking in as a little 5 year old and coming out age 27 knowing ev-ery-thang. It’s like she endured a total transformation from Tim Gunn.

Before we can fully get into summer mode I usually like to get the house in order and here are some of the things on my to do list in June to set our home up for summer time.

Organize those school papers and art projects! We have more papers than a recycling center and while my little artists are Picasso’s in training, I do need to edit what we keep and what we toss before we live under a trash pile. I love the app, Artkive, where you can take photos of your kids artwork and save them digitally to make books and keepsakes. You don’t want to take 5,000 photos of all the artwork? Super, Artkive will let you mail in their work and do it for you! How awesome is that? One of my favorite pieces from my own little Picasso 🙂
Empty any standing water. In Florida we have mosquitos all the time but especially in the hotter summer months after heavy rain which is now. Make sure to dump any fire pits, empty flower pots, even pet water bowls left outside will be breeding grounds to our least favorite summer bug.
Check your A/C. Don’t let a run down A/C mess up your summer plans. The worst thing to happen esp. in Florida is a broken A/C, on a weekend, after a day at the beach, with kids. You will not want too find yourself with a broke down A/C in this situation. A root canal sounds more fun. Schedule A/C maintenance asap. Dust off any vent dust and also change your units filters monthly.
Clean gutters and downspouts. This is my husbands favorites chore- for me to do. Upon his attempt to make me watch him so I know how to clean gutters, I ignored his request and instead I decided to google a company to do this, when he doesn’t want to anymore. I suggest having these cleaned by someone willing to do this job as the leaves and debris from fall need to be cleared out for proper efficiency.
Check your windows for drafts. Windows should always shut tightly to ensure best temperature control. Check the sealant around the window on the interior and exterior and replace it if necessary.
Change your water filter. This often gets overlooked so make sure you are changing the filter in your home filtration system to make sure you are drinking clean water.
Clean the garage and any dumping grounds out. Donate those old sneakers, recycle any broken water bottles and give unused toys your kids have outgrown to neighbors or families with kids who can use them. Clean out backpacks and replace with beach bags stocked with beach towels and goggles ready to go. Add a cute storage box like this one I bought from Homegoods that cost me $5.99 and fill it with sunscreen, bug spray, tissues, hand sanitizer, and baby powder. Heres a life saving tip from a regular Florida beach gal- baby powder removes sand like a magic trick. Lightly dust baby powder on the skin and do a quick wipe and the sand acquired from the beach or sand box runs off like water! It is a staple in my beach bag and in our mudroom or as we like to call it our “sand room” since we are normally sporting flip flops vs snow boots here. A simple reorganizing of these areas make for an easier transition from school to summer.