This is a sponsored post, I am a Kmart blogger, though all opinions are my own.

This summer we have decided that we are taking time to stop and smell the flowers, to start enjoying the outside more with our children. The summers are short and full of life experiences, and I have to stop letting this time pass without taking advantage of it.

The past three summers I have either been pregnant or had a newborn, and they have been very difficult for us as a family.  I have also been working full time on this website, taking care of my family, and had a husband who was barely home.  It had gotten to the point where I was dreading them….so we decided to make some changes this summer.

Two areas that we have cut back on this summer are television and video games.  Video games are a constant battle in our home with our son. He would play them 24/7 if we let him, even though he had a 30 minutes per day limit, he asked all day long. A study by the Minneapolis-based National Institute for Media and the Family suggests that video games can be addictive for kids, and that the kids’ addiction to video games increases their depression and anxiety levels (source).  He already deals with slight anxiety, so playing video games give him more than ever.  We decided to pack them away this summer and help him to think about other things. The result – he has started to read about 30 – 60 minutes per day, he uses his imagination more, and plays better with his sisters.

With the big change of Mark quitting his job, this year we focused on slowing down and enjoy our children more. We haven’t been able to do much with them the past few years, and we have been so blessed to spend more time outdoors doing things we LOVE!

Like playing on swings….
Enjoying baseball games….

Crawling in the grass….

Going down waterslides…Kmart has some great ones that you can buy and enjoy throughout the summer. #KmartSummerFun

Playing in the sprinklers…

Or just sitting and watching the ones you love…

It has been the best summer I can remember!  As a result of the changes we made – we have had:

More books

More forts

More outdoor playtime

Less Television

Less Video Games

And much more memories being made this summer than ever!

How has your summer been so far? What have been your favorite things to do outside this summer?