Happy Birthday Gray!

Our newest nephew has arrived. Congratulations to Heidi, Gary, Olivia and Holden on their new baby boy! We are so excited and can’t wait to see a picture of your little Gray!

Celebrating 10 Years

We are planning a family trip to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary! We had thrown around the idea of going someplace without the kids, but since it looks like this may be the only time Rob can take from work, we decided to celebrate with them! I found this great cabin in the mountains that is an hour and a half from home, but offers none of the things we find here: stars at night, horses, little shops, a lake, wildlife…. I’m really excited. You can get a great rate renting a vacation home on Vacation Rentals By Owner. I have committed Rob to taking a four day weekend, so woo hoo. A real family vacation!

Helper Jobs

Over two years ago, when Rob was away a lot because of his internship, I was getting frustrated with keeping up with housework. So I had a family home evening activity with Hunter and Emma about the problem. Hunter was 6 and Emma was almost 4 so I thought they were ready to pitch in. But what could I do that would motivate them and help them understand why I was asking them to help? Family night was just the three of us because Rob was still at the firm and we were back home. We sang “When we’re Helping we’re Happy” and then for the lesson I gathered up six big pillows. I had each of them take a turn trying to carry the pillows from one side of the room to the other. With a stack of six bed pillows, of course they couldn’t do it but they sure tried. Then I gave each of us two pillows and we tried it again. It was easy this time. We did the activity again with the names of jobs taped onto each pillow. Things like clearing the table, doing dishes, picking up toys… We did six pillows and then two each and then we talked about how much easier it was to only have two jobs to do, than 6. I told them that mommy and daddy can’t do everything on their own, so it was important that everyone helps out. Since there were just two of them I came up with two basic jobs. These are what we now call “Helper Jobs” and we do them every night after dinner. One is to set the table for dinner, and then clear it, put away the food, and clean up the table and floor when we’re done. The second is to tidy up the living room and play room. That generally means clearing off the floor and the furniture and putting things where they belong. We rotate these jobs now every other day, and it won’t be too long before we add another one to the mix when Hannah is ready to join in!

Good Works Bucks

Last summer I started a program where the kids can earn a piece of paper that says, “Good Work” on it to buy things. I have a stack of Good Works and when one of the kids does something extra nice for somebody, does a job with out being asked, does jobs they are asked to do without complaining, etc. I give them a buck.

They each have their own envelopes to keep the bucks in, and I have some things that the kids can save up their bucks to buy. We have had games, stickers, toys, watches, CD’s and right now for the first time I am offering a trip to “Chuck E Cheese” for 15 bucks. There are usually several choices, and a range of prices so that they have to decide if they want the stickers for 5 bucks now, or to keep saving up to get the Barbie for 15 bucks. It’s a lesson in money and in good behavior!

Ok, I Give In – I’ll Be the Mom

When I was a kid there were two words I absolutely hated to hear, and honestly still struggle with today. They are Practice and Plan. My mom was always telling me that I needed to practice things to get better when I was frustrated at not getting them right the first time. And we always seemed to start the morning discussing “The Plan” for the day. I found myself in a discussion with Emma over her frustration with making her bed today. She said, “I can’t get it to look right.” And I said, “Then I guess you need more practice at it. You can do it.” She did do it although she huffed and puffed the whole time because it was “so hard.” So there it was, my mothers words coming out of my mouth. It wasn’t the first time and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Because I have given in to using the first word, I thought I should just give in with the second one too. I made up a general schedule of the day for the summer. The kids are always asking what they can do, so I thought up a schedule of events for the days without big plans so I don’t have to come up with entertainment ideas all day long. It’s posted on the kitchen wall now, and I’ll let you know how it works out. I’m sure I’ll do some tweeking.

8:00 Breakfast – Eat and clean up

9:00 Get Ready For the Day – Dressed, Hair, and Teeth

10:00 Clean Up – Check Bedrooms and Play Area

11:00 Kids Play, Mom Errands

12:00 Lunch

1:00 Workbooks and Reading

2:00 Quiet Time or Earn Good Works

3:00 Free Time – Games, Drawing, Swimming, Projects, Practice, TV

4:00 Free Time – Games, Drawing, Swimming, Projects, Practice,TV

5:00 Clean Up – Laundry, Kitchen

6:00 Prepare Dinner and Eat

7:00 Helper Jobs and Bedtime Routine

8:00 In Bed

A Call for Free Advertising

I was talking with my mom recently, and she was telling me how she wants her business to come up higher on a search engine like google when someone searches for emergency supplies. If anyone out there is willing to put a link to Totally Ready on their site or blog, I would really appreciate it. Having a lot of places that link to the site is apparently one way to get a higher ranking. Thanks!!