We are in the throes of getting into our new school routine. I discovered a not-too-small miracle for our household....had heard about it a while back but looked into it earlier this week and wow, it is making a huge difference. It's myjobchart.com - the kids have an "account" with their jobs listed to be checked off each day. I designated what's to be done & when, and how much they will be paid in points, to be turned into a reward of their choosing, or money. They are going wild about this thing! Of course they love a reason to get on the computer, and they are buzzing around the house like I've never seen. Jumping into their jobs without one. word. from. me. Whoa...... I know I know, it's only been 2 days, but last night before bed Linc said he was so excited for tomorrow to start doing his jobs. Then this morning when he came in our bed, I could tell he was not sleeping and asked if he was awake:
L: "yes"
me: "what are you thinking about?"
L: "...my job chart"
Then tonight he said he wished it were tomorrow (why?) -so I can do my jobs. Todd said he asked them what their favorite part of today was and they said..."doing our jobs."
They get to pick their reward and "organize" their points (cents) into save, share and spend categories, so it's a great opportunity to review the old lovely, predictable patterns of a decimal point dealing with multiplying or dividing by 10! And a wonderful way to really see how their totals grow each day toward their goals.
They both asked for even more jobs this afternoon, so in addition to what I had planned (which included them folding a basket of laundry and putting it away) they vacuumed the 1st floor. Earlier they sprayed and wiped the glass doors, and took care of the bathroom sink/counter/mirror (which was still pretty clean from yesterday!). And that's only naming a few.
Linc was so excited about bringing in the garbage bin that he did it even before the garbage was taken out of it! We didn't realize it at first because the garbage truck had come by and we assumed it took the stuff. But because we're on a "T" in the neighborhood they have a couple of different opportunities to take our trash.
Then tonight when I got home from a meeting, the table was set for breakfast. Unbelievable. It really is like a dream come true. It's like I can think of something I want them to do, write it down in their account and BOOM it appears, completed, in my home, adding peace to my overcrowded mind. Hallelujah!
Hopefully we can keep the momentum going. I've never seen anything like it.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
a 10-year-old girl...
in early june: a double digit--decade celebration warranted a double birthday weekend, complete with a sewing workshop with IA grandma and a new dress of purple stars, and a professional-piano bench sparkly ear piercing by AZ grandma while wearing said purple dress. WOW! she's really TEN!
then whoosh- girls getaway (thanks todd!), mini-anniversary getaway (thanks aunt jan!), theater in the park for at least one half (before storm came and rained it out!) of the sound of music-my FAVORITE!
...and then fourth of July, and a cool new swimming pool...and august's almost here!
then whoosh- girls getaway (thanks todd!), mini-anniversary getaway (thanks aunt jan!), theater in the park for at least one half (before storm came and rained it out!) of the sound of music-my FAVORITE!
...and then fourth of July, and a cool new swimming pool...and august's almost here!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
whirl, twirl...
apologies to anyone who saw my last LAME nonpost-place-holder craziness, ugh!
april and may have melded into june: july and october are coming soon!
here are a few highlights of alice in wonderland...
easter...
and mother's day...
april and may have melded into june: july and october are coming soon!
here are a few highlights of alice in wonderland...
easter...
and mother's day...
Thursday, March 31, 2011
like a kite
in like a lion, out like a lamb...
but time is still just a crazy-beautiful kite whose strings i can only just barely grasp the tips of once in a blue moon
a few highlights in word since last i wrote:
celebrating
• one third birthday with veggie tales and chocolate cake
(my little baker, explaining the intricacies of wacky cake)
• one beautiful cousin's second birthday with nemo and friends
• one visit to land-o-lincoln
(here in front of abe and mary's home!)
(on the door it says A. Lincoln, and in front of the door is a Lincoln, a Neva and a Rowan... :)
• to celebrate one seventh birthday with phenomenal field trips & family
• one BIRTH day of new baby boy cousin, brother to nemo-devotee
(here are the two boys born-on-a-tuesday-in-middlemarch, just 1 day shy of being exactly 7 years apart)
• 4 people carrying 6 backpacks, 2 bulky bags, 1 bulky carseat, 1 booster, and one aforementioned three year old across 6 airports, 2 suburbs, and 5.5 days to have a fantastic time with one adorable cousin and 6 other delightful family members plus a variety of other lovely people
...arriving back in the driveway on an unsuspecting Monday evening with a 15 margin between 2 parents to teach
• 4 lovely piano students, and attend 1 meeting
but time is still just a crazy-beautiful kite whose strings i can only just barely grasp the tips of once in a blue moon
a few highlights in word since last i wrote:
celebrating
• one third birthday with veggie tales and chocolate cake
(my little baker, explaining the intricacies of wacky cake)
• one beautiful cousin's second birthday with nemo and friends
• one visit to land-o-lincoln
(here in front of abe and mary's home!)
(on the door it says A. Lincoln, and in front of the door is a Lincoln, a Neva and a Rowan... :)
• to celebrate one seventh birthday with phenomenal field trips & family
• one BIRTH day of new baby boy cousin, brother to nemo-devotee
(here are the two boys born-on-a-tuesday-in-middlemarch, just 1 day shy of being exactly 7 years apart)
• 4 people carrying 6 backpacks, 2 bulky bags, 1 bulky carseat, 1 booster, and one aforementioned three year old across 6 airports, 2 suburbs, and 5.5 days to have a fantastic time with one adorable cousin and 6 other delightful family members plus a variety of other lovely people
...arriving back in the driveway on an unsuspecting Monday evening with a 15 margin between 2 parents to teach
• 4 lovely piano students, and attend 1 meeting
Monday, January 31, 2011
happy, um, new year....i mean february, almost!
well, i did not exactly get to my top ten list for 2010, but, dang it, i WILL, so-help-me! tonight is not the night for that tho. this is the evening of double blog posting, whoopeee! no matter how tired i am i am going to inform anyone who cares, that we...i...have painted 4 rooms in our home in the last 14 days or so. it was fun. i got on a roll. see spot sit. jane likes to dance and jump.
yeah. late night deliriousness setting in...
so i do hope to "update" -ha! on our comings and goings over the christmas, etc, but for now, i am just excited to say my heart is full of gratefulness for being a mom, having a warm, safe, cozy home and wonderful family and friends and the privilege of washing dirty clothes and dirty dishes and getting grace when the underwear runs out before the dryer is done, and sharing meals with friends so i dont have to think up just one more dinner....
but back to the painting.
i painted-
neva's room
then the "blue carpet" rooms
-school/dining and computer-
and then
the bathroom.
ahhh...what a nice feeling it is to see a fresh coat of paint. here's the "before" pictures. will have to do the "after" ones next time.
and here's the kids and the worship band they set up last week. complete with lead guitar, keys-on-a-piano-bench, and a pretty complicated drum set. and singers...it was a riot.
the big kids are super excited--they get to be part of alice in wonderland, a local production, this spring. we have a jester, and a flower who doubles as a (croquet) wicket. they did a great job with auditions, and we are enjoying our adventure into wonderland so far.
yeah. late night deliriousness setting in...
so i do hope to "update" -ha! on our comings and goings over the christmas, etc, but for now, i am just excited to say my heart is full of gratefulness for being a mom, having a warm, safe, cozy home and wonderful family and friends and the privilege of washing dirty clothes and dirty dishes and getting grace when the underwear runs out before the dryer is done, and sharing meals with friends so i dont have to think up just one more dinner....
but back to the painting.
i painted-
neva's room
then the "blue carpet" rooms
-school/dining and computer-
and then
the bathroom.
ahhh...what a nice feeling it is to see a fresh coat of paint. here's the "before" pictures. will have to do the "after" ones next time.
and here's the kids and the worship band they set up last week. complete with lead guitar, keys-on-a-piano-bench, and a pretty complicated drum set. and singers...it was a riot.
the big kids are super excited--they get to be part of alice in wonderland, a local production, this spring. we have a jester, and a flower who doubles as a (croquet) wicket. they did a great job with auditions, and we are enjoying our adventure into wonderland so far.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
thankful for...rollerskating oompaloompas
our thanksgiving foray into the roller rink with two toddlers, three big kids and four grownups, was, in a word:
HILAROUS.
HILAROUS.
Monday, November 15, 2010
toothy
big tooth news in the neighborhood!
lincoln lost his first one today! we heard it was loose, oh, about 2 months ago maybe? i think we gave up that it was coming out anytime soon. so lo and behold, they run upstairs to me this afternoon saying he lost it! it was a little bit loose and then he just yanked it out. ok!
in other dental details, neva is going to the orthodontist tomorrow for her second appointment toward braces. tho we are not sure exactly what is going to happen to her mouth tomorrow, it could be well on its way to big changes. so we thought we'd better document these sweet little ever-changing mouths! oh, and just under a small jelly-jar glass half-full of water near his bed, holding that precious little tooth, prepared for the tooth fairy just like his daddy did when he was a little boy-- is another piece of classic linc literature/composition in a message to the tooth fairy [see below]...
[Dear Tooth Fairy,]
WHERE DO YOU KEEP aLL oF THOSE TEETH?
P.S. WILL YOu DROWN GETING MY TooTH?
OR WILL MY MONEY BE SOaKED? LiNCOLN
The second theme of this post is my first embrace-the-camera moment...a good friend [adorable emily] of a good friend of mine [delightful jeanna] is encouraging mamas to "embrace the camera" every thursday, to be sure there is ample evidence of what we look like in real-time, real-life with our kids, since usually moms are on the other side of the lens. emily loves the honest picture, even tho the mom-reality often...pretty-much-absolutely-for-this-here-mama...means unkempt hair/face/fashion/home/etc. i am going to go ahead with my embrace, here and now, as a monday changes into a tuesday, just because. i cannot seem to get my days in order for any big/daily things, let alone a li'l old blog post, and i'm on a bit of a blog "roll" HA. so here goes.
lincoln lost his first one today! we heard it was loose, oh, about 2 months ago maybe? i think we gave up that it was coming out anytime soon. so lo and behold, they run upstairs to me this afternoon saying he lost it! it was a little bit loose and then he just yanked it out. ok!
in other dental details, neva is going to the orthodontist tomorrow for her second appointment toward braces. tho we are not sure exactly what is going to happen to her mouth tomorrow, it could be well on its way to big changes. so we thought we'd better document these sweet little ever-changing mouths! oh, and just under a small jelly-jar glass half-full of water near his bed, holding that precious little tooth, prepared for the tooth fairy just like his daddy did when he was a little boy-- is another piece of classic linc literature/composition in a message to the tooth fairy [see below]...
[Dear Tooth Fairy,]
WHERE DO YOU KEEP aLL oF THOSE TEETH?
P.S. WILL YOu DROWN GETING MY TooTH?
OR WILL MY MONEY BE SOaKED? LiNCOLN
The second theme of this post is my first embrace-the-camera moment...a good friend [adorable emily] of a good friend of mine [delightful jeanna] is encouraging mamas to "embrace the camera" every thursday, to be sure there is ample evidence of what we look like in real-time, real-life with our kids, since usually moms are on the other side of the lens. emily loves the honest picture, even tho the mom-reality often...pretty-much-absolutely-for-this-here-mama...means unkempt hair/face/fashion/home/etc. i am going to go ahead with my embrace, here and now, as a monday changes into a tuesday, just because. i cannot seem to get my days in order for any big/daily things, let alone a li'l old blog post, and i'm on a bit of a blog "roll" HA. so here goes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
