Maid Service For Under $10

I know they should do it anyway, but sometimes my kids just need a little extra incentive- especially when they have friends over. The beauty of this system is that everyone participates.

I don't really care who I give the money to as long as the jobs are done.

This is a great system for kids ages 3 to about 10 years old.

Start with a big jar.

Write all the jobs you want done on slips of paper.

They cannot be "Clean the living room," but. rather they should be components of a larger job. Therefore, "clean the living room" becomes:

"Put away things that don't belong in the living room"

"vacuum living room rug"

"sweep living room"

"dust living room"

Each job is worth a quarter. The amount of money each kid makes is determined by the speed they work.

Jonah quit when he had 2 quarters. He's 5. I guess 50 cents was enough for him.

One of the friends decided she wanted a dollar, so she did 4 jobs.

Eventually, everything got clean.

And then we had ice cream.

That's What He Said

Today was leadership clean up for MOPs leadership. While the care group leaders cleaned toys, the steering team cleaned out the MOPs closet. I was brutal. I made people get rid of all manner of things that I knew had only been used once and then languished in the closet for at least 5 years.
Jonah ended up in possession of 5 little globe play balls.
As we were leaving he discovered that he couldn't carry 5 balls with two little hands. I was helping him stuff two of the balls into his jacket pockets while he protested.
"No, Mom, people will think those are my boobs way down there!"
"Sweetie, every one knows that five year old boys do not have boobs..."
"Oh, right. We have nibbles."
"What?"
"Nibbles. NI-BBLES."

*pththfffheeheeheeHAHAHAHA*

The End Of An Era

Does any one care to guess what this is?

If you said, "Well, duh, it's a gumball machine." you would, technically, be right.

But actually, it is SO much more than that.

It represents the end of an era at our house.

Let me back up and explain this to you...

When I was young, and single, and childless, I had a lot of nieces and nephews- and I took notes.

My oldest sister, Karyn, had a rule at her house. No gum until you are 5 years old.

When I had kids I realised why....

So, I adopted the 5 year old gum rule.

And the milestone has been reached wherein my baby has turned 5 years old. (Truthfully, I wondered at my past rate of conception if I would ever say something like that.)

And for his birthday he received a gumball machine.

He requested a MONSTER birthday this year, so this is the cake idea I stole off the Internet- with the exception that I added coconut "fur".

We sang happy birthday and let him spit all over the cake blow out his candle.

We played with friends- and our favorite baby who DOES NOT live at this house.

Happy Birthday BIG BOY! I love you!

P.S. I really hope you didn't find anything good up there- especially since I am wearing those jeans again today....

He Even Smells Like School

Could it be the bubbles he spilled on the deck just before coming inside?

Maybe it was the batch of salt dough we used to shape letters and numbers.

Could it have been the Spagettio's he loves to eat for lunch?

Or maybe just the nostalgic smell of Crayola Crayons?

Whatever it was, I almost cried. Almost.

Remember Building A Fort With Your Dad?

Yeah, me either. I remember doing other stuff* with my dad.

But, sadly for me, my forts consisted of a couple of rusty nails and a pallet or two.

They usually fell apart fast. Or they were moved. Or they were chopped up to keep us warm.

I liked to play on an old rotted stump in a line of trees on a little hill. In the summer the stump grew huckleberries. If I sat real still, no one could see me, and I could eat all the huckleberries before anyone else knew they were ripe.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I just never built anything like this with my dad.

Do you suppose they realize how lucky they are that all their dad wants to do is come home and play with them?

'Spose they'll remember tea parties in the fort after dark?

That it was Dad with them out there?

That Dad was the one who ran to the store to get the Oreos?

You bet they will!

*Other Stuff: castrating pigs and cows, watching piglets being born, butchering chickens, hiking, rollerskating, AWANA, picking berries, and most importantly- sneaking out to the bakery before school.

Better Late Than Never

It's my motto. It applies to all fronts. My family can stop laughing now. Because my post has nothing to do with being pregnant. Actually, these are pictures from the first day of school. And, well, better late than never.

Ahh, life is good.

Lord, Help Us All!

When The Four Year Old Is Mad At You

Words start coming out of his mouth.
Words like idiot.
Loser.
Jerk.
I turn around and laugh so he can't see me- because we have talked about how those words are not appropriate.
But tonight, tonight was my favorite:
"You scrandrall!"
Yes, Son, scoundrel is a good insult.

File This Under, "Um...OK...."

The kids were playing with the garage door. Push the button, door up. Push the button, door down. Up.Down.Up.dDown.Up.Down.Up...
I went to yell at them and saw my 4 year old dangling from the handle 6 feet from the concrete floor- with his sister waining for her turn.
"Um...OK...Stop."

Busy, Busy, Busy, Part 3

Dateline: Saturday, June 20th
Time: 9pm
Event: Haircuts

Karen, the afore mentioned wonderful friend, cut the girls hair. It has been long promised that as soon as the girls were done with the recital, they could cut their hair- but only if they cut enough to donate to locks of love. So, right after the party, the girls got their much anticipated haircuts, and some little girl somewhere will get a wig and a morale boost as she goes through her treatment.

Busy, Busy, Busy; Part 2

Dateline: Saturday, June 20th
Time: 6:45 pm
Event: Surprise birthday party for Abigail

Since we were dancing ALL DAY on her birthday, and have had a whole mess of other things upon us or pending, I just didn't know when I would be able to have Abby's friends over for her birthday. Or so she thought...

SURPRISE!

And let me just take a moment to thank the 2 best friends a girl ever had.

Karen, Thank you for getting everything ready for us and for receiving our guests.

Andreena, thank you for the fabulous cake, even though I couldn't wrap my brain around the simplest question such as, "What flavor?"

Busy, Busy, Busy; Part 1

Dateline: Saturday, June 20th
Time: All. Day. Long.
Event #1: Ballet Recital

Skippers!

A couple of weeks ago when it was SO HOT here (About 90*) A girlfriend and I pulled our kids out of school early and headed for the beach.

Aah, I could get used to that- but our long stretch of nice weather is taking a break because now it is 55 and raining again...