My cute little friends Kesti and Angie (that made me the adorable hat and scarf) agreed to teach a knitting lesson to my older girls. Both of them were so cute with my girls and I LOVED sitting there chatting the afternoon away with them.
What is even more fun is the fact that I have a live in Icelandic knitter that can help the girls when they get stuck.
You go girls, I'm getting ready for a scarf in EVERY color for this winter.
I always get comments, "Do your kids ever work or do they just play?" Believe me, they work! Their friends even ask why I make my kids do so many chores. I tell them that we have a big family with way too many chores for ONE mom to do. It takes all of the kids help to keep us organized.
I also get questions of how their chore chart is set up. I believe that chores are like any other job that you may have, you need to have a detailed outline of what is expected of you. On each card I have a list of what needs done daily and then stars by what needs to be completed on Saturday. Under each "House Room" card is their "Bedroom" and "Bathroom" cards. I just updated it and thought I would share it. I printed out their pictures and slipped them in plastic magnetic frames. The magnetic clips are nice for clipping allowance money, notes, or extra jobs on.
Each kid is in charge of a house room for the week and then the magnets are rotated Monday morning. I love that they are encouraging others to pick up their messes so that their room stays clean and I'm not the one constantly nagging everyone to pick up. They feel possessive of their "house" room.
On top of the cards (I know I'm a taskmaster) they have to complete two extra jobs. There is always PLENTY that needs to be done. An extra job can be anything from taking out all trashes, checking the mail, sweeping the front step, pulling weeds... just little things that need to be done. When they are all done I LOVE the house and feel like we can do something fun.
Help with the dishes are regulated by the day. With it all outlined there is never a "Why Me?" or complaining. That's just the way it is set up and our routine that we are used to.
AND can I say that I LOVE routine and LOVE all the help in getting the work done.
Rebecca finished the Book of Mormon. She was determined to do it before she got baptized, AND she did it! Rebecca loves to read and is a very determined little girl. Stephen and I didn't ever ask or prod her along to read. She just decided to do it and would carry it everywhere. We are so proud of her.
We told her as she neared the end that we wanted to take her out on a date with us to any restaurant that she wanted to go to. She chose the Elephant Bar and we went Friday night. Then of course she had to stop off at Build a Bear to cash in a gift card that was burning a hole in her pocket. She ended up buying some more clothes for Mimsy.
This was Mimsy's new outfit. Rebecca told me, "Don't you think that Mimsy's eyes just say that she is the sweetest bunny?" And as I looked down into Rebecca's sweet eyes, I agreed that there is such a thing as sweet eyes. We sure love you Rebecca!
Usually when Stephen and I go on a date, it's to the movies or out to eat. We basically kick back and relax. This morning's date was not that way. First off we woke up really early, which I don't enjoy because I stay up so late. Second off it TOTALLY exhausted me!
We did the Incline in Manitou.
Oh my goodness, it's a workout for sure! The base of the incline is 6,530ft and the top is 8,550ft. That is 2,000 ft of climbing stair after stair. It is almost a mile of stairs and then a few miles down a switch back trail on the side.
I kept thinking about how similar life is to the incline. So indulge me for a moment ... We climb what we can, pause for breaks and rest when needed, and then climb some more. Some are busy trying to get to the top as fast as they can. Others go slower taking in the beautiful views below and the nature around them. You meet people as you climb, but of course you stay near those you love. Some fall as they run, but they hop back up and keep going. Sure they hurt, just like life's trials do, but they just keep going. You can't really sit in your hurt forever, everybody has to get up sometime. Also, there was a little crew working on parts of the trail. I was amazed and filled with gratitude that people took the time to build the trail for others. They made it easier for us. I know ancestors have helped build the trail for me making it easier. One last similarity of life is that you have to do it yourself. Another can't slip into your body and do it for you. You physically have to drag that body along and do it.
ANYWAY, it was a fun date. I'm glad we did it together. Thanks for encouraging me along Stever!
Jason Baalman is a local artist that creates masterpieces with food and other objects. He was recently on Rachel Ray with his Cheetos rendition of her. We decided to check him out in old Colorado City. His sister showed us his studio. My kids LOVED his penny art of Abraham Lincoln. All made of shiny pennies mixed with old darker pennies. He is so creative!
While we were there we checked out a few galleries down there inclucing the Michael Garmen statue town. Admission is free for kids in the summer. It is filled with small buildings with rooms of various scenarios.
I just LOVE art and the contrast of creativity between individuals! I hope that my love for art rubs off on my kids.
We also found Ashley's long lost twin. The store owner told us that he represents a cannibal in New Guinnea. I assured her that Ashley would be a cannibal if she could.
Of course Ash wanted him to come home with us to be her boyfriend. I was like .....NO ..... and DON'T bring home a guy like that FOR your boyfriend!
***I couldn't keep up with the emails and comments too well. SOOO when Melanie said that she would post it on Sugardoodle. I was thrilled! Here is the link to get the lesson downloaded. HERE is the LESSON
**I emailed the lesson to those of you asking. If you didn't get it, email me again, I might have missed someone. Sorry but I don't know how to link the lesson on my blog, to somewhere for download SO that's why I email it.
I have had some people ask about Back to School traditions. I usually take each of the kids on a back to school shopping date. It's soooo much easier concentrating on ONE list and ONE kid at a time. We then go for a treat or lunch.
Another tradition is this FHE. We have been doing it for quite a few years now. HERE is where I talked about it last year. There is a huge social aspect involved in school. This lesson helps open eyes to others. I took the "Civility" lesson from the Stand for Something FHE lessons and turned it into more of a Back to School lesson.
You take a few balloons and assign people to each of them. Inside each balloon is a note of what the person is REALLY like and then outside is a note that gives a few general characteristics. You have to "Pop" the balloon to really get to know the person. For example the outside note for Juan says, "Juan speaks fluent Spanish and is learning English. He is a very quiet boy and other kids don't ask him to play. Juan struggles with his schoolwork. It doesn't come easy for him" Then the note inside the balloon says, "Juan is a child of God and loved very much by Him. Juan is extremely athletic and good at soccer. He LOVES to play games. Juan is very kind and considerate of others feelings. If given a chance Juan could share interesting stories and games from Mexico." We then discuss whether we would like to get to know Juan and all the things we could learn from him.
I think it would be fun sometime to let the kids design THEIR own balloons of what they display on the outside and how they view themselves on the inside.
Anyway, we have to "pop" through the exterior of a person in get to know the inside. To do this you have to ask questions and then LISTEN to what they have to say. Here is the lesson I put together -
I challenge them to meet new people and find out about them. The first two days of school we give the kids a quarter for each name that they bring home. They have to tell us one character trait or interesting fact about the person as well. It's fun to sit at dinner listening to all the names. I just think that it is important for them to talk and socialize with others instead of JUST their friends.
Anyway, if you want a copy of our people we use on the balloons with their descriptions OR the quotes for the Spin the Bottle just comment or email me and I can forward it to you. You obviously can just draw your own face on the balloon (I have done that in the past) and make up your own descriptions to fit your own hobbies and things you enjoy.
Do any of you have any fun Back to School traditions?
Ashley and I have been having issues this summer over MY dishes in the kitchen. She LOVES to make mud pies out in the sandbox and decorate them. Well the problem has been that she runs in, steals some of my dishes, gets them disgusting with who knows what outside and then I freak out that she used MY dishes.
Well, I saw THIS and knew what my problem was ... I hadn't given Ash HER set of dishes to use. I picked up some cheap muffin tins, pots and pan at the thrift store and pure delight was in her eyes as I brought them out to "her kitchen".
We have a ton of wild flowers in bloom and they are the PERFECT decoration for cupcakes and pies.
Kaylee made a beautiful "Blossom Pie"
Rebecca had a "Sunflower Soup" that was to die for ...
And the little picker, just kept picking for her big sisters because she knew her job was important.
Why didn't I think of this sooner?!?! It was the solution to our little dish problem.
On Friday at the library party my kids were entranced with the bubbles. SOOOO I couldn't resist mixing up a batch and doing a bubble day, nor could I resist the fun picture opportunity ...
We also had some bowls with straw/string frames to make smaller ones. It amazed us how long they would fly without popping.
Bubbles are just so magical! We enjoy them in freezing temperatures where they freeze and crash like glass balls. AND we sure enjoy them in the summer floating on the breezes.
Tonight as I was going through pictures from the week to do my weekly update I found a lot of favorites that are of Jerrica. So I thought that she could highlight some of our week's activities.
We went to the County Fair with my friend, Kim. Kim is so hilarious and always makes my cheeks hurt from laughing. We saw animals, exhibits and amazing demonstrations. Here is Jerrica eating cotton candy at the County Fair ...
The kids play outside in the evening for hours and come inside filthy. Jerrica drags her baby out there making sure that she is as dirty as Jerrica. And yes mom, that is Anna. (My mom has sewed Anna's arm on numerous occasions) Here Jerrica is playing with Anna until the sun goes down ...
Stephen's roommate from BYU days came with his family and spent the night. They were on their way to Utah. We went to Garden of the Gods with them so that their kids could get out and run around after driving all day. I forgot how beautiful Garden of the Gods is! Here little miss is giving me one of her many expressions AT Garden of the Gods ...
Then on Friday we went to the Summer Library party. They had a dress up area where Jerrica was in heaven trying on hats...
I wish that I had a picture of Jerrica hugging Stephen when he got home on Saturday. She is such a daddy's girl and had been asking and crying for him all week. We are so glad that Jacob and Stephen are home from Texas!!!
We had a little run in with the law ...
First he dyed his hair blue and then things got out of control ...
He was locked in the cop car UNTIL I opened the door to let him out to see the rest of the Summer Library Celebration.
The kids had their hair sprayed with color and faces painted. We fell in love with this little hedgehog and got to touch him.
We did boat races with water squirters. The kids always get so competitive with each other.
There were craft stations, obstacle courses and a bubble station with fly swatters.
Dress up is always fun. We had a blue haired senorita...
A Hootchie Mama
A Chinese Man (with braces)
A Fire Head Super Hero
Pictures with Storm Troopers
The Summer Library party is always filled with fun!
