How I Contribute to my Family...

Last year, I tried the whole "chore chart" thing. I guess it worked... gave the kids a place to look at a list of things to do, etc. But I found it was using up a lot of paper.

This year, I am going to try this idea that I found on Pinterest. It is originally from a blog called Sutton Grace. Instead of calling them "chores" you call them Family Contributions. I like this so much better. When I ask my kids to do something, they usually say yes. But, there are times when they ask why??? My all-the-time answer is, "Because you are privileged to be part of this family, and with that privilege comes the responsibility to contribute."

Hmmm, maybe my long answer is the reason they usually say yes!! I wouldn't want to hear that all the time, either!

Last year with the chore chart, I found that we really only used it at the start of the school year, until around October or November. It really wasn't necessary to continue on throughout the year because the kids seemed to do their jobs without needing to be reminded after awhile.

We have a large closet with a window in our house that we have named "The Schoolroom" because it is where all school bags, gym bags, coats and hoodies get put after school on hooks. This is where the job lists are hanging, too. Instead of laminating these, which isn't very expensive, but does make the papers non-recyclable, I put my job lists in clear plastic sleeves which can still be wiped off at the end of each week if you use an overhead projector pen, or dry erase marker, but can be used again if we change the kids' jobs. All the kids have the same basic jobs like cleaning their rooms and practicing piano. But, then they are also given additional jobs that suit their ages.


Scott is 9 years old, and quite thorough in his work, so his jobs include vacuuming and getting the mail. He can take a sibling with him for the mail, but he is responsible for the key and making sure all the mail gets brought home.


Todd is 8. He does best with repetitive things that don't take a lot of problem solving, so dusting and taking out the garbage should be perfect jobs for him.


Elise is 6. She loves helping out wherever one of her parents are working, so when I told her that setting the table would be one of her jobs, she gave me a big smile!


I love the idea of contributing to your family so much more than doing chores and getting money. We do not give our kids an allowance, or pay them for completing chores. They sometimes get rewards, but usually that is in the form of a family reward, such as a family movie night, or going out for an ice cream treat.

Another resource, thanks to Pinterest, is from the Happy Housewife blog where there is a great list of family job ideas for every age group. Find it at this link.

An Easter dress for Elise

My sweet little girl is quite a character. While some little girls are "girly-girls" she is the epitome of tomboy. I love it! She isn't afraid of dirt, she doesn't mind hand-me-downs and she won't be easily swayed by the latest fashion must-haves. However, we do run into some minor problems on the rare occasion that I really want her to dress up. Take Easter, for instance. It's a good dressing-up sort of occasion. But, Elise thought a pair of school uniform pants would suffice. I decided to put my mommy foot down, and say that, this Easter, she would wear a dress.

Have you heard of Pinterest? It's my new addiction. Well, I typed in a search for "dresses for little girls" on Pinterest and up came hundreds of dresses. Beautiful, elegant, totally-appropriate-for-Easter, kinds of dresses. She liked one. Just ONE! Out of about 300 in total that we looked at, she chose 1. I could have tried to find it in a store, but I just happened to have a metre of the same fabric (green gingham) in my stash, so I thought I would make it instead. The dress I made doesn't look exactly like the one she chose, but it was the same colour, and had no sleeves, so she said she liked it. And she said she would wear it for Easter.

It's not fancy, and as you can see, she has no trouble climbing on fences in it!


Easter isn't here yet, and I've already gotten her to wear it once! Maybe I put both feet down :)

These are a few pictures that I took of Elise in her new Easter dress after church yesterday saying hello to Papa's chickens... you see, this is also the sort of dress that you can run around the grass in, and visit chickens while wearing!





Here's a view of the back - I had a zipper all ready to go, and then I decided that I would rather put 3 cute little ties on the back to hold it closed than fight with a zipper. I've done zippers and they aren't a big problem, but I thought this was cuter.


We were in Victoria picking up our kids who had spent the week with Grammie and Papa for Spring Break. Elise said that if she had to have all these pictures taken, then the boys should be in at least one of them! They happily obliged me, and were so glad they weren't the main focus of my camera that day :)

Another birthday gift

Todd's birthday party was yesterday... that post is coming soon, but I still have to get a few pics off of our phones before the photo story can be completed!

Today, Todd is at a party for one of the girls from his class. For this party, the invitation stated that it is a "$5 party" so he was to creatively wrap $5 and that was all he was allowed to give. We came up with an idea this morning to creatively turn $5 into artwork. I wonder if she will keep the coins like this, or if she will peel them all off to spend. Since the picture didn't look complete with just the $5, there is actually about $7 here, but I didn't care! Scott helped Todd make this art, and I think they did a great job!! They are attached with Stampin' Up! glue dots, which will just peel off when she wants to spend some of this money, and it is on a painting canvas, so she can technically use that again, as well.


I also thought she should have something more, and since her favourite colour is blue, I asked Todd if he wanted me to make up a tote to use as the gift bag, and then she can use that for a piano book bag, or whatever she wants to carry in it. I made it in less than an hour, just in time for the party!!

Art Kids

Just one more week until Art Kids classes start! There are still a couple spots available. Contact me soon to register your child.


An exciting new addition to my class line up.....

ART KIDS!!

Art Kids - Art classes for kids aged 6-12. Improve your drawing and painting skills using several different art mediums, including stamping. Classes will be held on Mondays in February from 3:30 - 4:30. $17 per class, or $55 if you sign up for all 4 classes. All supplies provided.

Class dates: February 6, 13, 20, 27

A little catch-up

Last week was a fun one! After working with all the grade 1, 2 and 3 classes at my boys' school for the past 3 weeks to help them learn the songs for their musical, I got to direct the musical and play the piano for 3 songs of it. It turned out great and the kids sang their hearts out!

Before my job was "mom" I was an Elementary school teacher, and for 2 1/2 years of my career, I taught k - 7 music. So, this was like stepping back into that role, and I loved it! I also loved the fact that 2 of those precious voices were coming from my own little boys.

This week is the last week of school before Christmas holidays! I am the grade 1 "Class Mom" so I am going to pick up a couple teacher gifts from the class. Tomorrow I get to help with craft day in the grade 2 class, and on Friday is our all-school Christmas singalong. It's another full week, but it is all celebrating this wonderful season.

Here is a little card that a friend just sent to me. I thought it was really cute!!

CLICK TO GET YOUR CARD.

Another digi page

I love how MDS comes with so many stamp images and options for creating great works of art. Then, if you want to add onto your program, the digital downloads are so affordable, and of course, there's no shipping on digi add-on items because they are downloads right to your computer. This background paper is a download that I purchased last week, and comes in a package called "Shades of Spring."

The stamped images and punch I used on this page are all included in the original MDS software.

Some Digi Scrappin'!

Haven't done much traditional stamping these last couple weeks, but I did a few digital pages. Here's a 12X12 sized one that I did this week using My Digital Studio.

Sidewalk Chalk

My husband is away this weekend at a lake with 4 other guys. They are camping in tents and the back of a pick up truck, and waterskiing and wakeboarding/kneeboarding for the whole weekend. They will be sore and tired and hopefully happy as clams when they come home. Whenever Steve goes away, I get a tiny glimpse of what a single mom (or dad) must feel like, and I admire these women and men more than ever.

But the kids and I have done a few fun things while daddy's been gone. On Friday night we had home made mini pizza buns and watched a movie (Ballet Shoes). Then on Saturday afternoon, we did some sidewalk chalk (see pictures below).

There are fun things planned for today, as well, and I might just blog about those later. Steve will be home this evening, and we will all be very happy to see him!

Thought I would share some of our vibrant colouring. I am sure the neighbourhood appreciates the fact that with one good rain, this "artwork" will all be gone. And if the rain doesn't come fast enough, I am sure that Steve will insist on helping it off the road with a hose shortly after he gets home :)

I had to get right in here... Around Elise's birthday, I bought some new sidewalk chalks, and they just looked too fun to pass up, so I put my book down and got down and coloured!




The box brags that they are "Brighter and Bolder!" And I would have to agree....

Up until I broke open the new box, this is what we were dealing with:


Very fun... the next time you see some kids drawing on the road, why not as if you can join them? (As long as it is the washable stuff, and not real graffiti! :)

My kids

In the Summer, we had the kids' pictures taken by Revival Arts Studio as part of the Imagine Kids project. This is a fundraiser for Matthew's House, an organization that will provide respite for severely disabled children, inspired by Steve's cousin's little boy. You can read all about Matthew's House here.

Here are the portraits we chose for our home.... Three 8X10s for the piano, and a larger photo of the three of them, which I put up in the living room, for now, but I'm not convinced that is where it will stay. It seems to be floating all on its own, so I'll have to play around with a few places around the house to see where it will fit best.

Chore Charts

September seems like a good time to organize. I think that I am more of a Fall cleaner than a Spring cleaner. I'm talking the deep-down-purge kind of cleaning, not just every day tidy stuff. Some people are every season cleaners, but I have just cleaned out a few cupboards and made piles for the trash and for the goodwill stores, and kids' clothes to give to friends for their kids. I think it stems from the feeling you get when you buy new clothes for school and the joy of cracking open a new notebook. I love school supplies. Fall is when I think things feel fresh, more so than Spring. Spring is the hanging on season... the final push to the big break you get during Summer holidays. "If I can just make it to June, then I know I can rest!" Ever feel that way? I especially did this past Spring. But, Fall is perhaps my favourite season. No, let me try that again... Fall is definitely my favourite season!

To embrace this Fall Clean feel, I wanted to do something to encourage organization in our house.

My kids are generally good helpers. They have gotten into a routine of making their beds daily, and clearing the table after a meal. But for other things, I feel like I am one big nag. I hate that. My kids wouldn't always believe that I hate it, but I do.

So, we came up with a plan... Chore Charts. I think they are a really big deal in some homes, and I did find many good sites online just by typing in "Free Chore Charts for kids" in a Google search. However, there was one thing that typically every single resource had in common... they were only for one week at a time. I'm all for weekly rewards, but I'm not for the constant printing and replacing of charts. So, I created one that is for a 2 week period.

One idea I came across in my search of charts was to have your kids decorate their charts and then take them to an office store to be laminated, then just use a dry erase pen and they can check off the boxes... I do believe we will do something like that. Then I won't have to buy excessive amounts of stickers that will just be chucked at the end of two weeks. I think we will go through the first round with the paper copy, and then I will know if these are the chores that should be on the list, or if I need to personalize them for each child, etc. And at that time, I can revise the chart to one week if I think it is a good idea to laminate for reuse.

We are going to start on Monday. Wish us luck :)

Do you do chore charts with your kids? Or other kinds of charts? I came across ideas for potty training charts, behavioural charts, and basic household chores. It all sounds like a great idea, but I reserve the right to eliminate charts from our house if they become more bother than benefit!

What are some of the things on your charts? I would love to hear so that I can revise our chart if need be before we laminate the final draft.

Play Dough

My friend Hilda talked the other day about the joy play dough brings to her kids, and I am guessing that in turn it brings joy to her (or at least peace and quiet for a bit!!). So I thought I would make a batch of play dough with the kids today. It turned out great... I'll put the recipe I used at the bottom. I know there are a million recipes, and everyone probably has their favourite way to do it, but this one worked really well for us today. The hardest part was finding the cream of tartar at the store!!!

The kids are happily playing with it right now. I like the fact that it can be stored for quite awhile, and doesn't dry out nearly as fast as the store bought kind, there is no fighting over colours, plus, I know exactly what is in my play dough - not some mystery substance from China.





Play Dough Recipe

You'll need:

Flour 3cups
Salt 1 1/2 cups
Water 3 cups
Vegetable Oil 2TB.
Cream of tartar 1TB.
Food coloring few drops or unsweetened "Kool-Aid" 1pkg.

Mix ALL of the ingredients in a large saucepan.
Cook over medium low heat, until the dough comes away
from the edges of the pan and it becomes difficult to move the spoon. Remove from heat. Cool until it can be handled.
Place on counter or wax paper knead 3-4 times.
Store in an air tight container.

My Kids

Just thought I would share a few pics of the most precious people in my life... We had some professional photos done today, but I took these on our way back to the truck. Thought while the kids were all cleaned up, I should snap a few of my own. When the professional photos are ready, I will ask permission to share a couple on here along with the link to the Photographers. I got to see a couple on the camera while he was taking them, and I liked what I saw!

Sports Day

You know the end of the year is fast approaching when there are field trips (last week, both boys had a field trip) no more library books brought home (they still have library time but aren't allowed to sign any new books out) and Sports Day! There are only 7 days of school left. And for Todd, one of those is being spent on a field trip.

Today it was Sports Day. I always loved having my mom around the school when I was in Elementary School, so I thought the boys would like having mom and dad there for their Sports Day, too. With both of us at the school, it meant Elise got to come along. She was thrilled!

This was Todd's favourite moment... playing hockey!


This relay is called the Caterpillar, and it is so funny to watch. So glad for a sunny day, because in the rain this would make for one messy activity!!

Elise hamming it up for the camera!

THIS was Elise's highlight of the day... when "Hawkey" from the Abbotsford Heat got down and hugged her. It was so fun that the Heat mascot and another representative came to our Sports Day.

This was my favourite "Kodak moment" of the day - Scott and his friend in a bunny hop relay, and I happened to catch them both in the air at the same time!

Here, Scott is trying to unwrap a candy while wearing oven mitts! Not as easy as it sounds :)