We went to Colorado and visited with Uncle!!
This was our first major road trip (it was way cheaper to rent a car and drive, then to fly our family of five). It was a wonderful and blessed trip. We are excited to go back!
During our busy school year we tug around our various water bottles, cups, etc. We tend to loose some along the way and I always end up refereeing a few heated arguments over whose bottle was whose.
After years of trying everything I could think of to otherwise label each child’s bottle, cup, or whatever…
I’ve got it!
I love the idea of those label bands you see in the back of the parenting magazines. I have always loved those, but I was not gonna pay those prices. Well, I’ve come up with my own fix for basically the same concept!
You know those nice little rubber bracelet bands that so many have?? Yes! Put those around whatever you need to label! Write on it with sharpie and you’re set. You can get a pack of 24 of the bands for $6 at Oriental Trading. That is more MY kind of pricing! 
They are stretchy enough that they fit around any of our cups or bottles.
For emphasis in the picture, our name is Snuggles. 
Winter Sprout is starting his training for a duathlon he will be in in February 2011. He is very excited!!
Unless they change the course, he will be running 1 mile and biking 5 miles. So, first thing first, need to ditch the training wheels!
This has proven to be a bit tough for our little worrier. Many tears have been shed over the past few days, but he is now riding on two wheels! He is still pretty unstable, but getting better with every ride!
We are proud of our Winter Sprout!
Today, the kiddos and I rode to a local park and had a picnic. It was a tough ride, and we learned we need some more practice before we jump out on the open roads. But we had a great time, albeit HOT HOT HOT.
We were blessed with neighbors of older boys who gave us two of our three kid bikes. Very cool!!!
We were inspired by our new chore system to revise our Menu System. Over the past few years I have printed out monthly menus and they have worked mostly ok. However, when things get really rollin’ along, the menu gets forgotten. For many reasons, we knew we needed to come up with a more efficient system.
I took the same Titus 2 Chore Pack template and made these cards. The actual food/drink items have magnets glued to the back. I left some tabs blank for all those fun new recipes I am always trying. But the staples are typed up and all ready to be placed on the week’s chart on the fridge.
The kids like to make the Breakfast and Lunch charts themselves. So, this lets them get creative and have say in what is served. 
The nice thing is I can always come back and make more tabs, it is that easy.
Our super smart and giggly Summer Rose is growing up so fast! What a Sweet Blessing she is to our family!
Summer Rose gathered a few great friends and we went to a movie, ate cupcakes and played in the fountains at a nearby mall. How fun!
Hope you had a wonderful day sweet heart!
A few months ago Papa Bear read about a great chore system using an RPG approach in the ‘Geek Dad’ book. We had been using Titus 2′s ‘Managers of Their Chores’ system. This is a great system, but the kids were losing steam and something needed to be changed.
So, after taking some time to figure out the best way that works with our family, we ended up developing our own system using a bit from both methods.
We made the ‘Daily’ chore cards (Morning, Afternoon, and Evening) – all the cards have their name on them (the names have been removed from the photos for online purposes) and are color coded (Spring Blossom has purple text, Winter Sprout has red text, and Summer Rose has cyan text) laminated and put on a ring on a lanyard. We also have ‘Weekly’ and ‘Monthly’ chores on a ring for each child hanging on a tack in command central…aka…the Laundry Room wall. The ‘Weekly’ jobs are things that are only done on certain days a week by each child. They complete their ‘Weekly’ jobs as part of their ‘Afternoon’ routine. The ‘Monthly’ jobs are jobs that are done once a month (i.e – washing the car, mowing the lawn, washing the dog, etc).
From the ‘Geek Dad’ approach we came up with a point system. They choose a character to represent themselves (Spring Blossom for example is “Super Kitty” ). And they earn bonus points for jobs that are more challenging for each child. These bonus points are incentives for the jobs each child struggles with and helps them to remember to try their hardest even when it is difficult. They sign and date the back of every card with a dry erase marker when they feel they have completed the job the best they could. Then I go check the work and award the necessary points.’
They earn 5 points from every job (not including the routine personal jobs – i.e. Take Meds, Get Dressed, Brush Teeth, etc.)
They each earn +3 bonuses for outdoor jobs, +2 for the more challenging ‘Monthly Jobs’ and +1 bonuses for ‘Daily’ bathroom cleaning.
We also have blank ‘Bonus Job’ cards for extra bonus points. These are jobs that are not in our normal routine, but occasionally are asked of the children.
At the moment, they have a ‘Total Point Goal’ of 300 points. When they earn this, they earn an achievement. The acheivments are awards listed 1st to 10th. These are rewards that we made but that our kids enjoy. Things like, $1 for every 300 points earned, picking a prize from the prize box ($ store items, Christian pencils, hotwheels cars, etc.), $5 book card (each child can choose to save up to 3 cards to spend), ‘Get Out a Job for a Day’ card, 1 hr of special time with Mommy or Daddy, Family Fun Night, with the final card being a ‘Treat Card’. The ‘Treat Card’ lists 5 things they can choose from that they LOVE to do, like go out to dinner. ;o)
The children’s points can be deducted for incomplete jobs and/or bad attitude. These are either -2 or -3 deduction points from that job or day.
We also have “Character Cards” for each child – Good Character and Poor Character. These can affect each child with either Bonuses or Deductions. These are acts that tip the scale in one way or another and need attention focused on the act. Some acts are good and should be brought to light and be rewarded with points, some are poor choices (like selfishness, grumpy attitude, arguing, etc) that need to be addressed and points taken away.
We keep a running total on a chart, this helps them to see how they’ve done.
Anyways, this is our new system. The kids LOVE it, as they were used to the chore cards, but now they get rewarded. This makes them feel special and get a sense of achievement.
To make the card making task easier, we were very blessed to find a cheap lamination machine at Costco for $23. Works great and makes the system more durable and dry erasable.
It’s a rental truck! Why not?! ;P
We drove down into the river bottom and played in the stream! However, when everyone had to pee, it was a bush we needed…
This was a beautiful trip. Besides our tent getting rained in (even though we spent hours putting tarp up) and our stove breaking, we had a special time.
A truly unforgettable experience….
Thank you God….
The kiddos adore Uncle! We had fun and went to the movies when he was in town!
Always the highlight of our summer! Fun!
Spring Blossom is officially a swimmer!! HOORAY!!! Her teacher was awesome!
Copyright © 2010 Sweet Blessings Blog All rights reserved. Theme by Laptop Geek.
