Chore Chart

I've been wanting to put together a chore chart for a while now.  I remember even the cute pictures that my mom used on a chart we had as a kid and it brings back such fond memories.  While my 4 & 2 year old don't have a ton of "chores" right now, I thought it would help us keep with a routine during the day & when they are dragging their feet through activities, it helps to remind them that as soon as they finish they get to move their card on their chart.  I did a separate one for each kid but for now, their cards are the same.  I'm thinking of adding some additional cards (scripture reading, help with laundry, help take out the trash, etc.), but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Here's what I came up with:

1. The board came from Michaels and is a 7x7 size.
2. Painted the board black (didn't worry about painting the back side).
3. Printed the child's name onto a piece of scrapbook paper.
4. Mod podged the paper to the board.
5. Went over the board with a coarse piece of sandpaper to rough it up a bit.
6. Attached 2 hooks for the chore cards.  The cards sit on the left side & are moved to the right side when completed.
7. Printed & laminated the cards.  I got the graphics from a site where you could purchase clipart for a low fee.  I just LOVE this clipart & wish I could share it, but the site where I got it has closed up shop :(  I did manage to track down the artist, Carolee Jones, but her blog still links to finding her artwork on the site that has closed.
8. Used a staple gun to attach ribbon (for hanging) to the back of the board
9. Voila!  You're done!

Summer of Fun: Week 1

I don't know what it is, but even though I just have a preschooler (two days a week), the beginning of summer makes for a great time to start a new routine & add in some extra fun.  Maybe its the beautiful weather or the feeling of a "new start".  Anyway, I thought I'd share a list of what we're doing around here for fun & learning this summer.  The items that are bolded are specifics or topics we're going to do every week.  I'm trying to come up with an idea for each topic for each week.  These are the things we did last week:

Movie Monday -- something we started a few months ago & will continue.  The kids love to spread out a blanket & have popcorn while watching a movie.
Kids National Geographic -- learn about a new animal each week with the details, videos & soundbites from this website.  I'm printing out a card for each animal & we'll store them in a 3x5 card file box for each kid.
Computer Games/Activities --  Mr. Roger's Neighborhood
Hooked On Phonics & Letter Writing
Outdoors -- planting seeds, played in the water (blow up swimming pool)
Games -- Red Light, Green Light

Cooking -- made, frosted & added sprinkles to cupcakes
Additional Activities -- Just Dance on the Wii

Evie turns 2

So, I haven't blogged in a long time . . . too many things to do around here! But I just had to post some pictures from Evie's 2nd birthday. We celebrated a couple of days early while Grandpa & Grandma were in town.

1st Day of School

Chase had his first day of preschool last week! He is going 2 days a week for 2 1/2 hours each day to a preschool that a woman does out of her home. It is a 3 year old class . . . earlier than I thought I would send my kids to preschool but I think it will be good for all of us. Chase has been asking to go to school since the beginning of the year so he was very excited.

Evie was pretty upset when Chase left & she had to stay home, but she got over it quickly & now has fun standing & waving & yelling goodbye as Chase leaves with his carpool in the morning.

That first day was very strange. We sent Chase off then went to do some errands I had planned. The errands were done in no time at all & then Evie & I stopped for doughnuts and came home. We still had about an hour and a half left until we had to get him, the house was quiet & I had nothing more planned to do. It was kind of an eerie feeling. But we got over that quickly and I have found that shopping with just one kid is so easy. I will definitely enjoy the quiet & my alone time with Evie for the next few months until the twins arrive!

Chase's first day of pre-school

Evie with her celebratory doughnut after Chase left!

At least they're polite about it!

Mom: "Chase, you're supposed to be in bed."
3 yr old Chase: "Hi Mom, nice to meet you. I like you."

Mom: "Evie, come here please."
18 month old Evie: "No thanks."

Sick Mom, laying down in her bedroom upstairs sneezes.
Evie, hanging out downstairs with Dad yells, "Bless you, Mom."

These are the moments that make it so much fun to be a mom!

Hot Dogs for Breakfast, Anyone?

It takes me a while to get up & going these days. Today, I told Chase (3 yrs) I'd be down in a few minutes to get breakfast for him. When I came down a few minutes later, he was already eating . . . he got into the refrigerator and found his leftover hot dog from dinner last night.

Hot Dogs for breakfast . . . yep, I'm a good mom!

Naptime!

Naptime for our 3 year old has been a struggle for a while. If we could get him to hold still for 2 minutes, he would fall asleep, but that involved having to sit on his bed & continually telling him (very sternly) to "hold still, close your eyes, go to sleep". After our most recent trip to Arizona, we gave up and let him quietly watch cartoons during naptime. He was also going through multiple meltdowns each day & every little thing would set him off.

Last week, I managed to get him back onto a nap schedule & he was actually going down for a nap pretty easily, without crying and complaining. And the meltdowns have stopped . . . until today :( This morning, we went through major trauma over some very little things & I knew he was feeling extra tired. So, the greatest thing in the world happened when he finished eating lunch & then told me that he was a little tired so he needed to go take a little nap -- TEARS OF JOY going on around here!

Naptime tip: I put him in bed & tell him that he has 10 minutes to try to go to sleep himself otherwise I will have to come sit by him. He's usually still awake at the end of 10 minutes so then I just go sit on his bed for a few minutes until he falls asleep. I think he appreciates the opportunity to lay down by himself first because he does a lot less complaining about it now.

Help! 3 year old Perfectionism???

After spending the weekend in bed with horrible pain (they're thinking I have/had a kidney stone), I went ahead and sent Jeff off to work today & told him I could handle things even though I'm far from 100%. Dealing with that kind of pain without the wonders of pain medications (because of being pregnant) was just plain rotten, but compared to that, I am feeling much better today.

So, I decided that in the middle of all the tv & movie time for the kids today that I would get out some big pieces of butcher paper for them to color on. Evie (my 18 month old) scribbled all over her paper, then wadded it up & wanted to throw it in the garbage! Chase (3 years old) couldn't even begin anything because he wanted to draw this or that but kept saying that he didn't know how. Its the same thing when using coloring book pages. He doesn't ever color much because he's afraid of doing it wrong.

I know that some of that attitude must be genetic (coming from ME), but I don't think that I was doing that at his age because I have all sorts of paintings, etc. that my mom saved from when I was a kid.

So, how do I get him past this perfectionism idea? I keep telling him to just try and that however he does it will be great, but it doesn't seem to work.

Parenting Help, Please!

We're going through a difficult time here. When the new baby was brought home from the hospital (over a year ago!) there really weren't any problems with the 2 year old. Now that one year has gone by, he's having some serious problems with her . . . she takes his toys, he has to share things with her & we're just plain struggling. He even starts throwing a fit when she wakes up from a nap or wakes up in the morning (after him); he starts crying, "No, Evie's not awake!"

What to do? We've relocated a few of his toys to his bedroom (the ones that he has a really hard time sharing) so that he can play with some things by himself. We've done occasional one-on-ones - where mom takes one & dad takes the other on an errand alone. And we've given Chase a couple of grown-up jobs that he really likes.

Do I just have to wait for him to grow out of the stage or is there more that I could be doing? Help, please!

Job Charts to the Rescue!!!

We've really been struggling lately with recently turned 3 year old, Chase. Seems he's just now hitting the "terrible two's". The first problem that cropped up was refusing to eat, especially breakfast. And then there have been lots of "no's" being yelled. I don't know about you, but a toddler yelling "no" to my face really gets my blood boiling.

The issue isn't completely resolved but last week we introduced a job chart and it has worked miracles. Chase gets to put a sticker next to each item after he completes it and he loves to get those things done so he can mark them off the list. His job chart includes -
Morning: making his bed, eating breakfast, brushing his teeth, reading scriptures, and unloading the dishwasher (with a little help from mom)
Evening: cleaning up the toys, brushing his teeth, saying his prayers

He is loving having something to be responsible & especially loves unloading the dishwasher & I have been amazed at how great he is doing. On only the 2nd day, he knew where just about everything went as he unloaded.

I used some super cute graphics found here.