Charts and more Charts

About 3 years ago I bought a book called Accountable Kids.  I read it and then made my own charts for the kids.  It WORKED!  My household chores became less and less as the kids were actually taking care of a lot of the little things on their own. 

Then we moved….. and sort of got out of the habit. 

Two weeks ago I pulled the book back out, found the charts I had made, and printed off new tags and tickets for the kids.  I had made the charts out of wooden picture frames that I painted in a different color for each kid.  We have 2 hooks at the top of the chart, one for chores to do and one where the completed chores get turned over and placed on.  At the bottom there are 3 hooks, one for tickets received, one for tickets used and one for book points.  They get 30 minutes of electronics time for each ticket (tv, computer, Wii etc….)  If they get all 3 tickets (morning, afternoon, evening chores each = 1 ticket) they get a punch on their book points card.  When that card is full they get a trip to the bookstore to buy a new book.    Here is a picture of  their charts.  Ignore the faucet.  The only place I have to put these right now is on the window ledge in the kitchen.  It is VERY important that these charts are in a place where they are visible to all.

 

Another chart we have been using is our Family Home Evening Chart (aka Family Night).  One day I was frustrated with the fact that we were not regularly having FHE and if we did no one knew what they were in charge of that night.  So I grabbed a plank of wood from the garage told Rodi to cut it about 16 inches long.  I then painted it blue.  When it dried I went to work with a paint pen (LOVE THESE THINGS) and some hooks.  Here is what the finished product looks like.  The lesson hook is really lesson/activity hook.  Oh and it does have a place on the wall but I painted in the kitchen and just haven’t gotten this hung back up.

 

 

Charts can be a fabulous thing when you use them.

Moe LOVES hand-me-downs!

A friend who works with Rodi (Farmer, as they call him at work) has a son a couple of years older than Moe.  Recently he gave some clothes to Moe.  Moe was beyond joyful about receiving such a gift.  Last night Rodi brought home 2 bags of more treasure for Moe.  It was like someone plugged in the Christmas tree and said Santa had been here.  I kid you not, Moe was beyond excited about each and every shirt, shoe, pair of jeans etc… that he pulled from those bags.  So much so that I HAD to get out the camera so I could share this moment with all of you.

 

Almost

He wanted these sneakers to fit so bad.  We were headed out to the store a few minutes after his gift extravaganza was over and WOW was it hard to get him to wear the shoes that FIT him.

Oh Yeah!

 

  Some shorts that FIT now!  He was more than thrilled about these.  He even wore them to the store.

 

They really fit I promise

 

He was so funny after he held up the, obviously too big jeans,  to himself, he walked around the room holding them up to each of us.  He would say… “doesn’t fit you”  Then he walked over to his pile and while tossing the jeans back into the pile he stated “Guess I’ll have to keep them”.  It was too funny.

 

The winning photo of the night….

When all was said and done he picked out quite the outfit to model for all of us.  We all laughed and then quickly found him something else to wear to the store.

Stud Muffin jr. They say I take after my dad *grin*

Updated Header

I was looking at the header on our site last night and realized that it needed to be updated.  It is amazing how much the kids change in a year.  The pictures of the kids were all taken today so they are very up to date.  The pic of Rodi and I however was taken this past winter.  I am not sure why but we are hardly ever in the pictures.  Well I know why I am not in them…. I am taking them!  Not sure what Rodi’s excuse is.  Oh, maybe that he is never home.

School has gotten off to a good start so far.  No one has threatened to throw books at me or out the window yet.  You laugh but last year several papers were found floating in the pool….hmmm wonder how that happened????

This morning JJ woke up with an ugly red spider bite on her arm.  Poor thing was in some serious pain too.  So while Bubs stayed here doing school work with the other 2 (not to his delight), JJ and I went to see the doc..  She did her History work on the way and read her novel for lit. class in the room while we waited for the doctor.  I was not about to give up an entire day of classes for a spider bite.  Oh and yes she was deemed to be A Okay. 

He said I was going to be good as new in no time!

After a few days off from the gym (for the labor day break) we are back to class again.  12 hours a week for the girls and 1 hour a week for Moe.  Bubs is thinking he wants to give swimming a try.  We shall see how that goes.  I am just worried that when Rodi deploys again next year that I will have to hire a driver just to help with the logistics of these activities.  Oh well, one day at a time I guess.

“My BEST FRIEND”

Moe has more “Best Friends” than any kid I know.  This past week though he made me laugh, when he was crying sobbing about his best friends moving away.  Who were his friends that he was going to miss so terribly?

Farewell

Okay I know it is a bad picture, but what might just be worse than the picture is that my 3 year old has livestock for “Best Friends”.

Jasper and Whisper are not on their way to a nearby dinner plate incase you were wondering.  They are going to greener pastures in Iowa, at my in-laws.  We had a terrible drought last year and times were tough here for 6 Zebu trying to graze.  So we shipped 2 of them off leaving us with 4 very jealous Zebu.  I know Molly would LOVE to see all the green grass Jasper and Whisper are munching on.  She almost got to go instead of Whisper but she is just too far along in her pregnancy to travel that far.

One more MOEment to share with you…..

I was riding the ol’ John Deere doing what I thought was a fine job of mowing cutting the lawn.  Until I looked yonder and saw my lil’ Moe with his saw (plastic of course) cutting some stray pieces that John couldn’t quite handle.

40 minutes….

until the FIRST DAY of SCHOOL.  I am praying that I am prepared.  I spent weeks setting up the schedule hoping to make things go as smoothly as possible.  I guess the first day for the kids is more like a final exam for me.

Bubs is making pancakes while the girls change their clothes for the day.  Moe is GRUMPY this morning.  I am hoping he gets over that quickly.  He will be doing some school work today too, the letter A. 

I will let you all know how it goes.

Lots of Laughs

I don’t know what Moe really said as we were driving down the road the other day but it sure sounded A LOT like “I go poopie”

Rodi was driving and the look on his face was camera worthy as Moe was wearing “big boy” underware….LOL!

All before noon

Maggie dug another hole in the yard.

I managed to step in the line of fire between Samantha (the cat) and Maggie (the dog) and now have a lovely scratch down my leg.

Jolly (the calf) got out of the fence again.

While I was gracefully chasing Jolly, to I don’t know, tackle her or something *LOL* I tripped and fell slid dropped with a thud to the ground, catching myself with my already injured wrist.

Moe decided Mom needed help playing rodeo clown and joined in the fun, excitement, thrill, adventure. This made Jolly run faster and further from where I needed her to be.

Maggie not wanting to miss out on any herding time with the calf, tugged with all of her might and tore the post of her run right up and out of the ground, allowing her to become entangled in a mess under our deck. To her disappointment with her lead tangled around this post and that, she could not reach the part of the yard where Roarin’ Moe and his Ropin’ Ma were showing off their rodeo skills. So there she sat in true hound style howling at the top of her little puppy lungs. What joy this scene must have been for my neighbor’s mother-in-law who had now opened the side door on the her van so that she could sit and watch the show….. NO I AM NOT KIDDING!

Back inside Bubs, JJ and Nina were reading doing handstands. Yep, study play must have been what I had asked them to do as I ran out the door to preform my Cowgirl duties. AGGGGHHHHH!

Was spring break just last week? It seems that it happened so long ago. *sigh*

Back to the grind.

*****UPDATE*******

it is now 12:06 and Moe just took a beautiful shade of dark blue marker and drew all over himself, oh and if you are wondering yes he did get that much sought after look of blue circle around the mouth.  Don’t let me forget to also mention that this was a PERMANENT MARKER!…. Only my Moe.

The past month in review….

I am still here really, I am.

JJ and Nina began gymnastics last month.  They are doing great and JJ has already moved from level 1 to level 3.  Level 4 is when she can start competitions….. I am hoping she is in level 3 for a while.

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JJ got her braces this past week.  What an experience this is going to be.  Poor thing has been eating scrambled eggs, soup, and mashed potatoes for the past 3 days as her teeth are SO sore.

Funny thing happened while JJ was getting her braces put on.  I was sitting in the room with her trying to hold her hand or foot (whatever I could hold and not be in the way) when I looked up and saw a familiar face.  I could not believe what I was seeing.  There she was kids in tow (much bigger than the last time I had seen them) and she had a new baby in her arms…. it was S. Tackett!!!!  I hadn’t seen her in 5 years.  We lived near them in Germany when our babies (Nina used to be one back then) were not even 18 months old yet.  Here we are in Virginia in an Orthodontist office of all places having a reunion!  Poor JJ had been left to deal with the pain as hugs and introductions to the newest addition of her family were made.  We exchanged information and then I headed back to my seat where I could keep a watchful eye on JJ.  She never really knew I was gone…at least I hope that is the story we are sticking to. *grin*

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Bubs finished off his wrestling season last Saturday.  He had 8 boys in his bracket and he finished 4th.  It wasn’t what he had hoped for since he had placed 1st in last years final matches.  It took some time to explain to him the differences this year, 1) he was a year older and in a new bracket where he is one of the younger kids not one of the older ones 2) he lost out on a lot of practice and match time this year due to his ankle injuries 3) THIS IS NOT THE OLYMPICS…. you did great, you had fun, and BONUS you placed 4th.

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Moe is doing good.  He accidentally did a front hand spring in the front room the other day.  He really didn’t mean to.  He was trying to do a very fast forward roll, threw his arms down and before he could ever get his head to the floor his legs went up and over and ta-da he was standing again.  It surprised even him.

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Rodi is on leave this week so we are taking our spring break from school.  We have something to do each and every day this week, something fun that is.  No school just time as a family to goof off, relax and enjoy being a family.

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I read something on another blog and it has really been stuck in my mind all day…… I just wish I could remember where I read it!!!!  If it seems to be something you have read as well please let me know so I can give them proper credit. I am probably not even quoting it exactly *sigh*

“Say yes more often so that when you say no they know you mean it”

This was referring to the raising of children, and I found it to be quite a powerful statement.  One to ponder anyway.

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Last but not least…. you MUST check out this blog! I was rolling in laughter as I read it today.

Well that didn’t help us much.

Two weeks ago I took Bubs to the dentist and yesterday Rodi and I took the other 3 kiddos.  I have been a slacker mom and they had not been to the dentist since April 2006.  YIKES!  I know BAD mom.

We have been riding them all pretty hard about their poor teeth brushing skills.  We have been warning them of cavities and other downfalls when you don’t brush properly.  By properly I do mean that the toothbrush should touch all teeth at least once and total time brushing should take longer than it took to get the toothpaste onto the toothbrush.  (High expectations I know)

I was ready for the lectures from the  Dentist and I so wanted to give the “remember what we talked about” speech.

Well no such luck.  All four came out of their appointments with A+ reports.  No cavities or problems of that nature.  Don’t get me wrong I am thrilled for them and for our wallet, but now my daily “did you brush good?”  speech is going to have less effect than ever.

In 2 weeks JJ goes in for her consult with the Orthodontist.  I am afraid our wallet is going to be hit hard with this new adventure in the land of dental world.

Gotta Go to the Bathroom

Tonight we sat at a local restaurant tonight enjoying dinner anywhere but home.  We don’t do this often and it really is treasured time.

Tonight it became one of those treasured memories.

We were nearly finished when Moe became very frustrated with his booster seat (another new milestone, no highchair) and refused to sit in it any longer.  Rodi was trying to help the poor boy out of the seat when he realized that Moe had soaked through his diaper and his pants!  This is exactly why I am not yet brave enough to venture out into the public arena with Moe and his “big boy undies”. 

As quick as he could Moe crawled out of his seat walked around our table with a very bow legged stance and a determined look on his face.  Rodi and I couldn’t help but laugh when we asked where he was going and his reply was “I gotta go to the bathroom”.

Everyday a new adventure……