My (Belated) Valentine's Gift to You

I hope all of you had a WONDERFUL Valentine's Day and that your husband and children made you feel incredibly appreciated and loved.  My hubby came home with a card and some candy for each of the kids (except for Grant, who HATES candy, he brought a bag of beef bites.  Don't ask me what those are, but I sure didn't want any!)  For me he brought my favorite - peanut m&m's and a funny valentine card.  The funniest part was, I picked out the exact same card for him!!  We had a good laugh over what a perfect pair we are.

We never really make a big deal out of Valentine's Day because our Anniversary is on the 20th, so it just seems silly to do a bunch of lovey dovey stuff right before then.  We like to pack it all in to one occasion.  Of course, I wouldn't have my feelings hurt if he showed up with an unexpected vase of flowers, but I never expect that because we came to an agreement years ago not to celebrate. 

Today, I've been focusing on staying sane with all the craziness of life.  Do you ever have one of those weeks when your calendar is just so full you can't figure out when you're going to have the time to get it all done?  That's me this week.  I am usually pretty good at time management, but every once in awhile, I just can't figure out how or when the laundry is going to get washed (or folded for that matter?!) 

As a homeschooling mom, it is EXTREMELY important for me to keep a set routine for the kids to rotate through when it comes to chores.  Without this handy routine, I would probably go cuh-ray-zee!  Even with the routine, the house is never really up to my standards (which my kids will tell you is the essence of perfection, and I would be fibbing if I tried to disagree). 

Anyhoo - I thought I would share this handy little set of spreadsheets that have brought the sanity back into my life in the hopes that you might be able to utilize them in your own household.  Homeschooling or not, what mom wouldn't like a helping hand (or few) around the house?  My children are 7, 9 and 13 years old and most of these jobs require little or no supervision from me.  They are learning responsibility, teamwork, and most importantly, that when a mess is made, if they don't clean it up then, mom will NOT be cleaning it up later.  They have become more conscious about cleaning up after themselves, which makes a WORLD of difference around here! 

Drum roll . . .

tap your fingers . . .

here come the spreadsheets . . .

are you tired of waiting yet?

Ok darn it, after several tries I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get the image of the spreadsheet on here - I guess I have a lot more to learn about this computer stuff - ha!

So I am just going to do the best I can, bare with me (or is it bear, cause you want to growl in frustration?)  ugh!

I'm going to start off with one spreadsheet and we'll continue this in a later post, um-kay?

In the bathroom, we have:

                 Monday   Tuesday     Wednesday   Thursday     Friday

Wipe counters            Grant       Grace          Reece         Grant        Grace
and sink

Wipe mirror and         Grace       Reece         Grant           Grace       Reece
around toilet

Swiffer the floor          Reece      Grant          Grace           Reece      Grant


Do you get the idea?  I have the spreadsheet actually printed and posted inside the linen cabinet in the kids' bathroom.  They  know exactly what they are supposed to do every morning.  No need for arguing, no need to tell me who did or didn't do what yesterday, no haggling with them.  It's wonderful!

As promised, I will share more of my housework spreadsheets in a later post.  I will also be filling you in on the progress we've made on the Love Yourself, Lose Your Junk Mission in Grace's room.

If you have any ideas on how to run a smoother household, I would LOVE to hear them!

Blessings to you,
Dafne

Mission: Love Your Family

Today was family day, as I believe all Sundays should be.  Hubby was home, which is sometimes a rare commodity due to the nature of his work, but lately has been happening more often.  (YEAH!!!)

He spent time helping Reece finish his car for the Boy Scout Derby Race this afternoon.  They began the project earlier in the week, and were super ambitious about the look they were trying to achieve.  Last night, however, neither of them were happy with the way the car looked.  So, they spent much of the early afternoon trying to modify the paint to their satisfaction.  I was pretty impressed with their final product, even if they weren't!

Would you just look at that cutie pie grin?  My heart is just melting!  <sigh>  He was all pumped and ready to race!  He and his friends were feeling a little silly, as most boys usually are when they get together for anything.  It was difficult to get them to stay seated and actually watch their cars race!  When they finally got settled, their little eyes were glued to the score board to see whose car rolled the fastest and who got first place.  They were all very good sports!

This was Reece's 1st Derby Race and he really enjoyed seeing all the other boys' cars and watching the races, even if he didn't make it to the Grand Finals.

So what does all this have to do with loving my family?  Well, I firmly believe that we must support each other in our endeavors.  Having your family stand by and watch while you do something you're proud of, in my opinion, can only encourage you to continue to try new things.  I believe it will give each of my children the confidence they will need later in life when they apply for college, a job, a promotion, or whatever else God leads them to do.  I want them to have the courage necessary to fulfill the purpose He has for them and its my job to help them find that courage.    Something as simple as a Boy Scout Derby Race is a good opportunity to do that.  Sometimes I just can't believe what a fun job God gave me!  Who could ask for anything better?

Blessings to you,
Dafne

Frantic Friday!

Friday is supposed to be our "day off".  Grant has robotics in the afternoon, so I decided at the beginning of the term that we would use Friday as a field trip/fun day.  However, October was so crazy!  A family emergency took us to Kansas for a week, home repairs took another week, illness took another week.  Because of that, we are now using Friday as our "catch up" day so that at the end of the term we will NOT be behind schedule!  I'm hoping everything works out according to plan, I'm still tweaking their assignments/workload and trying to get them "settled" into their routines.  I've drastically changed our homeschooling method and we are ALL still working on getting used to the rigor.  (We're loving it, though, they are learning so much!)

Another thing I am working on is routine, order and consistency.  Autumn is such a wonderful time of year.  It brings back fond memories of my mother boiling cinnamon on the stove and working on handmade decorations.  She made our house a festive place for the holidays.  Just thinking about it makes me want to put on some comfy socks, heat up some cocoa, and turn on an old classic that we used to watch - like It's a Wonderful Life or White Christmas.  I'm working really hard to maintain a peaceful home, so my children will have the same fond memories of this time of year. 

My problem is, I have a very difficult time relaxing if I think that everything that should be done, hasn't been.  I like my house to be clean and orderly, with everything in its place.  This takes some effort on my part, as I am a perfectionist by nature, which means I have a difficult time ignoring the mindset 'if you want something done right, do it yourself'.  I'm getting better and better at making the children responsible for things I would rather do myself.  Of course, my 7 year old is not going to load the dishwasher exactly the way I would, but if he does that while one is swiffering the floor and the other is putting away leftovers and I am loading the laundry, it leaves much more time for us to be together as a family!  Last night, after a successful 10 minute kitchen clean-up, hubby decided we all needed to get out of the house.  So we hopped in the car for a trip to DQ and we all enjoyed a tasty treat and some good laughs!   These are the things I want my children to remember. 

My goal for November is to re-gain control of our daily routine, make lots of time for play, and create memories that will last a lifetime.  I pray that God will give me the strength to do these things and the wisdom I need to get  them done and I hope that someday, my children will be thankful for my efforts.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of thinking about the way my children entertain themselves.  The television, computer and video games are becoming more and more of a nuisance to me.  What is happening with our culture?  Why have we become so dependent on technology?

Don't get me wrong - I love being able to jump on my Facebook page and catch up with all my friends, email is a wonderful, necessary tool in this day and age, and I don't know where my checking account would be without the convenience of online banking.  However, I never want technology to interfere with the way my children view the world around them.  I want them to feel a sense of awe when they step out the front door.  I want them to be aware of the trees, the birds and the sky.  I want them to ask questions and be creative and return to a more "relaxed" style of living. 

In the next few months I'm going to join my children in a challenge - we're going to use as little technology as possible.  I'm going to limit computer, television and video games (for myself AND them).  We're going to open more books when it's NOT schooltime.  I'm going to do some research on games that families played years before radio or television were thought of and we're going to play them!

To aid in this challenge, I've found two books (at Amazon.com) that I'm going to purchase.  I'm really excited about these:




They each contain detailed descriptions of games to play, instructions on making simple toys, hunting and fishing suggestions and so much more!  I can't wait to dive into this challenge and spend more time playing and learning with my kids!