A day in the life...

Now that summer is almost over, we've developed a pretty good summer routine. When the kids first wake (usually before 7) they often watch an hour or so of tv. Caden and Sage are always up early and Parker and Sydney usually are. Allie sleeps until 8 or 8:30. Then we have breakfast - sometimes we all have the same thing and sometimes we fend for ourselves. We try to have a little scripture time after breakfast at the table. We have been reading in Luke and talking about the miraculous things that Jesus did.

After that we do a few chores - cleaning the kitchen, unloading or loading the dishwasher, folding some laundry, etc. 

By about 10 or 11 o'clock people are starting to melt down and fight so we pack up and head to the pool. We can walk to the pool now so we do - usually the little girls ride in the wagon.

We really enjoy the pool in our neighborhood. It is never very crowded and has a fun layout. The big kids like to play submarine (with me if I'm willing) in the deeper end of the pool. The girls like to play restaurant in the shallower little pools. They have races and play shark too.

It is nice this year because I don't have to be in the water all the time. The little ones can get around really well with their floaties and so I usually relax or read for a few minutes when we first get to the pool. Then I'll swim some and then rest again. For the most part the kids get along really well at the pool.

I had to take and include this picture because part of our pool adventure always includes taking Sage to go poop in the potty. (This photo was staged.) We are SO glad she tells us now when she needs to go. Our first couple of trips to the pool this summer were interrupted abruptly by her pooping in her diaper or swimsuit.

Sometimes we bring lunch to the pool but mostly we bring snacks and then head home for lunch. I have been having one of the kids help me plan all our meals for the week including breakfast and lunch. The kids like looking at the menu to know what to have for lunch. We've been eating a lot of salads and fresh fruit this summer. The kids have been earning 1 cream puff for every serving (handful) of fruit they eat in the week. We keep track on a chart on the fridge and they indulge in many cream puffs on the weekend. It has been a great motivator for grabbing fruits and veggies when we are hungry.

After lunch we have rest time. Sage takes a nap and usually I do to. Sydney naps occasionally. The big kids go to separate rooms and work on their "chores" - reading, writing, typing, etc. Syd will play in her room and look at books.

There is usually a lull in the afternoons. Sometimes they watch a little tv or play electronics. The boys have been playing a lot of games together - monopoly, stratego and others.

Then we get to work making dinner, cleaning the kitchen again, unloading the dishwasher if needed until bob gets home around 6.

Then it's dinner time and clean up dinner time. We try to have family scriptures and prayer at this point. Then we start working on putting the little girls to bed - Sydney is pretty tired at this point if she hasn't had a nap. They prefer that I read to them and put them to bed whih I usually do. Bob reads to the boys and plays Rook with them a lot - they are learning a lot. Allie and I are reading a book together so most nights I read to her as well. Then I stay up way too late working on family history stuff, try to read for a bit when I get to bed (bob often stirs with the light and voices his displeasure with my late night reading), and then get some sleep.

School starts in 3 weeks and the big kids are in Utah for the next 2. As usual summer is going by way too fast!

How We Do/Did Laundry...

I have a system for doing laundry that has worked really well for me. It might not be for everyone and every house but it has been working here.

1. We sort all the kids laundry into the hallway on Saturday morning. We usually have a pile of lights, reds, and darks. With our new washing machine we usually only do one load of each color. We wash all of their clothes on Saturday. Saturday is the perfect day for washing because we can wash their spirit shirts from Friday (that they wear every week). We are also able to ensure that church clothes are clean for the following day. The boys only have to have one set of church clothes if we keep up with the wash like this. All clean clothes get piled into 3 laundry baskets that remain on the floor of the laundry room at all times.

2. On Monday I wash all of Bob and my clothes. That is usually another 3 loads - whites, lights and darks. I also try to fold all of the kids' clothes. It is easiest to fold the laundry if I just have the kids' to do and then later have ours to do (the counter gets crowded with the clothes of 7 people). Clothes that are wrinkled (from sitting in the laundry basket) go back in the dryer for a wrinkle control (new dryer) or wrinkle release cycle (old dryer). They come out fresh and ready to hang or fold.

3. On Tuesday I fold the remaining clothes. Ideally this would be just the adults' clothes and all the others would be put away the afternoon before (by the kids).

This rarely works as perfectly as presented here but it is a good foundation for what actually happens. Even in it's imperfect state, it usually means that I don't even really have to think about laundry for a couple of days during the week (which I appreciate).

Last year my goal was the get the laundry done each week and make dinner for the family most nights. I considered these my main responsibilities. All other household chores were shared by the rest of the family.

This year I realize that I am tired. The kids have a lot more energy than I do. My counselor suggested that I ask for more help from my family. I already feel like they do a lot but with this current energy differential, I am seeing that they can/should do more. One task I am trying to hand over to the big kids is the job of folding their own laundry. With this change will come a change to this system. We will have to figure it all out. Maybe we'll have to start their wash on Friday night so they can fold on Saturday. Maybe they'll have to fold clothes after school on Monday or Tuesday. I think I'm definitely going to have to do a little folding every day to get my part of that done. We'll see how it goes. Things are always changing around here!

It's Finished!

 

This is our mudroom inspiration photo. We have the materials to build the shelves on top too but that part is going to have wait a bit longer. The picture below is right after Bob installed the bench top. It really started to look like a finished product then.

Bob and I started this project a year ago. We did not realize at the time how difficult it would be. We painted the room last year. We pulled out the trim last year. Last year we made our design (with space for all members of the family) & purchased most of the MDF and paint we knew we would need. Bob cut most of the pieces and even started priming them and putting them together. Then we ran into a road block. I knew I wanted to have real wood surfaces for the bench and desk. We found a custom wood shop, gave them our dimensions and asked for a quote. They came back a few weeks later saying it would cost $1000 for the pieces of wood we wanted. Yikes! That was at least twice as much as we thought we could afford.

Then life got busy, we didn't find an alternative for the top, and the project came to a halt. All the pieces were just sitting around in the garage waiting for the next move.

We decided we really wanted to get it finished this summer in time to be useful for the new school year. Bob worked so hard painting everything, and putting it together. He was out in the August heat many nights cutting and painting and priming and sanding and anything else that needed to be done. He was so focused and determined and used little bits of time here and there to get it all done. I did next to nothing (usually I get a lot of painting duties but not this time). We found the wood counters at IKEA and they look great. Bob had to cut them a little to fit perfectly and they do.

I am just so happy and amazed and proud of his work. He figured out how to make my mudroom dreams come true! I couldn't be happier with how it all turned out. He is a serious rockstar!

Here are some more pictures. I moved these paper trays from our kitchen into the mudroom in hopes of keeping our paper needs here instead of there.

I wanted this cabinet to have lot of spaces for papers and other things. We have a space for homework, library books, things that need to be returned, papers for Mom, etc. You can see in this picture that my shoe cubby is missing the extra shelf. I wanted it to be taller for storing my church bag (which is hiding behind my shoes).

 

Everyone has a hook and everyone has a backpack this year.

 Detailed picture of the bench and everyone's shoe cubbies.

I wish I had a picture of the before. We had 5 laundry baskets (1 for each big kid and mom and day) and that little red basket lying on the floor stuffed with everyone's shoes, backpacks, sports equipment and junk. They served their purpose but were not nearly as beautiful or functional as this. Thank you Bob for working so hard to make this dream a reality!

Something that works...

I've thought about posting this before and reading another mother's blog today spurred me to action. This is one idea that we have been using for years and it really works well for us. The kids really regulate themselves with dishwasher duty and knowing which bathroom is theirs to clean. We still have to remind them about things and prod them along with the bathrooms especially but this helps a lot. It erases a lot of the fighting and arguing over what is fair and whose turn it is. 

I got the idea from Merrilee Boyack's book on raising kids. Each kid is assigned a number for the month. In our house this number delineates who you sit next to at the dinner table (Bob and I sit in the same places always), when you go to piano lesson, which bathroom you clean, which part of the dishwasher you unload, which part of the table you set, etc. As you can see the kids have taken it over and made it messy. Each month the roles change and everyone gets to do an equal share of the harder tasks (they all dislike master bathroom duty!)

We also just implemented another idea that is really easy for dish duty. We were always struggling to know whose dish night it was. One of the older kids is supposed to help wash dishes and load the dishwasher each night. So our new plan makes them do math and is easy to keep track of. We take the date and divide it by 3. If it divides evenly by 3 like today (the 3rd), then it is Parker's dish night (he is also the 3rd child). If when dividing the date by 3 you get a remainder of 1, then it is Allie's dish night (1st child). If it has a remainder of 2, then it is Caden's dish night (2nd child). They haven't yet discovered the inequality of something like the 31st and 1st coming back to back but I'm sure they will eventually.

8:30 Church...

In Relief Society this month I get to teach Elder Oaks talk from conference Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament. He talks about the importance of our primary Sunday service and the ordinance of the sacrament. In preparation, I have been reading this talk again. I decided that our family needs to recommit to some of the principles he talked about. I just wanted to share two things we did this week to help us prepare for a spiritual experience at our 8:30AM sacrament meeting.

1. We picked out and laid out the boys clothes (including socks and shoes) on Saturday night. I know this isn't rocket science but it is a critical step that we have been neglecting.

2. Just like on school days, we figured out and talked about times that we need to have each task completed in order to arrive at church a few minutes early. The kids need to be up by 7:10, get dressed by 7:25, eat breakfast by 7:45, and be in the car at 8:00. That means Bob and I need to get up by 6:45 or so.

As I was pondering this morning, I realized that I felt the cleansing power of the Atonement after taking the sacrament yesterday. By preparing in a few simple ways, I was more prepared to have a spiritual experience and to feel the love of the Lord in sacrament meeting.

The New System...

I am posting about this in case it gives anyone else an idea that helps. We started a new good behavior/reward system this week that is working well so far. I made three visual reminder charts for the kids starting with the one from this post. Here are the afternoon and evening charts. The kids bring home binders each night that have to be signed, looked at, etc. I did not have a good system for checking them and it was stressing me out. I decided that the kids need to bring their binders to the kitchen after school and take them back to their backpacks (in laundry baskets in the mud room) before they go to bed. I check them sometime between those two points. I bought a bin for the kitchen to put them in so they always have a designated spot that doesn't get taken over with mail, etc.

I also wanted to tackle another problem that we have. Dirty laundry left all over the house but mostly in their rooms where it is removed. You can see that item on the evening chart.

Having this system has also seemed to eliminate most of the "I can't do it" whines that I get from the boys regarding getting dressed. They know that in order to earn the star they have to do it alone and they do.

What we also did was create a little star chart for each kid. They get one star in the morning for completing their tasks and getting ready for school on time. They get a star in the afternoon for completing those tasks and one in the evening for getting pjs on, etc. (Parker gets a few stars for doing nothing since he doesn't have school every day). They love it. They are very motivated by getting stars. Of course we also decided that they can trade their stars in for money. Allie and Caden and consequently Parker now care about money so this is good. After a week of seeing how this would go, I decided that each star will equal 10 cents. If they fill up all 15 of their stars, they get a $1 bonus for a weekly total of $2.50. This is an easy number to pay tithing on and gets them about $10/month. I am going to start having them pay for any extra food they buy at school with this money. I've also thought about charging them money for getting into my things without asking, etc. I feel like I have leverage this way. Hopefully we can also teach them about saving and money management with this system.
It really has been great so far. I don't feel like I have to be on them constantly to get ready for bed, get ready in the morning, etc. They are learning to be responsible for doing their own things without being reminded constantly. That makes me happy.

It's a new year...

We had a wonderful week. The week of Christmas was great as well but not as relaxing and rejuvenating as this week. I feel refreshed after this week of hanging out at home and organizing.

Things have felt a bit out of control since our move 3 months ago. A lot of things that were running smoothly in the old house have NOT been running smoothly here. I'm ready to work on that and feel empowered to do so after having a few weeks off. Have I ever mentioned that I REALLY like slow mornings? Unfortunately, those ended today with our new 8:30 church schedule.

I made this chart tonight (took most of the pictures today). I plan on making another for afternoon and evening routines/expectations but I have to get a bin for them to put school binders in first. I think the kids will do better with a visual reminder of the things they need to do each day. The one we did this summer (that didn't survive the move) worked well.I am looking forward to the new year. After reading this post and some of the comments, I have decided to choose a word for the year. I finally decided on PATIENCE. Patience with my family. Patience with the progress of decorating and organizing our home. Patience with Bob's job and the demands it sometimes places on him. Patience with developing my photography business. Patience with being ready to add another person to our family. Patience with myself. I hope this word will help me remember to enjoy the place I am in and stay positively focused on all the good that I have.

Back to School Organization...

I have been working today on getting us ready for the move. I REALLY do not want to move much to the new house that we do not need AND love. There have been some pictures, blankets, toys, and boxes of junk that I don't want to carry around anymore. I'm trying to get rid of as much stuff as possible. I've also been re-purposing things by painting them, etc.

I am also trying to figure out how to best make things work in the new house, how to get organized, etc. And some of the things I am starting right now, right here. I came up with this idea last week. I bought laundry baskets for each of us. I made cute little simple tags for each of them and tied them on with ribbon. Right now my bin and Bob's bin are in the kitchen and the kids are in the mud room/pantry/laundry room/first room in from the garage. In the new house they will all be in the mudroom. I think I'll hang hooks above them in the new house for coats and jackets (most of the year) and swimsuits/towels (summer). I am so excited to have a contained place for everyone to put their backpacks, shoes, lunch boxes, etc. And it is working well so far.
Another thing the kids and I did before school started was make this chart. It has pictures/words for each of the things they need to do in the morning before we can get in the car for school. They really like having a visual of what they need to do and when. Even Parker "reads" it. Allie made the "Fix hair" box. I thought it was funny that she just cut the hair off all the pictures.
I read this idea in Real Simple and LOVE it. On Sunday night, I have the kids pick out all of their outfits for the week and put them in this hanger in the closet. Each day they pick the outfit for the day that they want to wear. Allie follows hers from top to bottom. Caden is a little more random picking his. It sure has taken the hassle out of "what am I going to wear?" in the morning.
And just for fun. The little goggled man playing in the rain yesterday. I really needed to go to the store but I decided to let him "live in the moment" a bit before we did. Maybe it paid off, he fell asleep for a long time in the car and at home (and was up until after 10 last night!?!).