New routines
So, I decided to get on the ball a little bit with the little kids. This past week I made chore charts for C and Y. They have five "chores" on them, with brushing teeth being 2 of the chores. Make bed and pick up toys are on both of their lists, then Y has "give water to the dogs" and C has "Set the table" on his list. I got free clip art off the internet for each chore, so they can easily see what their chores are even though they can't read yet. And each time they do a chore they get to put a sticker on their chart. I have to say, getting to put a stick on the chart is a pretty good motivator! Then at the end of the week they will each get $1.00, with 25 cents to go in savings, 25 cents to go in giving, and 50 cents to spend. Not that you can buy much for 50 cents, I'll admit. :) But anyway, then on Sundays hopefully we will remember to bring their giving to church so they can give it there. I just want to get them started on the right foot with learning about money, you know? I know they can't understand savings probably, but I think they can understand giving. And I hope it is something that will always be a part of their lives.
Then another thing I decided is to start teaching them bible verses. The boys are both learning about creation in church, so I decided a good first verse would be Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." And we are doing hand actions and everything since that always helps. So we started that this morning too, and Miss M even gave it the old college try and it was very cute. And I'm not gonna lie, even though their verses will be easy I hope if it is something we can work on together it will help me memorize scripture too! I am not very good at it. Though I already have Genesis 1:1 memorized. :)
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I've been doing some experimentation with Miss M's hair. It's not very long but it gets soooo tangly. And she screams her face off when I try to comb it. I spray gobs of detangler on it, plus we condition it on a regular basis and don't wash it very often (I know it sounds dirty, but that's what you are supposed to do I guess!). She doesn't even cry, no tears come out because she hasn't mastered turning on the waterworks the way that a certain C-monster has, I think she is mostly just frustrated with having to sit still for 2 minutes while I comb it. I guess when you are 20 months old 2 minutes is about the same time as FOREVER. Anyway I'm seriously considering giving her a hair cut, not a major one but just one to even her hair out. It's short in the back and long on top. I don't know. I'll be glad when her hair is long enough to do something with besides put the front in a barrette or tiny pig tails. Or, you know, once I'm more talented to do something more with it. At least she leaves her hair bows in. She is definitely a girly girl!
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My husband has a major race this weekend, and we are heading out of town for it. I am going to be solo with the kids for what I anticipate will be a good part of the time. And especially for like 6-8 hours on Sunday while my husband is racing. I had been planning on having all the kids, but the more I thought about the fact that it will be hot, we might miss a nap time or two, might go to bed late and/or have to get up early, I only have a 2-seater stroller but 3 kids that may or may not whine about having to walk a looong way to get to where we need to go...oh dear, it just sounds awful. So M's old foster mom agreed to watch her for the weekend which I am SO thankful for. I think that will ultimately be the best choice even though I'm kind of bummed about it. I am just not yet confident in my abilities as super-mom with 4 kids away from home alone.
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Also, can I just say that I think the C-Monster is going to be the star of the debate team when he gets to high school. Everything is up for debate in case you were wondering. You don't even have to engage with him and he will give you several reasons why he should be able to do whatever it is he wants to do. Or if he can only think of one, he'll keep saying it until you scream. I try really hard not to get sucked in. Even if I just keep saying the same thing over and over (the broken record technique - "please go to your room. Please go to your room. Please go to your room") then he uses the same thing on me until I tell him to please just stop talking. It's kind of awful!
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I bought 18 tomato plants and 18 pepper plants for $13. No kidding. That is DIRT CHEAP. Of course I have no idea what exact types they were, so it will be a surprise I guess. That's the price you pay for getting stuff for cheap! But seriously at that price folks, go dig some holes in your yard, stick tomato plants in them, and throw some mulch on. That's like free food basically, and you can grow organically! I hope this summer is a better summer for tomatoes than last summer was. I might actually get the chance to do some canning later this summer, which would be kind of exciting! I'm already getting some baby yellow squash and some flowers on a watermelon plant. Woot woot! Sadly the spring and early summer has been so dry that I have mulched EVERYTHING, which I usually don't have to do, and am watering quite a bit. Hopefully once the plants get bigger and their roots get deeper I won't have to water so frequently.
Then another thing I decided is to start teaching them bible verses. The boys are both learning about creation in church, so I decided a good first verse would be Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." And we are doing hand actions and everything since that always helps. So we started that this morning too, and Miss M even gave it the old college try and it was very cute. And I'm not gonna lie, even though their verses will be easy I hope if it is something we can work on together it will help me memorize scripture too! I am not very good at it. Though I already have Genesis 1:1 memorized. :)
___________________________________________________
I've been doing some experimentation with Miss M's hair. It's not very long but it gets soooo tangly. And she screams her face off when I try to comb it. I spray gobs of detangler on it, plus we condition it on a regular basis and don't wash it very often (I know it sounds dirty, but that's what you are supposed to do I guess!). She doesn't even cry, no tears come out because she hasn't mastered turning on the waterworks the way that a certain C-monster has, I think she is mostly just frustrated with having to sit still for 2 minutes while I comb it. I guess when you are 20 months old 2 minutes is about the same time as FOREVER. Anyway I'm seriously considering giving her a hair cut, not a major one but just one to even her hair out. It's short in the back and long on top. I don't know. I'll be glad when her hair is long enough to do something with besides put the front in a barrette or tiny pig tails. Or, you know, once I'm more talented to do something more with it. At least she leaves her hair bows in. She is definitely a girly girl!
___________________________________________________
My husband has a major race this weekend, and we are heading out of town for it. I am going to be solo with the kids for what I anticipate will be a good part of the time. And especially for like 6-8 hours on Sunday while my husband is racing. I had been planning on having all the kids, but the more I thought about the fact that it will be hot, we might miss a nap time or two, might go to bed late and/or have to get up early, I only have a 2-seater stroller but 3 kids that may or may not whine about having to walk a looong way to get to where we need to go...oh dear, it just sounds awful. So M's old foster mom agreed to watch her for the weekend which I am SO thankful for. I think that will ultimately be the best choice even though I'm kind of bummed about it. I am just not yet confident in my abilities as super-mom with 4 kids away from home alone.
___________________________________________________
Also, can I just say that I think the C-Monster is going to be the star of the debate team when he gets to high school. Everything is up for debate in case you were wondering. You don't even have to engage with him and he will give you several reasons why he should be able to do whatever it is he wants to do. Or if he can only think of one, he'll keep saying it until you scream. I try really hard not to get sucked in. Even if I just keep saying the same thing over and over (the broken record technique - "please go to your room. Please go to your room. Please go to your room") then he uses the same thing on me until I tell him to please just stop talking. It's kind of awful!
___________________________________________________
I bought 18 tomato plants and 18 pepper plants for $13. No kidding. That is DIRT CHEAP. Of course I have no idea what exact types they were, so it will be a surprise I guess. That's the price you pay for getting stuff for cheap! But seriously at that price folks, go dig some holes in your yard, stick tomato plants in them, and throw some mulch on. That's like free food basically, and you can grow organically! I hope this summer is a better summer for tomatoes than last summer was. I might actually get the chance to do some canning later this summer, which would be kind of exciting! I'm already getting some baby yellow squash and some flowers on a watermelon plant. Woot woot! Sadly the spring and early summer has been so dry that I have mulched EVERYTHING, which I usually don't have to do, and am watering quite a bit. Hopefully once the plants get bigger and their roots get deeper I won't have to water so frequently.
the sticker trick works for my high schoolers too. I had some third graders cry because they didn't get as many as their neighbor. Stickers are serious business. Especially the scratch and sniff ones.
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