Recruiting Help to Keep Up With the House

As you can imagine, with 5 kids, one dog, two cats, and a husband :) there's lots to keep up with in this house. Between homeschooling, working, cooking, cleaning and running errands; it's hard to get it all done. So, I've been thinking (dangerous, I know)!! I came up with a way to get kiddos involved and get them "earning" their privileges here at the house ie: computer and game time.

It was getting so frustrating to be the ONLY person doing any housework. I would look around and see two boys on the game systems, two girls on their little portable game systems and one daddy on a computer. Now, don't get me wrong, I realize, I'm the MOMMY - that's what I do. However, when what I'm picking up are barbie dolls, baby doll clothes, legos, and dirty clothes from the bathroom (that aren't mine) enough is enough!

Here's the game-plan!! The following chart is "What can get you minutes?". I came up with a few chores all the kiddos can do or help with and assigned minutes to them. (Sorry you have to turn your head to read it, forgot to turn it right-side up.)

Once they have completed the chore, they come tell me, I inspect the work, and said minutes are rewarded. If they do things on their own, they get rewarded with extra minutes. We started this morning and so far, they are working very hard to earn some play minutes for the evening and weekends:) This is what they did in their first hour of being awake this morning.

Kinda hard to see I know, but each of them have earned over 40 minutes of electronic playtime. The best part, I didn't have to ask, beg, or yell to get any of it done.

Now, before anyone says, "they're kids, come on, they need their playtime!" I ask you REALLY? They NEED endless, unending, unsupervised computer or game time? I just don't think so. You're right, they are kids and need their playtime which is why time actually spent playing with toys is not part of this deal. I just don't feel that spending all evening/day on a computer or game system is helping them in anyway. I realize they enjoy it, so I'll not put a complete stop to it. However, it will be controlled and monitored. That's my job as MOM!!! I realize I messed up before by not having controlled limits from the beginning, but this is my fix it and I hope I can stick to it. I'm notorious for starting these kinds of projects and letting them slip into extinction:( Again, my fault and I'm working on it!!!

Sorry this turned into one LONG blog. I guess it probably needs a better title to include everything. Something more like, Mom messed up and here's the fix-it plan!! Oh well.

BIG Announcement

So, it's been quite some time since I've made a post. Blogging takes up more time and creativity than I thought. I guess my life is just not that exciting - well usually isn't. Right now, the family is pretty excited to announce Baby #6!! That's right, number 6!!! And here's the first peek.

That's my little peanut right there. Of course in the ultrasound, I was 8 weeks. I am now 13 weeks :) After 3 previous miscarriages, I was a bit leery of making the big announcement, but I think/hope/pray it's safe now.

We told the other 5 last week and as usual, I didn't have my camera ready, but should have. You would think after 5 children I would have learned that lesson already!!! But NO!! Anyway, the older 4 are very excited, and Mini-ME just isn't sure what all the excitement is about. She loves babies. We have 3 little ones in our church right now, and she's all over them. I'm just not sure how she'll feel about one in her very own space. Time will tell huh?

Well, I've made all the appropriate family calls and felt it now safe to declare it over the web. What better way than my all too often forgotten web page? Maybe then it'll at least get a few family hits that want to follow the pregnancy :)

My Favorite Time of Year: FALL

This is absolutely one of my favorite times of year(the other being spring). The weather is almost perfect, and you can see the thought and beauty in God's creation everywhere you look. I love to watch the leaves change color and give a new look to the trees and mountains. When you see such colors in nature, how can you not believe that the one true God put thought and effort into our creation?

I enjoy decorating for fall. I love all the colors you get to use and put together. The reds, yellows, oranges, and browns all blend and look so good together. This is the first year I've had an actual display outside. Usually, I just put out a couple pumpkins and other little decorations, but this year I went all out. There was a little place around the corner that had beautiful mums in decorative pots 3 for 20$. I couldn't pass that up. So, I used them as the backdrop to my display. I think it turned out pretty well for my first true display attempt!!

Fizzed Out On the Countdown

Well, as you can see, I fizzled out on the countdown. Things just got so busy around here, I didn't even have time to get on the computer. DISLIKE!!! But, like everyone else now, we are in full swing with the schooling. No, my classroom isn't done!!! I didn't really expect it to be, just wishful thinking. The money seems to run our before the ideas do. OH WELL.

We are trying something new this year, online schooling for the two older boys. So far, so good. It's been an absolute time saver for me. It's so hard to get 4 different grade levels all taught in a day. The boys log on in the morning and have about an hour of work left after lunch. The girls and I are usually done before lunch unless baby sister is a big interruption, which sometimes happens.

The two Princesses with their first completed project. Our Creation Book.

Mr. Gamer doing his online schooling. Looks thrilled huh?

This is our second week and I think it will be a good year. It's going to take some getting use to for the boys, but I think they'll like it in the end. And, of course, I've already had one person say to me,"I just don't like sitting my kids in front of the tv or computer for hours at a time." Well, the instructions are online and they do have a couple hours of listening to the instructions. The rest is hands on work just like regular school. The only difference is I'm not the one standing there reading the teacher's manual to them like in the past. It just saves me some time. When you work part-time and homeschool, you are always looking for ways to save school time and get in more family time. Nothing wrong with that right?

Well, I hope everyone has a great year!! Again, sorry for the fizzled out countdown. I should have known I wouldn't be able to get on the computer every day. I get computer time in spurts. The good news is, at least now we have another computer to fight over. That'll be a different post. HAPPY FALL TO ALL!!!!

Streusel Coffee Cake

As you all know, I look for simple and quick recipes. I found this delicious and EASY coffee cake recipe at the Betty Crocker website. It takes only minutes to mix together and bakes in 18-22 minutes (with my hot oven-it only takes 15 minutes).

So, let's get to it!!!

Cinnamon Streusel

1/3 cup Original Bisquick mix

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons firm butter or margarine

Coffee Cake

2 cups Oringinal Bisquick mix

2/3 cup milk or water

2 tablespoons sugar

1 egg

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 9-inch round pan. In small bowl, stir streusel ingredients until crumbly; set aside.

2. In medium bowl, mix coffee cake ingredients until blended. Spread in pan. Sprinkle with streusel.

3. Bake 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.

Delicious golden brown!!! YUMMY!!!!!

Now, I don't drink coffee!! But, this was just as good with a tall glass of milk. All the kids ate it and there wasn't any left for daddy when he got home. I had to make another one. Since it was so easy, making another one wasn't a problem.

Hope you enjoy!!!!!

Never Forget

I remember exactly where I was. Do you? I had just finished a twelve hour shift at the local hospital. I was stopping at the grocery store when I heard on the radio the first plane had hit. I called my husband and he turned our tv to the news. At first, it was thought a horrible accident. Every one was talking about, "the horrible accident". The talk quickly changed to attack when the second plane hit. I immediately headed home. I sat on the couch, glued to the television. I held and hugged my two boys as tight as I could. I called my mom to make sure they had heard the awful news (which I was sure they had since their tv was usually tuned to FOX news).

I stayed awake for hours watching the news. The next couple of days were lived in disbelief. Though the majority of Americans don't live in constant fear today, we still remember. We pause to remember the lives lost on that day, the firefighters and rescue workers that bravely ran into those burning buildings to do their job, and all the families who never heard from their loved ones again.

September 11, 2001 will forever be burned in every Americans mind, as well it should be. Most Americans, including myself, had been living a life of complacency. We were under the impression that we couldn't be touched here at home. That day forever changed that attitude. Even today, we live knowing the possibility of another attack on home soil is not only possible, but probable. The hatred for the American people was evident that day and as far as I can tell, the sentiment has not changed.

Life goes on today, football games will be played, baseball games will be played and work will continue on. However, we will ALWAYS REMEMBER and NEVER FORGET 9/11 nor the pain and awakening that it caused.

Back To School Countdown - Curriculum

Well, it has all started here. The schools are back in swing, and my kids are patiently waiting for us to get started (actually, they're hoping I just forget all about it hahaha!). I plan on starting the day after Labor Day. Since this is the odd year (2011), we won't be going to Florida for two weeks, so I don't need the extra time on the calendar.

Since we have a start date, it's time to get all the books together. We're going to try something new this year with the older ones, online curriculum. It's so hard sometimes to get all the subjects done with all the kids everyday!! So, I thought we'd give the online thing a try.

I picked up the last of the school books this morning. I love that we live so near to BJU and their press distribution center. I ordered Mr. Helper's books online and picked them up this morning (saved some money on shipping YAY). I still need to get the books from two years ago out for the younger ones coming into those grades, and get last years put away for the future. It seems like there's a never ending cycle of putting things away and getting things out(happens with our clothes too).

This year, we're using a mixture of curriculum for the two that aren't online. I decided to try a science curriculum that the two (1st grade and 3rd grade) could do together. I borrowed Christian Kids Explore Biology, from my sister-in-law. She used it last year for her 2nd and 3rd graders. I'm hoping it works well for both the Princesses. I'm also using LifePac for their history and geography instead of BJU. I looked for things that I thought we would be able to do together as much as possible.

Now, all that is left is to get everything in the room and organized, still waiting on those rooms downstairs to get all done. I'm hoping (and praying) that we get everything done in the next 2 weeks and can start in our new classroom instead of at the kitchen table. Regardless, school start date for my 4 homeschool students is September 7, 2010.