Chore Charts

{CHORES}

(BLAH!)

I would LOVE to say that I made a New Year's Resolution this year and that I was keeping it!!  However, this year got away from me before I could even make a resolution.  (Fire's have a way of doing that to ya!)  So, if I HAD actually made a resolution, it would have been about getting my house under control.  Six rambunctious kids, and a mom who crafts & builds WAY better than she cleans does NOT make for a clean, orderly house!  {shocking, I know!}

So as of July 13th, 2012...

I HAVE MADE A RESOLUTION

This is the mission:

Clean house

Clean yard

Dinners at the table

LESS fighting {children}

LESS yelling {me}

A HaPpY Home!!

Over the past couple days, I have researched, googled, pinterest~ed {is that a word!?}, and stalked blogs.  This is what I have come up with:

I'll break it down for you.

First of all, this coolio shelf I found at a garage sale about a year ago, and it has been hiding somewhere in a back room.  It had been painted a couple of times, and it's most recent paint job was a pretty loud rendition of turquoise and lime green!  {WOWZA}  It was also missing a piece of molding.  So I whipped out my trusty tools, replaced the molding, painted it a gorgeous "Sweet Basil" for the exterior, and lovely "Underwater Green" for the beadboard.  I then proceeded to distress!!  To which my horrified daughter kept telling me I was destroying it!  Haha!  I finished it off with a rubbed on coat of walnut gel stain...{my FAV}.............

VOILA!!!



I LOVE these adorable chore charts!!!  I found them on SewCraftCreate.com.  You can print them off for FREE here.  Aren't they adorable!!??? 

A few months ago I snagged a laminator at the Wally store on clearance, and I LOVE it!!  I laminated all of the charts.  I am using dry erase markers to write their daily chores for the week.  Then I can wipe it off, and start fresh the next week.  {SCORE!}  No more printing charts off every week!  Plus, I can personalize them for each child, each week, and season.

The kids will be rewarded for doing chores with "parent bucks".  I've heard them called Mom Bucks, Kids bucks, Chore bucks....  Whatever!!  I printed these off here at Parents.com for FREE.  They come in $1, $5, $10, and $20.  The kids and I sat down and made a list of all of the chores, (inside and out), a list of rewards, ~and~ consequences for bad behavior.  Then we assigned a $ amount to each.  They will have daily chores that have to be done each day.  They earn 1 free hour of TV for doing their daily chores.  And anything above and beyond has to be paid for with "parent bucks". 

In addition to their daily chores, they will be in charge of a couple other chores for the week.  We decide which chores they get by the roll of the dice!

Aren't these fun!?  I saw a couple ideas for these on pinterest, but wasn't sold on any one in particular.  So this is what I came up with.  One block has rooms, one has specific chores like sweeping, dusting, dishes, garbage, etc.  I am going to make two more as well.  One with their names to help solve arguments, and one with odd jobs like, puppy duty, baby brother's helper, watering plants, bike duty (keeping bikes in the garage), etc.  I will also use these when they are fighting.  They will roll the dice, and do a chore!

Using cute scrapbook paper, ribbon & some wire, I made these fun banks for them to keep their bucks in.  (We'll see how long they last!)

ALSO...

I know that there will be a bit of a learning curve, and a BIG problem we have at our house is kids getting things out & not putting them away!  So here's another idea I found on pinterest.

[Love Pinterest!!}

This is a rubbermaid tub that will lock up all those loose toys, books, and shoes and hold them ransom!  I am going to use these adorable chore sticks in a jar.  They pick one out & do the chore in order to get their item back.

Well, there you have it! I'm sure there will be a bit of a learning curve before we all figure out what works best, but the kids and I are pretty excited about our new "system".

 Instant organization, and a CLEAN house!  {HA.HA.HA.}  Well, here's hopin' anyway!

Good luck with your chore charts, and I hope this helped you all find some fun ideas to help your kids get into the cleaning groove!

HaPpY Birthday Dawson!!!

HaPpY HAPpY Birthday Dawson!!!

My # two son Dawson turns 11 today!!! He is a happy, sensitive, smart, creative, funny, BOUNCY, loving boy! I am SO grateful that we have him in our family!

This is SUCH a crazy week, that birthday has no choice but to happen on Sunday... 4 whole days from now!!! AUGH!!! So, while we were all here this morning, we gave Dawson his birthday gifts. We decided to have his friends over on Saturday, and do the family party on Sunday. So Dawson will be "King" for the week!!

I made this Birthday Crown for "King Dawson" today.... I thought it turned out nice! I found the templates here. Here are the directions to make:

Cut 2~ crown template (one or two colors)
Sew together around the top & bottom edges.
Embellish with embroidery or decorative stitches on your sewing machine.
Cut different size circles, and age of child out of felt.
Embellish away!!!
I was able to sew Dawson's name onto the felt, and add that as well.
Measure elastic, and sew at the ends of the crown.

Hint: I just tacked on the name & age so I can change them out for another year/child! :O)

SUPER FUN & EASY!!!

Paint!

Oil Painting 101

I don't know why, but I have been SO nervous to put brush to canvas! Worried I would ruin the canvas, do it wrong, mess up the sketch, and a million other reasons! So finally today, I dove in head first. I squeezed the paint onto the palette, and began to mix. EEK! Hopefully, I did at least SOMETHING right! I felt like I was faking it the whole time!

Well, after an hour or so, this is what I came up with:


Not bad, I guess....



Then I started having fun with the camera! Hahaha! ADD strikes again! :O)




Playin' Around

This last week, London & Darby went to the local opera house, and tried out for the play "Dear Edwina". They both did GREAT! I was SO proud of them!! Then we had to wait for the dreaded phone call...

{Dun~Dun~DUN!!!!}

The director called the next day and said that Darby would have a part! YaY!!! London was just a bit too young... :( We went to our first practice, and Darby was given her part. She desperately wanted a SOLO, and she would have ROCKED IT!!! {little diva!}

But alas... she, being young & small of stature, got a small roll with a one line solo. There were tears.... OH, there were tears!!! But this morning is a new day! She is memorizing her lines, and annoying all of us by playing the soundtrack over and over! Apparently our little pep~talk last night worked! Thank heavens!

That's her... The sassy little one on the front row! {striking a pose!}

Yea, I'm in the photo too... My singing group, "The Mixed Nuts" (don't ask!), has been asked to help with some of the back~up/chorus vocals. So I guess we're in this together!

Pulling on my Artist pants!

About a million years ago... {Before the Mister & kids} ...I used to fancy myself as an artist. I was pretty good at drawing, and loved to paint. However, the painting thing I never really "got". I tried acrylics, and didn't really love it. I tried watercolors, and REALLY didn't like it! Hahaha! {Not Forgiving!} But I never tried oil... I have been feeling the urge to brush off my drawing skills, and dive into oils... EEK! So here is my first project:

This photo was taken by the wonderful Amy Nielson.

Here is my sketch:

I will keep you posted as to how this project goes!

Oh! I also took this photo last night... Did I mention how much I LOVE this baby!!!???

So I think I want to actually {DO} a blog..... Yeah, I think I can! Haha!

My life is ALWAYS Crazy! Hence the {Krazy 8}. Our little family is full of energy! Hubby and I have 6 children... (ALL of which take after their father!)... They are Loud, Bouncy, Creative, Sensitive, CrAzY, Musical, Artistic, Genius, (naughty), and WONDERFUL!

Family Photo by my AMAZING sister photog! Check her out here.

Here is our Newest addition:Photography by my good friend Amy.


I am SO very grateful for my family! What a crazy bunch we are! I am thankful for the beliefs that we have... That we will be an eternal family! Amazing...

Oliver

Oliver has been SO FUN!!! The kids and I have really enjoyed doing this show! Hopefully for them it will be the first in a LONG list of them! :) Darby is already showing her Diva-like qualities! She walks around the house all day singing...WITH vibrato! Koda seems to have no fear on stage AT ALL, and Dawson...well, lets just say he's warming up to it!! :) We still have another week & a half to go, and I'm excited to get back to it after a couple days of rest!!

Welcome!

Hi all!
I finally decided it was time to make a blog for our family... after all EVERYONE'S doing it!! :) My family seems to be so spread lately that it seems a necessity to keep everyone updated! So, I hope I can keep it up, and I hope you all enjoy!