Chore Charts...

I kind of love making chore/routine charts for my children.  And I change them frequently since life is always changing...plus they are always a little more excited to do their routine when they have a fancy new chart to remind them.  Since we have started school and Brig is in kindergarten and Ellie is in preschool, I will be making a new one again- but I wanted to post our old ones so we could remember what they looked like.

I wish that I could remember where I found the cute little graphics. They are so sweet!

 

The one below is what we used this summer and I really liked it. A few things that are a little different are the glasses...that is "see a need, fill a need" which is a phrase that we are trying to ingrain into our children! And the bubbles at the bottom are for each 15 minutes of reading time they do. Everything below the dark line was optional.

 

These sure didn't solve all of our morning struggles- but I find that when we are consistent they definitely help our home run more orderly and peacefully. Which is always a good thing!

 

Charlotte's Web...

I have been excited to read "chapter books" to my kids for a long time.  Like since I was in third grade and read The Summer of the Monkeys. :) So, it was a big day for me when we decided to give Charlotte's Web a try. We just finished the other night and it was a really fun experience.  We would sneak in some reading time before bed any chance we could and both kids did so well with it. 

This marks the beginning of many more family books!

Thanks Charlotte!

 

Lego Jar...

So several weeks ago Brig asked us for some Legos.

We told him that if he wanted them then he would have to earn them.

Enter the Lego Jar.

It is pretty cut and dry after that. He would do extra jobs around the house and for his grandparents and we would give him some change or even a dollar to put in his jar.

He was so patient and he worked so hard!

Then thanks to his hard work and some very generous grandparents. He had enough money!

So we went to Walmart with his jar in hand and literally layed out all his options. After much deliberation, he made his decision.

We were so proud of him and oh! how he loves those Legos that he worked so hard for!

Great work Brig!

Play With Your Food...

Since we had to cancel preschool because Ellie was sick, we decided we didn't need all the kids to have some fun...

 

And yes...I totally take credit for this brilliant idea! We have copied tons of fun things from Pinterest...but this was all me;)

First Day...

Brig had his first day of preschool today! 

I don't really know what to say about that...sniff, sigh, melt, beam.

Something like that.

 

There have been a lot of preparations preceeding this big day...

For example, we had to convince Brig that girls could go to school too.  (Trust me...I nipped that one in the bud right away!)

We also had to convince him that he needed to start with preschool and then he could go to high school. (I am not sure where his obsession with high school came from!)

I had to convince Cory that Brig going to school was indeed a good thing and that we couldn't keep him home forever. (I am still trying to drive that one home with him;)

And I had to convince myself that it was ok that my sweet boy is getting so big!

 

He did great! We were a little nervous because he can be so anxious about being in unfamiliar situations and with unfamiliar people but we have been talking about it and he completely suprised us with how well he did. He told the "teacher" that he didn't even miss his mom. Thanks buddy.

We are doing a coop preschool, so I will be teaching him about once a month and he is really familiar with most of the other kids and their moms...looking back, I don't even know why we were worried!

 

 

Way to go Brig! You are so awesome!

School at Home

Not to be confused with Home School...

I have nothing against home schooling...we just aren't that formal!

I decided that I can still play teacher just like when I was a little girl...the difference is that now I actually have someone who can really benefit from it!  Well- hopefully!

Brig is really a smart boy and has picked up some of his letters quite well.

So today we made this little grid with all the letters he knows (or is working on) and made up all kinds of games.

It was a really excellent farm with plenty of fences for all the different animals.

It was fun to throw homemade bean bags at.

It made great target practice with the fly swatter.
It was a nice change from the ordinary hopscotch.

It is still stuck to our living room floor!

All thanks to a lil' masking tape...

and a super cute boy!

(Who looks a little crazy here)

And here is sweet little Ellie...although this picture wasn't taken today...

no- today while we did "school" we were most definitely all in our pajamas.

But look at that adorable little smile!

 Melt me!