Occupying Toddlers
Active Play
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Friday, August 10, 2012
Flashback Friday.
We didn't do a lot this week.
Monday-Zumba. We had a sleepover.
Tuesday-We (The Bestie and I) took the kids-minus Four-to the mall for the afternoon. One an Two spent the night with my mom.
Wednesday-the girls spent all day at my moms.
Thursday-I don't remember anything exciting from yesterday! That says a lot huh?
Friday-everyone made a big trip to BJ's, everyone but me! As I have mentioned before, I LOATE shopping with the children and avoid it at all cost.
My computer is being less than compliant. The Punk replaced the fan but it keeps putting itself into stand by mode for no reason he nor I can figure out. Sometimes it is fine for an hour or more, then sometimes it goes Ito standby mode every minute or two until I'm ready to throw it against the wall.
Monday-Zumba. We had a sleepover.
Tuesday-We (The Bestie and I) took the kids-minus Four-to the mall for the afternoon. One an Two spent the night with my mom.
Wednesday-the girls spent all day at my moms.
Thursday-I don't remember anything exciting from yesterday! That says a lot huh?
Friday-everyone made a big trip to BJ's, everyone but me! As I have mentioned before, I LOATE shopping with the children and avoid it at all cost.
My computer is being less than compliant. The Punk replaced the fan but it keeps putting itself into stand by mode for no reason he nor I can figure out. Sometimes it is fine for an hour or more, then sometimes it goes Ito standby mode every minute or two until I'm ready to throw it against the wall.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Wordy Wednesday
It may not be so wordy, as I'm still having to use only my phone.
My new chore system is working really smoothly and I'm loving it beyond all measure.
How I came up with it:
I found these great "To Do" list printables on Pinterest (check out my 'cleaning and organizing' board because I can't link via my phone. ) They print four to a page which works well for me since I needed two for each day for four days a week.
Then I made a 'master list' of things that I can delegate to One and Two. This will vary, of course, but my list includes:
Sweep
Laundry
Vacuuming
Clean the hall bath
Dust
Mop
Clean their bedroom
Vacuum their brothers room
Clean the hallway walls
Help me sort the toy bins
Wipe down doorknobs and light switches
dishwasher
Then I broke it down by things that need to be done daily: dishwasher, , laundry, sweeping; and things that need to be done once a week.
Last I wrote out two lists for each day, in the morning the girls each pick a list. This also solves the problem of them always being the one to have to do a certain chore because this way it's a random draw.
We are halfway through the second week and my house looks great and I have been able to get an incredible amount of stuff done by having help in these areas.
Three's chores are simple: he helps put away toys, puts out the napkins and silverware for dinner and takes out the recycling, as well as the bathroom trash.
Four helps with toys and recycling and trash as well.
My new chore system is working really smoothly and I'm loving it beyond all measure.
How I came up with it:
I found these great "To Do" list printables on Pinterest (check out my 'cleaning and organizing' board because I can't link via my phone. ) They print four to a page which works well for me since I needed two for each day for four days a week.
Then I made a 'master list' of things that I can delegate to One and Two. This will vary, of course, but my list includes:
Sweep
Laundry
Vacuuming
Clean the hall bath
Dust
Mop
Clean their bedroom
Vacuum their brothers room
Clean the hallway walls
Help me sort the toy bins
Wipe down doorknobs and light switches
dishwasher
Then I broke it down by things that need to be done daily: dishwasher, , laundry, sweeping; and things that need to be done once a week.
Last I wrote out two lists for each day, in the morning the girls each pick a list. This also solves the problem of them always being the one to have to do a certain chore because this way it's a random draw.
We are halfway through the second week and my house looks great and I have been able to get an incredible amount of stuff done by having help in these areas.
Three's chores are simple: he helps put away toys, puts out the napkins and silverware for dinner and takes out the recycling, as well as the bathroom trash.
Four helps with toys and recycling and trash as well.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Manic Monday
Zumba this morning. The kids did "mini Olympics" while in childcare. They played ping pong, tennis, had races, and played basketball. They were all excited.
The Bestie's kids are on their way over for a sleepover. All three of them. Seven kids for the next 24 hours. Yeah man.
Our fall Monday schedule should be less Manic, since dance class for One has moved to Wednesday this year. That actually works splendidly for me since our parks and rec dept never schedules games for Wednesday nights. This means there won't be any conflict in Two and Three's sports schedules and One's dancing. Yay! I'm already feeling more relaxed.
One and Two want to give up doing 4H. I forced them into it this year hoping they would learn to like it enough to learn the parliamentary processes and other great skills that come from 4H. I'm bummed that neither of them are into it. I've decided to let them quit. But they have to replace this activity with something else. One has decided she will join bowling league, which is just sort of a cop out. She doesn't like bowling any more than she likes 4H. Two will probably take guitar lessons. She's wanted to for awhile, and she owns two guitars and can sort of play already.
Off to enjoy the last few moments of quiet I'm going to get for the rest of today...
The Bestie's kids are on their way over for a sleepover. All three of them. Seven kids for the next 24 hours. Yeah man.
Our fall Monday schedule should be less Manic, since dance class for One has moved to Wednesday this year. That actually works splendidly for me since our parks and rec dept never schedules games for Wednesday nights. This means there won't be any conflict in Two and Three's sports schedules and One's dancing. Yay! I'm already feeling more relaxed.
One and Two want to give up doing 4H. I forced them into it this year hoping they would learn to like it enough to learn the parliamentary processes and other great skills that come from 4H. I'm bummed that neither of them are into it. I've decided to let them quit. But they have to replace this activity with something else. One has decided she will join bowling league, which is just sort of a cop out. She doesn't like bowling any more than she likes 4H. Two will probably take guitar lessons. She's wanted to for awhile, and she owns two guitars and can sort of play already.
Off to enjoy the last few moments of quiet I'm going to get for the rest of today...
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Friday, August 3, 2012
Flashback Friday
My computer's fan died on Monday night, so my Internet access has been limited to my phone. Now, having an awesome phone makes this really no big deal with the exception of blogging. While, clearly, I *can* blog from my phone (as I'm doing now,) long posts are more difficult to do and posting pictures is problematic because I can't figure out how to order them properly or size them down to a viewable size. The Punk ordered my new fan Tuesday morning and I hope it will be here soon. I had big plans for my Wordy Wednesday post, and this week has gone so smashingly good I want to share....
Monday, July 30, 2012
Manic Monday
Today is the first day of Zoo Camp for Two. She's attended this camp three years in the past, and volunteers with the zoo a couple times a year. It's a fun, fun place but this year I'm excited for her as she has moved up to "Zoo Teens" and will have more real zoo experiences. Two's life goal (at least for the last couple years...) has been to be a zoo keeper and work with exotic animals so this is a truly great experience for her. It makes me insanely happy.
I have Zumba, and the three others will play in childcare while I do that. It's nice because the instructor's daughter is in there, and she's the same age as Three. Since The Bestie's son isn't in there right now, it's nice to have someone else in there. And, I get to wear my new skirt.
I have been working on some projects over the weekend. New chore charts for the big kids-I mentioned that I needed to shake up One's world. And, it has made me realize that they REALLY should help out more. My mother in law and I had a conversation once, since she's the mother of 5 she has good opinions on the subject of running a "large" family. I told her that I consider it my job to do it well...and her response was that "CEO's don't run companies alone." She was telling me to enlist the help of the girls, and that was a couple years ago. I don't want to give them "too much" as I have seen far too many examples of large families using their big kids as maids and nannies, and I have some strong personal opinions on that. More on Wordy Wednesday about what I've been working on.
I am getting myself back together...back to where I once was....back to where I long to be again. I know this to be true because: my bedroom is CLEAN, I packed Two's lunch for camp LAST NIGHT, I got the snacks ready for the boys to eat in childcare LAST NIGHT, and my kitchen was clean before I went to sleep. Ahhh, Shauna...I've missed you.
I have Zumba, and the three others will play in childcare while I do that. It's nice because the instructor's daughter is in there, and she's the same age as Three. Since The Bestie's son isn't in there right now, it's nice to have someone else in there. And, I get to wear my new skirt.
I have been working on some projects over the weekend. New chore charts for the big kids-I mentioned that I needed to shake up One's world. And, it has made me realize that they REALLY should help out more. My mother in law and I had a conversation once, since she's the mother of 5 she has good opinions on the subject of running a "large" family. I told her that I consider it my job to do it well...and her response was that "CEO's don't run companies alone." She was telling me to enlist the help of the girls, and that was a couple years ago. I don't want to give them "too much" as I have seen far too many examples of large families using their big kids as maids and nannies, and I have some strong personal opinions on that. More on Wordy Wednesday about what I've been working on.
I am getting myself back together...back to where I once was....back to where I long to be again. I know this to be true because: my bedroom is CLEAN, I packed Two's lunch for camp LAST NIGHT, I got the snacks ready for the boys to eat in childcare LAST NIGHT, and my kitchen was clean before I went to sleep. Ahhh, Shauna...I've missed you.
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