TV is a reward

When we get home from school, before the TV is turned on... I have the girls clean up a section of the house that they have destroyed. Set the timer and they move quicker. 

Eating more veggies. Intentionally.

Summer break is upon us. Girls are home with a shared nanny. And it seems, they are always in the fridge. Starving and searching for food. My oldest has a huge aversion to green things. My battle has begun. She does like cucumbers and celery. So I bought a celery stalk and cut it up in "ready to eat" bites. And she loves chocolate. Nutella and peanut butter with cucumbers or celery? Yup. Now it all sits in the fridge ready to grab for a car ride or quick snack. 

Bye bye toys

If you have ever tried to give away or organize your kid's toys, today is your last day of cleaning up their messes. Drun roll please. This article will change you. I promise. One of my fav sentences is at the end of the article where Ruth says that her girls like not being overwhelmed by toys and it makes it easier to clean. Aha!! Read on...then get your black trash bags out and start filling it up. http://www.livingwellspendingless.com/2012/09/14/why-i-took-all-my-kids-toys-away-why-they-wont-get-them-back/

Play date eggs

The girls had some friends over the other day and we dyed a dozen Easter eggs. Cheap and fun. Before dying the eggs, I had them color and write on the eggs with crayons. We also dipped some of them in blue cupcake sprinkles. 

Quality time

As the night wears on my eight-year old gets sad, defeated and cranky. So lately, soon after dinner, we have a daily 1:1. This is unstructured mommy time where she creates the agenda and leads the discussion. I only take myself. No laptop and no cell phone. She needs it.  I need it.

READ to your child

Never stop reading to her. Even when she can do it all on her own. I admit, I kinda slowed down on reading with my girls over the last few years but my oldest just got Charlotee's Web the other day and she asked me to read it to her. And I loved it. She loved it.  The story and spending time with each other. Perfectly needed.

Dr. Laura asks  "But why give up such an important time to connect with each other emotionally?  Why give up the chance to read books that trigger good discussions about values and choices and hardships and hope?   Don’t stop till she fires you." Read more here http://www.ahaparenting.com/Default.aspx?PageID=1280625&A=SearchResult&SearchID=7650494&ObjectID=1280625&ObjectType=1

Check lists

If you check it, they will come. My girls Love lists. So this week I created one for the morning routine and another for the evening.

This has helped us keep track of all the tasks and activities that need to occur so we can make the bus and get to bed. It's also a great way for them to be more independent and manage their time. 

I also made a quick one today of some chores. I let them decide on the consequences if they didn't finish by 130pm. Here's my hastily written list.

They have a few hours to do all of this and I am not going to micro manage them. I promise. Let's see how the do!

Habit 7 — Sharpen The Saw

Balance Feels Best. What you role model and teachI:  take care of my body by eating right, exercising and getting sleep. I spend time with family and friends. I learn in lots of ways and lots of places, not just at school. I find meaningful ways to help others.  All the 7 habits - http://www.theleaderinme.org/the-7-habits-for-kids

Habit 6 — Synergize

Together Is Better

Here's what you teach and role model: I value other people’s strengths and learn from them. I get along well with others, even people who are different than me. I work well in groups. I seek out other people’s ideas to solve problems because I know that by teaming with others we can create better solutions than anyone of us can alone. I am humble.

Habit 4 — Think Win-Win

Everyone Can Win.
You role model and teach:  I balance courage for getting what I want with consideration for what others want. I make deposits in others’ Emotional Bank Accounts. When conflicts arise, I look for third alternatives.

I want most of the girls' toys out of the house. Like now. So I asked the girls to consider some options. They decided on creating two bins: one for charity and one for storage.  Belle wanted one bin but Janae wanted to put some toys in the shed. The deal is if she asks to play with the ones unseen in a year, then they stay, if not, then off to Goodwill. 

Grab the kids and watch this short Wreck it Ralph video on Win-Win thinking. 

Habit 2 - Have a plan

7 habits for happy kids by Sean Covey. Habit 2 — Begin with the End in Mind. Here's what you teach and role model:  
Have a Plan. I plan ahead and set goals. I do things that have meaning and make a difference. I am an important part of my classroom and contribute to my school’s mission and vision. I look for ways to be a good citizen.

Making paper

Belle made paper the other day. Not the green stuff but the recycled kind. Here's what you need: scrap paper (various colors), blender, duct tape, 1 cm chicken wire, metal door screen, spoon and cup. Assemble screen. Tear scrap paper into small pieces and put a handful into a blender with 1/3 full of warm water. Blend until scraps break down into small fibers. Spoon pulp onto the surfaceof the frame that is screen side up. Extra water will run off screen. Allow paper to air dry and then peel off. 

Belle decided to do a design on hers with the extra paper scraps. Recyling paper saves over 200 million trees each year. 

We were at a festival and they had taken the dried paper and made really cool paper lanterns with sticks. 

Here's a link to a detailed guide to making paper http://painting.about.com/od/artsupplies/ig/How-to-Make-Paper/index.01.htm

First day pics

Creative School picture ideas for your kiddie from Shutterfly. I'm loving the pic the sign that says "When I grow up, I'm going to be a..."

Jiffy cornbread waffles

Here's the scene...8am on Saturday morning and there's no pancake/waffle mix! Not cool. Here's what I did...grabbed a box of Jiffy cornbread mix, added an egg, lil sugar, some milk and oil.  Poured onto a hot waffle iron and 3 minutes later had tasty cornbread waffles. Make organic cornbread waffles with the Arrowhead mix. 

TV - the reward

TV is a reward for start behavior. Today the girls get to watch a show AFTER they put away their laundry, sweep the dining room floor and clean off the table. We are also doing a sticker chart for start behavior. Fill the chart and you get a treat from the dollar store.

bento lunches

Bento boxes are a fun way to pack and organize your kiddie's lunches. I bought my BPA-free Sistema lunch boxes at TJ Maxx for $3.99. The built-in compartments separate your food and eliminate the need to use one-use plastic baggies. They also have to go mugs which I have seen at Safeway for about $5. Bonus - My girls actually like packing their lunches now!

best cookies...ever

I can only take credit for finding them on Pinterest and taking the time to make em. This chocolate chip cookie ingredients are basic but you do interesting things like... browning more than a stick of butter on the stove, adding egg yolk, and stirring the sugar and butter for 30 seconds then waiting 3 minutes and then stirring again. The cookie was perfect. Here's a link to the recipe.  I also threw in peanut butter chips, peanut butter and walnuts to the remaining batter (far right stack of cookies). Another home run!  Let me know if you make these tasty rounds of joy.  

school mornings - part 2

So in this blog entry I shared with you my plan to ease up those nutty school mornings by requiring the kiddies to come dressed to the breakfast table. This has worked OK but the girls had way too much free time after breakfast. So I had to thrown in a few more gritty details: 

• clothes AND socks on AND hair done before breakfast
• brushing teeth occurs right after breakfast
• shoes are on feet immediately following teeth cleaning
• coat goes on next
• finally, play time can occur if there is anytime left...

 We actually only missed the bus once this past week! 

The ut oh bin

Tired of messy bedrooms?  Through with stepping on toys?  Me too. I found this idea on Pinterest and changed it just a bit to increase the pain. Simple idea. Grab an empty bin and walk around the house and fill that puppy up with everything on the floor. Put a little note on it.  Mine said this:

You left it out.  MOM picked it up. She’s got your stuff and you are out of LUCK. To get it back, you must do a CHORE and again it is yours, just like before. Hurry, don’t be a PILL, on Saturday it goes to GOODWILL!

My girls were pretty darn mad.  On Saturday morning I gave them 1/2 hour to clean and after that anything on the floor was going out the door. They moved fast. Absolute success. Let me know if you try this out!

school mornings - the easy way

Monday can't come soon enough. Here's my plan to a scream-free, catch the school bus morning - girls only get to eat breakfast after they have their school clothes on and hair done. Very simple concept and will bring gobbles and gobbles of structure to very complex, time-driven hectic morning. Keep you posted. Please share your morning tips!