My Favorite Quote!

Whatever you are... Be a good one! A. Lincoln

I think this is a great quote to start out the school year right.

As a child I hated being compared to my other siblings. Maybe one was more talented, or one had better grades, maybe one was more outgoing, or maybe one teacher liked my older sibling best. I was not a straight A student, but I didn't get bad grades. I hated having my report card on the fridge with my straight A honor roll brother.

When I got kids I started out with an honor roll daughter. The next one came and she is delayed. Now I have 5 and I have no idea what life is going to throw us. I have learned that it doesn't matter about honor rolls, or being delayed, it matters what is in each of your children that makes them special. It doesn't matter if we are still on a first grade reading level, it doesn't matter if we all go to college and get honor cords. What matters is that we be whatever we are and that we be a good one. I am sure that all my kids will be educated, but I have no idea what they will choose and how long that might take them.

I didn't realize this personally until I was a junior in college. I didn't even realize that I had very specific talents that no one else in my family has. They did, but I never knew. For my kids I want better. I am recognizing these talents and helping them by pointing them out and making them feel proud. My 12 year old is very musical and very responsible, my 10 year old is very courageous, she is very organized, and she loved dance, My 7 year old has a love of life, she loves sports, and she is a really good reader. She also is my nurse of the family. My 4 year old is a great runner. He runs faster than anyone else in the family. He loves anything that involves pipes! and My 1 year old baby: He is very interested in lights. He is always trying to figure out how they work.

As my daughter is starting Jr. High, I think of all the kids that will potentially pick on her or make her feel less than who she is. My goal is to make sure she has a good self esteem before all that happens, so she can just shrug it off and move on.

So I guess this post is just about helping your child realize what talents they have, voicing them to them, and that we didn't all come out of the same mold. We are all unique and it doesn't matter what we are....... just be a good one.

Movies From Youth

This Summer I have been seeking out old movies that I loved, and showing them to my kids. I have learned a few things from this:

1. Some of the shows are really scary (Superman)
2. Some have naughty jokes I didn't even get when little (Clue)
3. Some teach naughty lessons (Oliver- stealing)

Anyway I was wondering if it was just me, or is anyone else finding that it is like that for their family?

Christmas Countdown!

My mom was a really amazing woman and mother. She still is, but I am talking more about when I was a child. Every year my mom did things that made Christmas extra special. One thing she did was make gingerbread men with us. After we had done that she would get a really long piece of plastic wrap and she would lay 25 (or the amount of days left for Christmas) cookies on the plastic wrap. Then she would fold over the wrap so you had a big long line. Then she took red and green ribbon and would make individual sections between the cookies. Then she would hang it up in the kitchen. Each day we would cut one cookie off and have a little treat. We loved counting how many days until Christmas! So if you have little ones, this might be the thing to try!

I do a form of this. I just buy candy and I have a fabric countdown that I hide the candy in on the day. Not as clever as my mom, but she didn't have 3 holiday birthdays either!

The Favorite Treat!

Growing up, all the neighbors wanted to come to our house, to play. I think mostly because we had peach Popsicles.

I don't know what made them the best?

Was it because they were 100% fruit?

Was it because they were homemade?

Was it because they were cold?

Who knows!

Anyway I have started making them for my kids, and they always get chosen before the bought Popsicles. So I decided to give you my mom's very secret recipe:Blend up a jar or can of peaches (Light Syrup if you don't want too much sugar in them). Use a Popsicle container, or Popsicle sticks in an ice tray, yogurt cup, etc. Anything will do. Wait a day and then have your nice treat! Hard Huh!

Also I like peach, but you can do any fruit and even fruit cocktail. Because I bottle my fruit in the fall, I know that I only put 1/8 cup of sugar in a quart of peaches. That makes them really light in sugar!

Our Family Rules:

This was really hard for me to do. I had so many new rules I needed to add to my older household, but I didn't want to frame all of them. So I framed this one. This one is more behavior rules:

Then I made a list of Safety Rules:

Most of these are for my 3 year old. It might look like too much, but I needed to just write them down and know what I expect.

I also have another list of House rules. Rules, Rules, Rules! I know to some it might seem extreme, but for me it will give me the guidelines I need to be a better mother. They are written the like the above ones, with the following categories: Eating (Cleaning up After yourself), Friends (Friends need to clean up their mess & You need to ask before they come to play), Chores (Do Them or else you do nothing else), Watching (T.V, DVD's, or Playing the Wii), Homework & Music (Do it so you are smart), Computer (Internet safety), Respecting House (Breaking things, Etc.), Respecting God (Going to church, etc.), Respecting Visitors (Don't be wild, go on time out when you are asked, don't show off), Respecting Myself (no hurting yourself, or your body). I didn't show you a copy of this one, because they are rules my husband and I have made. But they were categories we thought were important to cover, especially as our children get older.

I put a copy off all rules in my 3 ring binder. I now keep everything to keep my family happy in it. I have all the rules, all the consequences for breaking the rules, Every one's Chore Charts, Every one's Mom Jobs, Every one's Goal Charts, What makes us happy as a family, and what makes each person happy, Mom & Dad Responsibilities, Extra Monthly Jobs, and tips I found on the Internet to help us be a great family.

I will share some of these later.

Hope this helps you, if you needed an intervention as well!

For Girls 8 and older!

A couple of years ago, someone (sorry I don't remember who you were) told me about this book. I immediately got on americangirls.com and bought it for the cheap price of.... 9.95. I figured since I have three girls, I better get it. I gave it to my daughter (probably a little late) at the age of 9. It is a very comprehensive book about how to take care of yourself. Here is a list of some of the things it covers: Zits, Why you need to wash your hair more, Why you need to shower more, How to eat, How much sleep you need, All about your period, How your breast are going to change. It has so much more, but I am not looking at it so I don't remember. It gives you good tips on these things also. Anyway the other day my daughter and I had a question and so we got out the book and found the answer. My only suggestion would be that you read the book first and make sure you are down with everything that is being said. And if I had little girls, I would probably buy it and store it, just in case you can't get it when you need it. So if you have a girl........Buy This Book!

If you want the link to American Girls, go to the girl links on this blog!

Baby & Toddler Fun!

So now the kids are in school lets talk Baby & Toddlers! I found this on Family fun and thought it was really good. I think my little boy could use a little bit of mommy and Payton time. What could be more perfect than doing some of these little activities and games.

http://familyfun.go.com/parenting/child/dev/specialfeature/famf0703familyfun123-games/

Learning To Work

I grew up in a farm community. My father chose that spot so we would be able to have a big garden and orchard. We worked every Saturday all day long. We had 100 fruit trees and the garden was massive to support through the year a family of 8. I can't say I loved every minute of it, but I do have great memories, special moments, and a work ethic. Now my father is gone and we, the children are still running the big orchard. At first I really hated all the work that we had to do on the farm. It was such a change in my life. Now 5 years later I have a new philosophy. It hit me last week that our life is too easy for my children. I don't want spoiled/snotty kids. I want kids who value money and hard work. Our yard is fully landscaped and I think it takes about 30 minutes to spruce it up every week. For a family of 6 that is not enough work. During the week we clean the house, but still with 6 of us working it doesn't require too much work. So I am so grateful that my children get to learn how to work at Grandma's house. When we come home we are always tired, but everyone has a happy smile. So if you are in my same shoes, you might want to do a little service for someone else. I also found two websites I thought were good on the issue of teaching your children to work. They are:
http://www.parentadvisor.net/ethic.htm

and

http://www.teachkidshow.com/teach-your-child-to-work-hard-without-complaining/