Thursday Thirteen: What they CAN Do

At the beginning of the summer, my MIL told me that her kids (my hubby) , and subsequently all of the other nieces and nephews, had a "chore bucket" growing up in the summer. Not big tasks, but one little thing they could do each day to keep them helping around the house during the dog days of summer.

We started the bucket, but I found it easier to just ask them to do things each day. After a few initial complaints, they generally are quite agreeable about helping and I am amazed at how many more things they can do around the house than I have ever considered before.

Her are 13 "chores' the boys have performed this summer (so far):

1. Dusting the furniture



2. Spray disinfectant on the door knobs and appliance handles



3. Line up shoes by the door





4. Wash windows and glass mirrors



5. Animals: Clean hamster cage and fill cat food and water



6. Caulk holes in the wall



7. vacuum the living room



8. Water the plants

9. Pick up toys and stuffed animals (especially the stuffed animals) in bedrooms and any other room in the house that needs tidying up.



10. Read weekly email alerts from the library and collect all of the books that are due each week.







12. Laundry: Sort and load dirty laundry into washer, put folded clothes into correct drawers in each person's bedroom




11. After grocery shopping, take all groceries out of the bags and put them on the table for Mommy to put away. Then put the bags in the bag holder.











13. Return books and movies to the CORRECT shelves, not just what is convenient.











Okay, when I started this post, I wondered if I was going to be able to get to 13. Now I already reached thirteen and I am still thinking of things they have started doing around the house regularly. I actually am quite happy to realize just how much they are doing around the house. It makes me see that we really did accomplish SOMETHING this summer.

As a comment, please let me know if there are other chores that your kids do consistently that I haven't mentioned.

Wordless Wednesday: A Day At The Pool

Weekend Top Five 8/10/09

No pictures this weekend.

Very out of character, I didn't take a SINGLE picture this weekend. We also didn't do a whole lot worth of taking pictures, which is actually okay.




5. Yard Sale
Deb and I held the second half of our annual yard sale on Friday. I don't have a whole lot left to sell, so I didn't make much money at all. I have pretty much sold everything else on Craig's List as I needed money and we have nothing left of value. Pretty sad.

But it was actually a pretty relaxing day, even with all five kids in the house all day. Noah and Hannah stayed glued to the TV all day, Aaron spent over two hours amusing himself in the little blow up pool in the back, and Deb's other two girls spent the day pretty much wandering around. Luckily, the energy level was subdued and it was a good day overall.



4. Christmas Shopping Begun
Crazy, I know. But last year, finances were just as dire as they are this year and I had a hard time justifying buying presents as I went. So we got to a few weeks before Christmas and I didn't have a whole lot for the boys for Christmas. Luckily, I don't think they noticed, but I am hoping to be a little more prepared this year. I am going to try to stick with the three gifts from us rule, but I am hoping Santa can be a little more generous this year. Which means I need to start now and buy a little bit at a time with each paycheck, rather than trying to do it at once.

So after the kids went to bed Friday night, I took the Great Big Profit I made ($29) from the yard sale and headed off to Target to get Noah the scooter he wants as one of his big presents for this year. It was on sale and I was glad to be able to use the garage sale money for it. Now the only problem is keeping it hidden for four months.


3. Chuck E Cheese
We spent most of the Saturday doing yet more cleaning, including taking apart one of the cabinets in our kitchen and dumping it, hoping to get rid of a yucky odor that seems to be permeating the kitchen (it worked). During the process, we moved all of our movies to the basement and cleared out our entry way (which still needs to be patched and painted at some point).

Since the kids were even more grumpy than usual after this adventure, we decided to take the piles of coupons we had building up in my email inbox and take them to Chuck E Cheese for dinner. Thanks to the coupons, we were able to enjoy the fun for under $20 and the kids LOVE the little styrofoam planes they got as prizes.

Next time I think it would be cheaper to go to the dollar store and buy the silly planes, but oh well..live and learn. Don't think we'll go there again for quite awhile.


2. Headache
I battled a pretty nasty headache all weekend, and tried VERY HARD to not let it damper our plans. It started centered behind my left eye on Friday, followed by moving into the back of my head and neck on Saturday, and just sort of lingering on Sunday. I was able to work my way down to much less ibuprofen by the end of the week and I think it may be on its way out. My brother and SIL were sick at the end of last week also, and all of our kids had the same Fifth Disease last week so I am wondering if it stemmed from that virus.




I have to admit, being sick has me a little concerned about the H1N1 virus that is supposed to take hold once school starts. But that's a story for another time.

1. Beach Trip
WOW!!! Knowing it was supposed to be a 95 degree heat index on Sunday, we decided to head to Grand Haven to Lake Michigan Sunday afternoon. Apparently, the rest of West Michigan had the same idea. It took FOREVER to get to the beach, where we then had to wait another half hour at the entrance until parking spaces opened up.

But once we finally got in, it was WAY worth the wait. The waves were 6-7 feet, and Steve and Noah spent over an hour out in them. Aaron had fun too, but much to my relief, even he succumbed to the waves and decided it would be better to stay closer to shore.

On our way home, a MAJOR storm blew in right on the beach we were just at, uprooting huge trees, knocking down power lines, and knocking out power. We were lucky we left when we did and not an hour later, or we would have been caught in it all coming home.

The week ahead:
I'm getting a little stressed about summer vacation ending. I fear that I haven't made the most of the time with the kids. It seems as if I spent the majority of the summer refereeing fights between two young headstrong boys. Now I am panicking that we haven't played enough and school is starting soon. So now I feel like I'm in "Hurry up and have fun!" mode. In addition to the usual piano lessons and bell rehearsal this week, my SIL is coming with her kids for the second half of the week so I really hope we will have some time together to play.

I am also REALLY REALLY REALLY hoping to hear from the school to which I sent a resume last week. If I don't hear from them by Friday, I will plan to call next week. I really want that job. It would solve a lot of problems right now.

Have a good Monday and let me know if you posted your weekend so I can come visit.

Wordless Wednesday: Floating Head

Tackling Life

Disclaimer: This is another one of those soul seeking posts. Not sure where it's headed...

I was reading the little local paper this morning and saw a job ad that caught my eye. With Aaron going to Young Fives every afternoon, I will have a few free hours each day to fill. As finances are so far down in the dumps at the moment, I am constantly trying to figure out ways to increase our income, even within the limited time frame I have available.

I USED to be a teacher. I taught music in the public schools for six years. I was good at it...sort of. Content teaching and classroom management were always strengths for me, as well as putting together AWESOME programs for large numbers of kids. But I was also a very temperamental teacher, and got frustrated with misbehavior way too easily. So when my teaching license expired, and I didn't have the money to return to school to earn the required credits to continue, it was a mixed blessing. School teaching just wasn't for me.

Had I known this when I went to college, I may have selected another route to study, but I'm not sure. Music is the only thing I have ever been good at. I have no other talent in any other area, which made music seem like the only choice when I was 17 and trying to escape my life and running away to college.

Which brings us to the present. I have been working for churches ever since college, with my current position being pretty extensive, directing three ensembles and filling in as organist/ pianist several times a year. I also teach piano in the evenings, which doesn't bring in piles of cash, but it makes it so I don't have to pay a babysitter the same amount I would be making at a job in this area. Steve just got a raise, but we still aren't making it. Our problem is not debt...we have no credit cards and we are not spenders. But our income just doesn't cover our monthly expenditures, no matter how hard we try to stretch. It's starting to take a toll on everyone in our house.

And then Hubby came home yesterday and announces that his truck (that incidentally was generously GIVEN to us by a family member a few years ago) is no longer functional. So now, on top of the regular expenses, we are also facing the challenge of once again trying to live as a one car family.

I was offered a choir director position a couple of weeks ago, but the schedule would have been impossible with church commitments, and it wouldn't be any MORE money, just replacing one job with another. Not really a smart move.

So back to the newspaper.

I saw an ad for a position that I could probably fit into our schedule. It would play to the strengths I have, and also is related to my former teaching field.

The problem:

I have to write a cover letter and resume. I haven't had one in almost a decade and I don't know quite how to sell myself anymore. I used to be so confident in my abilities and strengths. But it seems that over the last few years, my strengths seem to be further away and it seems harder to find them. How do I sell myself on paper when I can't even sell myself TO myself.

So, among dealing with Aaron throwing fits about everything and making messes in everything, Noah battling what I think may be Fifth Disease, trying to find a couple more hundred dollars to pay the August mortgage and the never ending task of cleaning the house again, I need to figure out a time to make myself look awesome on paper.

So that is what I will be tackling today.

Wish Me Luck!!!

Weekend Top Five 8/2/09

I don't believe we did five different things this weekend, so I may need to get a little creative.

Here goes:




5. Another Painting Project Complete
I know there is probably a psychological reason that I am so obsessed with painting every wall in my house, but for now I am choosing to ignore it.

As for the living room, I have been wanting to paint it since the day we moved in, over 7 years ago. And through the seven years, the walls have gotten more nasty and stained.










So Tuesday night I started with the biggest wall and continued off and on the majority of the week. I got two coats on, while also battling the summer virus that had taken hold, and trying to run a garage sale a few of the days.

I didn't take any before pictures of the room, but I went back into my archived pictures and found one of the Christmas tree in the corner a few years ago. At least you can see how the room has changed.











The color isn't really as orange as the picture looks, even though it IS a little darker than I had original anticipated.

The hallway, side entry, and front entry are up next, as soon as my muscles stop hurting from this project.

4. Lots of Family Visit With Many Changes
My brother's family came to my parents for a visit, and my sister's family and one of my step brothers' families came over as well.

The original plan was to all head over to the local Lake Michigan beach for a picnic and swimming. When we got there, the wind was insane, just about blowing the little kids over, whipping sand against our legs, and the waves had a rip tide warning posted. Not exactly an ideal beach day for 8 little kids.







So we packed the vans back up and instead headed over to a local park a little inland from the lake to set up a picnic. The kids like this little park and we managed to (mostly) evade the wind long enough to eat our picnic lunch and play.


5 of the 9 cousins having lunch






Unfortunately, it was probably less than an hour later that it started sprinkling so we packed up again, this time to head over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to play. After a treat of root beer floats and mint ice cream, the cousins all set off in different directions to play.


Noah and one of his cousins trying to feel the rain drops on their face










The big boy cousins all played well together building different things with legos, but Aaron was having a rough day. When we got to my parents, I decided to change scenery with a bath. Baths are the favorite activity for many of the kids when they go to Grandma's, so as soon as my niece found out that Aaron was in the bath, she HAD to join into the fun. I thought it was so cute that she still had her bathing suit on from the beach earlier and just hoped right in. Unfortunately, Aaron couldn't resist his "dumping" obsession and completely emptied out my step mom's BRAND NEW bottle of children's shampoo.

Yes, we'll bring more to her the next time we visit :)

3. Surprise For My Dad
My father served in the military before I was born. I think he has always been very proud of his service, as should any person who has served at any time past or present. I remember vaguely a lone picture I have seen of my father long before I was born, sitting in a jeep during those years, which is really the only connection I have to that time in his life. There were some pieces missing from his past that through a small amount of detective work over the last few months, I was able to retrieve. I was so excited to be able to present these missing pieces to him on Saturday. It made me feel really good to be able to bring that kind of happiness to him, since he has done so much for me through the years.

2. Sunday Work Day
Since my bell group is starting rehearsals up this week, I had A LOT of work to do to get ready. So Sunday morning, I left all three boys at home and headed out to church. I worked on bell folders from 9 AM until 5:30 PM when I headed home. I got music colored, hole punched, sorted, and labeled through Christmas. It is such a large amount of work, but I actually really enjoyed having a day to myself to just sit and get it all done without interruption. It doesn't happen very often and now I feel comfortable heading into rehearsal on Wednesday.

1. Daddy's Day
This is only from what I have heard about the boys' day, but from what I understand, they were quite busy. They went to McD's for lunch, the wooden park in Jenison, and followed it up with a trip to the city pool. It's no wonder that they needed to veg in front of the TV when they got home. All that fun takes major recuperation.

Daddy and Aaron on the swings at the park on Saturday





The Week Ahead:
As I already mentioned, we start rehearsals for bells on Wednesday, which I am quite excited about. Regarding that, I also need to spend some time researching other items we need for the start up of this year. We may try a trip to the beach again since the cousins are staying with Grandma and Grandpa for a few days. I think Deb and I may try a garage sale again later in the week, but I am not very hopeful after the dismal result from last week. Other than that, I am hoping for a fairly low key week and just enjoying these last few weeks of summer before school.

I've been lax in commenting on everyone else's posts lately. I apologize but I will for sure come visit if you let me know you posted your weekend.

Snowflake is Found!

Anyone who has friended me on Facebook followed me through our Snowflake ordeal yesterday.

It was quite the adventure I must say.

To start at the beginning, Tuesday afternoon we came home from the library to find the hamster cage in about six pieces on the floor, bedding everywhere, and the hamster was nowhere to be found.

I was quite sure she was gone for good. My biggest worry was how to find a little corpse somewhere before it started to stink (I know, morbid thought).

I started painting our living room (stay tuned next Tuesday) so I had to move the couch several times. The entire time, Minnie (our cat) was hovered around the bottom of the couch. We assumed that meant that Snowflake was somewhere in the couch. But I was worried that I had squished her from moving it so many times.

While painting, I found quite a few "droppings" against the wall behind whee the couch was and was feeling hopeful.

Then Thursday night, our bedroom had a stinky smell and I made Steve (my hubby) search the entire bedroom, including under all of the clothes for our tragic end to the story. Thankfully, nothing turned up.


SO when I woke up Thursday morning trying to prepare for a garage sale and Deb coming over with two of her three girls, I wasn't ready for the adventure that was awaiting me in the kitchen.

As I let Minnie into the kitchen (we put her in the basement at night), she beelined for the dishwasher. Let me just add that our dishwasher stopped working about six months ago and the only reason I haven't let Steve dispose of it is so that I have more counter space.

After watching her hover, I went and filled a small plate of hamster food in the off chance that Snowflake might indeed still be alive.

I moved the dishwasher out to discover a good size pile of fluff, with droppings mixed in. I knew we were on the right track.

Then , I heard rusting inside.

She was actually still alive and I knew where she was!


As I sat at the computer writing a facebook update, I turned around and saw a little nose peek out. At that point, things were definitely more hopeful so I called Noah in to try to lure her out. He was so excited at the prospect of his little friend returning.














My next step was to call Steve and find out how to actually take the dishwasher apart. After removing a few screws, the bottom front panel came off and we were able to see Snowflake at all times, making her capture even more imminent.









After awhile, I tried lifting the dishwasher, though fearing that I would squish her. I proceeded anyway. While Noah lied underneath with a flashlight making sure she was safe, I lifted the dishwasher. She started to run out and Noah almost caught her when she ran under our cabinets right next to the dishwasher.



The end was almost in sight. She kept popping back out. This time, I grabbed two cookie sheets and formed a triangle to "trap" her and Noah was finally able to grab her and return her safely to her abode.













Later as I went to check in her, I learned that Winter White Hamsters actually "scream" at you when they're scared. I went out to the pet store to make sure this was normal, which relieved me since I was worried that we had scarred her for life.

At this writing, she still has not eaten, which again has me worried and she has also not come out of her self-made burrow all day. I hope she returns to her social nature in a day or two, and I hope she was not sickened or harmed in any way during her adventure. For such a little creature, she really has become a part of our family quickly.

Have a great weekend. It looks like it's going to be a busy one for us.

See you on Monday with my recap.