A new year, a new post

I have a few minutes of relative peace (the girls are in the room, but are busy drawing and talking to each other) so I decided to try to post a little. (Now they are trying to sing Tim Hawkins'  "Pretty Pink Tractor" song, in very southern voices.)

***Two hours later, after a paper-airplane flying event that included all 6 of us, clean-up, and bedtime...***

Well, the aforementioned peace was short lived. As in, before I finished typing that short paragraph there was some argument about how one sister's singing sounded bad. Now all is quiet, so I'll try again.

I've been such a nag lately to the kids, following them around the house (not so graciously) reminding them to pick up shoes, hang up jackets, take plates to the kitchen after meals, clean rooms, bring toys and various clothes inside from the yard. I was tired of it and I'm pretty sure they were too. I felt like my only options were let it go, and thus stop nagging (ha! Like that would work), or constantly remind them to pick stuff up, because they sure weren't remembering to do it on their own. I mentioned the dilemma to Matt one morning and asked for any ideas to give them incentives to pick up after themselves. He suggested that each time they leave messes around, have them make two trips to the woodshed....for firewood, that is. Our woodpile on the  porch is always in need of more wood, as Matt's Missouri fires go through quite a bit of wood at a time, so having them bring two pieces each several times a day worked out well for us, and seemed to be a good reminder for them to keep their messes cleaned up.

Then one day it dawned on me that if it were raining or dark, that chore wouldn't work too well, as the woodshed is way out across the yard and the lights in it aren't working. That's when I remembered a chore idea I'd seen on some blog somewhere one time. Simple jobs are written on popsicle sticks and kept in a can. When I see a mess (and I try to be reasonable and give them a little while to notice it and clean it up without a reminder) I tell them to clean it up and pick a stick. So far, it's worked well. If they complain about having to do a job, they get to pick another one after that job is done.

The part I really like is that these are simple chores I used to rotate through their chore charts, but I changed charts and chore methods, so this stuff wasn't getting done very consistently. Now it is. :) Occasionally they get into it and ask  to pick another stick. I think it's the suspense of not knowing which one they'll get that makes it fun. Matt put a "get out of jail free" stick in there from his Bluebell icecream bar. It's shorter than the rest and has the bluebell picture on it. Probably won't keep that in there long, but it's a funny idea.  Even Cassie tries to get involved. She'll pick one and then claim it says, "Take your bowl to the kitchen." I'll ask if she did, she'll say "Wes" (yes) and then "Way! (Yay!) I'm so big!" Even if the kid who actually had to pick a stick is a little grumpy about having to do a job, he or she will usually laugh at her and her one "chore" that she always manages to pick. She's good comic relief.

Why just in the past week or so I've already had these things done:
dust piano and china cabinet
clean trash out of van
organize plastic bowl drawer
organize a closet (pick up hangers, put shoes in place, pick up toys)
sweep Mom's and Dad's bathroom
neaten a pantry shelf  (a favorite, though I have yet to figure out why)
wipe floor under table
fold towels
sweep kitchen
clean the microwave
wipe kitchen cabinet doors and drawers
organize a dresser drawer
vacuum under sofa
clean playroom glass door
sanitize doorknobs
clean front of stove (another favorite, but I do know why. It's stainless steel and they get to use a special     cleaner and it gets really shiny.)

So come on over. If the kids have been particularly forgetful, we'll have a clean house. :)
~~~~~
Another new thing we've been trying for a couple of months is a chore wheel based on this one I really liked the idea of assigning each big kid a Room of Responsibility (ROR), where they learn to keep various rooms tidy. I chose three rooms (living room, downstairs bathroom, and upstairs bath-tub bathroom) that get used a lot and  that they could handle simple chores in.

They've helped me clean each of these before, as I used to rotate them through their charts, but now they have a ROR for two days, then I give the wheel one turn so everybody's job changes. I figured this way they learn how to keep a given room clean without it being too much. If it's one they hate doing, they get to change in a day or so. And we average about every-other day on getting the RORs done anyway, so it's really not too bad on them.



 I help them with a job or two on their lists so they don't feel like they're doing work while I'm off playing and having fun in the kitchen cooking or something (ha), then I try to remember to check up on their work. All in all it goes pretty well. I try to have Cassie be a helper with the one doing the living room, since I don't think having her around the toilet or tub would be very helpful. Sometimes she gets to wipe down the fake leather sofa with a wetwipe, or I have her help get toys put up. I love stopping by these rooms during the evening after the jobs are done, breathing in the sanititzer fumes, seeing how clean they look and knowing I didn't have to do it all. :)

 If we can ever get on a fairly regular schedule, I'm sure things would go a lot smoother, but for now it's working, they're learning responsibility, and I'm getting a clean house without doing it all myself.

~~~
Matt has been on break from school for 3 weeks, but starts back next week. He has class only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, though so we'll still get to see a lot of him. That schedule lasts another 6-8 weeks, then it'll change again.

Baby seems to be growing well, judging from the nice round belly I'm getting. I'm at 24 weeks (I think...kind of lose track), so about 3 1/2 months to go. Some days that seems far off, and others it seems unbelievably close.

Micah seemed to handle the news pretty well when I told them we are having a girl. But a few days later he got a little teary and asked, "Why are there so many girls, and not very many boys?" I wanted to make him feel better so I mentioned that sometimes the ultrasound is wrong. "It probably is a girl, but sometimes, when the baby is born the doctor will say, "Oops! It's a boy!" when they thought it was a girl."  I guess Cassie had been listening to this because a day or so later she was looking at my belly and asked if we were having a girl baby or a boy baby. I told her girl. She paused then said, "Or it might be....Oopsie! it's a boy!"  I laughed so hard I had to sit back down on the bed. She just stood there and grinned, pleased to have been so funny.

One day as we were walking on the driveway, Cassie remembered the huckleberry bush we'd picked from back in May. She asked if we could pick some that day, but I told her there were none there right now, they would be there in the spring time. Then I mentioned that was when her birthday is. Now EVERY time her birthday is mentioned, or she happens to think of it herself, she says, "In da spingtime when da behwwies gwow (berries grow), my birtday is comin'." Sometimes she'll add, "And the oatmeal will be there!" That would be in reference to what she wants for her birthday meal. Felicity chose Raman noodles for hers back in December. Matt chose cubed steak, mashed potatoes, greens and yeast rolls for his. Well, I suggested it and he happily agreed. Camie said she wants roast or porkchops with gravy and mashed potatoes, and Micah probably wants beans and rice, although I don't actually remember. I just want something good that I didn't have to cook or clean up after. :)

Camie has been going to physical therapy for her arm for about 2 months. She was born with Erb's Palsy in her left arm, which basically means the nerves from her spine to that shoulder were damaged during birth, affecting her ability to bend that arm. She had therapy once a week for 3 years starting when she was just a few months old and her range of motion greatly improved.  Just recently Matt was having her lift some dumb-bells for fun at the gym and noticed she wasn't straightening out her left arm all the way. He told her to extend it all the way out and she said she couldn't. She had been able to bend it so much better now than when she was little that we never realized it was sort of stiff and wouldn't straighten completely out. Eight weeks of therapy on it (doing exercises with games and toys) has helped. The OT said she doubts she'll ever be able to fully extend it, but because she's strengthening her bicep, she'll be able to reach toward her head a lot better and lift more with it. And her wrist, which was weak before and limited in range of motion has gotten better. We are very thankful for what has been accomplished in a short amount of time and that there has been improvement. Camie has been very cooperative about it all and loves the attention she gets at therapy. Sometimes I take her in and wait in the van with the other kids, so she gets to be "all alone" and grown up for about 45 minutes.We park right outside the big windows and sometimes I'll see her walk by and wave and grin at us.

Cassie has a favorite pillow she sleeps on, but the other night it wasn't in her bed. I was dreading the hunt we were going to have to go on, but Cassie told me she didn't need it. "I'll sleep with my ears.", meaning her ears wouldn't be on the pillow. :)

Micah was full of questions and comments at church a few weeks ago, and wouldn't quite whispering to me. I told him to hush, I was trying to listen to the preacher. He whispered back, "Why? All he's doing is talking and talking and talking." I guess a little song and dance might have kept Micah's interest a little better.

Another day I'll look through our pictures on the camera see which ones I need to upload into a blog post.
Goodnight. :)
Rose