On a Break!

We took a big break over the summer to spend time making memories instead of just sitting in front of the computer blogging about them. LOL! But we are back now and in full swing of school, so while the boys are working away at their books and computer, I will have time to catch up!

During July, we took a big vacation to the beach. Our at home vacation activities consisted mostly of swimming, bowling, playing the Wii, and going to the 50cent movie theater.

In August, the boys went to Pre-teen camp. I spent most of the time preparing for school. The rest of the month was spent getting Mike ready to leave for college. Last week, the whole family drove to Colorado to drop him off.

I will post more about all these things in future blogs!

Hope you all had a safe and fun summer too!

Boys Return Home

Super and Tutone are home from Boy Scout Camp! They had fun but they are tired.

Both boys earned the Swimming and First Aid merit badges. But as with any experience there were things that they liked and didn't like about it. The scout troop called this "roses and thorns".

Super's roses were that he enjoyed rock climbing and he was happy he earned the two merit badges. Tutone's roses were swimming and that he earned the two merit badges.

Super's thorns were the food and 119 ant bites that he got one night! Yuck! Tutone's thorns were the food and having to climb "Hernia Hill". Apparently, there were 94 steps. Never one to let a "coachmom" moment slip by, I said, "Steps! At least you had steps!"

I hope all is well with you and yours! I will blog more after we return from our much needed vacation!

Cowbunga Dude!

Vacation Bible School has ended! All the kids had a great time. By the last night we had over 200 children in attendance from preschool to 6th grade. The best news was that we had 8 children accept Christ! Four of them were children who guests of other children! We ask for your prayers that the Holy Spirit will continue to bring people into their lives to help them grow in their relationship with Jesus.

The kids also raised over $100 for the mission trip to Romania. A team from our church will be taking the Outrigger Island materials to Romania this month. The kids were thrilled to help raise money so that other children could have as much fun as they did.

My second favorite thing that happened (the first being how many children came to Christ, of course) was that the 5th grade made me thank you notes. I have them hung up on my bulletin board in my kitchen.

It was a great week! And if you can believe it, we have already started to talk about next year!

Riding the Waves at VBS

This year's theme of Outrigger Island has been fun! The leaders have really gotten into it with the decorations. I'm not sure why this theme has been so much more successful in getting the leaders motivated than themes from past years, but it is fantastic. Maybe it's because "going to the beach" just feels like summer.

The children seem to be having a great time. I have seen several little girls leaving each night singing the songs and making the "motions" that go along with them. Our worship leader, Tracey, is awesome. Not only does she have a great singing voice but she really knows how to get the kids dancing.

Monday night we had 192 children and 115 workers at the church. One little girl brought three friends the first night! We rewarded her with a beach towel and can cozy last night. I hope that this will inspire some of the children to invite some kids from their neighborhood. We still had new children registering last night!

Pray that we get some more "unchurched" children from the community tonight!

Know the truth!
Speak the truth!
Live the truth!

VBS begins, Boys at Boy Scout Camp

My friends and I have been busily preparing for Vacation Bible School at our church. I hope that explains my absence from posting! I hope that I will have some pictures to post at the end of the week, as well as some testimonies from our experience. Please pray that we have children from the community flock to the church! Pray that the leaders reach the hearts of the children for Christ!


Super and Tutone are off at Boy Scout camp this week! Here is a picture of Tutone walking up the "hill". I'm sure we will hear all about how everyday they had to walk up the hill 10 miles both ways to get to the dining hall.


Here is a picture of the "whole gang"! Super is in the first one on the left in the front row. Tutone is the fourth one from the left in the second row. Right within reach of the Assistant Scoutmaster, the Senior Patrol Leader, and the Scout master. That's where I would have put him! I think they are on to him!


I am sure that we will all have a great week! The boys will be swimming and hiking and earning merit badges! And coachmom will be co-directing VBS!

God bless!

Chore Lists - Age Appropriate

Many people ask...how do I know what chores to assign my children? Some people mistakenly believe that their children are "too young" to help with chores. But the fact is that when they are young is usually when they want to help you. So why discourage that? Start early promoting that "team" culture in your family!

Chore charts with stickers or smiley faces are a great way to encourage younger children. "Allowances" that award a small stipend of money or privileges for chores completed is a great way to encourage older children. But beware the allowance comparison game. I don't really care what the "going rate" is for allowance. The point of giving my older children an allowance is to teach them responsibility in saving, spending, and tithing.

And now...The Charts!

Preschoolers - 2's and 3's

• Stripping sheets off the bed on laundry day.
• Take your clothes to the laundry room on the laundry room.
  
• "Making the bed" - putting pillows and stuffed animals in place. Helping pull up the comforter. (Obviously, not tucking the sheets in neatly at this point! ) But this sets the stage that this is your bed and it is your responsibility to make it everyday.
  
• Pick up toys and books at the end of the day.
• Help feed the pets - in the simplest form - putting a scoop of food in the bowl.
  
• Put napkins, spoons and forks on table before meals.
• Put spoons and forks in dishwasher after meals.
• Wiping up spills. Teach them that they will wipe up a spill that they cause.
  
• "Dusting" - just don't expect perfection! But once again it sets the stage for later.
• "Sweeping" - especially with a tool like a Swiffer sweeper.

Pre-K and Kindergarten

• Anything that is on the preceding list.
  
• Making the bed - at this point start working towards pulling up the sheets and straightening out the wrinkles. Just don't expect perfection. As they get older move up the standard.
  
• Unloading spoons, forks, plastic and wooden items from the dishwasher. Putting them away in the proper drawers and cabinets. Hint: I moved my plates and cups to the bottom cabinets and moved my casserole dishes and breakables to the top so that my kids could unload the dishwasher. Anything they could put away was in a cabinet on the bottom that they could reach.
• Set the table completely for meals. Hint: make a "cheat sheet" that has a picture showing the placement of the plate, napkin, cup, and utensils. The first few times have this map out so the child can follow it.
  
• Clear the table completely after meals.
• Dusting - expect more!
• Keeping their room and playroom clean. Encourage the "one thing out at a time" rule. Make sure they understand the concept of "a place for everything and everything in its place."
  
• Mopping the floor.
  

1st and 2nd graders

• Anything that is on the preceding list.
• Hint: Start a life skills book! Take a picture of how the job looks when it is done right. Take a picture of how it looks when it is NOT done right, but in a way that you have found it done before by your child when they told you it was "done right".
  
• Making the bed - at this point you can expect it to be done right and keep sending them back until it is done right.
• Taking care of pets - including giving them fresh food and water, walking the dog, and brushing them.
• Taking out the trash.
• Completely load and unload the dishwasher.
  
• Fold and put away their own laundry.
  
• Vacuuming.

3 - 5th Graders

• Anything that is on the preceding list.
• Hint: Update your life skills book! Add a detailed description of the chore into your life skills book.
• Wash the car.
• Wash the dishes by hand that need to be.
  
• Help prepare meals.
• Clean the bathrooms.
• Rake leaves.
• Weeding

Middle Schoolers

• Anything that is on the preceding list.
• Planting flowers or other gardening work.
  
• Make a meal once a week.
• Anything on the quarterly cleaning list.
  

High Schoolers

• Anything that is on the preceding list.
• Help plan the grocery list and do the shopping.
• Operate the washer and dryer.
• Mowing and edging the lawn.
• Cleaning the pool
  

Now that your kids hate me, I will have to start posting about things other than cleaning. Next time...menu planning!

Coachmom says...use your kids!

Today's topic is motivating you into making your kids help you clean. There is a reason they call me "coachmom". I love sports, especially football and baseball. My kids have gotten accustomed to me speaking to them in sports metaphors. Hopefully, you will too!

Your family is a team. God created your family to work together as a cohesive unit! If one person is not playing their position, the team is not going to be victorious. Your children need to be taught this mindset. Children learn through repetition or "practice". Therefore, as teacher or "coach", you are going to have to be consistent. Send them out onto the field and if they do not perform the drill properly, you will have to go out there and demonstrate it for them and let them try again until they get it right. This takes patience and perseverance on your part. In the end, it will be worth it.

"That's great," you say, "but how do I make this happen?"

First, you start with daily chores. Even a three year old can put spoons into a dishwasher, or put napkins on the table for dinner. Then you inspect their job, correcting gently where correction is needed, and praising in both cases. Find something to praise about the job in either case. Correct first, then praise something. I know this sounds like a very "modern" philosophy but don't you want to work harder when you feel appreciated?

Move up to weekly chores, involving them in chores that you are not in the room for. Once again, inspect, correct, praise. Send them back to perform a chore again until it is done properly. Sooner or later, they will get the picture. Do NOT redo the chore for them. They need to learn that it does not affect you one way or the other if they spend 30 minutes or 3 hours doing that chore, so they may as well get it done right the first time. So only do this training method on a day where you were planning on staying home all day cleaning.

Once your children are trained to do daily and weekly chores, then they are ready to be involved in the quarterly chores! This will not happen overnight. And yes, my children still drive me crazy at times. They have to be retrained from time to time, when I was not consistent about my inspections. But I have heard from many people that my children are well trained in the chore arena. (Just don't tell them that!)

In my next post, I will give suggestions for age appropriate chores.