min-myinnersoul

Now that summer break is here, I decided it was time to reinstate the chore responsibilities for the kiddos. Last year, I made a chore list , and my intentions were to teach E and S.R. responsibility and the value of hard work, but my system was truly broken and our excitement for it lasted all of one week.  Expecting my kids to do the same things over and over again day after day was just expecting too much. I certainly don't do the same things day after day. We all need a little variety, right? So to fix my broken system, I searched on line for age appropriate chores.  It's truly amazing what little ones can do...we really don't give them enough credit. If you check my Pinterest board , you can visit the sites where I found my ideas... This particular idea came from the Martha Stewart website .  Thankfully this little project was mostly free to me. I had one sheet of magnet paper left. I printed the kids' pictures and the chores with the money value on them(in 25 cent...

Ok, so I said I would post about these on Monday...well Monday has turned into Thursday for sure...but I am finally getting around to sharing with you our newest endeavor....allowances...enter shiver/shudder. We now have to make our children be responsible little helpers...which makes us have to be more responsible because we have to remember to remind them to do their chores....and on top of that, we have to remember to keep $6 in 1's on hand, so that we can make sure they get their $3 a week. Sheesh! Who knew it was going to be this involved:o)  I kid, I kid:o) E and S.R. have been great about getting their chores done for the past two weeks, and we are so grateful. Not only are they learning valuable lessons in doing a job and doing it well, they are lightening the load on their poor pitiful mother;o) So here are said money/allowance holders. All items used to make these money holders were purchased from Hobby Lobby except the buckets. I found the buckets in the dollar section a...

We have had a lot of "Big Moments" going on around here lately. Two weeks ago, I ran in my first 1/2 marathon...It was the most excruciating experience I have ever encountered. The hills and the heat were absolute torture, but I survived (barely) and have the medal to prove it:o) These were the girls I ran with. Had it not been for my great friend Shannon(far left), I wouldn't have made it to the end. She is such a great source of encouragement and an awesome friend!! Another big moment was my little sister graduated from college. She is the first in our family to graduate from a university. She graduated with a double major on Saturday & we couldn't be more proud of her. Especially since she was the first. My parents didn't go to college & I only went to junior college and then cosmetology school. My brother will be graduating in two years, so we are really looking forward to that!!  The weather was wild that morning..it started out raining...and then the...

This winter has been one of the strangest I can remember. It has felt like spring most of the winter months. It's been great for the kids because they have been able to spend a lot of time playing outside with our neighbors. Yesterday, I decided I needed a break from all of the insanity that has been going on here lately...lack of sleep, and trying to catch up on that..homemakers club stuff...and then there is a certain someone's birthday coming up on Saturday as well:o) Our neighborhood is nestled in beside a river, and there is a nice paved path and picnic tables there as well. So we grabbed the wagon, some food & the dog and headed down to the river and had a wonderful little picnic. I sat back, snapped pictures, and enjoyed just watching my children...just watching:o)  E being silly, and S.R. mad because he "bonked her head."  Flowers that S.R. picked for me  Sweet smile  Throwing rocks into the river  Scosche waiting patiently as we eat in front of him:...