The Best Present

So my birthday is on Monday. Brian & Kim keep asking me what I want so I've come up with a few things. Nothing expensive or elaborate just a few little items.
Brian just left with all the kids to go shopping. I have the house all to myself on a Saturday morning. I've decided that's the best present of all. I love peace and quiet!

Week #1 Down

Ok really it was only 3 days - not even a full week. We survived waking up early but boy am I tired tonight. Overall I'd say it was a very successful first few days.

It's most definitely time to get back to Maintain It Monday, Tackle It Tuesday, etc., etc.

Although I'm not sure there is a need to post before & after pictures anymore. I mean really all you have to do is go look at previous Tackle It Tuesday pictures to get a pretty good idea about what certain areas of my house looks like.

The clutter may be picked up and the floors vacuumed throughout most of the house but much of that clutter is sitting in a basket in the corner of the office waiting to be sorted and discarded or put away. The insides of my cupboards are once again disorganized. Why does everything eventually return to a state of chaos?

My house is in need of a good spring cleaning!

Focusing on the positive for a minute my laundry is all clean and folded and my garage is clean. At least 2 areas of my house are in order (at least for the moment).

So for those who find amusement and feel better by seeing the skeletons in my closet check back next week for the before & hopefully fabulous after pictures as I work to recover from a summer of kids home all day everyday.

A Clean House is the Sign of a Broken Computer

Click on this image to make it bigger so you can see it:

A couple years ago my friend Melissa sent me a sign that says A Clean House is the Sign of a Broken Computer. It hangs in my office.
While I was cleaning my bedroom today I found this this paper Kim had made. It didn't scan well but at the top you can see a computer that has broken and then before and after pictures below of a shelf, bed, stairs and table first messy and then cleaned.
Thanks for the laugh Kim! It's good to laugh at myself since there is a little too much truth to this drawing.

The Great Bedroom Debate

Not a whole lot of getting ready for Sunday around here. We started cleaning downstairs and then got sidetracked on the great bedroom debate.

5 kids + 3 bedrooms = LIFE IS NEVER FAIR.

Since life is never fair we seem to end up switching bedrooms about every 6 months in an attempt to make it a little fairer.

Someone always gets there own room, the younger kids make such big messes that the bigger kids don't want to share, the boys are too big to share a room with the girls. Brett refuses to be in any room but the brown room because the others have paint that is too "girlie" (pale green or peach). The whining, complaining and debating starts and of course the tears start flowing.

I refused to move all the beds around today so the options were limited. So today's solution - Brett is sharing the brown room with Bradley, Kim gets the peach room and Bryce gets the green room. Kylie the biggest mess maker of all got kicked out of all the rooms and consigned to the office (her bed currently consisting of a mattress thrown on the floor - and unbelievably she's the most excited of all of them).

Do you think it's time to repaint in some nice neutral colors?

By the time we got it all figured out I was exhausted so the kids stuff is only half put away and the downstairs looks ten times worse than we we started down there this morning.

It's a good thing there is no school on Monday - although I can here the whining and complaining already "It's a Holiday - We Shouldn't have to work!"

No where to go

It has been so long since I've had a day with no where I had to go, no errands that had to be done, no appointments, no trips to the grocery store, nothing required of me at all. Just a day at home with time to clean, pay bills and get a few things off my list.
I need more days like this one! I can tell by the state of my house that I have been crazy busy lately. I just spent the last 2 hours getting all the laundry folded and scouring the kitchen. Now on to the bathrooms! I am loving the smell of clean.

If all else fails go with Old School

So tell me this is not completely old school. Despite all the technology that's out there I made an old fashioned FHE wheel. I searched forever online but couldn't find a Family Home Evening Chart to print from the internet that had 7 jobs for 7 family members so I made my own. Of course there are all the cutesy ones you can make at enrichment but in case anyone hasn't figured it out I'm not an artsy-fartsy kind of person!
I also made a job jar that contains extra jobs for children who complain, whine, fight, tease, disobey, slack, or otherwise annoy me! I guess ideally the jobs will never get done because the kids will all get along and be angels all summer and listen and not fight but reality is I'll probably have really clean walls, baseboards, light fixtures, etc.
We had a family council today and set up all the rules & chores for summer such as no media until after noon, Monday is family day with no friends, chores charts & rotations, etc. The kids were really good sports and survived hearing all the stuff no kids likes to hear: You have extra chores during the summer, you only get 2 hours of media a day, you do have a bedtime during the summer and guess what it's the same as during the school year, etc. I guess it always helps to bribe them with treats once we get through: ice cream, popsicle, candy bar or strawberry shortcake: thats some good motivation to take part in a family council!
We'll see how long we can keep at a routine and schedule this summer. I'm actually amazed that we've made it 16 weeks on the chore chart system we have been using and we haven't fizzled out. That's pretty good for us.

Mothers Day 2009

Happy Mothers Day to Me.

I'm Back! And it was a Blast!

I didn't take a camera with me so I don't have many pictures. So far just a couple from Andie's iPhone & one Heather posted from Los Hermanos.
Women's Conference was wonderful as always and as always I'm glad to be back home with my family. It's amazing what a little break does.
Tomorrow I'll take a few minutes and share some of what I gleaned but for now here are a couple pictures.
With my good friends Amy & Andie who went to the conference with me on Thursday.
Eclipse performing at the concert on Thursday night. Seriously you just can't help but laugh at 6 white boys wrapping songs from the 80s. And how can you not take part and laugh with the the cell phone waving!

If you ever need a good laugh this is the group to hang out with. As tradition would now hold we eat at Los Hermanos after Women's Conference and we are not the quietest group in the restaurant. In fact the waitress remembered us from last year, at least they warned the groups they sat next to us before hand this year that we could be a little loud.

A huge thanks again to my husband and inlaws for taking care of the kids and the house while I got a much needed break. And best of all I came home to a house that was as clean as when I left. Brian had just fed the kids and they were all up doing the dishes. Can't beat that!

It's Official - I have Half-heimers Disease

I'm officially getting old and suffering from Half-heimers disease. I forget half the things, half the time.
In the past month I've forgotten a PTA meeting, Activity days, a meeting at church and an IEP appointment at the school. I'm sure that is only half of what I have forgotten!
I never used to forget anything and never had to write anything down. Now it it's not plastered to my forehead I will forget it! And even with it plastered to my forehead I had better walk by a mirror now and again or I'll forget!

No Blog Post In 2 Days??

Hmm what's up with me? No blog post in 2 days and I can't really come up with anything to blog about. I good cleaned my house over the weekend and have sorta taken this week off from housework. We stayed up way to late on Sunday night talking to my brother & SIL and I've still not recovered from not enough sleep.
Brian & I went out on a lunch date today to the Beijing Buffet. So yummy! It just opened up on Bluff street recently and everything we ate was fabulous. Although what I ate was limited. I was so dang proud of myself. 2 chicken teriyaki skewers and then just fruits & vegetables. I'm sure I ate a pound of fresh strawberries & then tons of broccoli, some mushrooms & even a little asparagus.
Last night I went to a Relief Society game night. I didn't get home until nearly 11:00. It was a lot of fun but I was definitely not proud of how much junk I ate last night. We've got some good cooks in our ward!

Missionary Chauffeur

I volunteered to drive the sister missionaries around today. Kylie and I met them at the temple visitor's center this morning and have driven them around today. One appointment took us to SouthGate which is just 5 minutes from Uncle Philips so we stopped by to visit instead of waiting in the car. They are just a few minutes from our house this hour so we came home and will pick them back up at 2 and return them to the visitor's center. I've got to listen to a talk tape on CS Lewis and have enjoyed a day without feeling guilty for not cleaning my house.

Mother It Monday

Ah I've fallen down on Mother It Monday. Since it is Monday I thought I'd share a great book I just finished reading. My SIL Kristen recommended it to me several months ago and I finally got around to reading it!
Mothering With Spiritual Power: Book of Mormon Inspirations for Raising a Righteous Family by Debra Sansing Woods

This is a fabulous book and worth buying. The author chose 25 "mothering" scriptues from the Book of Mormon and relates them to being a better mother. A great exercise in likening the scriptures unto ourselves. It's a short, quick book to read and is packed with wisdom, advise and hope for being a better mother. As I read each scripture I marked them in my own set of scriptures to help me remember what what within the pages of this book.

9 Missed Calls....

Tonight was ward temple night. I'm so thankful to have felt good this month. Last month I had that awful migraine and barely made it through.
When we got out of the temple I had 9 missed calls on my cell phone. I called home to see what the "emergency" was. Kylie has an ear infection so imagined she had been screaming... But nope that wasn't it. The Walkers were having a party tonight and it had started at 6:30 and why hadn't I picked up my phone! So I raced home and took Brett & Bryce to the Walker's house - 2 hours late for the party. On the way thanking them for sacrificing so Brian and I could go to the temple which is ultimately much more important than a party. There was dessert after the temple session at the Jack's home but I ended up with the 3 little kids in the car because they are too young to leave home alone. I ran in, said hi and grabbed each of the kids a cookie and brought them home.

Our New Chore System

Yesterday went so well. It took a good portion of my afternoon to help the kids learn and finish all their chores but I didn't spend my morning doing it all myself so it didn't take any longer than normal to get the house clean.

Here is what we are doing. I split all that work that needs to be done into 4 different lists. So this week Brett is #1, Bryce is #2, Kim is #3 and Brad is #4. Kylie wanted a number too so she is #5 but she'll always be #5. Everyone else will rotate so next week Bryce will be #1, Kim #2, etc. These chores have to be done before they can play with friends or have any screen or media time.

#1
Empty Dishwasher
Upstairs Bathroom
Downstairs Bathroom
Buggy Bathroom
Kitchen Floor Picked Up & Spot Mopped

#2
Load of Laundry – wash & fold
Carpeted Area – Living Room, Dining Room & Hallway

#3
Stairs
Entire Downstairs Carpeted Area
Meal Preparation

#4
Kylie’s babysitter & entertainer
Office
Yard
Garbage

I also typed up a list of what has to be done to clean the bathroom, the carpeted area, their bedroom, etc. so they know exactly what is required to pass the job off.

We also have "daily" jobs that must be done each day:

Before School
Blankets Put on Bed
Dirty Clothes taken care of
Prayers Said
Teeth Brushed/Hair Combed

Before Dinner
Bedroom Cleaned
Homework Done
Put Away Clean Clothes

Before Bed
Say Prayers
Brush Teeth
Read for 15 minutes
Read Scripture

In addition I made a seating chart for the table and for the Suburban. They'll rotate each week so we have no more fighting over who has to climb to the back seat or who gets to sit by Kylie. They'll all get a turn in each spot.

Everyone gets a one on one "date" with mom the week they are #1.

We also have a points system. Each child gets 50 points each week which can be redeemed for prizes or cash. If they pick up things that others leave out they get to add a point to their total and deduct a point from the person who left it out.

A day with no screen time or media = 25 bonus points.

Setting Table
#1 Plates, #2 Cups, #3 Silverware #4 Misc.
Everyone clears and loads their own dishes plus 3 other things.

That's it! It's all typed up on one page so everyone knows what is expected of them. We'll see how day 2 goes!

Aftermath from Activity Days

We couldn't have dinner at the kitchen table tonight. It was covered with drying activity days art projects. It will be interesting to see how these turn out once the cheesecloth and contact paper are removed. Kim, Kylie & Brad were still painting after the activity was over but we had to move to the floor because there was no room left on the table.

I'm off to clean 3 bathrooms and then climb in bed to read my scriptures and Ensign. Hopefully I'll still be awake so I can read a book too!

Blue Cookies??

All week we've been talking about Kylie going to and staying in Sunbeams today. As expected shortly before Sacrament meeting was going to end Kylie started saying she didn't want to go to Sunbeams. I told her that if she would go to Sunbeams we would make cookies when we got home. "Blue Cookies?" she asked. Sure whatever it takes to get you to go to Sunbeams. Kylie went to Sunbeams and after church we came home and made blue sugar cookies. A few drops of blue food coloring and she had her blue cookies. Yum! Although I personally didn't eat any because it would blow both my sugar and flour point and it's not worth it.

Migraine....

I was sitting in a temple session at our ward temple night last night when I was hit by a migraine headache. Talk about no fun. I sat there attempting to concentrate but mostly just praying to make it through the session. I was so disoriented I couldn't even remember the name of our bishop. I pulled my recommend out of my pocket to read his name to make sure I had it right. I haven't had a migraine in almost 8 years! I'm extremely grateful they don't plague my life. When I was younger I got them all the time but they went away as I became a teenager. And seriously not having my brain work right was freaky! I kept looking at the women in my ward trying to remember their names and not quite being able to recall some of them. This morning the names were all there and clear as day but not last night. I woke up this morning still feeling crappy but now all I have is the lingering remains of a slight headache.
I don't know what triggered it but I do know yesterday was the end of white sugar and flour for me for a while again. After the temple session we stopped by the Bishops for dessert and ice water with lemons, limes & cucumbers was all I had any desire to consume. Maybe my farewell snickers and m&ms I ate yesterday afternoon was not such a good idea. I think my body just does better when I eat healthy... in fact I know it does!

Kathy's 2009 Goals

Kathy's Goals for 2009
Have a "Perfect Year" - Perfect Year = kneeling prayers every morning and night & read my scriptures everyday
Attend the Temple at least once every month
Read the Ensign cover to cover each month
Be early to church each week - Leave home no later than 9:15 each Sunday
Read at least 52 books
Get on top of and stay on top of the house by making sure the kids are doing their chores & I am keeping up with my "Tackle it" goals/projects each day
Keep my body healthy by maintaining my weight, eating healthy and exercising, remain motivated by working with friends to meet my goal
Keep in touch with extended family & friends through blogging, letters, emails and phone calls
Make time to Be Still & Ponder each day
Get in the habit of listening to uplifting music each day by turning on LDS radio, a CD or itunes each day
Be a better mother & wife by spending quality one on one time with my children & husband regularly & not raising my voice so the spirit can be in our home
Focus on the good & don't judge others

Holiday Stress....

Can you feel it? The list is long... the gifts aren't wrapped, most of the cards aren't sent yet and the house is a mess! However I'm going to enjoy the next week. Cards can be late, the house doesn't have to be perfect and the gifts will get wrapped eventually!

So one thing at a time. First I'm off to workout. I've only got 3 days left in my healthy living competition and I still need to earn 26 more points to reach my goal of 750 points. Since I don't workout on Sunday that means I have to workout today or I won't reach my goal. I'm not going to fail when I'm so close!

Too Good Not to Steal & Share...

Just watched this on Lisa's blog and I had to steal and post on my own. What mom can't relate to this song!