Good Intentions

Tom has a hard time understanding our house alarm even though we've lived in this house for 11 years :) These things take time, right?

We all slept as he got ready for work early this morning.  He said we all “looked so cute sleeping” and he wanted to keep us “safe” – so he set the security system on his way out the door. *note- we don’t live in the hood *

Instead of setting the alarm, he armed the motion detectors. You know…the ones that set the alarm OFF if there is MOTION in the house?

Bryce  had been sleeping next to me…woke up…and decided to go see if Karah and Bradley were up yet.

That didn’t go so well.

The alarm was blaring…Bryce was frantically running in place…screaming the most horrific cry. Bradley and Karah were awakened from a dead sleep and came running….screaming and crying.

I called Tom, adrenaline pumping.

“YOU DID IT AGAIN! You set the alarm wrong – Bryce just tripped it – and all three kids are terrorized!”

“Whaaat? I diiiid? All I did was hit ‘AWAY’”, he said.

“AWAY” means you are going AWAY and nobody should be home.

“Well I WAS going away”, he replied.

“Oh my gosh!”

“Well you are going to have to give me a tutorial on that thing”, he said.

“Here is your tutorial. Don’t ever touch it. EVER. You can’t handle it.”

He laughed and said, “Tell the kids to go back to bed".”

Uh, yeah, Tommy T…and after that I will tell “Snooki” to stop using self- tanner.

 

It’s going to be a grrrrreat day!

SBL- Summer Playlist

Checking off one of our “To-Do’s” on our Summer Bucket List…we created our Summer CD to listen to while we are driving around town this Summer.  It is very important that there is music for the little bear cubs to shake their booty to.

My goal is to brainwash the children. Whenever they hear these songs when they are older, their mind will go back to the Summers when they were young. They won’t remember any of the times I yelled at them, took away privileges, or made them do work they didn’t want to do. They will ONLY remember dancing in the car on the way to the pool…and the snow cone shack we stopped at on the way home. Jedi mind tricks.

Here is the list. See if you can listen to them without shaking your bickies…

Title & Artist

1. Baby I Love You – Alissa Moreno

2. Three Little Birds – Bob Marley

3.  Who Says – Selena Gomez

4. We No Speak Americano – Yolando Be Cool & Dcup

5. You Got Out – Meaghan Smith (The bear cubs theme to “Time Out”)

6. Cruel Summer – Bananarama  (Daddy’s favorite song)

7.  Baby – Justin Bieber

8. Volcano – Jimmy Buffet

9. Party in the U.S.A. – Miley Cyrus

10.  Jump In the Line – Harry Belafonte

11. We’re Going to Be Friends – Jack Johnson

12. Fireflies – Owl City

13. Animal – Neon Trees

14. Walking on Sunshine – Aly & AJ

15. Firework – Katy Perry

 

It’s Raining Sunshine

Karah had her dress rehearsal for her dance recital tomorrow. We aren’t allowed to videotape during the performance (so we are forced to buy THEIR video, of course)….so I snagged some footage of her rehearsal. She came home and watched it and has been practicing dancing while smiling all evening.

She has some impressive splits, thanks to her Grandma Jean genes. Can your mom do the splits? I didn’t think so. My mom rocks on so many different levels.

I can’t believe how grown up my baby seems. Slow down, life!!!

Can’t wait for tomorrow night! Go Karah!!!

Planning For Summah

I think the key to having a “great” Summer – is finding the right balance between fun stuff, chores, scheduled activities, and absolute downtime for the kids. I constantly have to resist the urge to let EVERY day be pajama day…full of nothing but fun. After all, we deserve it, right? No. We don’t. We actually deserve much, much better.

In an effort to find that balance and decrease the amount of whining that naturally accompanies Summer break for school aged kids – I have made a loose schedule to help us all navigate these hot, Summer days as smoothly as possible.

Every family has to do what works for them…but I do think that most children thrive when they know what to expect each day. PERHAPS this is why teachers do things in the same order each day…and have lesson plans. Just imagine if they waited until they woke up that morning to decide what they were going to do.

As a family, we talked about what order the kids would prefer to do things each day and we created a schedule.

So – here it is – understanding there will be many exceptions.

I hope the children will work with me on the wake-up time. It would be FANTASTIC if they would push it back to 8 am. Here’s to dreaming…

7:30 Wake up, Get dressed, Make bed

7:45 Breakfast and Clean-up

8:30 Morning Exercise- walk, ride bike, run, scooters, swing, tree climbing, baseball, etc..

9:30 Chores and Zone Cleaning

10:30 Piano Practice/Summer reading

11:00 Free time

12:00 Lunch and Clean-up

12:30 Fun Time (when we go swimming, do crafts, go somewhere fun, etc.)

3:00 School Work (they will do their Summer workbooks)

4:00 Free time

5:00 Dinner time jobs (set table, unload dishwasher, help prep dinner)

5:30 Dinner and Clean-up

7:00 Fun time (movie, DS, family game, etc.)

8:30 Showers and Scriptures

9:00 Zzzzzz

As far as the chores go, I decided that it would work best if each child had their own chore chart and clipboard, as opposed to a mass family chore chart. I think it gives the kids ownership…plus, what kid doesn’t LOVE having their own clipboard and pen??

I am not a fan of dry erase, anything, so I printed off their blank chore charts on card stock and will fill out a new chart  every Wednesday night. Some weeks their chores will be easier than others, depending on what is on the schedule. (I ordered this blank template off Etsy. It was cheap – and then I didn’t have to mess with it)

I also found a great, free, download for a weekly menu, HERE – that has a shopping list attached. My scanner jacked the color up – but it looks great in real life I will also fill my Menu out on Wednesday night. I love hump day planning.

On the menu…

And last but not least…Everything we want to do before Labor Day!

Hoping that this planning helps make this the BEST SUMMER EVAH!!!!

Scarred

As some of you may know…I have issues with school pictures. When we were kids, they would take your picture at the beginning of the school year and call it good? You would line up in the gym, wearing your prettiest clothes…and when it was your turn --- you would walk quietly across the stage, being careful not to trip on the drop cloth they had spread across the floor. Under the bright lights, you would carefully balance on the stool while the creepy man slicked your hair down with his little black comb. His scratchy palms would cradle your face as he cocked your head to a most natural 45 degree angle. The smell of cheap cologne and hot breath would hit you in the face as he whispered, “Just like that, sweetie. Good.” ----You sit frozen, in awkwardness, trying to hold the head and the smile as he quickly shuffles back behind the camera to snap the picture. There is no digital photography. He has no clue as to what image  he captured. Several weeks later…the teacher passes the envelopes out. She walks around the room – looking at each picture staring back at her through the cellophane window. She stops at your desk, smiles, and says your name while handing you the finished product…being a picture of a sweet, young child….in a pretty outfit….caught mid seizure.

Your parents are stuck with the pictures…because back then you filled out the order form before you ever “previewed” the pictures.  Before you know it, 5 x 7’s are being stuffed into mailers and being sent to relatives near and far. And at YOUR house? You. Will. Be. Framed. 8 x 10. Your mother will reject the picture re-take day, knowing the results won’t be any different.

I’m in a safe place, now, right? Okay.

Nowadays, pictures once a year do not suffice. The school finds it necessary to capture what you looked like at the beginning AND end of the year. Twice a year our children have to go through this. And if you are in Kindergarten…..THREE times…the Kindergarten graduation cap and gown photo shoot, of course. I guess with the drop out rate as high as it is these days, they think this may the only graduation the kid ever sees.

With all that being said (sigh)…let me reiterate that I HATE school pictures. I suppose it is because when my children deliver their envelope home to me…I can VISUALIZE the person who took their picture by the look on their faces. Bradley’s last picture he was seriously frightened. “Don’t stop smiling…don’t let me stop smiling! What if I stop smiling!!!” The eyes said it all. Bugged out – bottom lip curled down, exposing the bottom row of teeth.

Since you NOW order pictures AFTER they are delivered home – you NOW have to face your children and explain why you are sending the pictures back. You have to convince them that it’s because YOU take way better pictures than the creepy old man ---- and it’s NOT because of the way their face looks.

Bass-turds. (the photo people…not my children)

Long story short. This year we rebelled on picture day #2. Instead of dressing nice, I found the rattiest shirt to put her in. I didn’t “do” her hair. I left that to the creepy man, his comb, and his creative interpretation.

I was hell bent on NOT buying the cap and gown pictures….but they GOT me! Suckered! He was just too cute!

I will now stop this rant and go do something productive with my day.