John's new car

Well, we knew this day would come, but I'd hoped it would be later. I really wanted our kids to drive the '94 Camry. Well, that is not going to happen. The old Toyota, she ain't what she used to be. We have done some recent repairs and things keep breaking. So...a new car it is.

Obituaries:

1994 Toyota Camry
Sunday, June 27, 2010, she quietly passed away in our garage after a last ditch effort to revive her. She is preceded in death by a baby blue Ford Windstar minivan and also a crisp white Chevy Corsica. She was a good car. She saw us through 9 years and many cross country moves with the US Air Force. She died where every good woman should- Texas! She is survived by a Dallas Cowboy blue Nissan Altima and many good memories. She will be missed. The family suggests that donations be made to the "Fruge' family has to send four kids to college" fund.

Family Fun Reward jars June/July 2010 issue

Family Fun magazine recently published an article on a 'reward' jar system.The idea is to have 'extra' jobs available for your kids to do that involve a point system. Once a certain amount of points are reached, you can trade it in for some pretty cool rewards. With four kids ages 7-14, I thought my kids may be a little too old. But, since I'll be starting a job in August, I decided to give it a try and see how it works. The article was great and gave me a great jumping off point, but I would have liked more detail, so I'm including it here in case you decide to give it a try...


First, I bought 2 different sizes of 'tubs'. 3 1/2 cup and 4 cup. I also let each kid choose their own color of pebbles from the craft section at Walmart. (They thought this was really cool.) Why different colors? To prevent trading or switching colors. Also known as cheating!

Then, I had to decide how many pebbles each kid got in their tub. I counted out how many pebbles would fill the 3.5 cup tub. It was roughly 200. So, then I had to count out 200 pebbles per kid. If they earn 7 points a day, this is do-able.

Next, I had to come up with 'chores' to be done. This was easy. What do I need help with on a daily basis, weekly basis, monthly basis, and as needed basis?

The article didn't have a number of pebbles, jobs available, or points for each job. So, here's what I came up with... I divided it into Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and as needed jobs. When they finish a job, they'll come to me and let me know when they have completed their job and I will reward the points/pebbles.

Daily:
Dishes: load-3
unload-3
Dust: each room-2
Vacuum: each room-3
Microwave: 2
Sweep: wood and tile-5
Put away food after meal:3
Laundry: sort- 3
load washer or dryer & start-2
fold-5
Mirrors: all-5
Sinks: each -3
Trash (with new bags): kitchen-5
all other rooms-5
Feed/water dogs: 2
Clear table and rinse dishes: 3
Kitchen counters: 2

Weekly:
Dog poop: 10
Sweep: front porch-5
back porch-5
garage-5
Brush dogs: 10 each dog

Monthly:
Windows: all inside-50
Clean fridge: 50
Clean Showers/tubs: 50

As needed:
Unload & put away groceries: 10
Cook Dinner: 30


Okay, so that takes care of my list. Next is the reward:

Trade in a full tub for:
$10
gift from basket (I buy things on clearance and put them in the basket to "trade" for.)
Night out with Mom or Dad
Sleepover with special movie and treats: Hastings movie and snacks from United

So, how's it going, well, my dishes were done twice yesterday, yard work (for a personal negotiation) and counter tops are clean, meal was put away, and that is just the start...

Soccer Camp 2010

Our church decided to do High Power Soccer Camp instead of VBS this year. It was something different and it was great!

Let's play catch up...

Kate's new gift from Aunt Candi.

The sunset was really cool as it preceded a storm last week.

The "Harry Potter Dragon" cloud, as the kids called it....

John and his dad towing the Suburban to Amarillo from Lubbock.

There she goes...

We have been so busy with car troubles... I haven't had time to blog. Well, let's catch up a bit...

We have had major car trouble with both cars. We lost the transmission on our '06 suburban and then 2 days later, the radiator went out on our '94 Camry. I drove 5 cars in one week.

The moral of the story... Don't let me drive your car?

Baseball Camp

I LOVE living in a small town! Hayden just went to baseball camp that the high school baseball team hosted. He had a ball. It was Tuesday through Friday for a couple of hours each day. He thought it was great to play with the high school players and coaches. The last day, they had a fun day and pulled tarps out onto the field and had a huge slip 'n slide for the last 30 minutes. Next week, football camp...

I forgot to say that his favorite part of camp was getting a bloody nose. A fourth grader hit the ball and it bounced off the ground right into Hayden's nose. He got a free gatorade out of it. He thought that was so cool.

We officially have 2 teenagers!

Sarah recently turned 13 and had a Shrek Forever After movie party at our local theater. Varsity Theater let us have a private showing and charged $5 per person to see the movie and have a bag of popcorn and a drink. What a deal! We even got to see it opening weekend. After the movie, we walked across the street to the University and had a pizza and cupcake picnic. It was a beautiful day and the girls had a great time playing hide and seek. Happy Birthday Sarah!

Mrs. Behrens is the coolest teacher ever...

One of our second grade teachers lives down the street from us. She invited our kids to ride their bikes to school today and tomorrow. Rachel decided not to participate, but Hayden was not about to miss it. Mrs. Behrens sent her daughter and another rider to pick Hayden up at 7:15am. John woke him up at about 6:45 and he got right up. He was ready to go. I didn't have to tell him to do anything twice this morning. {Dear Mrs. Behrens, Could you please ride your bike to school everyday and take my Hayden with you?} What a great experience for a 1st grade boy...to ride his bike to school. After school, Mrs. Behrens allowed the children to cross the street to buy a snow cone before they started their ride back home. Hayden came home grinning from ear to ear. It is probably a day that he will remember for a long long time... Thank you Mrs. Behrens!

Discovery Center

The Discovery center had an appreciation night for my husbands company. The kids had a great time exploring and building and shhh, learning.

Book Character Day!

Today was book character day. Hayden decided to go as Cat In The Hat. We turned his t-shirt inside out and attached some felt to the front for his belly. Target sold the hat recently in the $1 section and we made a tail out of fabric last minute. He was so excited! Here's out little reader. His reading level is way above Dr. Seuss, but he loves a good book.

Choir Banquet

Wow, Kate's freshman year has flown by. It seems like just yesterday that I was a freshman. How is it possible that this many years have gone by? She just participated in her Choir banquet last week. She also found out that she made Chorale and Glee! She is super excited and has a lot to look forward to in her sophomore year. The next thing I know, she'll be driving...

Wax Museum at PPHM

Rachel's class has been preparing for the Wax Museum for a while now. The entire 4th grade at her class has been researching characters in history that were important to Texas history. Rachel's character was Lady Bird Johnson. The students had to come up with a costume and prepare a speech to give to each person that passed their way. It was really neat to see how much the kids learned, not only about their character, but also the characters of each of their friends. Having the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum as a back drop was not too shabby either. What a great experience!

Happy Mother's Day

Before

A new tool ...

Measure twice, cut once.

We have holes.

Having fun?

Kate is bright!

Ahhh, new lights!

When we moved into our house, we loved everything about it except the kitchen lighting. It had one center light and a North-West facing kitchen window. It was pretty dark to say the least. I have been known to take my dish over to the kitchen window to make sure what I'm cooking was done. Well, not anymore. Happy early Mother's Day! I got exactly what I asked for...kitchen lighting. What a difference. My dad came for the day and he and John got it done. The planning and placement took most of the time. Planning is crucial when it comes to kitchen lighting. We had things in the attic to deal with that you just don't think about when you're looking from inside the kitchen. It looks amazing. I am very happy that we didn't have so much going on that we couldn't do it. Thank you John! And, thank you dad! I love it!