Chore Charts

I've been trying to become a better housekeeper. It's the area of my life where I fail the most, among many others. Now that my girls are older and able to entertain themselves for extended periods of time, and I don't have to keep an eagle eye on them constantly, I really have no excuse. I am crazy OCD about some things, but not everything. I like to say my OCD is bi-polar, or has amnesia.
So, I've been taking steps to create better habits. I don't want to hate house work, or have an overwhelming amount to do at any one time. I want to pick things up without realizing it. I want to automatically get up to wash dishes after supper. I'm also working on my attitude towards housework. It's not going to be fun. Ever. But it's not that bad, and I want my girls to see that I do everything with a cheerful heart. Even dishes.
I also want to instill these habits into the girls. I thought something laid back, do-able, and visual would be the best for them. So I browsed Pinterest, gleaned ideas from a few things, and created this "Chore Chart."

 

 

I went to the promised land, I mean Hobby Lobby, and got three thin metal sheets, and three 12x16 picture frames. I had to cut about 2 inches off the metal sheets with tin snips, and then spray painted them pink. I put the glass from the frames behind the metal to keep the frame full and so the tin didn't push back into the frame when the girls were using them. I used my new Cricut (love!) to cut out their names, then went ahead and sprayed a little glitter on them, girls need glitter, and glued the letters on with krazy glue.

For the "chores," the girls and I made a list of all the chores that were appropriate for their age and abilities, and I found corresponding pictures on clipart sites. I krazy glued each picture to some little wooden plaques, probably about 2"x3", and then glued magnets on the back. I still intend to modge podge the tops, or something, because the edges of the cardstock will come up at some point, sooner rather than later.

The girls did really well with the first day of official chores. I only plan on assigning two to three on a daily basis, but there will be days where we'll ALL have more chores to do. I really hope it sticks.

So much sweetness in one little picture

I love this picture of my babies. I love how Brynna is leaning on her big sister, and how D'Laney is genuinely not bothered by it. They are so sweet, in general, but they are really sweet to each other. Only recently have we had any issues with fighting or bickering, and even then it is minor. They usually get along very well, and I was just watching them tonight talking to each other, and remarked to Cameron that they talk like peers, like actual friends. It makes me so happy, I hope they always are this close.

Flashback Friday

I haven't done one of these in a while. I think I've posted these pictures before, but I just can't get over how much Brynna Belle looks like Cameron.

I think they're both so cute!

Dayspring School

The girls started at Dayspring School this morning. It's a Tues/Thurs school at North A Church of Christ in Midland. Although D'Laney could have started kindergarten this year, we decided a long time ago to hold her, but put her in some sort of two or three day a week pre-school. We didn't intend on starting Brynna yet, but it would have been so hard on her for D'Laney to start without her. Plus, I signed up to be the sub at Dayspring, which waved Brynna's tuition fee, so we went ahead and put her in.
I think they love it. They haven't really said much about it, which is weird for my two. But both said they were really excited to go back on Thursday, so that says something, right? :)

I love Brynna's expression. It sums her up pretty well.

We've always called D'Laney laneybug, and Brynna Belle likes Bumble Bees (the whole double B thing makes it so cute!)

Modeling the oh-so-important first day of school outfits.

Such sweet sisters. They love each other so much, makes my heart happy.

Sitting at her desk like a big girl! I didn't get emotional all day... until I saw this picture! What a mess I'll be next year when she starts Kindergarten!

Brynna's class will be more play than anything.

 

 

I hope they continue to love school, not just throughout this year, but throughout their lives. I always did, even though I didn't love school work :)

Football! Finally!

Happy first day of Texas high school football!!!
Two-a-days started today, which means the most important time of the year has officially begun. Football was, and is still, such a huge part of mine and Cameron's life. Our entire high school experience revolved around this sport (for him, and a few others for me.) We still get to be around it, thanks to our equally sports driven families. This year, we have my dad coaching at San Angelo Lake View, our nephew Ryder will improve on last year's District Newcomer of the Year season in Iraan, and my little cousin Jancen isn't so little anymore, and will be playing varsity as a freshman at Water Valley. We'll be busy on Friday nights, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

How we miss those days!

USA! USA! USA!

I am so excited about the Olympics!! Starting next friday, my DVR will be in over drive.
I have loved the Olympics since I was little, and the summer Olympics are my favorite. I found D'Laney a super cute Team USA t-shirt, and I'm looking for one for Brynna. It's a great opportunity to teach them about the flag, the national anthem, and all things American, including being proud to live here, in spite of all the yuckiness going on here right now.

10 year high school reunion

I had my second 10 year high school reunion this past weekend. I didn't graduate twice (barely made it out once!) but was invited to the reunion of the school I attended 7th-10th grade. When I got the invitation for the first reunion, I emailed some of my Wall girls and asked if we were going to have one. They all said, great idea, Amy, why don't you get started on that! Didn't have to ask me twice! Put on a party? The biggest one I've ever done? Yes, please!

We had the reunion in the smaller of the two fellowship halls at the local catholic church. There was a playground right behind it for the little ones, and plenty of room for us to spread out and visit. Some of the guys cooked burgers, Marlayna had a delicious cake make, and we had an absolute ball.
Kysha and Skylar came to help decorate before hand, and Shyanne helped tremendously, from putting together and mailing out the invitations, decorating, and bringing year books from almost every single year we were in school. That was a huge help, since I only went to school there for our last two years, I didn't have anything like that. We counted, and 27 of our classmates went to school together from kinder until graduation. I think that is awesome. I hope to be settled somewhere so my girls can have that experience.
One of the things that worked out great for us was that I hired a photographer to take pictures, so none of us had to worry about getting all we wanted while chasing kids. Katie Probandt graduated a couple of years behind us and has just launched her photography career, and I think she did a great job. You can check out her work from the reunion here.

We had a pretty large group of friends, but within that there were smaller groups of 2, 3, or in our case, 4 girls. We even named ourselves AMOS, for Amy, Marlayna, Olivia, and Shyanne. Olivia has moved off to South Carolina, her oldest was turning 1 this weekend, and she's newly pregnant with number 2, so she wasn't able to come. We missed her! But we took a picture with her spot open :)

I had so much fun putting this thing on and then during the reunion. It didn't feel like work at all! And I think everyone enjoyed themselves. There was a lot of talk about not waiting another 10 years and having a reunion at 15. One even suggested an 11 year reunion!