November 2010 - The Sunny Side Up Blog

Holidays

11.29.10

Thanksgiving Break

So much fun having my cute parents visit for Thanksgiving this year! We thoroughly enjoyed every minute spent with them. My mom made sugar cookies and watched Christmas movies with my girls.

And my dad kept them busy making animals out of play dough and dancing with them in the living room to Christmas music. (LOVE Pandora Internet TV — Christmas favorites are playing around the clock!)

Chargers were playing Monday night! I’m quite sure the win over the Broncos was completely due to the fact that we were at the stadium rooting them on. And eating our fair share of nachos. After eating our fair share of food at the pre-game tail gate party.

Of course the football didn’t end at the stadium Monday night. It was on all weekend long and Kole seems to be just as much of a fan as his dad and grandpa are.

He especially loves half time when he is smothered with attention — rewarded for his loyalty to the right teams. :)

And then it was Thanksgiving day and our TV took a mini break from football so we could tune in to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Lots of work getting the meal ready. A record was definitely set for the most my kitchen has ever been cooked in! Addison helped grandma with the dressing…

and my job was the rolls. Luckily I’ve made and destroyed Rhodes rolls enough times that I now have them mastered. I know. It should be simple. Let them raise and bake them at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. But I’m telling you these rolls are really quite tricky. And they required a lot of my attention. So much of my attention that I couldn’t possibly do much else of the cooking. Sorry mom. I love you. And I love your cooking. And I’ll always wash the dishes after to make it up to you.

My dad carved the turkey…

and the table was set. Ellie made name cards for everyone so there was no confusion about who was sitting where. And we had a lovely dinner where we discussed what are grateful for this year and what we love about each other. Ellie also put two and two together and realized for the first time that turkey comes from a real turkey. She refused to eat her meat, adamantly opposing cruelty to animals. It seems my daughter is now a vegetarian. Right up until it’s time to order McDonald’s chicken nuggets.

My Christmas cards arrived and I can’t wait to mail them out! While I didn’t make them this year, I chose to assemble them myself so I can still get my homemade card fix. :)

We also received some very happy news this week. Kenny made partner at his law firm. Becoming a partner at a firm like the one he works at has been a dream of his for a long long time. It is tough. His firm has offices in San Francisco, DC, and many other large cities and he was competing with very talented attorneys from each office. He has worked incredibly hard for this and I am busting with pride for my smart man. (you can’t tell right?… I could brag more, but I’ll stop now to spare everyone from gagging.) We took my parents out to dinner to celebrate. A very special night that I’ll always remember.

So so proud of you babe.

Also to celebrate I decided we needed to deck the house in more Christmas lights than ever! My philosophy with Christmas lights is the more the merrier. Kenny has a different philosophy about Christmas lights. He let me know his philosophy for over two hours while hanging from our ladder. Ellie rode her bike around the yard reminding her dad not to say “stupid” so much. Kenny and I were just grateful that she didn’t understand a few other words that were expressed. It was quality family bonding time at its best.

Addison wanted to help with the lights too. She came outside and exclaimed “Oh! – I forgot my accessories!” She ran in the house and came back outside a few minutes later decked in her princess shoes, necklaces, bracelets, and Fancy Nancy crown. Good thing. Those accessories put her in the best little mood! I think next time we hang lights I’ll try giving Kenny a few accessories.

Also over the break my little Kole started sitting up. My baby boy is 8 months on Tuesday and I would give anything to freeze him in this stage for a while. It’s hard to believe that last year at Thanksgiving he was just a little ball in my stomach causing me to practically tip over playing tether ball with my girls. So much has happened since then and I can’t begin to describe how grateful I am this year. Grateful for God – for my life – for my family – for all that is good in this world. Grateful for such a wonderful Thanksgiving break. Grateful that it is now time to start celebrating CHRISTMAS! This is truly the most wonderful time of the year.

xoxo, Erin

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Uncategorized

11.25.10

Addison and I wanted to wish everyone a fabulous holiday!
Aside from starring on So You Think You Can Dance 2022, she is also on her way to becoming a pop star. A pop star who sings mostly holiday songs. ;)

Translation:

The month of November… has Thanksgiving day
we gather for dinner… watch football and play
with turkey and stuffing… and cranberries too
we’re thankful for family… and friends just like you.

So very grateful this year for all of the wonderful friends I’ve made through blogging.
I love you all! And wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving.

xoxo, Erin

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Scrapbooking

11.22.10

Recent layouts

Sharing a few recent layouts. The first two are for my little man’s book…

I spend a great deal of time kissing those sweet cheeks and tiny toes each day.

“Your Room”

“and kinda mommy’s too….” :)

And a layout for Miss Addison’s book —

Lost of LOVE going on around here!

It’s been a bit harder scrapping for a boy. I’m trying my best to keep things simple and semi masculine but I have to admit that I’m totally lost without my paper flowers and butterfly punch!

Have all you fellow scrappers checked out the new Project Life albums? So cute! And so perfect that there is a girly feminine album and also one more suitable for boys. Planning on starting a PL album for Kole at age one. I’m feeling pretty cool since I made Becky’s PL collage (second in from bottom right). What you can’t see is that my huge pregnant belly was holding up my box. :) Good times.

SO SO excited for this week! My parents arrived today and are spending the holiday with us. We have so many fun things planned! Dinner dates, football games, decorating, shopping, pajama lounging, Christmas movie watching, Christmas card prepping, and of course lots of eating. Kenny didn’t want the bananas to go bad in the banana pie my mom brought down today, so he decided he better take one for the team and personally make sure that didn’t happen by diving in a bit early. I felt the same about the lemon pie — nothing worse than rotten lemons. Hmmm… seems we’ve already started on the eating portion of the week!

Happy Monday before Thanksgiving everyone!

xoxo, Erin

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Ellie and Addison

11.19.10

All in a day

5:35 AM. That’s what time Kole decided we needed to start our day this morning. I was ok with it because Kenny was in LA for meetings and it was all up to me to get the three kids ready and out the door by 7:30. Ellie had her Thanksgiving Performance so I wanted to spend a bit longer than usual on her hair. Addison woke up next and she was in a mood. Ten seconds with Addison first thing in the morning will tell you exactly how your morning is going to roll. She wanted to wear her too small brown pants. Where were they? Oops — goodwill last week. Spent 30 minutes letting us all know how unhappy she was about that. Meanwhile, I’m running circles trying to get girls dressed, hair done, Kole fed, breakfast made, start a load of laundry with the one pair of pink pants that is acceptable for Addison to wear as soon as they are clean, lunch packed, me ready, kids all loaded in the car – it’s humid and cold – grab jackets for girls and a blanket for Kole. Buckle everyone in. The girls have 7 dolls piled in the car on their laps. For the love. I can’t even see their seat belts. Give my standard “ONE FRIEND EACH IN THE CAR!” lecture. Pull 5 dolls back out of the car and run them inside. Kole is getting fussy and needs a nap. Grab his binkie and a toy. Back in the car. Forgot Ellie’s lunch. Back in the house. Make sure I have Kole’s stroller. Back in the car. Purse? Back in the house. Grab purse and cell phone. Back in the car.

10 minutes later we’re at the school. Unload all three kids and jackets, lunch box, back pack, stroller, purse, binkie, toy, blanket. Walk Ellie to her class. Humidity is awful. Two minutes outside and Ellie’s perfectly straight hair that I spent 15 minutes on is turning into a frizzy mess. Addison’s bandage on her foot is sliding off while she walks and she is BAWLING about her owie hurting. Kole is beyond tired and he starts crying. Ellie is running 6 feet ahead of me. I can’t handle Addison’s whining so I throw her on my back. Drop Ellie off at class and walk back to my car – getting really frustrated with Addison at this point — “I want my daddy!” she screams. Feeling’s mutual. Go home and get Kole fed and down for a nap. Put Addie’s pants in the dryer and calm her down. Get the camera and video camera out to charge. Clean up the breakfast mess in the kitchen. Wake Kole up from his nap. Pack bottle, formula, toys, binkie, diapers, wipes, purse, snacks, water, camera. Fix my hair which is also a frizzy mess thanks to our lovely humidity. Load two kids back in the car and head back up to the school for Ellie’s Thanksgiving Performance.

And here the three of us are. Waiting for the show. Kids are much happier. Addie has on her clean pink pants and Kole has had a nap (albeit a short one).

And Ellie makes a stunning pilgrim.
She belts out “This Land is Your Land” in perfect 1st grade pitch.
Her hat accentuates her humidity hair perfectly.

The girls are so happy to be together again after the show.

Parents are invited to the classroom for a Thanksgiving Feast of turkey sandwiches and pumpkin pie.

We view on the overhead the kids’ pictures of what they are grateful for this year.

I know what is coming because my Ellie tells me everything.

And then she tells me more than that.

I get a picture with my pilgrim that should have been taken without the flash.

My girls act silly with one of their friends.

Kole is an angel baby in his stroller. Smiling at kids and parents all morning long.

We all had a great time.

I was on a “mom high” remembering how much I love being a mom and how much I love my kids despite the exhausting morning.

And then we get home.

Addison had a fit over not being able to draw a star the right way on her paper.

Ellie had a hard time staying focused on her spelling words.

Kole knocked his mushed vegetables off of his highchair and all over the dining room floor.

I ate some chocolate.

Kenny came home. Thank goodness for reinforcement.

We put the kids in bed.

Now I feel much better and with my kids’ sound asleep, I can safely say for the second time today that I love being a mom.

All in a day.

xoxo, Erin

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home decor 2

11.17.10

House Station #3

{House Station #1}
{House Station #2}

So you may remember my little nightmare spray painting project? Now that the painting is behind me I’m quite enjoying my newly black baskets. They are just right for my next house station – our “reading station.”

Big basket is holding all of our Christmas books…

and I have a little hidden nook in the corner of my living room holding the rest of my baskets.

Far left basket holds the girls’ books (especially for books on Ellie’s reading level). Next basket is for my reading material. And then the last few belong to Kole — diapers, wipes, and baby toys.

Part of the M.O.M system suggests having a “read and review” basket. A basket to hold books, magazines, and other information that you want to read and review when you have a minute. Things that are not time sensitive, but that you would like to read at some point. Part of Ellie’s homework each night is to read quietly to herself for 15 minutes. I decided to set up a little reading station and implement a new evening routine for me and the girls so that Ellie and I can both get in our reading time.

Each night after homework, we set our timer for 15 minutes and have DEAR time. (I called it DEAR time when I taught school – stands for Drop Everything And Read. Anyone remember that?) The girls pick out a book or two they want to read and I pick something out of my read and review basket and we all read together. I try to time this when Kole is taking his last nap of the day. I set a goal to read each night with my girls for two reasons. One, I want them to learn that reading is fun and mommy loves it too! And two, if I don’t have a set time like this to go through my read and review basket I never will. I always have good intentions to read in the evenings, but most nights I end up blogging instead. :) This has been hard for me! It’s so tempting for me to clean when I have a free 15 minutes of quiet time. But when I do “drop everything and read” I’m always glad I did. :)

xoxo, Erin

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Ellie and Addison

11.15.10

Just a bit

While the leaves are changing and falling all around the country, our San Diego Palm trees are still intact – and still very green.

Thought I better create a bit of Fall for my girls. This is a fun, easy project I used to do with my 1st graders. First I traced several “leaves.”

Created an example –

And then gave the girls watercolors and let them create!

And there you have it. Our very own Fall. San Diego style.

While our leaf banner is still hanging, I MAY have put down a bit of my other fall decor this last weekend.

We were a bit excited to break out the Christmas books.

And a bit excited to hang the stockings. Which MAY have inspired a bit of mantle decorating. Just a bit.

And of course we couldn’t wait one more minute to pull out the fine Christmas china.

A few Christmas friends couldn’t be left behind. And we MAY have stumbled upon a few pairs of Christmas pajamas.

And there’s a slight chance we MIGHT have watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Just once.

While the leaf banner is holding its own, we MAY be just a bit anxious for Christmas around our house.

xoxo, Erin

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Christmas

11.11.10

Christmas Cards

It’s that time again! Time to be thinking about holiday cards! Actually, if you’re like me, you started thinking about your Christmas cards early August. :) I love making my cards and that requires some early planning. It’s always a goal to have the actual month of December be as stress free as possible!

I’ve received some e-mails with questions about my homemade cards so I thought I’d post them all together to give some of you ideas if you’re planning to make your own this year. FUN!
**click on the picture to enlarge if you want to read the cards

{2004}

Our first Christmas card. Ellie was 11 months old. Not homemade because I don’t make my cards during “the year of the baby.” Photo shoot at the beach. After about two pictures Ellie rubbed sand in her eyes and cried for an hour. After the photo shoot I cried for an hour because I was sure we hadn’t got one decent picture. It was a total nightmare! My first glimpse into the reality of photo shoots with little ones. Kenny said never again. Of course in my mind I heard never again…until next year.

{2005}

My first homemade card. It was simple. I wanted to make my own so I could share our news about baby #2 on the way.

{2006}

Enter baby #2 – no homemade card but a much easier photo shoot.

{2007}

Our Charger card. This was so fun to work on. I couldn’t get too creative with the card design because I needed lots of space for all of the writing. A poem is a fun way to personalize a card and share something fun about your family.

{2008}

Decided to list each of our “favorite things” on the inside this year.

A look at the cards in the making. Half way done with 2008!

Just getting started on 2009 cards.

A few card details: I use Bazzil cardstock usually found on-line at or at a craft store like Michael’s. The brown color I always use and adore is called oatmeal. Pictures are 4×6 on the front and 2×3 on the inside when I’ve included an additional picture. (I collage two 2×3 pics and develop it as one 4×6) My cards usually end up being a 5×7. Charger card was a bit bigger. I order my envelopes from Action Envelopes. And some friendly advice about making your own cards…of course it depends on what paper, etc. you use, but I’ve found that this is NOT a cheap way to go. I always spend way more money making my own cards than when I order them. All of the supplies add up fast so it’s a great thing to do if you want a homemade personal card and love the process, not a great thing to do if you’re trying to save money on cards. :)

{2009}

Last years card. Once again announcing the news of a new addition on the way. :) I cut these a little too close for comfort. Kenny and I went to Denver around Thanksgiving to see the Chargers play the Broncos and I was working like mad on these cards the whole trip! In the Denver airport, on the plane, in the hotel room… I think people thought I was crazy! (most people traveling bring a magazine and maybe a snack – not card stock and glue dots) Kenny said never again. I heard never again…until next year.

For the third and last time I find myself in “the year of the baby” and so I will not be making my cards this year. When I was trying to decide what to do instead Kenny said, you know, we could take a year off and just not send cards. {GASP!} Blasphemy! I told him I was going to pretend I didn’t hear that and then continued to ramble on about possible card ideas. Haylee, a close friend of mine, is designing my cards for me this year. You can check out her beautiful work at her website heyhaydesigns.com or her blog www.heyhaydesigns.blogspot.com. She is so talented! A great person to contact for cards/announcements for any occasion. I’m so excited to send my cards out and start receiving cards in the mail! It’s one of my favorite things about this time of year.

I started a little Christmas shopping today! Picked up a few things for the girls and a little something to me from Kenny. I know. He’s lucky to have me. Christmas music was playing and I felt positively giddy! Decorations are coming out tomorrow. :)

Do you have anything in the works for your cards this year?

————————————————————————————————————————————

Update with our 2010 and 2011 card….

{2010}

{2011}

We decided to embrace the stage we are in and roll with it this year!

Not like we had much of a choice… :)

xoxo, Erin

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Ellie

11.10.10

Photographer in Training

I was going through pictures the other night and noticed I’m getting quite a collection of shots taken by my sweet six year old. Ellie has been showing a lot of interest in my camera lately. Every time she grabs it to snap a picture I feel a mix of excitement (that she’s showing an interest in photography) and total stress and anxiety (watching her handle my SLR like it’s one of her toys).

A few moments she has captured….

focus needs a little work…

Now we’re in focus but the look on Addison’s face is a bit scary…and so are my roots.

Love this of Addison watching Little Bear – typical scene at our house.

I was pretty impressed with these two of Kole that she took sometime over the summer. She even got him laughing.

One afternoon after church she had us all get on her level so she could take a family shot. First pic wasn’t so bad…

Might need to adjust a few things…

and SNAP! Perfect family photo! We’re talking Christmas card material here.
(Kenny didn’t need his head anyway)

Enough for now Ellie!

We’ll keep working on this new little hobby of hers. :)

xoxo, Erin

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Kole

11.08.10

Dear Chargers,

Hi team. My name is Kole and I’m your newest (and smallest) fan. My mother is a fan and my father is a MAJOR fan. I just wanted to thank you for finally winning a game today. This season was about to become a bust but after today’s win against the Texans, you’ve given us a glimmer of hope. You may remember the letter my mom sent you last year? About how greatly she benefits from a Chargers win? Let’s just say that if my mom’s happy, I’m happy. I not only got to eat my favorite meal of milk and sweet potatoes for lunch, but also enjoyed a nice long nap after the game (my sisters had to stay put for a change and let me sleep until I was good and ready to wake up). Mom and dad were all smiles after my nap and held me and played with me for the rest of the afternoon. Plus I’m pretty sure there are some sweet teething toys coming my way this holiday season. It was a good day team and I owe it all to you.

So thanks Chargers — enjoy your upcoming bye week. And if it isn’t too much to ask, how about another win the following week when you play the Broncos? A win over the Broncos (my Uncle Austin’s team) makes my dad really happy. And when my dad is really happy, my mom is REALLY happy. And there happens to be a shiny new binkie at Babies R Us with my name all over it.

Love, Kole (your newest and smallest fan)

xoxo, Erin

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organization2

11.04.10

House Station #2 (paper organization)

{House Station #1}
**warning: Long post ahead. You may need to grab a snack. :)

Finally sharing my new system for paper organization! At the Power of Moms retreat I attended last September, we learned about an organizational system called M.O.M – Mind Organization for Moms. I didn’t follow this system exactly, but did take bits and pieces from it to create a paper organizational system that will work for me in my house. I’m sharing what I came up with, but if you’re interested in learning more about M.O.M you can read about it here.

The first few days I worked on this, I rounded up all of the paper in my house. Paper in every folder and stack and pile. I sorted everything, trashed A TON, and categorized the paper I needed/wanted to keep. This is the time consuming not fun part.

I think this bag was the 4th or 5th trash sack – seriously! I got rid of a lot.

I already have a filing cabinet in my garage that is organized with a lot of our paper. This is for paper we need to keep, but don’t look at often. The bottom cabinet holds a lot of my old teaching files while the top cabinets hold other important papers. Things like instruction manuals for kitchen appliances, stuff we’re saving from college, yard/landscaping information, tax information, etc. Information we need to keep but that can be out of sight, out of mind.

The paper I’ve been organizing is the paper that comes in and out each day – information that we need to refer to more often.

I don’t have a home office (if you do, that would be a great place for something like this) but I do have a big storage space under my stairs that is kind of a catch all for random things.

It’s also where we have our printer/copier/fax machine set up. Kenny and I both use laptops so we don’t really even have a desk for computer work. We work best on our couches in front of the TV. :)

I have a simple bookshelf set up in this space and I’m using it to organize our paper.

Here’s what I’m loving about this location. It’s close – downstairs by the kitchen/living room so it’s easy to get to and check often – but it’s also out of sight. I can close the closet door and it doesn’t clutter up a room. Like I said before, if you have a home office, great, but if you don’t, think about a place in your house you could set up a desk or a shelf to dedicate to getting control of your paper.

One tip I loved from M.O.M was to have an inbox. A place to set all of your in coming paper until you have a chance to go through it. I made an inbox for me and one for Kenny. They are the top files. His is on the left and mine is on the right. Notice mine is empty. I like an empty inbox. :) Each of the files below are labeled with categories that fit our needs. (I didn’t get a closer picture, but I just stuck mini label stickers on the left corner of each tray.) Some of my categories are:

“extra curricular” which holds all of the information about the girls’ swimming lessons, gymnastics, dance studios I’m looking into, etc.

“real estate” because we are starting the process of looking for a new house and need a place to keep that sort of information.

“girls’ school” for things like calendars and other important school information.

“businesses” for business/contact information. Example: the contact info. for the window cleaners we used last time we had our windows cleaned.

You get the picture. Use your stacks of paper to determine what each category would be for you. The idea is that you go through your inbox often and when you do, you do one of three things — throw the paper away, complete the action needed (fill out the form, make the phone call, whatever it is you need to do), or file the paper in its location to have on hand if/when you need it.

No more stacks of paper that grow and grow! Only keep what you need. Go through your inbox often so that things don’t pile up. In fact, I have to take Kenny’s inbox pile and set it in front of him every few nights so he remembers to go through it. That’s the thing with having all of your paper so organized. It’s off your brain which is the best, but it also makes it easy to forget it’s there waiting for you!

The only reason this next shelf holds vertical paper files instead of horizontal ones is because I just used organizers I already had on hand at my house. I had these colorful files left over from my teaching days so I just used them for other categories. Some of these include a file for receipts (I don’t keep every receipt, but I do keep ones for bigger items and clothes – seems I’m always returning clothes if they don’t fit the girls right.), a file for coupons, files for our church stuff, a file for Kenny’s Charger Season ticket information, etc.

This system is working really well so far! I love having a place to set the mail out of sight until I have a minute to go through it. I love that when Kenny asked about a coupon for getting our car washed the other day I knew right where to look. I love that when I needed to return something at Target I knew right where to find the receipt. And I love that when Kenny asks where this or that is I can say “check your inbox.” I’ve told him to check his inbox so many times that now he is constantly teasing me about it. He’ll say stuff like “where are the crackers I was just eating?…oh wait…I’ll check my inbox.” (glad he amuses himself)

The bottom shelf I’m just using for extra paper and folders. I also keep my camera and video camera here so I can grab them quick when I need them.

Top holds extra paper, my trusty timer, and the green file folder you may remember from this post. Since I don’t need to use it for Kenny’s stack anymore, I’m using it for my “someday” folder.

Part of the M.O.M system suggests having a “someday” file for projects/ideas you have that you just don’t have the time for right now. I love having a place for this random information I want to save.

My categories for my someday file are:

Home Decor Ideas (stuff I’ve cut out of magazines, etc.)

Worth Saving (random quotes, great articles on different topics, etc.)

Projects for me

Projects for the kids

Camera/Photoshop

I’ll have time for this file at some point – probably when I’m not spending so much of my time changing diapers, doing laundry, and cleaning off the high chair. :)

This is the part of my little system I’m loving the most. I used to write everything down in my planner. My to-do list for the day was mixed in with a grocery list and stuff I wanted to do, but didn’t really NEED to do right away. Things like “finish a layout” were mixed in with “fill out school forms” – school forms were due the next day and clearly needed to be a priority whenever I had a minute.

Now I keep a small calendar/planner for important dates in my purse, but this binder is at home holding all of my lists.

Binder Categories:

Immediate Actions- list of things I need to do right away – things that are time sensitive – top priority.

Important Actions – list of things I’d like to get done sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Current Projects – projects I’m working on

Running Lists – A page for each of my running lists I always have going on. My running lists are titled:

To Organize (always have spots in my house I’m working on)

Goodwill (Kenny likes me to write down all the stuff I’m constantly donating to goodwill for tax purposes)

Grocery Store

Target

Costco (three stores I visit the most)

November Posts (list of blog post ideas when they pop in my head)

Goal Review – place to write my goals

This binder has changed my life! Ok – maybe that’s going a bit far, but it has made things much easier for me! :) If I have time at home to get something done, I work on my immediate action list first, and then if I’m caught up with that stuff, I work off of my important action list. My important action list is stuff that is usually more fun — things I want to do vs. things I really need to do. Mostly I just love having this information all together organized in one place. No more post it notes all over the bathroom mirror and lists going on in three different notebooks.

At the end of the binder I have this red folder to hold papers I refer to often. You know – really important stuff like the aerobics schedule for my gym and when Nordstroms half yearly sale starts. Gotta stay on top of things! :)

The main idea behind M.O.M is that you have everything organized so that it is “off your brain” – you aren’t thinking about and worrying about all of your paperwork and stuff that needs to get done. When you have a system that helps you to to stay on top of your life, it will free up your time for more important things — like your family. Again, this system above is not M.O.M — I took ideas from that and created my own system. If this is overwhelming to you, come up with something that isn’t. The system you use doesn’t matter, as long as it is something that will work for you.

This is working for me. And just thinking about my paper being so organized gives me a really warm fuzzy feeling inside. :)

xoxo, Erin

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Ellie and Addison

11.03.10

Behavior System

This is my new behavior system for the girls. We used our Star Charts for a long time and they worked great, but at the Power of Moms Retreat I attended we talked a lot about family economy and how important it is to teach your children how to earn and save money to purchase their own things. Ellie always has a new doll or something in mind she’d love to have and I like being able to say “sure you can have that! You just need to save your money….” The timer was also a suggestion at the retreat. I am loving this timer! Makes everything more of a game for the kids. I’ll say “lets pick up the room and you can each earn a quarter….let’s set the timer and see if we can do it in 5 minutes!” They love racing against the timer. They get paid a quarter for doing their “jobs” – little things I have them help me with each day around the house and they can also earn some extra money at random times for really good behavior or having a good attitude during homework, etc. It’s a great way to teach my 1st grader about money too. Things like four quarters make a dollar and it takes twenty dollars to buy that new Ariel doll at Target. They each have their own special place to keep their money and it is really motivating them.

I bought several of these coin counters at Brookstone a few years ago for gifts for family at Christmas and I loved them so much that Kenny bought one for me too. I still get a kick out of pushing the little button and hearing all of my change organize itself! :) Fun holiday gift if you don’t know what to get a certain person on your list. The timer I just bought at Target.

What would we do without Target?
Save a lot of money I guess. But that wouldn’t be much fun now would it? :)

xoxo, Erin