A House of Learning

My home is my favorite place on earth. 

It's my comfort zone, my safety net, and it's filled with the people I love.

I love to fluff and decorate my home (which is obvious if you're a regular reader on this blog).
But I've been thinking and pondering on the true purpose of a home lately.

...most of these things I've always known.
But for some reason, I think I've needed to be reminded of them again.

Here's some of my recent thoughts:

The true purpose of a home is so much more than curb appeal, pretty decor, or square footage.
The true purpose of a home is to learn and mold ourselves and our families in to who God wants us to be.

A home is a house of learning.

In our house of learning...

The toilets may not be perfectly clean, because we are still teaching our eight year old how to clean them and it takes practice to get it right.

In our house you may occasionally hear someone yelling because we are still learning to be more patient with each other.

In our house, we lose our keys, our wallets, and sometimes our most favorite toys.  So we learn to pray for help from a loving Heavenly Father who always listens.  And then when we find our lost keys or wallet or our favorite toy, we re-learn again and again how much God loves us and desires to bless us in even the smallest of ways ...through the simplest of prayers. 

In our house we learn to forgive each other every day because we often make mistakes or say or do things that we shouldn't.

In our house the stairs aren't always swept to perfection because sweeping is a skill that some of our kiddos are still trying to get the hang of.

In our house we are learning to criticize less and praise more.

In our house we are teaching our children to try to exemplify the Savior.  At all times.  In all places.  And in all things.  ...Even though we, as the parents of this household, still fall short of this very thing many times ourselves.  But we're trying.

In our house we weed and mow and plant stuff in the backyard to learn how to work together as a team.

In our house, we play catch and croquet on the back lawn.  We practice good sportsmanship - how to be a good loser and a good winner.

In our house we laugh and play and spend time together too and we learn to enjoy each others' company.

At first glance, our home may look older and imperfect.

We don't exemplify the "perfect" family in all that we do.

But that's okay.

Because we're learning.

And that's why family's and homes were created. 

Uh Oh and Good Job

 

I am blessed with some really great kids.

I think, for the most part, they just came that way.  

But at times, they can use a little extra training.

A couple of weeks ago I found the idea of THIS "uh-oh" jar on pinterest posted by Hilary at Happiness Is...

Basically, if a rule is broken, or someone is whining too much, they get an "uh-oh", which is an extra chore to do.

I didn't have any extra cute jars laying around my house, but I did have some extra pails that I got from Target's dollar section last year.  

So I paired the pails with  some alphabet vinyl I bought at Target last week (found by the poster boards in the stationary dept.), and put my own "Uh-Oh" system into place.

Now when one of my children disobeys, I have to ask them to do something more than once, or they treat someone unkindly, etc., they pick a slip of paper out of the Uh-oh pail.

Some of these chores include:

Vacuuming the living room.

Wiping down baseboards.

Wiping down cabinets in the kitchen.

Dusting a room in the house.

Pulling a bag of weeds from the backyard.

Cleaning a toilet.

Cleaning mirrors.

Etc.

The system is working great so far!  It's gotten to the point where all I have to say is, "Do you need an 'Uh-Oh'?"  And nine times out of ten they start doing what they are supposed to.

Along with the "Uh-Oh" pail, we also have a "Good Job" pail because I think it's very important to recognize good behavior too.  If I catch one of my children doing something kind for someone in our family or being extra thoughtful to try and help me out around the house, we let them pick a slip of paper from the "Good Job" pail.

Some of the things in here include:

A Quarter (they are all working hard to save for a special toy right now).

A piece of gum/candy.

A small little toy (i.e. a bouncy ball).

They get to stay up at night 15 minutes later than the other kids.

They get their back tickled for 10 minutes.

Etc.

So far this system for good and bad behavior is working fantastic!  

We've had a lot less melt downs and disobedience.

All three of my children are constantly looking for ways to serve each other and are trying to be a little kinder. 

AND, it's been such an easy thing for my husband and I to implement here in our home.

I'm SO grateful to have found this little idea.  I (((big heart))) pinterest for all the mounds of inspiration I find on there.

Chalkboard Chore Chart

I have used a couple of different types of chore charts over the last couple of years, trying to teach my kids that we are a family that works together to take care of our home.  (No, they don't get paid...unless it's a chore that's out of the ordinary for them.)

The problem with the chore charts I've used before is that they were made out of either paper or poster board.  This meant two things:  they got torn/crumpled AND when we ran out of room for more checkmarks, they were tossed in the trash.  So why not come up with something more permanent and CUTE!

So I came up with this:

(Hey, did you notice how I mispelled the word Laundry???  Yeah.  Well at least it's just chalk and I can erase it and spell it correctly!  LOL!!!)

The first thing I did was scrounge through our wood pile in the garage.  After I found the size I wanted, I used chalkboard paint and painted it!

Then my husband helped me make the kind of frame I wanted for it.

Here's my husband (at least his hands! LOL) making sure the frame fits the chalkboard just right.

And it does!  Yeah!!!

I painted the frame white and then my husband nailed it to the board so it was all one piece.

Then as per the directions on the chalkboard paint can, I waited three days to let the chalkboard paint set up and then I conditioned the chalkboard by rubbing the side of a piece of chalk over the whole board.

I wrote the word "CHORES" using this little guy:

(sorry about the terrible picture!)

It's a Chalk Marker.

(Found at most craft stores.)

It's so easy to use and can easily be erased with a damp rag.

This way "CHORES" is more permenant, but I can easily change the chores and whoever is assigned to them from week to week.

(And here's the final product once again.)

Lovely.  Simple.  Practical.

-Linked to-

The Shabby Nest

Beyond the Picket Fence

It's Fun To Craft

Home Is Where My Story Begins

Tatertots and Jello

Quick Tip Tuesday

Anyone besides me have a basket full of odd socks???

(Hello!  How many socks can a single dryer eat?)

Well, the other day I was complaining to my mom about this very thing and she gave me this quick tip:

Turn them into sock dusters!

Just slide your hand in and Walaa!

Perfect for little hands who want to help out with household chores!

Warm Fuzzies

A few months back, I noticed our three children were in need of a reminder to act more kindly towards one another. So using kind of a twist on a jar of "warm fuzzies" President Monson mentioned in his talk, "What Have I Done For Someone Today," my husband and I decided this just might be the ticket we needed to reinforce the kindness that sometimes seemed to be lacking in our household. We expained to our children one night that we were going to start a warm fuzzy jar. Every time we caught them doing something nice for us or for each other, without being asked, they would get to place a warm fuzzy inside of a glass flower vase (that frankly never got much use). When it was filled to the top with warm fuzzies, we would all get to go out for ice cream as a family (Yes, we sometimes believe in bribing our children!!! LOL).

During the last few months they have filled the vase all the way to the top with warm fuzzies one time and we were able to go to an ice cream place of their choice. They are currently working on filling it up again, only this time they have asked our family treat to be Happy Meals.

This vase of warm fuzzies has served as a great reminder to my children that it's important to look for ways to be kind to each other and some days they really get into it, going out of their way to do something kind for someone. Even our youngest, who is 2, gets a chance to add warm fuzzies to the vase. She shares her favorite toys, gives hugs, and has even cleared her plate after a meal without being reminded.

Putting together a warm fuzzy jar is very simple.

Supplies Needed:

• Vase, canning jar, old mayonaise or jam jar, etc.


• Colorful Pom Pom Balls (I purchased mine at Michaels but I've seen them even cheaper at The Dollar Tree or in the dollar section at Target.)

I also added a little saying I printed off the computer and taped onto the side of my vase that says,"Kindness Begins With Me". Our children are like little sponges and I hope they are learning while they are young to be kind and to think of ways to serve one another daily.