Household organization: Closet doors + kid money management part 1

We have a small house and soon-to-be two kids in school.

Two kids in school create a lot of paperwork and scheduling.

I needed a place to keep track of it all.

And enter... closet doors.

I can keep track of all our household organizational type stuff on the inside of closet doors. They're accessible when I need to see stuff and easy to close when I don't need to see stuff. 

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The inside of the pantry door is where I have my "household" organization. I made the corkboard, isn't it cute? I pin up schedules, countdown chains, fliers, etc on here, but the main purpose of this corkboard is to keep track of my kids' chores. We do chores a little differently here.

  
I was inspired partly by this blog post and partly made it up myself, so it works for us. My kids don't get a regular allowance; they have to do jobs for their money. This works in two different parts:

First, work for hire. This part of the corkboard has little odd jobs that I want done around the house. I put them up when I need them done and anyone can come grab one, do it, and get paid (the amount each job is worth varies, but is usually 50 cents or so). After they job gets done, I take the job card down and put it away until I need it done again, and then it goes back up on the board.

Second, help wanted. These are "contracted" (for lack of a better word) jobs that my kids can apply for. Yep, apply for. Each job card has a job description, pay rate, and contract length. Every Friday I conduct interviews and anyone who would like to apply for a job may do so. They have to be dressed and presentable to apply and I ask them questions like "Why are you interested in this job?" and "What kind of experience do you have that would help you do this job well?" 

If they are hired, we both sign a contract for the week or month, depending on the job. The contract has the day of the week that they have chosen to do their job so I can quickly see who needs to do what when, and also reminds them that they can be fired at any point for not doing their job well. At the end of the job period, I can renew their contract if they are still interested and did a good job, or I can put it back up under "help wanted" so someone else can apply for it. They can choose to apply for as many or as few jobs as they would like; it's completely up to them how much money they earn. They can also choose not to do any jobs. The jobs pay from $1-$2 per week + bonuses if they do their job without being reminded by me. 
Also, my kids have quite a few jobs that they have to do because they are part of a family and we all work together to keep our home clean: they have to help clean their bathroom once a week, clean the garage once a week, and make their bed/put away dirty clothes every day. The jobs on my corkboard are optional ways for them to earn spending money.
We keep track of the money they earn a little differently, too--post on that coming soon!

magnetic me

This project comes to you courtesy of my friend Kellie, who did it with her three girls a few years ago.

Magnetic dress up dolls--of yourself!

You start off with magnetic paper. I got mine at Wal-Mart in the office supply aisle. It was with the Avery label products.

Dress your kids in a leotard or bathing suit and have them pose in front of a white wall. I had my kids pose with their hands on their hips and their feet slightly apart.

 

Take pictures!
Then choose dress up outfits. I let my kids each choose two outfits. I laid them out on the floor and took pictures of those as well.

Then I opened a blank Word document and inserted all the pictures. I messed around with sizing until it looked like the clothes were the right size for the bodies--the kids pictures were 4x6, the clothes pictures were a little bit smaller. Then I printed it all off on magnetic paper.
I carefully cut around the kids and the clothes and gave them the scraps of leftover magnetic paper to design even more dress ups!

They made bouquets of flowers to hold, scarves, shoes, Christmas tights, pants, dresses, and even a moose hat. There's still some scraps of paper for them to make more as well!

  
I put everything in a pencil box (my preferred toy storage) and have them stashed in the playroom. Perfect to entertain little girls when I am trying to get dinner on the table!

Here's Tempe, all dressed up and wearing her moose hat!

Classic childhood: cardboard boxes

We have air conditioning again!!!

Our AC was old, old, old and we knew it didn't have much time left. So this year when it stopped blowing cold air, we didn't even bother finding out how much it would cost to fix, opting instead to just replace it. It took me a long time (like 12 weeks) to gather bids and choose a company to work with, but last Monday was finally the day and our new unit was installed.

Yippee! Instead of being 82 (minimum) to 94 (maximum) degrees in our house, it is now a pleasant 77 at all times. 

But if you ask my three kids, they will tell you the best part about our new air conditioner is the box it came in.

I cut a door and a window, made a roof with the flaps, and gave the girls some Sharpies to decorate it with. We spent a pleasant afternoon coloring it and playing it. Juno especially loves her "home" and plays in it every day with her "Ah Ah" (monkey), a water bottle, and a few pillows.

Checking in with Tempe and Helena during reading time

Jason and I have both always been big readers. Big, big readers with big, big bookshelves. We are doing our darndest to raise a family of readers as well, and so far I think we're doing a good job.
As part of our summer routine, we do reading time twice a day--in the morning and in the afternoon. Sometimes I read to the girls--library books or pictures books or Harry Potter or Ramona or stories from The Friend or whatever--and sometimes I have them do silent reading time. Even though Helena can't read yet, she loves to look at books--some of her favorites are Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Time's 100 Best Photographs. 
Today I took pictures of Tempe and Helena doing their silent reading 

Tempe discovered that our cardboard playhouse is the perfect place to plop down with a book.

"Bad Kitty vs. Uncle Murray"

Helena prefers the couch and lots of pillows.

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid"

Summer science

Kids thrive on a schedule, so now that school is out, I've been doing my best to keep up on a regular routine. Every night before I go to bed, I put up our schedule for the next day on the garage door using my magnetic word strips. Every day is different, but there are a few things that I include every day: we start every day with yoga, we do morning jobs every day, we read twice a day, and we do water play and a project every day. Our water play varies quite a bit--a lot of days we just play in our kiddie pool in the backyard, but we also go to Smoot Park to play in the water there, to various splash pads, or to our generous neighbor's house to swim in the "big" pool. 

Our projects vary, too. I try to rotate between learning skills (practice cutting, writing, etc), science, and art.

Last week we did a science practical life activity. I prepared a tray with a bowl of baking soda, a bowl of purple glitter, a bottle of vinegar, food coloring, two "potions" bottles, and a funnel, plus a few spoons for scooping baking soda and glitter. After quiet time, I told the girls they were going to make magic potions!

It was an immediate success!

After a while of watching the potion overflow whenever she poured vinegar into the bottle, Tempe wanted to pour her potion into a clear container so she could see the colors and glitter better. I found a wide glass jar and gave her a spoon to stir with as well.

Helena was content to watch it overflow again and again and again!
At first I was having a hard time thinking of something to do every day, but I've found that it gets easier and easier. But that doesn't mean I won't take ideas from others!

Andy Warhol quiet time basket

So last month we went to the Andy Warhol exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art. And it was awesome and we loved it. And while we were there, Jason found this cute little board book to give Juno for Christmas: Andy Warhol's Colors. It's become a favorite and last week when I was changing our quiet time baskets (for the first time in like three months, oops), I put together a little Andy Warhol basket. Yes. An Andy Warhol quiet time basket.

I chose about 25 of my favorite pictures of our family and printed them in black and white on cardstock. Paired with some fluorescent crayons in a pencil box, they provide--well--maybe not hours, but quite a bit of fun for my girls. Juno especially loves coloring pictures of herself with her paci or pictures of Daddy!

And here's my most recent masterpiece. Isn't it fun?

3 kids in a bike trailer

I've received lots of emails and comments about this post from people looking for a way to put all three of their kids in a bike trailer. I updated this post with more information about the sling I use.

So one of the things that I was most worried about when Juno first went into her Spica was the stroller situation. Luckily, the bike trailer that my wonderful in-laws gave me for my birthday 3 years ago has been a lifesaver! Helena was just a little baby when I got it, but I remembered seeing someone in Laramie with some kind of infant sling in their bike trailer at a park. So I logged onto the Laramie FreeCycle page and asked if anyone knew what they were called or where I could get one. Much to my surprise, I received one in the mail just a few weeks later--for free! Isn't that amazing that someone would send a total stranger something so expensive that they could have resold?

Anyway, it is perfect for Juno's cast. I originally had it in a side position, but her legs stuck out too wide and bumped into the side of the trailer, so I moved her to the middle. And even better, Tempe and Helena fit in the trailer with her! Going for walks hasn't been this pleasant in such a long time. I can actually walk at a normal pace instead of taking three steps and then turning around and saying "Come on! Keep walking!!" over and over.

Some more info on the bike trailer sling: My bike trailer is a Copilot (it has a picture of a kangaroo on it). The sling is made by Chariot and is designed for use in Chariot trailers. Here's one on Amazon. My bike trailer isn't compatible with the Chariot sling, but I just cut a slit in the fabric at the bottom for the sling straps to go through and wrap around the bottom bar. It was very easy to figure out how to get it to work in mine--I'm not familiar  with other brands of bike trailers, so I have no idea how easy it would be to use a Chariot sling in other trailers. 

Disclaimer: The Chariot infant sling is meant to be used in Chariot bike trailers that are being used as strollers; it is NOT meant to be used with an infant when the trailer is being towed by a bike. It is also NOT meant to be used three across in a trailer. My trailer only has two seatbelts, so my older girls were not strapped in when I had all three of them in the trailer. I DID NOT use it as a bike trailer in this function, only as a stroller. Use at your own risk!!

Christmas prep

We're getting ready for Christmas here!

Our little town's Youth City Council sponsors the "Letters to Santa" program every December...

Tempe and Helena wrote letters to Santa. Look how HAPPY they are! Wow.

Then we took the letters to the special Santa mailbox at the post office...

And a few days later, Tempe and Helena got Santa's personalized replies in the mail!

I took the girls to City Creek to look at Christmas decorations on Friday afternoon. They loved the giant Christmas tree, watching the fountain dance to "Let It Snow", the Christmas scenes, and the candy displays in Macy's!

And I was excited because we went to the Disney store and discovered that the Disney Animators' dolls were on clearance for $15. They're being discontinued after Christmas so I may or may not have bought five to parcel out for birthdays over the next few years.

Helena takes after me, I guess, because she sat down the other day and made this "Christmas checklist" for herself. She drew little pictures with boxes next to them and has been carrying it around saying things like "Buy Christmas presents, yes, check" or "Write a letter to Santa, check" and checking the boxes. 
As for my Christmas checklist, it's almost all wrapped up! What about yours?

flashback: closet playroom

One of the very first projects I did in our house was to turn our closet under the stairs into a playroom for my kids.

Yes, our playroom is in a closet. Our house is small, what can I say?

I originally posted about it here, but it's changed a bit in the last few years, so I thought I would update. Still my favorite shade of robin's egg blue, though!

The biggest change is the book rack. The original book rack in this room only had a few shelves. They were set too close together for most of our tall books, so the tall books were in a basket on the floor. Except, they were never actually in the basket. They were usually just scattered around. There was no where near enough space on the book rack or in the basket for the amount of books and toys I wanted to keep in the playroom.

Enter Giant Book Rack. This metal shelving unit was out in our shed and we weren't using it for anything, so I brought it into the playroom instead. The lower shelves are tall enough for tall board books. Along with books, I keep a bunch of other stuff on the upper shelves, mostly stuff that I rotate through our quiet time baskets or get down when the girls specifically ask for it.

• Nerf guns and darts: I keep these in a large plastic bag with a zipper. I think a shower curtain came in it. Shower curtains, sheets, tablecloths, things like that all come in those clear zipper bags and they are perfect for storing toy sets.
• Magnetic doll and her clothes: also in a plastic zipper bag.
• Pizza making set: pizza and toppings, apron, empty spice container, pizza cutter, etc, in a plastic zipper bag.
• Discovery bins: Pencil boxes with different sets of stuff. One has a tea set, one has odds and ends for inventing things (allen wrench, mini screwdriver, old zippers, calculator, anything that my girls can pretend to take apart and put back together), one has a magnifying glass and a couple of insect flashcards.
• Viewfinder and viewfinder cards: the viewfinders are just on the shelf and the cards are in a little drawstring pouch that I made.
• Plastic bingo boards: also in a plastic zipper bag.
• Photo albums

Along with the bookshelf, there's a magnetic chalkboard and alphabet/numbers magnet set hanging on the wall and a basket with stuffed animals. We have a set of desert stacking blocks that are a huge hit and a cardboard mailer tube which is great for playing telescope, or using as a tunnel for little cars, or rolling balls down. There's a fluffy purple rug, a soft kid-sized armchair, and a bunch of pillows for lounging around and reading. In the back of the closet I keep the fort kit my awesome brother and sister-in-law gave Tempe for her birthday--kind of like this one. And last of all, Tempe's Star of the Week poster is hanging on the wall.

Our playroom may be small, but it is a popular room. It's a surefire way of getting Juno to calm down during a temper tantrum. It's the one room where anyone who wants quiet time is allowed to kick everyone else out and be alone--Helena takes advantage of it a lot. It's a great place to snuggle up with a good book, pretend you're in a rocket going to outer space or a bear in a cave, turn out the lights and tell stories by glowstick, or just pass the time while mom is making dinner. My tween cooking class students are even known to sneak in there and look at comic books after we're done cooking :)
You know you want to pin it!

Bookworms: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" party!

The summer is coming to a close. We've been reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and today we had our last Bookworms meeting to discuss it!

"I've got a golden ticket..." That song has been stuck in my head for weeks, ever since I made these little invitations to hand out to the neighborhood moms.

Since we had such a big age range (from toddlers Juno's age to almost 11-year-olds), I decided to do something a little different. Instead of sitting in a circle and discussing the book like a traditional book club, I set up a couple different stations where the kids could do activities inspired by the book. I included a few discussion questions at each station to guide the conversations.

The Inventing Room

Our "Inventing Room" was a play-dough station. I was inspired by this awesome blog post about Willy Wonka play dough. I made a few different kinds of play dough and provided beads, buttons, jingle bells, pompoms, and star confetti to help the kids create their own kind of candy. I also set out little plastic bags and tags so the kids could write a description of their candy and take it home with them :)

 
Hard at work!

This is our cute neighbor, Dylan. He made bacon flavored candy--he rolled a pink ball and then added beads for eyes and a button for a snout! So creative!

Juno loved this station. She stayed here pretty much the whole party--at least until she realized there was unattended candy on the deck!

The Juicing Room

I put discussion questions in blue balloons and invited the kids to pop them and answer the questions. Most of the questions were simple things like "Who was your favorite character?" or "Which child do you think you are most like?"

The Fizzy Lifting Room

I didn't get a picture of this station, but I set up our bubble machine, inspired by the fizzy lifting drinks that Charlie and Grandpa Joe drank. This station had questions about rule-breaking. Have you ever broken a rule and later wish you hadn't?

The kids had fun rotating through the stations and then digging in to the candy and running around the yard. Here's Tempe and Helena with their twins, Blake and Luke, who are the cutest identical twins ever. Tempe can already tell them apart!
Bookworms was a great experience this year--I can't wait to do it again next summer!