Stone Soup for Five: April 2011

Chore ideas for city kids --Part 1

After talking and lamenting to so many of my friends about how hard it is to figure out good chores for city kids, I've decided to start a little chore list on my blog.

  I want my boys to have just as many opportunities for hard physical labor and the responsibility of chores as those out in the country, but we live in a suburb of a major metropolitan area on a small neighborhood plot and the only animal we care for is a Calico Ninja Kitty.

So I've had to be creative.

And consistent (which is SO HARD!)

And we've come up with a pretty good list of chores for the boys since they were about 3 yrs old.  I hope to compile a whole list of chores and make an e-book some day, but until then I'll put some thoughts here for those of you who are also struggling with making a good list of chores.

I'll start with my youngest, my 8 yr old.  He does all these chores (and more) either weekly or daily, and does a good job of them (when he's in the mood.  When he isn't, it's all very sad for him--more on that later).  

-Make bed
-brush teeth
-pick up bathroom items and put away (his toothbrush, toothpaste tube, any dirty clothes)
-do his own laundry once a week.  Wash, dry, fold, and put away. Amen.
-change hand towels in both bathrooms
-feed the cat
-scoop out the cat box and sweep up
-vacuum
-sweep (we're still working on perfecting this one)
-scoop out ashes from fireplace
-bring in wood
-pack his own lunch
-sweep front porch
-rake up leaves/pine needles
-pull weeds
-dust
-load and unload dishwasher and put away dishes
-wipe off table
-push in chairs
-set and clear table

These are most of them. There are more that he CAN do, but we like to share the load around here.  Later this week I'll give you a list of chores for older and younger kids too.

I think chores are so important to growing up healthy, strong, diligent, capable, and are vital to know really HOW to function as an adult.

Chores require attention to detail, effort, following directions, and focus.

In fact, I would even be willing to bet that a child who has been taught to do chores diligently and correctly (and regularly checked up on to be sure they ARE done right) learns just as much or more as a child who spends hours and hours a week at team sports practice! *gasp!*

I know, I'll probably get shot down in a blaze for that comment!
LOL

Saturday Morning Chores, Week 2

So this weekend was our second weekend of Saturday morning chores based on "Managers of their Chores"  and I love it!

The boys have quite a list for Saturdays... not overwhelming but enough to keep them busy for a couple hours (if they worked diligently)--and many more hours for when they get distracted.



The plus sides to this new system are so cool:

-They are busy working in the mornings on things I would usually do, so it frees me up to do things that I've been procrastinating on.

-Because they are busy in the mornings, the afternoons are full of playing (less fighting, bickering, and arguing).  Before we started this system, they had lazy Saturday mornings and fought most of the afternoon/evening and complained of there being NOTHING to do.  Now they are starting to really appreciate their time after working in the morning.

-I don't know what it is, but if they don't spend time in the morning watching TV or video games, I very rarely hear "I'm BORED" or "There's NOTHING to do".  I think the TV must detach the thinking part of their brains, and it reattaches only after a night of sleep. 

All in all, I have to say it's a breath of fresh air to have Saturday mornings dedicated to chores.  Of course there will still be the random Saturdays when we have things to do and we'll have to skip some of the chores on those days, but for the most part, it makes for a great structure to our days and I'm so thankful for it!

As an example, here's a list of Saturday Chores for my oldest (13yrs old):
-do daily chorepack
-check drawers
-dust shelves and dresser and organize
-clean room and vacuum
-dump recycling into outdoor bin
-ALT CARD:
       -1st Sat: sweep back patio, 2nd Sat: change sheets,
         3rd Sat: sweep driveway, 4th Sat: help dad
-put jammies into laundry to wash
-wash cat's food and water dishes, wipe up eating area, refill dishes
-Bible Study with dad
-JURISDICTION CARD (this is an area of the house that they are responsible for):
   -FRONT BATHROOM
    -scrub bathtub, clean mirrors, mop floor, clear counters
-JURISDICTION CARD
  -MOW front and back lawns


Linking up to Delightful Order

Weekly Planning --Apr 17th, 2011

My Official plans for the week:


SPIRITUAL:
Bible reading (with narration) 5x this week
Finish Esther study
Finish mission statement
More time daily in prayer (ANY time daily will be more than last week.) :o(

HOME:
Check boys' chores DAILY
Build my home by ENCOURAGING and MODELING
Make a batch of pizza rolls for quick grab and go lunches
Complete at least 3 days of planner page chores


WORK:
List $100 on etsy
Finish one commission
Start on 2nd commission project


PROJECTS:
Research and work on a post-it type of planner schedule for me


FINANCIAL:

Absolutely NO eating out ANYWHERE, for any reason this week.    >:o[
(and I mean it!)
Work on filling the envelopes
Call gas company about increased bill

PERSONAL:
Exercise 4x this week
Make smarter choices for breakfast and lunches
Less time on the computer, more face-to-face time.

ADDED TO MY 1000 GIFTS LIST THIS WEEK:
(Yup, I am reading the 1000 gifts book by Ann Voskamp and while I'm kinda a bit turned off with her wordy writing, I do like the idea of changing how I view everything by seeing it all as a gift, so I'll start my journal too...)

1- Quiet soggy gray mornings
2- Wind making the willow branches dance and drip sparkling raindrops

PRAYER
Lord, I give this new week to you.  I pray that I will encourage my boys and that You will help me point out their positives more than the negatives.  Help me model empathy, compassion, diligence, and glorifying You.  I can't do this on my own Lord, I need You more than ever.  Help me always remember that.



A story of how the Lord BLEW ME AWAY.

WARNING:  LONG post ahead

Trying to gather my thoughts on how the Lord amazed me and left me speechless many times over yesterday.

Okay, I have some friends, a couple, who are non-believers.  They live a typical life of work, family, more work, fighting, and work... but without the benefit of God.  With the wife (we'll call her Jane) we've built a pretty good relationship over the years and I've even been able to go through the "Bill Fay Questions" with her and it was really interesting.  I've talked to her about what I believe about who Jesus is and what He's done, but she's just pleasantly nodded and went on her way.  So I feel very comfortable with continuing our relationship and seeing what God does with it.

With her husband (we'll call him John), I haven't gone this far.  Or even tried really.  Most of my interaction with him has been brief.  Good, but brief.  And that was fine.  He has social anxiety and has a hard time even coming into our (or anyone else's) home for very long.  Both of them are very nice people, and I really care for them, but honestly, I don't go out of my way to spend time with them like I should.  And I completely trust both of them.  They are hardworking and very honest people.

So anyway, that brings us to yesterday morning.

At 6:10ish in the morning, there was a knock on my door.  Ya, I know. Six A.M.  All of my boys were still in bed... all I could think, as I went to answer the door was that someone had died.

I was shocked to see it was John.

I opened the door (with no makeup and awful bed head) and he asked me if Jane was here.  Deathly scared and serious.

I asked him in and two steps in our house he started breaking down and crying.  He told me between sobs that they had gotten into an argument, she left, he had been driving all night to find her, and he couldn't.  He was having a break down and left a note for his two girls (teen and younger).

I. was. shocked/scared/worried/panicked...

I asked him what kind of note.  

He answered what I thought... a suicide note.

HOLY. MOLEY.  WHAT do I do now?!?

So I called a good friend, that early, who gave me the advice to get him to a hospital.  So I woke up the boys, as John was on the couch shivering and an emotional wreck, and told them they were going to have to get themselves up and going.  I called my wonderful mother in law who lives down the street and asked her if she could drive the boys to school, and we headed to the hospital.  John was admitted, evaluated, and released with a prescription that we got on the way home.  Jane ended up coming back and they talked and have a lot of work to do, but both are willing to work on it and get counseling (I offered our church's counseling center, but don't know if they'll go that route).

BUT NOW, 

here's how God blew me away in all this.  

You needed the backstory to know what was going on, but GET. THIS.

All this happend on Wednesday this week. Wednesday was also the day we planned to do a HUGE party for AWANA that happens twice a year.  The party requires a lot of shopping at a couple different stores that I have a typical system of doing.  My NORMAL way is to drop the boys off at school on Wednesday, go to one store, then to Costco, then have a Costco lunch, then drive it all to the church when I pick my boys up. 

Well, for whatever reason (I know now it was God) I had a very huge open window of time on Sunday, and did it then, driving it back to the church on Sunday and storing it all there.  That. has. NEVER. happened before.

That was GOD THING #1.

Then, on Tuesday, I happened to get an email from the library saying the 20,000 books we had checked out were all due THAT DAY.  I didn't check email earlier in the day, so at about 7pm we all loaded into the van to take back the TON of books we had.  
Normally, I would have renewed them online, but there was seriously close to 50 books, and I didn't want to go through all and try to renew and then have some not renew and be late, etc etc.  So I told the boys we would go to the library and then get ice cream afterwards.  God wanted me to drive THAT NIGHT so I would notice the gas tank was almost on empty.

The light hadn't come on yet, so when I started the van, I thought "oh, we need gas" but then thought that I'll just do it tomorrow, after I drop the boys off.  But when we got to the road, for whatever reason (God), I turned left instead of right and found myself at the gas station without even really realizing it.  AND, I happened to have the extra envelope, for gas emergencies and oil changes in my wallet.  I forget why I put it in there a week or so ago (other than God)!

GOD THING #2

Then, we come to the morning of the 6am knock on the door.  This God Thing blows me away maybe more than any of the others.  I had gotten up a little late that morning, but still put on my skaggy workout clothes (holey tshirt and paint splattered yoga pants) and came out to do my walking DVD.  It is only about 15 min or so and every morning, the hardest part of doing it is putting it in the DVD player and starting it.  Once I'm over that hurdle, I'm fine.  Well, today, I put it in, started the warm up walk, and after about 2-3 min or so, I reached up and shut it off, thinking "I don't want to do this".

SHUT. IT. OFF.

I have NEVER in my LIFE shut it off.

THEN.....

Then, I went directly to my room and got dressed.  Didn't sit on the couch, didn't check email or facebook... went right to my room and got dressed.  Unheard of.
But it was God, getting me ready to help a friend.

GOD THING #3.

Then, after everything was done, and I was home later that day I called my mom in law to thank her for taking the boys and being there and  she told me that when I called, it was JUST as she was walking out the door.  And if I hadn't called right at that moment, she would have been gone AND she said normally she IS gone by then, but for whatever reason (GOD!) she was havin a slower than usual day, and was still there to get my call.

GOD THING #4.

Wow.

God was not only preparing me for receiving and helping John and Jane, but he was also caring for me.  He knew if I hadn't gone to the store on Sunday, I wouldn't have had the time that day to stay with John at the hospital, to talk to either of them that night, and would have been stressed, mad, worried, etc etc all day and not have been able to give the AWANA kids the party we promised.

He also worked by having me check out the zillions of books three weeks earlier, so I would have to return them.  And timed it just right so that night would also be a night of turning LEFT instead of RIGHT to the gas station.  
God was IN MY HEAD!

Then, he kept my mother in law there at her house that morning, even though she wanted to leave earlier.  Just slowed her down enough to make her available to serve us, which served John, which served God.  (I love her!)

THEN, God had the ability to get IN MY HEAD and shut off that DVD workout.  And let me tell you this. I know FOR. A. FACT. that if I hadn't shut that DVD off, and he would have knocked on my door while I was sweaty and in my gross clothes, I would NOT have answered.

So God cared for me, by knowing I would be WAY uncomfortable and prepared me to be able to focus on someone else, rather than on how I looked or felt.

WOW.

Just WOW.

Why does it surprise me when God does supernatural things?
He is God.
He is Good.
He cares for me.

AND

He. Is. Able.





Menu Plan for Apr 3- Apr 10

So I'm making a Breakfast list and Lunch list and we'll just cycle through those every 2 weeks, to make it easier on myself.  

I'm also writing all the 'keeper' recipes on 4x6 notecards and flipping through those when I'm planning and it is SO much easier and quicker.  I don't have to reinvent the wheel each time I try to figure out our menu!

Breakfasts:
McMom's sausage sandwiches/fruit
French Toast
granola or granola bars and yogurt
muffins and eggs
pancakes
frozen from freezer (breakfast burritos/french toast/pancakes)
cereal

Lunches:
fish sticks/veggies
hot dogs and mac
pita sandwiches
quesadillas
pizza
nachos
(salads mostly for me)

Dinner:
Spaghetti Pie
ham and cheese stromboli  
(basically bread dough layered with ham lunch meat, cheese, and green onions, rolled up and baked)
homemade pizza
OUT! (for Birthday Dinner!)
Leftovers/DIY