Back to School

School has already started for us! Can you believe this? Well we go year round so they get about 6 weeks off in the summer and then back to school in July we went!

I just can't believe it! Here they are getting all grown up and starting into 6th and 8th grade!

Leave it to my youngest to wear a flannel shirt back to school in July in Arizona!

Like so many other people in need so are our schools. It is sad, it is crazy, and honestly it makes me angry to think that our teachers and schools do not have the supplies they need to help our kids learn.

This year in addition to the tissues, paper towels, pencils, extra paper, markers, and pens I also decided to send some cleaning supplies. I know they normally ask for sanitizing wipes and cleaners because they need these basic supplies for their classrooms!

This year I discovered a great line of non-toxic cleaners that really have changed the way I clean, do laundry, as well as just live our lives.

I sent in the Shaklee Basic H2 Organic Cleaner for each of the teachers my kids have this year.  This bottle of Basic H2 Organic Cleaner will last your teachers for a very long time. I have been using the same size bottle for the last 6 months and I have only used 1/4 of the bottle.

The Basic H2 Organic Cleaner would be the donation that keeps giving to the teachers all year long!

Shaklee also has Get Clean Germ Off Fragrance Free Wipes which are great cleaning wipes and cleans off germs!

Since my kiddos are in P.E. this year and they wash their uniforms or athletic uniforms I have also decided to donate some of the Shaklee Fresh Laundry Detergent and Get Clean Soft Fabric Fragrance Free Sheets. I know these products are safe and do not leave any harmful residue on the clothes.

So as we gear up for your new school year - think about what you are going to donate to your school, your teachers, your kids school year!

Are you a teacher? Send me an email to codyhaley106@gmail.com and I will send you a free sample of Shaklee Basic H2 Organic Cleaner for your class reunion!

This is SO hard!

This is SO hard!

It is hard to live it, it is hard to admit it, it is hard to feel these feelings!

Raising kids can be SO hard! I remember everyone telling me about the terrible two's and how teenagers will kill ya!

But I have to say that raising tweens is exhausting!

Don't get me wrong I wouldn't give it up for anything. I love my kids more than anything in this entire world. But I take my job as a mom very seriously! It seems tweens are stuck in this odd place of not being a little kid but they really haven't figured out who they are and it is so easy to fall in line to follow others (some of which we wish they wouldn't).

I know it is my job to teach them about God, life, manners, treating others the way we want to be treated.

I know it is my job to teach them how to care for themselves, how to wash dishes so they can do it when they move out, how to sweep, mop, dust so their future home is not nasty. It is my job to teach them how much laundry detergent to use to get their clothes clean but not too much to be wasteful.

I know it is my job to teach them how to feel good about themselves without seeking it from outside influences. It is my job to teach them to build self-esteem but to have internal drive to do even better!

It is my job to get the truth from them without breaking their spirit totally.

It is an exhausting job! It is my most serious job!

I understand how some parents want to check out. Is it easier to turn a blind eye? Maybe for a second but I don't believe in the end.

It is exhausting. Some times I just think, please let's make it through the day without an incident, without me having to dig to get answers, without attitude.

That is probably not going to happen. And that IS OK. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I remind myself that there is no greater gift from God than my children. What a blessing and miracle each one of them are.

Sometimes I have to repeat this several times. And sometimes I am reminded some animals eat their young.

To all my other mothers of tweens - WE WILL MAKE IT!

To all my other mothers of toddlers - WATCH OUT! 



Natural Consequences

There once was a really cool kiddo that got some really awesome glasses! He loved them so much he wore them every day all the time and his parents were so impressed and so happy that he was actually wearing his glasses.

About a week after he got the glasses he looked very panicked and confessed he couldn't find these really awesome cool Nike glasses. His mom had a slight meltdown and lost her mind for a moment and then gathered herself to get the rest of the story. Come to find out the really awesome boy had taken the glasses off and put them on the tailgate of his dad's truck while he was riding his bike. Oops he forgot to get the glasses before his dad left to go the gym! The glasses are NOWHERE to be found!

Well the mom was the least of his worries. Having to tell his dad was a completely different story. It wasn't as bad as he had built it up in his head. The momma probably reacted quicker and louder than the dad did.

The Natural Consequences are this: Mom and Dad buy cool awesome pricey glasses. Glasses get lost. The really cool kid is going to have to come up with the $200.00 to buy new glasses. Xbox 360 games - SOLD, DVD movies - SOLD, Nintendo DS - SOLD - only $40.00 left to earn to get new eyeglasses.

Natural Consequences  - that is all this momma can say!

Check out the Awesome Earth Day Deals from Shaklee

Non-Toxic, No Phosphates, Healthy for our Home and our Earth.

Teaching Tweens Responsibility

I have had some people ask me how I get my kids to help out so much around the house. Well i did start them out early!

I guess when you are 4 vacuuming seems fun!

Even Haley got into it and she was only 2 1/2! Funny how things they thought were fun are a struggle now.

I mean it is so much fun they used to fight over who got to clean NOW they fight over who has to do it!

We trying really hard to not have "boy" responsibilities and "girl" responsibilities. Cody still loves to cook!

Haley used to love to mow! Well now we don't have any grass because we live in AZ so she is lucky but neither one of them are too thrilled about pulling weeds. But they do.

See we still have them cleaning!

Haley even did a fabulous job cleaning the microwave!

So gross (no judging me!) BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER - way to go!

AFTER

We have tried many different techniques with the kids from lists, pick your own responsibility, incentives, grab a chore from the jar, all sorts of things. What I have found that worked for our family is that we did have them start early helping out. We are a family, a team, a unit! We all have to work together to be successful.

Now from time to time I feel a little guilty about making them do some things, while I am tanning outback with my fruity drink with my cute little umbrella. Oh wait that is my dream not the truth! We always work as a team.

However, I am a parent first. My job as a parent is to teach my kids how to be successful in life. My job is to teach them skills so when they grow up they can take care of themselves. I often joke if I died tomorrow (I know morbid) I know the kids would be OK. Cody cooks great! Haley can cook some but she is awesome at cleaning bathrooms and they both know how to load/unload the dishes. They both understand coupon shopping and they both can wash, dry, fold, and put up laundry. That's my ultimate job right? To teach and grow them as individuals.

That has always been our philosophy. I am not treating them bad I am teaching them. In life you have to take responsibility for yourself.  I am bound and determined to not have a kid going off to college that doesn't know how to do their laundry!

When my kids were really little like 2 or 3 they like to think they were helping there momma! They were good at putting up silverware (minus the knives), vacuum a little, give them a rag to dust, give them toilet paper to stock up the bathrooms.

As they got older (6-8) they were able to actually vacuum, sweep, put up laundry, sort laundry, match socks, wipe down counters, take out trash.

Now they are able to do it all. Being a perfectionist I had to learn to let a few things go. Just because the dishwasher wasn't loaded exactly the way I like it, well it's OK because guess what I didn't have to do it.

It isn't that we had any special way to get the kids to do the responsibilities we just expected it.  We are a family, a team, a unit. We live together, work together, and play together. We always say that to do the fun stuff we have to get the responsibilities done and the more we all work together the quicker it gets done.

So nothing special, no secret, just the truth, we are all responsible.

Science Fair Projects

When we moved to Arizona we specifically picked the school district we are currently in after doing a lot of research trying to find the best school district and best educational opportunities. Well sometimes it can be a double edge sword because you end up having to work on projects that you personally can't stand.

For our family that is SCIENCE FAIR PROJECTS!! Those 3 dreaded words!

Although it isn't our favorite time of the year we take science fair seriously and I make my kids do their own projects. I will oversee the project and help monitor the progress but they are going to do it themselves. Here is one of Haley's projects feel free to use the idea for one of your kiddos.

Haley did Acetone fingernail polish remover vs. Non- Acetone fingernail polish remover - which one works best?

She took 6 fake nails (to use humans we would have had to get special permission) and she painted each nail and painted 2 coats of the same fingernail polish on each nail. She let each nail dry the same length of time.

She then took each nail polish remover and wiped each nail in single strokes until the polish was removed and you could see the white nail underneath. She counted each stroke and documented each nail. She did 3 nails each for both types of remover since this is recommended to test the accuracy of the test.

Her board is designed to document the scientific method. She covered the board in black paper (with a little help from me) to make it stand out and look different than everyone else's.

In the end her experiment demonstrated that the Acetone fingernail polish remover worked best. What do you think?

Reading Reading and MORE Reading!

I remember when my oldest started to school. I thought in a way it was going to be a relief and free or at least not the cost of daycare.  Bwahahahahahah! I am still laughing at myself. I remember crying because I felt like a failure of a mother because I couldn't teach my kids how to properly write their ABC's.

As they got older the assignments changed and we were introduced to a reading program required by the school.  You  know, read so many books, take tests, get points = part of your grade.  This is a great program especially if you have a kid that likes to read BUT I have one that can't stand it and I have one that is slowly finding out she LOVES to read certain books.

We came up with an incentive to "make it worth their while". Other than the fact they had to do it and I expected them to do it why not give a little motivation? I mean adults are motivated right? We like raises, bonuses, extra days off for doing a good job - so kids are no different. We implemented the reading goal jar.

What a simple system huh? A glass Mason Jar.

Together the kids and I came up with incentives that they would love to have.  Some of the items maybe cost a little money and some of the items may not cost me one penny. Each kid had their own jar and we created the incentives for each kids separately and it was "prizes" that they wanted and I agreed to. Here is a list of examples of the items they kids listed, we put on small pieces of paper, and dropped in the jar folded up:

1. Friend spend the night

2. Go to the movies

3. Pick what is for dinner

4. $5.00 item of their choice at the store

5. Go to skating rink

6. Pick place to go out to eat

7. Skip responsibilities (chores) for the day

These are just some examples of what the kids would choose to put into their own jar. At my kids' school they have AR goals they have to meet. Well to get to pull from the jar my kids had to meet their AR goal.  Sometimes if they were struggling we may have alternative ways to get to pull from the reading goal jar but for the most part they had to meet their goal.

It's a simple system but as I was talking about this as I was blogging one of my kids asked if we could go back to this system. Give it a try, tweak it, change it, use it if you want. I hope it helps you help your kid(s) meet a goal they may have or you may have for them.



On A Mission

Last week we had parent teacher conferences and I was speaking with my daughter's teacher and somehow we got on the subject of exercise balls and how it is a great tool to sit on. She said her dream would be to  have one for each kid to sit on. They would have to get up every 45 minutes to an hour to stretch and move around but it is a great tool for kids and it helps them pay attention.

I checked out different exercise balls and I found one like this one - it is a bit smaller in size which I think would work great!


I am on a mission! I want to somehow get enough exercise balls for each kid in her class - so each kid can have one to sit on at their desk.

I need help and ideas on how to make this happen? I need to hear from you all! I know that I know people that have great ideas and can help me with this! Let me hear you!

I need help investing in our kids futures, our future! Help me with ideas!

Paying it Forward - This is a Challenge!

Wow the last two days in Tucson, Arizona have been crazy and we have been dealing with weather that simply just doesn't normally occur in our region (one reason I missed being on here yesterday!). Yesterday morning on my way to work it was 15 degrees!

I know some of you are freezing in Nebraska, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee! But I have to say that we just simply are not equipped in southeastern Arizona to  handle such temperatures.

I have had many friends lose water and gas over the last two days. They are without water and heat and it is still going to be cold tonight but not as cold. Unfortunately some very sad news is that there have been lives lost in Tucson due to the cold.

I want to take this time to tell you about my passion of providing kindness to others. I love random acts of kindness! I love knowing that I have done something for someone or did an act that brought a smile to someones face and they don't know who or why someone did this for them.

What is something you have done to spread kindness and happiness to others? With the recent events in Tucson it just re-energized my passion to do for others! I witnessed people going out of their way to help their neighbors, friends, and people they didn't even know to help them out in the time of need.

It's nice to give some kindness even when there isn't a time of urgency but doing it just because. It doesn't have to be big, it could simply be smiling at someone you normally don't, or holding the door open for someone, or even putting a nice note in their mail box at work.

Random Acts of Kindness really ties into Paying it Forward as well. When someone does something nice for you pay it forward to someone else. If you haven't ever seen the movie Pay it Forward - wow it is awesome and movie and I encourage you to take the opportunity to watch it.

One thing I am trying to give my children is the sense to help others and give back to the community and do nice things without wanting recognition. We have participated in Making a Difference Day, sending packages to our military, to putting care packages together for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

I want to do more! I CHALLENGE you to a very simple task. Do one random act of kindness each day for a week! It doesn't have to be big! Please comment back and let us know how your random acts are going and what types of things you are doing! My family and I will be participating also!

"Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end."~Scott Adams