Birthday Boy

Rick's 41st bday was on Monday this week. After our big hoopla of "40 Days of Blessings" last year, we kept this year pretty low-key. On Sunday night we sang "Happy Birthday" and had one of his favorite desserts, strawberry pretzel salad, as a life group.

Throughout the week various friends gave him Birthday wishes on Facebook and had special Birthday gifts or took him out to eat. The really sad part is that he hasn't felt that great all week. His stomach has been not quite right and he hasn't been able to fully enjoy the yummy treats.

We had a family dinner on his bday:

Chicken Parmesan, Cheesy Potatoes, Green Beans and Dinner Rolls and Sweet Tea

For his gift, he got a "Bucket O' Blessings"

It included cards with cash from his mom and my parents.

It also included some of his favorite treats and snacks for him to have at work.

For dessert we had yellow cupcakes with chocolate icing and his favorite

Blue Bell Ice Cream, Chocolate Almond Marshmallow

Lauren made the cross necklace for him that he is wearing.

WE LOVE DADDY!!

Children are a heritage from the LORD,
offspring a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.

Psalm 127:3-5a

I would say he is a pretty blessed man. I know that we are blessed to call him husband and daddy.

I love you, Rick. I pray for many more Birthdays to celebrate you!!

Check it out!!!

I have a great opportunity that I want to share with you.

You can enter a raffle to get some great prizes while helping thousands of people have clean water.

Go here to read all about it. Mandy explains it way better than I could.

I love Mandy, and I can't wait for her to bring me those enchiladas and guacamole I entered for.

I am also excited about the possibility of a photo shoot for my family and a massage for me.

More than anything, though, I believe in what this money is going to. I believe in this organization and the people who run it.

They have integrity and they love Jesus and they are all about empowering people.

So, let's help Mandy go above and beyond her goal. Let's all work together to give others what we take for granted every day!!

Go Here Now!!

Allowance

Since I wrote the post on our new chore system, there have been some questions I thought I should address in a blog post.

I realize that many of you do not have 6 kids like we do. You may not have enough kids to cover 4 zones in your house. The zone system may not work well for your situation. I will say that giving the kids a different zone each week will at least mean that you get help. It may not cover the whole house, but it will expose the kids to doing all kinds of household chores and lessen the work you have to do.

Some of you asked how our kids get money to pay if a sibling or I do their jobs. We have an allowance system that we have developed. I thought I would take some time to share that with you.

There are many different philosophies of allowance. Our philosophy is that allowance is an opportunity for us to teach our children about money management while the risks are still small. We consider allowance an investment in their financial education. We have observed that even as young children, it is obvious to see the financial struggles our kids will deal with when they are adults. We have one kid in particular that literally cannot seem to hold onto money. This kid will buy something he doesn't even want just because he feels the need to spend. That is a dangerous approach to money. Having the opportunity to coach him through this practice at a young age will hopefully help him develop skills and a mindset that will better prepare him for his future.

Allowance is not based on work in our family. It is a benefit of being in our family. That doesn't mean we would never take away allowance if they are abusing this grace, but in general, they get allowance and it is not tied to work. I must also say that as they get older, they are expected to pay for more. If they want to go out to eat with a friend, we will ask, "Do you have money for that?" It helps them learn to budget and spend their money on what is really important to them. If they don't have money, they have to wait or figure out another way to get it just like real life.

The one exception we make is church activities. If they want to be a part of a church activity, we want to do everything possible to make that happen for them. We value church and believe in them being a part of that community of people enough to not make money a reason for them to not participate. Sometimes we pay all of the cost, other times we split the cost depending on the activity and circumstances.

Here is our allowance system:

-At 4 years old, our children begin receiving allowance. We feel like that is a good age to start. They have official chores at the age of 4 so we feel they are ready to begin receiving allowance.

-We try really hard to teach them about tithing in this process. To be honest, I haven't done the best job in this area. Mostly it is because I forget in the craziness of getting out the door on Sunday mornings to remind them. I will say, that my older kids are doing this on their own most of the time. They will often give offering at church or to some other cause they believe in without any prompting from us.

-We don't regulate very closely how they spend their money. If they waste it on something then the next time they want something and they don't have it the natural consequences work really well in teaching them lessons about spending and saving.

Ages and Amounts:

-4 yrs old - $1 a week

-Kindergarten - 9 yrs old - $2 a week(I say Kindergarten because they start at different ages. When they start school, their allowance goes up because they are "working".)

-10 yrs - 11yrs. - $3 a week

-12 yrs. - $4 a week

-13 yrs. - $5 a week

That is as far as we have gotten. Cody is 13 right now. We need to decide where we will go from here.

There you have it. Let me know if you have questions.

COMPLETE!!

Laila's hair is done. We are both relieved.

Now, we have 2 months of easy schmeezy hair.

This was Laila on the ride home.

We were both exhausted. We came home and took a nap!!

Operation Hair Braiding

Yes, people, it is hair week around here.

Abby and I have been working furiously getting Laila's oh, so tiny braids out.

They are cute, but boy, do they take a long time to remove, each little strand, one by one, with a toothpick and spray bottle.

I completed Phase One: Taking out the braids on Tuesday (7 hours).

Tonight, I completed Phase Two: Wash, Condition and Detangle(1 hour) and Phase Three: Blow Dry and Put in a few really big braids to keep it stretched out(30 minutes).

Tomorrow, we will finish with Phase Four: Braiding(approximately 4 hours). I am leaving that phase up to the professional. Honestly, it is exhausting sitting there for the 4 hours keeping Laila occupied, calm and fed. I can't imagine if I actually had to braid it, too.

Once it is complete, I will have 2 glorious months of pretty much no-maintenance hair.

Now, that my friends, is a beautiful thing.

Weekend in the Mountains

The kids had a long weekend(Fri.-Mon.) Presidents' Day weekend, and we were blessed with the opportunity to stay in a cabin in the mountains. It was really just what our family needed. We have been going in so many directions. It was great to be all together and mostly unplugged for a whole weekend.

As we were preparing for the trip, the kids had lots of questions about where we were going. They wanted to know where it was, what it was like, what kinds of animals we might see, etc. We assured them that bears should not be an issue because it is winter. At one point, Sam asked, "Are there deers?" I responded, "Probably, but you don't really need to worry about deers bothering you, Sam." His response, "Mom, have you seen 'Are We There Yet?'" I just laughed because in that movie, they basically get attacked by a deer. That boy is ALWAYS saying the funniest things.

We began our trek on Friday afternoon. It was a nice, easy drive. We made a stop in Woodland Park for dinner, then headed the next 30 minutes to the cabin. We drove through the Hayman Fire burn area. It was amazing to see the destruction that can occur. The kids were very intrigued and asked a lot of questions.

As we entered the "neighborhood" where the cabin is, there were lots of ponds. One of them had footprints on it. The kids were speculating about who or what had been walking on the ice. Then, one of them piped up, "Maybe Jesus was walking on the water!" Once again, a good laugh for me.

Here is the cabin where we stayed

The view from the deck

We did a lot of fun things throughout the weekend that we don't normally have the opportunity or take the time to do.

Rick and Cody cut our firewood for the wood stove

The kids went sledding. Laila and I stayed at the cabin

As you can see in this picture they were ready to come back in for hot chocolate!

We watched lots of movies.

Popcorn delivery for movie night

Watching Lion King as a family. Isaiah and Laila had never seen it.

There was some video game playing

Being toasty by the fire

View from the dining room/living room/kitchen

Lots of game playing

The kids loved the game "Loopin' Louie"

Chillin' (literally) on the deck

On Saturday morning, we headed to Woodland Park for a donut meal at the Donut Mill

The donuts were HUGE!

This one is as big as Abby's head!

This is what you call a "donut coma"

On Saturday night, we had our family Valentine's Dinner

Heart-shaped Pizza

Games:

Valentine Bingo and Sweetheart Chopsticks Challenge!!

Cards with cash from Papa and Grammy

Yes, I am wearing my jammies. I wore them ALL weekend.

It was glorious!

On Monday, it was time to head out.

Laila helped us clean.

Abby is such a little worker bee

We had a great weekend. We played lots of games, spent lots of quality time together, ate lots of yummy food, and got away from the craziness that our life often is. We are so grateful that we could do this. It was an opportunity to create memories the kids will not forget!

Snow Day

Sam had an omelet this morning. He came to me with this:

He said, "I just cut off a bite and this is what it looked like."

Yesterday we had a snow day. I decided to make these. The comments about them said that they taste like Krispy Kreme Donuts. I wouldn't go that far, but they were really good, really easy, and made with basic ingredients that I always keep on hand. I will make them again for sure. Can you see my cool mug in the pic? I got that for free from Shutterfly. I LOVE IT!

A snow day was just what I needed yesterday. I have not slept well in almost a week. Once I found out about the delay and then cancellation, I headed back to bed. I spent the day doing some decluttering and cleaning that I don't normally get to. I spent 1 1/2 hours cleaning my fridge and am still not done! I usually just spot clean it, but I took everything out and took the whole thing apart. It was shocking!

I found these two like this when I came downstairs a couple of days ago.

I love the bond they have.

I have mentioned that Cody is wrestling. Here are a few pics from Rick's phone.

Cody is in blue

He is really enjoying it, and I am praying that he makes it through the season without any major injuries.

The big kids and I watched "Courageous" last night. Honestly, I was skeptical. I think that usually the "Christian" movies are cheesy. I thought it was really good, and the kids loved it. I still don't get the PG-13 rating. It is for violence and drug related content, but I was completely comfortable letting Sam see the movie. We were crying throughout the movie.

Rick arrived home last night. It is so good to have him back. We just don't function as well when he is gone.