summer ideas- origami.

10 reasons why i LOVE origami.
1. it's free.
2. it requires thought.
3. all you need is paper and directions.
4. you make things that you can play with after.
5. it inspires creativity and confidence.
6. it is quick.
7. when you learn how to do it, you can teach others.
8. it's really cool.
9. it's good for boys and girls, young and old.
10. when your done, you can throw it away!!
and a bonus...
11. it builds teamwork!!

we love origami made out of dollars.
origami from the internet and origami books.
(just google origami for some fun sites.)

at the library, drew was so smart.
he got a book of cool origami, and a reference book of folds.
so, when the cool origami books says, "make a valley fold" he just looks up "valley fold" in his reference book to figure out what that means.
so fun!

my kids like making wallets, jumping frogs, biting fish and rabbits with ears that flap.
(we got the directions from books... but i'm sure you could google any of these and find great directions.)
we also LOVE this book on paper airplanes.

ellie won the paper airplane contest in her school.
we rock at paper airplanes.
paper airplanes are American origami.

give it a try!!
so fun.

note to parents-- let the kids figure it out by themselves.  at first, they will say they can't, it's too hard, they don't know how.  IF you sit down with them, act like you don't know what to do either.  (HA!  sometimes you don't have to try too hard to act dumb.)  Read the directions and say things like "Hmm.  What do you think they mean?"  Start slowly folding your paper in directions that you think is right and wait for THEM to say, "Hey!!  I get it... maybe we should do it like this..."  Use words like, "What do you think?" and "Hmm, this is a little tricky."  "Maybe it means..."  The trick is to teach THEM to problem solve on their own, not to look at you for directions.

IF they learn to figure it out on their own, they will spend HOURS doing origami by themselves while you fold laundry or read The Thief.

IF you do it for them, then YOU will have to spend hours doing it with them.  
Just a thought.

summer ideas- go to the library.

how i love the library.
especially if we go armed with a purpose.
in the car on the way to the library we thought about the types of books we were looking for.
jakob is working on his boy scout reading merit badge.
the kids each have goals they want to do this summer.

the girls had the sweet librarian scouring the library for them, and the boys and i spent time navigating the card catalog.

(Lily was in her stroller with me, and Leah spent 20 minutes collecting a MOUNTAIN of books in the kids section-- no worries, before we left the big kids each learned how to re-shelf children's books.)

we found books to read for fun.
and, books on growing things, origami, sculpture (sculpy)... etc.
i put a big basket on my family room table to hold all the books.
we LOVE to read them all day.

(I think it's funny that you can see PTA on the label for this basket-- yup.  my pta basket is empty and full of SUMMER books.  perfect.)

i got The Theif, by Megan Turner Whalen.
(thanks for the recommendation!!)
loved it.
SOOO good.
i have to go today to get the next one in the series.
how i love the library.

joy.

love this.
want to see more?  look here...

lions and tigers and book ratings... oh my!

Turns out I'm all FIRED UP about BOOK RATINGS.
Shannon Hale, and LDS author, who i love, has been talking a lot about book morals, on her blog- Squeetus.

I've commented on almost every entry.
LONG comments.
PASSIONATE comments.
turns out, i REALLY disagree with her on this topic.
(even though i still love her books)

and, i REALLY feel like we should have RATINGS on books.
and, i'm READY to start a rally.

Let's all meet in Washington, DC... with banners... and cupcakes.
Beautiful cupcakes full of BUGS or dog food, and hand them to every cute child we see.
And see if they take a bite.
And then tell the mothers that they should have tasted EVERY cupcake BEFORE they let their child eat it.
That's what all these people say,
"If parents are concerned they should read every book before their kid does." 
That's crap.
Even super-home schoolin'-mother-of one's can't possible read every book before their child does...
unless her kid doesn't love to read...
or go to the library...
or, she reads all day and never does her dishes...
Should we have to TASTE everything our kid eats before he eats it to know whether or not it is full of poison.
NOPE.  That's why we have LABELS.
and WARNINGS.
oh so important.
with information we can CHOOSE.

One of the authors that Shannon had comment said "most toddlers will select a reasonably balanced diet if you give them the choice."  and "[speaking as a grown-up who learned early on to avoid like the plague any book with the word 'poignant' on the jacket.  Nothing signified adult content like 'poignant.']"
AHHHH!!
No.
No.
most kids would eat CRAP if they could.
ESPECIALLY if the people who SOLD the crap could put a nice cover on it that said it was VEGGIES...
or FRUIT snacks (but that's a topic for another day).

and, there has got to be a better way to teach our children to avoid pornographic books than telling them to look for the word POIGNANT.
that illustrates EXACTLY what is wrong with the system.
we CAN'T CHOOSE for ourselves, because we DON'T KNOW what is in the book unless we READ IT.
dumb.
labels are GREAT.
Book RATINGS would work.
No, they wouldn't be PERFECT.  But, they would work.
I let my kid play Lego Star Wars even if it there is a VIOLENCE caution on it.
in fact, i would TEACH my kids the smutty stuff in Shakespeare to get them to read it.
(yes, that's why i love shakespeare... but don't tell anyone.)
knowing what is in a book does not LIMIT us, it only give us more information to USE when we CHOOSE.

in my HUMBLE opinion.
This is the comment i wrote on her blog today.  OH!  I'm pretty passionate about this subject...

Readers have the right to be INFORMED. We have the right to know what is in the book, BEFORE we buy it or read it. In this country, you can't even feed your child a TWINKIE without knowing the ingredients. KNOWING what is in a book does not change the book at all. It allows us to have informed decisions when choosing. WE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO SPEND HOURS OF OUR TIME TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHETHER A BOOK IS SOMETHING WE WANT TO READ.
Why is it that we allow PUBLISHERS and MARKETING experts to appeal to us and our children without any regulations?

Ratings do not censor, ratings INFORM. I am an adult. EVERY TIME I go to the library I am frustrated. I don't want to waste my time reading a book that is full of bad language and sex scenes. And, I CAN'T TELL from the cover what is really in the book.

I was at the library today and talked to a librarian. They have a hard time BUYING books, because all they have to go by is the summary from the publisher and the book reviews. !!???

There are ratings on movies, video games and detailed labels on food... i don't see that parents or schools are censoring uncontrollably just because we know the rating. Twinkies are still on the shelf! And MANY kids are allowed to play M-Mature games.

People are smart. When given the necessary information, we can choose for ourselves. My children are smart... they can go to a school library and choose for themselves IF the information is available to them. Letting them know that a certain book contains bad language and partial nudity doesn't limit their ability to choose. It strengthens it. Information is POWERFUL.

We can tell the difference between nudity in a Dr. Suess book, implied sexuality in Shakespeare, and detailed sex in a Harlequin. Ratings are smart too... N for brief nudity, N+ for graphic nudity, S for mild sexual situations, S+ for explicit sexual situations. Ratings don't limit choice. Ratings just give us more input to choose with.

As consumers, we have a RIGHT to know what we are reading BEFORE we buy it, BEFORE we hand it to our children, BEFORE we get 30 pages in.
Book RATINGS are long overdue.

hah! i really had no idea how passionate i am about this issue until i started commenting on your blogs.

i love books.
i hate being deceived into reading something i would never knowingly choose.
i want the choice.
i want my children to have the choice what they read and what they do not read.
the problem is, without ratings, all they have is a cover designed by a publisher to SELL.
that is deceptive.
the end.
of my book.

summer ideas- make a rainbow.

i love oil pastels.
they're the best.
messier than regular crayola, but oh so vibrant.
i love oil pastels on paper and on canvas.
it's not hard for me to trash crayon pictures... but i f ind myself attached to every single oil pastel picture.
i love them.
especially when i have a 6 year old...

who still does her skies up.
and a 8 year old...

who just started sprinkling the sky all around.
child development--
love it.

moments.

summer ideas- trampoline suds

my friend bliss gave me this great idea... 
water + soap + trampoline = sudsy fun
on monday jakob had a friend over, ellie was still recouping from too much fun, and my little girls are down with ear infections...
and, my house is SMALL.
i remembered bliss and sent my big kids outside with a bottle of palmolive and a hose.
yes.  i realize my trampoline with no net and no pads and 4 kids jumping and soap and water
MAY appear a bit white trash unsafe to some.
so, try at your own risk.

jakob says, it's best when you squirt lots of soap and just use a little water...

so fun.

summer ideas- play the penny in a flower game.

penny in a flower
or penny in FLOUR...
easy.
cheap.
so fun.
get a cup, put a penny in it, fill it with flour, pack it down (like a sand castle), flip it over onto a plate.
tap the cup a few times with a knife before you pull the cup off and TAH DAH!!

everyone takes turn slicing strips off the flour until the penny falls.

the person who makes the penny fall must retrieve it with their mouth.

so fun!!

want some more games you can play with your kids- for free??  read this post i wrote on family games!!

summer ideas- make homemade ice cream!

you might have an ice cream maker in your attic... and not even know it.

get it out, dust it off, buy some half n half, whipping cream, ice, rock salt (or Kosher salt if you can't find rock salt), and berries.
go ahead and buy extra-- so you'll have to make ice cream a couple times!...
and, so you'll have cream to pour over fresh peaches.

i think i have an unhealthy addiction to peaches and cream.  it started in my childhood.  i can still remember my aunt mill making peaches and cream for her and my mother- no kids allowed.
so, when summertime comes, i just have to put my kids to bed and indulge in my very own bowl full of peaches covered with a tiny bit of sugar, and cream or fat free half n half, depending on my self control.
no kids allowed.

back to ice cream.
pick a great recipe-- i tried Pioneer Woman's Blackberry Ice Cream... double this recipe, it didn't fill my ice cream maker...

making ice cream is not that hard...
if you tell your kids in the morning that you're going to have homemade ice cream for dessert, they spend the whole day in frosty anticipation.
it's worth the wait.
kinda.

i ruined the recipe because i didn't double it, and at the end i just poured tons of whipping cream in so we'd have enough...
our ice cream kinda tasted like whipped cream.
but... i did find a REAL vanilla bean to try this vanilla recipe...
oh, the joys of creation.

ps- my friend maggie says on the ranch they used to make vanilla ice cream and eat it with pretzels.
kinda like french fries dipped in a frosty...

mmm.

don't have an ice cream maker???  try making slushies in the freezer, again this recipe from the pioneer woman looks FABULOUS!!

summer ideas- clean the garage.

What do you do when it's 107 degrees outside?
We clean the garage.
HOORAY!!
before.

after.

The bikes were still on the front lawn when this picture was taken...
but even with the bikes, it still looks orderly. 
The neighbor walking by asked if we were moving.  She said she had never seen so many bikes. 
Just 6 kids.

 See the stuff we took to Goodwill????

Oh.  the joy of an organized garage.
Now... bookshelves, craft room, closets again... 
the life of a mother.
how about one more clean garage shot?

ok.  one more.
here's my side.
(when we first moved in, the guys who sold us our house said, "i always know a mormon because of their garage full of food.  yup... come to my house if their is a shortage of beans or wheat... we got plenty!!)

 and here's the professor's tools.
i still think they could use some sorting, but this is progress.
baby steps.

my garage is pretty clean.
and
life is good.

bad mom.

only someone from texas knows that this can happen even when we apply sunblock.
twice.
missed the edges (and wedgies) on leah...
missed  the back on ellie...
oh, bad, bad mom.
don't worry... i'm sufficiently punished.
thank goodness we have aloe vera, solarcaine and empathy.

trigger thing.

are you spraying anything soon??
don't forget to buy this trigger thing at wal-mart. 
(see that black thing hooked to the spray paint?!)

it costs around $2 and works great.
a friend told me about it and saved my life... and my poor pointer finger that was cramping from pushing the spray button.
i love this little guy.

painting stuff white.

i have been doing a lot of painting.
we bought this beauty on craig's list.

i wanted it white, in my room, for books and stuff...
i read online how lots of people paint furniture-
and, i did it the hard way.
primer.
paint with a roller than a brush in the edges.
3 coats.

then i varnished it with minwax.

 sanded.
varnished again.
and.
i hated it.
the paint didn't look great before i varnished, and after i varnished it was yellow.
very yellow.  (it's hard to show the color in my garage, but the bird is white)

so, i sent the professor back to home depot.
he bought
Rustoleum Heirloom White Spray Paint... 5 bottles for $3 each.
Painter's Touch- it's the white and blue can in the picture below.
If you really want to use polyurethane-- like on ceramic-- i liked the spray can much better than the paint on.

I liked Heirloom White because it wasn't as stark as just plain white...
I sprayed to my hearts content...
and.  i love the results.

i really like spray paint.
easy and better than the harder stuff.
now, i'm off to the lake.
this afternoon, i'll be moving furniture.
love it.

Summer Ideas- eat lunch with a lion.

he's ten.

after spending a day with my second,
i am reminded that... he's still my baby.

sweet, freckled, noise makin', always right, active, little guy.
and
i love this kid.
when i was younger and carried around baby dolls pretending to be a mommy...
this is what i wanted.
this feeling of he's great and he's mine...

i've invested a lot of time and energy and patience and prayer into this kid.
and, he is becoming.  without me.  because of me.  and in spite of me.

on his birthday he caught 3 fish.
remember, that was his summer goal?
my trick-- take my family to the park and just watch as they make friends with the fisherman.

on his birthday he invited a friend on his mom-date.
we saw how to train a dragon- at the dollar movies.
he loved it.
he got gummy worms and a slushie.
he has never gotten a snack and a drink at the movies before.  never.
oh how his life would have been different in another family.
during the whole movie he kept offering me sips.
"you can have as much as you want mom" he must have whispered 10 times.
sweet boy.
we went to fuddruckers for dinner.
the world's greatest burgers.
(because i couldn't do completely fast food or mac n cheese from a box.)
all 3 of us got a kids meal.  drew got a shake with NO whipped cream.

he still hates whipped cream.  (??!!)
the boys played for 20 minutes with their 25 cent ninja guys from the gumball machines.
they talked about their little sisters.
"my sister bites everyone" drew's friend said.
"Yeah, well, you should see my sister.  She can beat up a 6 year old." drew matched.
(huh?!  too funny.)

on his birthday it started to storm.
we were driving home, we rolled down the windows and got wet.
drew and i laughed, his 10 year old friend said, "come on guys, you're scaring me."
after dropping off his friend, we ran inside and changed into pajamas.
i jumped on my bed and pulled a quilt around me to listen to the storm.
drew climbed in with me.
he spent 20 minutes telling me about the super powers his ninjas had.
then, he asked if i wanted one.
sweet, sweet boy.
i love that kid.
i love 10.
growing, but still young.

on his birthday i remembered the little guy.
i saw the growing boy.
and i celebrated the time we have together.
thanks drew.
you are joy. 

blog captions.

my profile quote 1....   Really, my life is fast and busy.  I'm always trying and never quite there.  My kids are just kids.  My husband has good intentions and he's nice. Someone once told me i was a great mother because I could always "smile while my kids were misbehaving".  (nice...)
Our life is full.  We have imperfect moments and perfect moments.  I share both.  Hopefully, as you read my moments, you'll enjoy your moments more fully.  Because really, i married my prince and THIS IS MY HAPPILY EVER AFTER.  (Well, MAYBE happily ever after will start when the professor GRADUATES with his PhD...) This is my effort to enjoy life as i endure it.

my profile quote 2...
i am a wife and a mother of 6.my husband is getting his phd. someday we will change the world. today, we are laying the foundation. we try. we laugh. we think life is good. everyday, we enjoy our moments. because really, this is happily ever after.quotes i love.

If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware. The tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered around the house, the piles and piles of laundry lying around to be tackled, will disappear all too soon. And, you will, to your surprise, miss them profoundly.
President Thomas S. Monson

"I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk’s lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone’s garden. I want to be there with children’s sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."
Sister Marjorie Hinckley

summer Ideas- daily jobs

ok.  my kids are older this year and i've been thinking a lot about summer jobs...
during the school year, my kids have set chores
gather the trash from around the house-age 6
take out the trash-age 11
empty the dishwasher and set the table for dinner, yes, they set the table for dinner in the morning before school or right after school- age 10 and 8
and put away the silverware- age 3
they also have to practice for 15 minutes piano or violin.
yes, only 15 minutes... i'm a nice mom.
when i have clean laundry, it is also their job to put it away.  
i don't tell them they have to do their jobs.
it's their choice.
but, if they ask to do something, like play on the computer, invite over a friend, or go outside, i say
"Sure, if you have your jobs done."

this summer i didn't want to be the police officer.
the boys especially had this attitude like, PLEASE can you say i'm done doing things so i can do what i want to do.
i could feel that their whole goal was to get mom's junk done so they could PLAY... PLAY... PLAY.
and, that concerned me.
cause there is more to life than playing.
and, i want to have kids that are Self Motivated
so... on the first day of summer, i sat the kids down and we talked about 2 things.
1. the importance of keeping our bodies and homes clean.
2.  the importance of working hard.
-i use many examples of "other kids" who just want to play all day, or only want to eat candy, or never want to do anything hard.
-like this... "I know a kid who cries at school every time the teacher tries to teach him math... he says math is too hard.  So, if his teacher is nice, what would she do?"  The kids answer funny, "Oh, she would still teach him."   I insist, "NO... he has a REALLY NICE TEACHER.  She LOVES that kid... I'm sure she says it's ok.  If math is too hard, he can just have recess all day long."  They all shout "NOOO!  He needs to learn! It's only hard at first, if he keeps trying it will get easier..."
-i also like these stories, "What will you do when you are a mother/father and you have a kid who NEVER brushes his teeth, because it's too hard.  Or who doesn't want to eat vegtables?  Or who thinks he should never have to read stories and just wants to play Wii all day long?"  After they say lots of good things I'll ask, "So, why do you think people don't like to work hard?"  then, "Why is it so good to work hard and learn new things and be healthy?"  This is where they teach the lesson that I was trying to teach.
"Working hard is harder, but better... you need to do hard things so that you can learn and grow and be healthy.  Easy isn't always better.... etc..."
THEN i told them that i was tired of being the police cheif.  That sometimes I feel like their GOAL was to play and i was making them do good things so that they could escape and do what they WANTED to do.
I told them THEY needed to WANT to help out around the house, and use their brain to learn new things.
I told them that if they did things because they wanted to, they would do a better job and they would be more blessed...
THEN, we set goals.
I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish around the house that day.
I read my list and said, "Do you think you can help me?"
Then I told them my specific goals for the day...
We started with oldest and went to youngest.
Jakob-age 11 was a pill.  He "couldn't think of any goals".
So, we skipped him.  I said, "That's ok, we'll give you some time to think and come back to you at the end." 
(Ha!!  He wasn't too happy about having to wait to the end!!)
Drew-age 10 came up with these goals
--trim nails
--set table
--practice piano 30 minutes (see that, it was MORE than what i required)
--change pillowcase
--play with firends outside
--watch one episode of dirty jobs on netflix
--practice learning to type for 15 minutes on the computer
--play for 15 minutes on the computer
--watch the dvd i got from my school class
--make funnell cakes for lunch
--make mac n cheese for dinner
Anna- age 8
--get ready for dance recital
--practice violin songs 10 times each (i usually require 3 times)
--set the table
--organize the picnic
--take a shower
--brush teeth
--eat breakfast
--invite Mr. Bill to dance recital
--clean up Barbies
--vacuum
--read a chapter book
Ellie-age 6
--practice piano 30 minutes
--clip/paint nails
--change sheets/pillowcase
--take a shower
--brush teeth
--clean up books/bed
--clean up desk
--make sandwiches
--clean up sidewalk chalk out back
--color a picture
Leah- age 3
--clean up sidwalk chalk with ellie
--let mom do my hair
--make the drink for picnic
--color a picture
--play on the computer
--take a nap and stay in bed
-- read a book
Jakob- age 11
(still had a stinky attitude)
1. bush my teeth
2. play with friends
3. play outside
4. play at home
5.  go swimming on Saturday
6.  on the computer game "toss the turtle" reach 1 million feet.

(All the kids were watching with wide eyes to see what i would say...  i had no idea what i would say.)
I said, "Nope.  I don't think it is good for you to play all day, or to have your only goal "to play"... and, you have chosen not to think of any goals for yourself.  So, I'll help you think of some worthwhile things to do."
(i was smiling now... what a smart momma i am... smarter than an 11 year old.)
These are the goals I wrote for him...
-- practice piano 30 minutes
--clean the kids bathroom
--make tuna fish (2 cans)
--cook hard boiled eggs (12)
--change pillowcase
--read 2 chapters in Percy Jackson
--play 15 minutes of the typing game on the computer
--put away laundry.
He tried to set his own goals after this, i just kept smiling and telling him that i gave him 2 chances to set his own goals and he choose not to.  He would have another chance to set his goals the next day.
(We have done goals twice since Friday, Saturday and Monday... both days Jakob was ever to happy to come up with his own list of enlightening goals... jakob-0  mom-1... but actually, since i'm right and i was doing what was best... we both won on that one, so we're tied.)

And thus our summer plan has emerged.  For the past 4 days we have been meeting together each morning.  I have a list of what I want to accomplish and then the kids tell me what they want to do for their goals.
They are actually fighting over who can help.
Yesterday before we set goals, I took them all into the bathroom to show them how to clean a toilet-- we timed it, 3 minutes.
After that they fought over who could clean the kids toilet.  I reminded them we will have toilets to clean all summer long... 

I also told them that when they finished a chapter book, the professor or I would take them to get ice cream and they could tell us about their book.  We already owe 4 ice cream dates.
 
AND... when they went to bed, I took a dry erase marker and wrote fun reminders on all of our mirrors...
i love feeling like the TEACHER not the POLICE CHIEF.
i love being a  mom.

For now, i just write the goals in a notebook and leave it on the counter for them to check...
I saw a great idea, someone used a frame... printed out a paper with their kids name and
      Jakob
-
-
-
Then they just used a washable dry erase marker to write out their daily jobs.
love that idea.
may have to do it sometime...

So, this is my summer of SELF MOTIVATED KIDS.
So far so good.
Hope you're having a fun, motivated summer...
Have any great self-motivation ideas??
Please share!  I love advice!!
(ha! this is a bit of an oxymoron... help me motivate my kids to be self motivated!!)