Balancing Family Life

This past month went by fast.  Jared, Alicia, and Sofia have finally adjusted to school and extra curricular activities.  All my kids are participating in Faith Formation weekly, Jared is doing mixed martial arts and Chess club,  Alicia is participating in Chorus and Girl Scouts,  and Sofia is just being a  4 year old and joining us at all events.  I completed a month of Yoga classes and thoroughly enjoyed it.  My husband is also participating with my son in the mixed martial arts class. 

Mean while at home I was participating in the Slow Food Challenge which challenges you to cook a meal under $5 vs. eating a fast food meal.  This was fun but some days got hectic because I really had to be organized with my time to be able to cook these meals and meet all other daily responsibilities. These are some meals I came up with and the kids enjoyed.

Turkey Meatballs with rigatoni and steamed broccoli

Turkey Chili with a side salad

Beef Vegetable soup with corn tortillas

Baked Penne pasta, sweet baked potato and side salad

This month will be fun with Halloween coming up!

Back to School

So far my kids are doing well and adjusting to their new teachers and classmates.

My four year old got on the bus just like it was yesterday.  We are so proud of her.

My seven year old has had a tear free week so far we are very proud of her.  She is in second grade.

Our nine year old is in fourth grade and has had an overall great attitude.

Alicia, Jared and Cosmo

Sofia

We are looking forward to a great school year! 


We baked cookies for our snack batch.  Almond Blueberry Cookies, they are yummy and great with my Dunkin Donut coffee!

Recipe from food network by Giada De Laurentils

Almond Blueberry Cookies

Sibling Rivalry / Back to School

I was very motivated when I first posted on my blog but life has happened.  My motivation was turned down a few notches since my initial posts.  I have been dealing with a lot of sibling rivalry and regular mommy duties and my energy level has dropped.  I still have my two cups of coffee a day to keep my going, but not enough to get my thoughts together and post. 

Recently I have been faced with sibling rivalry amongst my two girls.  My seven yr old is the middle child and I understand her position in wanting to protect her space, territory and possessions.  My 4 yr old looks up to her sister and wants to do everything she does.  My 4 yr old wants everything my 7 yr old has (Hello Kitty, Care Bears, Polly Pocket, and her clothing).  It is difficult to get my 4 yr old to respect her sisters things.  So I usually ask my 7yr old to be patient and be the peace maker by sharing her things.  My 7 yr old doesn't agree with this idea so then I have two DD that are constantly battling over toys, clothes, space, and attention. I have been buying the same clothes and toys for them to avoid this conflict but it doesn't matter.
The summer has been to long.  These constant conflicts have really drained me emotionally as well as physically.  

I have found a few resources that provide ideas on how to cope with this matter. In an effort to manage these issues better I have devised a plan.  Also since the kids will go back to school in a few days this will also help in the transition process.  Last year I did coupons that they could earn and then redeem for a privelege and it worked so long as I followed through.  Hopefully this plan works.

I found behavior charts at Behavior Charts.com and printed them out.  This particular chart tracks daily tasks such as hygiene, chores, and homework.  I added a few things to customize for each child.  I specifically want to work on conflict resolution with DD who is 7.  I also want to work on listening with my 4yr old.  My 9 yr old is easy going and willing to cooperate for the most part.  This will help him with organization.

I devised a reward system to go with this behavior tracking system.  This chart allows me to identify weaknesses and praise strength in a more productive manner.  I have found that my dear children tend to have a better attitude when they are praised for doing normal day to day tasks. This tool will allow more opportunities for that.  The reward system is as follows ( you can customize yours to fit your children personality etc...) :

If child completes daily tasks completely then they can earn the following
 

4 days out of 7 days completed all tasks = Ice cream treat

5 days out of 7 days completed all tasks = choice of movie from netflix or red box

6 days out of 7 days completed all tasks = $ 2 

7 days out of 7 days completed all tasks = Meal at choice of restaurant and all of the above

I came up with the above during an evening of high stress and tension so I may have to make adjustments as I go.  Micromanaging little ones is no easy task.  Breastfeeding and changing diapers was a piece of cake compared to this stage in child rearing ( for me anyway).  Here are pics of the charts I came up with.  I used clip art to make the reward chart. 

I laminated these charts so that after every week I can reuse.   I introduced this to my kids on monday so this is day two.  We had a family meeting and explained how it works.  Overall the reception was positive and my kids have completed many of the tasks but have yet completed all of them in one day.  They are striving to get them all done by the third attempt.  I feel this tool is a step in the right direction for now!

Shark Week

Summer days... can I play the PSP, the Wii, Nintendo, or Roblox on the PC?

NO!  You can read, draw, play basketball, ride your bike or play with your LEGOS.

"Like my shark Mom?"  Thank goodness for LEGOS.

How to throw a Ponyo Birthday themed party

My four year old recently celebrated her 4th birthday.  Sofia loves Ponyo, she is a japanese anime character who lives in the ocean and becomes human.  Unfortunately the party stores didn't have any Ponyo themed decorations or paper products so this was my attempt at decorating with what I found on the internet. 

 My older kids also enjoyed in the preparations and helped make these decorations.
I found Ponyo wall paper and printed images which I then glued on paper and posted all around the house.

  I found templates for cube art and made Suske and Ponyo and hanged them all around.

I

 I made picture mobiles with printed images of Ponyo and hanged them all around.

Overall these ideas did the job and Sofia was excited to have Ponyo and Suske everywhere.

My birthday planning adventure also included finding a Ponyo doll to gift Sofia which I also had no luck with except for some ebay findings.  So I said to myself I will make her a doll.  So this is my version of a Ponyo doll.  This is my first time making a rag doll so try not to laugh at my novice attempt but I am sure anyone can do it with the right materials.

 card board template to draw on fabric.

 I then cut, sewed, and stuffed each body limb to then sew together. This was tricky I am sure there was a better way.

 The left doll was my final product and the right doll was made with pieces of felt material and glued in layers.
DH was kind enough to assist me and drew the face on Ponyo but we were definitely not on the same creative wave length.

We also used wallpaper images to make her a photo book. 

 She preferred the felt doll over the rag doll version although later in the week she finally warmed up to her.

 A local baker made the cake.  I am not proficient in fondant sculpting yet but plan on learning.

 A mini personal cake for Sofia.

 Sofia's and her friends made a collage using Ponyo images and ocean themed stickers.

The kids took home their collages and green bucket filled with candy.  I found the green buckets at target in the dollar center.  You can also substitute with green chinese food boxes you can find at Walmart. 

Overall Sofia had a great time and was very happy with her Ponyo themed party.