Never here "are we there yet" again!!!

We had quite the road trip a few weeks ago!  We drove from Ogden to Meridian, Idaho on a Saturday then from there to Disneyland the very next day!  (plus we drove from there to Sacramento, then from there back to Ogden)!  I made a lot of things for the trip so the kids wouldn't fight or get bored or watch too many movies.  This was by far the best thing on the whole trip!!!!

I found this countdown on the Dating Divas page (who I just LOOOOVE by the way.  If you haven't checked them out, totally do!  They have brilliant ideas and I'm always finding fun things on their website).  It was truly wonderful!  Not once on any of the drives did we hear the kids ask, "are we there yet?" or "how much longer?"  They knew how many stops we had and that the last paper was our final destination!  It worked so well!  

I planned the trip so that we stopped every 130-160 miles (about every two hours).  We topped the tank off and got everyone out to potty.  (which, we never had to make any extra stops for potty time either..every two hours was perfect and it helped not stopping whenever one child had to go. With a family of seven this was truly amazing)!!  After we got back in the car the kids took turns taking off a paper, then we got back on our way! I made sure it was the last thing we did at the stop so the kids realized we were in there for another two hours until the next paper! Truly awesome!!  

Plan your trip then click here to go to the Dating Divas website and print off however many you need. They have other fun printables on that page too. We didn't use the toppers or the license plate game, but my husband and I did do the questionare on our drive home.  That was a lot of fun too!  

Enjoy!  (and thank you Dating Divas for saving my sanity on this trip)!! :D  Have a happy day~Kasey

Follow me!

Facebook// Pinterest// Instagram

Treat stoplight!!

We planned a SURPRISE trip to Disneyland for the kids!  Wahoo!! Total awesomness! But..I knew I needed something for the car ride.  So..the first thing I made was the stoplight!  

Super easy.  It's just thick paper, cardstock type.  (my only tip..that I didn't do..make it wide/large enough to fit the next items..because mine was a little too small so I will need to make another, slightly larger stoplight for the next car ride).

Then I got out all my scrapbooking paper.  I matched up cute papers.  I had chipboard alphabet packages that I used for the kids' first initial.  After gluing the papers together, I hot glued it to the clothespin. I made one for each and they were totally cute!!  

 Now, what's the point of this?  Well.  It's for good behavior!  When we stopped at a gas station, whoever was not on red got to pick out a treat.  I planned the trip so I had us stopping about every two hours.  With five kids and over 10 stops, we only did it every other stop, but it worked very well!  They got three warnings then they were moved to yellow.  Three more and they were moved to red.  We only had someone on red once.  She hated it!  The other kids felt so badly!  I loved this and we will be using it for any trip where we have multiple stops between point A and point B!

Have a happy day~Kasey

Follow me!

Facebook// Pinterest// Instagram

Chore Chart

I am a really terrible mom~I make my kids do chores!!  *gasp*  Yes..my 3, 5, and 6 year olds do chores..and you better believe they started years ago!!  No, I don't make them mop the floor of scrub the toilet, but they sure help out and they have their responsibilities!!  Here's a quick run-down of their "chores."

~Get dressed

~Brush teeth 

~Pray

~Make Bed

~Bath

~Read

~Homework

~Clean room/playroom

~PJ's

The next five are rotated..five kids..five chores..five days!  Perfect!!!

~Dinner

~Dishes

~Set table/clear food (though each person is responsible for their items..this person helps me put away leftovers and put pots and pans in the sink)

~Wipe down tables, chairs, counters, after dinner

~Sweep after dinner

~Vacuum living room (the person that sweeps gets this one too..because all except Haylee hate sweeping and everyone loves to vacuum..so they get something fun with something not-so-fun)! :D  

They also help with extra chores on Saturdays..

~washing walls

~cleaning baseboards

~cleaning sink

~Wiping outside of toilet

etc.

We aren't slave-drivers (I promise!!!!) and don't make them do all those every Saturday.  They each just get asked to do one or two quick things to help us out.  

So~a year ago I did chore sticks for the Saturday chores..it worked for a while but then we got into that annoyance of "I didn't pick that chore" when asked to do something.  I got rid of them! :D

I'd been looking and looking for a chore chart I loved!  (seriously..check out my Pinterest..there's tons)!!! I'm not really a "reward person."  I don't feel my kids should be rewarded for doing something they SHOULD do anyway.  But~that's just one of my parenting philosophies! :D  A little while ago, one of my totally awesome sisters (thank you tons Delcie), posted a picture of the chore charts she made her boys!  I just loved it!!  (and the price tag makes it even better)!!!   

See~isn't that so cute!!!!  We sure think so!!  That board is a dry erase/magnetic board from Wal Mart ($2.50 each).  I grabbed five different colors.  Next I got those blue marbles from the Dollar Tree ($1 per bag).  I wanted the large ones. I searched and searched the internet for pictures I loved..and had to find a boy/girl version of each so my son didn't have to have the girlie ones!  :D  I was walking through Wal Mart when I saw a thing of Washi tape on the end cap.  I decided to grab one for each kid. (They were around $1.50-$2 for each).  You will also need magnets.  You can buy the bags of magnets and hot glue them on or you can buy a magnet sheet. I needed to make five boards so I opted for the bag of magnets.  That's it..that's all the materials.  Super cheap and really easy to make.  It's an awesome board that is sturdy and interchangeable so we can use it for as long as we want!!

The chore beads are also super easy!!  I printed the pictures I found (they were about an inch..and I printed two of the prayer and teeth brushing pictures..one for morning and one for night).  I mod podged them on the flat side of the marble/bead (picture facing up) and I put some mod podge on the backside of the picture.  When that dries just hot glue a magnet onto the back of the picture..and Wah Lah~it dries and you are done!!!

They are turned out super cute and I really like them!  Anytime we feel a change-in-chore we can easily take these down and give them different ones!  Really great price and totally awesome!!!

Have a happy day~Kasey

Follow me!

Facebook// Pinterest// Instagram



Calendar boards!

Oh my!  I'm so excited to share my first DIY/craft post with y'all!!  I made these a long while ago but I love them!!  I have always wanted to build some awesome locker style shelving system for my kids, but alas, there is no room for that in my current home!  So~I did the next best thing!!  

I created calendar boards!!  I bought poster-sized frames (16x20 I believe these ones are).  I printed the kids' names, picture, a blank monthly calendar, and a sheet with Sunday-Saturday on them.  I used scrapbook paper and matched it all up!  You know that paper that is inside the frame when you buy it?  Well, turn it over and glue these right onto the blank side!  

First~lay out the picture and calendars where you want them. Then use your scrapbook paper/s to fill in the white space.  Once everything is measured out, you can glue it right down so it doesn't move when it's hung up!  

They each have a double hanger hook underneath so they can fit their backpack and a jacket on it!  I just love these!!!! You just get a pack of dry erase markers and you can write right on the glass!  Here's the tip: pay for a frame with real glass!!  Mine aren't.  They are sorta plasticy because I bought four at a time and wanted cheaper ones.  The dry erase still works,  but I usually have to get the paper towel damp in order for it to erase completely.  If I were to do it again (or do it as a selling item), I would get real glass! :D 

The reason I put the calendars where I did on mine is because I knew I would eventually add a hook in order to hang important papers.  Since those first pictures, I have added the clip and this year, with the older two in elementary school, it's really come in handy.  I use it to hang information on Field Work (known as field trip is most schools) and homework!  

I have also added their chore charts right here with the calendars (so it's sorta like their own mini command center)!! :D  

 As you can see here, the papers hang in front of the calendar, but I am totally okay with that!  You can always move the clip up if you don't want it to!  I can still clearly see the weekly calendar so it works just fine for me! :D  

I love their little command centers!!  I will share their chore charts soon too!  These have really helped on days where they have field trips, show and tell, activities at school, and practices after school!  It's nice to be able to look and see what each person has.  I still use a "mommy calendar" with everything in it, but this helps more with each kid and we've totally loved it!!!

Have a happy day~Kasey

 

Follow me!

Facebook// Pinterest// Instagram