Be True to Yourself! Back to school theme!

We have never had a theme for the school year before.  But now that my kids have been in school for a few years, I knew we needed one this year.  Let's see if I can sum up why....

Last year we noticed my son liked to goof off.  His teachers told me that he knows when to have fun and when to calm down and get work done.  Gage either finished his work quickly and started talking, or he would see his friends laughing and being silly and sit and laugh at them.  It was something he worked on last year, but we knew it needed to be something he worked on again this year.

His twin sister has had a rough go of friends in school.  In her 4 year old preschool class, she had her first taste of "mean girls."  No, not nasty or mean-hearted like older girls can be.  But she was left out.  It happened for a little while and I told her she had to talk to her teacher about it.  She did and the teacher put a stop to it.  There was one little girl who befriended her and she was able to feel better about it because of this sweet girl.  In Kindergarten, it was the same story.  She's kind of quiet and reserved around a lot of people.  She made one good friend and that was what she needed.  Last year, was rough!  There are first and second graders in the same class.  The older girls weren't very friendly or accepting and most of the first grade girls wanted to be friends with them, so they acted like those girls.  Taya did not.  She didn't change who she was to be accepted by these girls.  Which, we all know as adults is SUCH a great quality!!  But that's hard to explain to young kids!  She cried about it many times last year, about being left out, feeling lonely at school, and having no friends.  It was so hard!  

Our next two girls haven't had many years in school and haven't had any issues.  They just have trouble letting themselves be themselves around anyone but family.  

The first day of school this year was Tuesday.  So we had our family home evening on Monday night.  This doesn't have to be an FHE, I just made it that way for us!  I made the theme for the school year, "Be true to yourself!"  I got most of it from what I knew they needed to continue to work on and from this fabulous book!  

Chapter 5 is "Be True" and I just fell in love after rereading it.  I knew this would really speak to my kids.  

At the beginning of this, President Hinckley shared a story from his own childhood.  He was a seventh grader, and that meant it was to be his first year of Junior High.  Unfortunately, the renovations on the school weren't finished, so the seventh graders were sent back to the elementary where there was enough room.  He, and the other boys in his class, were not happy about this.  They were too old, too cool, too big for the elementary school.  They decided that the next day, they'd send a message by not going to school.

He says, "But we had no place to go.  We couldn't stay home, because our mothers would ask questions.  We didn't think of going downtown to a show, because in those days we had no money for that.  We didn't think of going to the park because we were afraid we would be seen by Mr. Clayton, the truant officer.  We didn't think of going out behind the school fence and telling shady stories because we didn't know any.  We had never heard of such things as drugs or anything of the kind.  So we just wondered around and wasted the day."

I love this!  The kids loved that part too.  They thought it was so funny that they really had nothing to do and were just so bored!  Bored is right...the next day they went back to school..to an unexpected surprise.  Their principal, Mr. Stearns, whose "demeanor matched his name" was there to greet them at the front door.  He told them that striking was not the way to solve a problem and that they were "expected to be responsible citizens" and should have gone to talk to him if they had a complaint.  They were not allowed back until they had a note from their parents.  

President Hinckley walked, sheepishly, into his home.  His mother immediately asked him what was wrong and he told her what happened the day before.  She wrote a note, a very short note, but he said that "it was the most stinging rebuke she ever gave me."

"Dear Mr. Stearns,

         Please excuse Gordon's absence yesterday.  His action was simply an impulse to follow the crowd."

I cannot not even try to paraphrase his next two paragraphs.

"I have never forgotten my mother's note. Though I had been an active party to the action we had taken, I had resolved then and there that I would never do anything on the basis of simply following the crowd.  I determined then and there that I would make my own decisions on the basis of their merits and not be influenced by those around me. I decided that I would be true to whatever I believed to be right.

That decision has blessed my life countless times in countless ways, sometimes in very uncomfortable circumstances.  It has kept me from doing some things which, if indulged in, could at worst have resulted in serious trouble, and at best would have cost me my self-respect."

I explained this to the kids in ways they would understand.  The next thing we did was go through the points he makes in this section.  Be true to your land and country you call home, your friends, your parents, heritage, and family, to the truth, to what is right and fair and honest, to who you are and your own convictions.  There were some parts I read from the book but all we talked about with our kids. We made it into a discussion so they understood what I was getting at!  I gave them each the printout that I made for them.  They hung it somewhere where they would see it every day.  Some put it next to their beds, one on the back of his door so he saw it every morning he left his room, and some put it on the wall next to their backpack hooks.  (Just click here for the link to the printable..I have five color versions for my five crazy different kids!!)  

BE TRUE

Next, and this may just be the part that really hit home to them, they made a goal.  Each of the kids received a blank paper and they came up with a goal to write on it.  It is their "be true to yourself" goal of the school year.  

"Follow myself and not my friends!"

 "Come out of my shell more and make good friends!"

"Share my talents and don't be embarrassed to shine~or fail!"

 "Be myself and not someone else!" 

 "Don't be like others and just be me!"

They've only been in school for a week, but I know there are a few who have really focused on their goal already.  They want to accomplish their goal and they want to hear a good report from their teacher and be able to tell their mom and dad how good they're doing at it.  Taya even put her goal in her backpack so she could see it every day whenever she went into her bag.  

This is one of my new favorite back to school traditions!  (along with our annual one-on-one discussions about bullying~what it is, why we don't do it, and what to do if we see it)   Do you have any you just love?

Have a happy day~Kasey

"I don't want to give up!"

*I don't post this for sympathy or compliments on my parenting.  Please read through, I do this for insight*

Some days I send my husband texts like this, “Why did I ever get married and have kids?  What was He thinking?  He knew I would be this way so why not give His children to one of those amazing people who wants so badly to have kids, but can't, and would do a much better job than I am!  I am not cut out for this.  I never was and I never will be!  I am so done with this!"

 

Yeah I know, you're either thinking, "that is terrible!"  or, "ohhh..I know those days!"  But please, let's set aside the judgment.  I don't mean to be harsh and heartless.  And yes, I sometimes speak..or write..before I think.  I know, it's a bad, bad thing!  It's something I have to overcome.  Let me interject for a second..my day wasn't all bad.  Look at these fun things~

 

"Mommy, let's play 'friends in heels'!" 

 So we spent hours, wearing heels and playing friends!!

 We did the airplane and "lady ride."

 And snuggled with baby..

 See, beautiful morning.  So what happened?  Homework!  Seriously~no lie!  My kids are really smart.  I'm not saying that because I'm bias.  But..some have a tendency to play not-smart.  Why?  I have NO CLUE and it drives me nuts.  I repeat the same thing a million and 10 times.  I take the time to explain it to them.  Nothing.  They still want to ask me for the answer.  Then when I check it and they get things wrong, massive break-down, total fit!  AHHH!!  I can't handle it.  I have no patience.  It's gone and done.  I react poorly, too much noise and raised voices.  Not a good place to be in and it causes a circle of UGH.  Fit, screaming, can't concentrate, fit, screaming, etc..I am very aware that yelling, in no way, helps the situation.  But it just comes out.  Even when my brain is saying, "calm down, you're not helping!"  I can't handle those days of pure defiance and complete "let's-turn-off-our-listening-ears" times.  My reaction is poor, but in those moments I truly feel as stated above.  Done!

I’ll be completely honest~this is not the life I wanted.  It’s not the life I ever thought I’d have nor was it something I looked forward to.  I know many of you out there in the same boat..only opposite.  You dream of the things I have, but don’t.  You would give anything for my life.  You dreamt of a beautiful family with a husband you love and kids running around your legs all day!  Don’t think I’m being inconsiderate to your feelings.  I get it.  Really I do.  But there is part of me that would do the same for your life, your successes, your joys, your experiences.  I know I am blessed.  I know my kids are amazing individuals who will do great things in life.  I know.  It’s just way different than I ever thought I'd be living.   Therefore, being a mom is NOT something that comes easily to me.  It's REALLY hard for me.  I am not a natural mother.

So what happens why life gets me down like this?  What do I do?  I talk to my children.  Real, honest, open-ended, discussions.  My kids hold me accountable for my behavior, my choices. 

 

Gage had a rough evening and it was full of crying, whining, speaking before thinking, etc.  We had a chat after the homework fiasco.  He was then sad because he was making bad choices and he doesn't want to.  He just wants to be perfect.  We listed a few things he needs to work on and I explained that he can't just be done with them all at once.  That's too hard and it doesn't work well when we try to do it that way.  He asked why not.  I used a ladder as an example. 

 

"Can we just jump from the ground to the top step of Daddy's big ladder?" 

 

"No way!  That would be too hard!" 

 

Exactly!  Life is the same way.  We can't jump head first in and try to overcome all obstacles at once.  We take one at a time and work on it until it's just normal for us and we don't have to work on it anymore.  He said he wished he could just get over them all at once.  I said me too!  We agreed to work on one thing at a time. 

 

The evening continued to be a not-so-fabulous night.  At bedtime he said he always does things wrong and maybe he doesn’t have a good heart in there.  I told him I knew he did.  I feel it around him (everyone does)!  I explained to him that we keep trying.  If we don’t, that is when we fail.  But if Heavenly Father sees that we are always trying we will be doing good in His eyes.  We have to keep trying or else we’ve made a choice by not trying.  We choose to do good, or do bad.  "What happens if we don't make a choice?"  Oh, my dear boy, we always do.  Even when it seems like we aren't making a choice, we are.  If we don't make the choice to try our best to do good, then we've chosen to do bad.  Throwing in the towel, or giving up, isn't really an option because it's choosing opposite of what we really want.  He asked how everything could be a choice..”we don’t choose to drink water, we just do.”  I explained to him that yes, it is a choice…it was a choice until it became a habit.  Now he doesn’t think of it each time as a choice because he just chooses it.  And that’s why we have to keep trying.  When we do something, or change a habit we already have, we have to keep doing it and keep making the conscious choice until, one day, we realize we aren’t choosing it anymore, it just happens, like the habit of drinking water. We will have the habit of explaining our feelings instead of throwing fits.  We will have the habit of not hitting even when someone upsets us. He said, “I don’t want to give up.”  That simple phrase meant more to me than probably anything anyone has ever said.  He doesn’t want to give up.  He wants to be like Jesus.  He wants to make it to our Father in Heaven.  He wants it.  If he doesn’t want to give up, why do I?  I told him that I really needed to hear that.  I thanked him for being an example to me even when he didn’t know he was doing so.  He asked how and I told him that the Spirit knew I needed to hear it so he was prompted to say that, to not want to give up.  It was something I needed.  I told him I wanted to be in the celestial kingdom with him.  "Me too!" and the tightest, sweetest hug in the world!  Thank you Gage!

 

I began the conversation with him to answer his questions and let him know that he is a good person and has a good soul.  That, if he wants to be like our Brother, he needs to keep trying.  Giving up isn't an option to get us that result.  Funny how every single thing I said to him, that he needed to hear, I needed to hear.  FYI~I don't believe in coincidences.  Thank you Father!

 

Have a happy day~Kasey

30 Days of Halloween~Day 6 Crafting with kids

Today I'm going to share some of our favorite family crafts!  They are super cute and fun..and of course very easy and kid-friendly! 

First up~the spider...The kids pick out the colors of construction paper they want.  They cut out a body in one color then draw, color, cut and paste, etc. a face.  Then pick a color and cut 8 legs. Then they do the accordion fold on the legs.    Glue them on..WA-LA a spider!!!

 (I have to say...this one was my favorite last year)!! 

 I let the kids pick a place and hang it up.  We also do it with our ghosts...not the most classic or beautiful or exciting decorations, but the kids love to see them up all month long!

Here are the ghosts..All you need is white paper plates (2 per kid) and white streamers.  Then you can use things to draw a face or construction paper to cut and paste one onto one plate.  Next they cut out streamers..most of mine did about 6, then glue them onto the back of the plate.  We have our plates upside down so the face is on the bottom of the plate and the streamers are glued to the top of the plate.  Finally glue the other plate into the other one..upside down again so they are stuck together, not so it's ballooned out.  This just helps keep those streamers in place!  And there's your ghost!!!

 Again~super easy, fun, and the kids love them!!

Here's one I found at Domestic Charm and I can't wait to do them this year! 

 See~SO cute right?!?!  Just go right here and you can see her tutorial for it!  The kids are going to love these!! 
 
Now~go get crafting with those crazy kids in your life!!  Have a happy day~Kasey

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Our Back-to-School favorites!!!!

I know school is starting, like NOW for most of us, but hopefully some of you haven't started yet and can enjoy these favorites of ours!! 

I love this survival guide!  Unfortunately, I came (back) across it at midnight before school started and I wasn't going back to the store (for the millionth time that day) to get these things.  But next year I will use it and maybe you will love this too! Laurie from Tip Junkie created two versions of the Survival Kit.  I LOVE both of them!!  So, grab some Smarties, an eraser and a lollipop and give them version one, or grab a rubber band, Band-Aid, and gum ball and do version two!  So cute!  Our Kindergarten teacher does her own version of a little kit she gives the kids at back-to-school night, so I know kids love these things!!!  Check it out here~at Tip Junkie!!

Have you ever checked out Kristin Duke Photography??  If not~go~NOW!! Okay, not NOW-now.....but right after reading this post! ;)  I love her stuff.  She posts tons of fun things and good tips!  A few years ago she created lunch box jokes!  Her boys were getting older and she still wanted to leave them notes, but not be embarrassed if their friends found her mushiness.  So she created these awesome, cute, kid-friendly jokes.  You can print these off and pop on in their lunch box every few days!  Awesome!  Definitely go check these out for your kids!! 

My kids are in first and kindergarten this year.  (and preschool) Although they can read well, they can't quite read all those above.  So, I found these lunch box notes!  Brie from Darling Doodles (another really cute blog here ladies) created these notes/jokes.  Most of them are perfect for my younger kids who can read the fun "You are a Star" or "You're the Apple of my Eye" ones!  So go and get your printables!!  Also, if you look underneath in the "you may also like" section, you can see that there are other Holiday and season themed ones.  Wonderful!  You can use them all year long!!!

If you are Pinterest, or even Google savvy, you know there are TONS of back-to-school photo ops to choose from!  There really are~sooooo many cute ones! I came across these ones a couple years ago and have used them every year! I love them so much!!!  They are so adorable and the kids love holding the fun sign and seeing their change each year with the sign pictures!  These are from Jamielyn at I Heart Naptime!  (and yes, I totally loooove her blog too, so go there also)!!!  Click here and you can save and print your own from Jamielyn!  They are adorable!!!

 
 

 
My kids love our annual back-to-school breakfast!  I've done these every year too and they love them and ask every day if they are getting their "letter pancake!" 

 


















The next tradition isn't quite as fun, but it is the most helpful!  I've done this for the last couple years too.  Glennon at Momastery shared a very sweet, personal story.  Please go here to read her post and her letter.  It's very touching and sweet!   Now, I do share this story, to some extent each year.  My kids are all of different ages and understanding about things so I do it one-on-one at their level.  I read the entire thing to my oldest two last year and this year, but before that I gave a simple, heart-felt discussion about picking on others.  After the story, I share my experience of the hell that was fifth grade and all the feelings that go with those experiences! Then, we have our own Talk.  Don't pick on others, but also, if you see others picking on someone, don't sit by and watch.  There are times you don't pick on someone, and that nobody else picks on them either, but that's not always enough.  Most of the time you have to make the choice to be nice, to say hi, to introduce yourself.  Just because we aren't doing something wrong, doesn't mean we are doing it right. 

I don't know if it's my son's personality, or The Talk the night before, but something helped him last year.  On the very first day of school, he saw a boy sitting alone on the bench at school.  He invited him to play.  They played every day that year.  That was one of his "kindergarten besties" or "the boys" as he put it each day.  Every day when I pick up the kids, I'd ask, "who did you play with today?"  He would usually answer, "the boys" and I knew who that included.  (ew..I hate that word..because they were all nice boys and didn't exclude anyone...) but sometimes he would say, "the boys.  And I brought Spencer (or Porter, or Isaac, etc) to play with us too."  And from that day forward, "the boys" included that person.  Yesterday was their first day.  He said he played with "the boys and he introduced them to Jordan!"  Yes, I am proud of him daily, but there will probably be a time where it isn't natural for him and someone might make fun of that boy and so it'll scare him away from inviting him to play.  And hopefully, if that time comes, he will remember The Talk we had that year and make the right choice. 

This is my favorite tradition because, well, because it is, unfortunately, very necessary.  Welcome to The Talk!

Okay friends~I hope you enjoyed my Back-to-School roundup!!  We love these great traditions and I can't wait to add in the newest one at the very top!! 

Have a happy day~Kasey

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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

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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

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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

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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

 

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