Happy Father's Day!

I know it's a little late, and this post probably should have been done last week BEFORE Father's Day, but better late than never, right? In honor of Father's Day, I wanted to tell you a bit about my dad.

Life with my Dad was never dull. He had stories to tell, and it didn't matter if we had heard the same story forty times before, if we laughed, it was good to laugh again, only this time it would be harder. I only had one younger sister (15 months younger) so we didn't have a large family or younger brothers and sisters to look after that I sort of envy my own kids for having, but I can see how being raised by my father has taught me to be more patient and humoring of my own children.

Some of my earliest memories of my dad were dancing with him in the living room. I think it was to Kenny Rogers? We were just getting silly with him while we waited for company to arrive, and of course, being three and a half feet tall with a 6 foot tall dad didn't make it exactly easy to keep up with him, so we weren't doing any work at all as he held us and spun around and dipped us. Then we'd stumble over to the couch giggling till the dizziness subsided. Dad was in construction when we were little, so in the summers he was gone a lot for work. In the winter, when it was cold and work was slow, I have more memories of dad.

Dad's stories of his childhood were ones we kept wanting to hear. There was the sledding story. He and a couple of friends piled onto those old wooden sleds with the metal runners. In the commotion, the guy on the bottom got his tongue stuck to the metal but too late! They took off down the hillside, his friend wailing and yelling, but none of them could understand "UUUUUNNNNNGGGGGG" so they kept going, till they went airborne and the tongue was ripped off and they landed in giggling heaps, except for Bleeding Tongue. I'm thinking they must have been extra careful on future runs that no tongues were close to the metal after that.

My grandmother cooked on a wood stove most of the time dad was growing up. He also didn't have an indoor toilet until he was in high school. He attended a Nebraska country school until he 8th grade, which was essentially a one room schoolhouse. Some of the teachers left a bit to be desired, but my favorite story was of one teacher he had that insisted every kid ate everything in their lunch, and conducted inspections to ensure no crumbs were left behind. Dad pulled out his desert. A wonderful looking piece of pie! But one bite later, it wasn't so wonderful. Grandma must have bumped or scraped the stove as she pulled the pie out of the oven, and some of the wood ashes fell into the pie. Dad refused to eat the pie, but here came the teacher, insisting he eat it, to which he stubbornly held his ground that he would NOT eat it, and this continued until she finally had a taste. That was the only time he was not allowed to finish his lunch. Although, I often wonder how dad managed to choke down some of those sandwiches he's told me about having, like peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches. Maybe he didn't.

Having enjoyed many sledding activities as a young boy, Dad was not going to let us miss out on sledding adventures of our own. When we moved to Germany there were a huge hill called Bismark Hill that I insisted we needed to go try out. We borrowed some sleds, took a Saturday morning after the first snow of the season and made our way up this huge hill. I think we hiked for a good hour and a half till we found the perfect spot. There were a few things that should have tipped us off that this MIGHT not have been a good day to go sledding. Grass was still poking up through the snow. The direction we wanted to go had deceptively been graced with leveled tiers into the side of the hill, and the wind must have been blowing from the north. It piled about a foot of snow at the base of each tier, and blew the rest of the snow off the hill. Dad thought it looked alright though, so we began. First my sister and I tried it out. We didn't get very far. So, dad tells us "Let me show you how it's done." He lays the sled out, took a runny leap onto it and was off with greater speed than my sister and I had ever seen. Until he got to the first tier. The sled went nose down in the foot deep snow. Its a wonder dad didn't break his neck because all we saw from the top of the hill was dad's legs straight up in the air. Then the sled let loose and slid right over dad's face. It was all fun and games till we saw the blood. The sled had skidded right over his glasses and left matching tracks right up his forehead. Well, the sledding adventures were over and we packed up the sled, dad and hiked back down to the car. He had to go in to the optometrist to get his glasses fixed and the guy fixing his glasses also had the same suspicious tracks on HIS forehead.

When I turned 17 my dad got orders (Army) to Korea for one year unaccompanied. When he came home on leave my mom wanted my sister and I to go on a separate date with dad. He took my sister first, but came home right after dinner because he had dumped his drink his lap. The next week was my turn. I was trying to spear a tomato and it flew off my plate and rolled down my front, leaving a trail of French dressing in it's wake. Dad asked if I wanted to go home to change. I refused. I was not giving up this Date with Dad after a meal. We went to play miniature golf. Looking back now, I wish I had gone home because I'm sure I looked the part of a great date with dressing smeared all over my shirt, but I had a great time regardless. I don't know about dad, but I did. Another year my mom was sick and stayed home after she had gotten us tickets at Christmas to see The Nutcracker. My sister was excited. She loved ballet, dance, musicals. Dad and I however were not that hot about it. Dad tried to back out, but mom insisted we had to see it. The ballerina was from Russia, and it was going to be good, she insisted. It also happened to be freezing that night, so bundled up and wearing dresses, dad begrudgingly got us in the car. We had near front row seats. We sit down, my sister was jittery and happy to be there, but she couldn't see over the cotton ball hair do's of the ladies in front of us, so Dad switched seats with her so she could see. The ballet started. About 15 minutes into it, we hear faint snoring. We assumed it was someone behind us. It got louder. Then we look over and notice it was Dad! I elbowed him a couple times. At one point he says he couldn't see because of the hair do's the ladies in front of us had. He got into more comfortable position and feel asleep again, sleeping through most of the ballet. My sister was ecstatic to see the ballet. I entertained my thoughts using something like self hypnosis trying to will myself somewhere more interesting, because I couldn't really see over the cotton balls of hair either. Once it was over and we left, dad commented on what a great nap he got. I was still laughing when we got home and mom was saying how much she wanted us to get some "culture". Of course, I used this same excuse on my own family years later. I think Isaac was all of 1 years old. I married my opposite. My husband loves musicals, ballet and operas. Like my dad, I tend to find "other entertainment" in those things, like how many cotton-ball hair do's I can find, or how outrageous the costumes can get.

I think one of the funnier and dearer things to watch is my dad as a grandfather. And dog lover. Both get equal "spoilage". Cookies for both. Trying to get them both to help him work something out. My kids think it's great that grandpa will give them a soda with snack. He'll play football with them, and the dog, at the same time. He send them email birthday cards for their birthdays, the funnier the better. It's probably easier to take older kids out on excursions, but he was willing to go out with my kids. (My sister's youngest is 10, while my youngest is 2).

I can see where I get some of my traits though. While my mom was gone with on a military contract one year, to fight boredom, my dad decided to make homemade soap with something like 17 ingredients. Then there was a soup craze. Dad is a great baker and so he would also make breads to go with his soups. I'm prone to these things too. Some of them are successful, some not, but I'm sure we learned something doing it all.

Those are some of the things I've enjoyed with my dad. I pass these stories onto my kids who laugh just as hard as I did hearing them for the first time. So, Happy Father's Day, to my dad, all the other dad's out there, and to the fathers of our own children. We have some big shoes to follow, I'm sure.

Child Stories by Children

Tonight I'm not exactly laughing at my kids since we discovered a 10lb bag of chicken, 2 bags of veggies, a huge bag of frozen strawberries and my precious french fries all thawing in a freezer my 6 and 4 year olds left open in the garage. Great! I'll be cooking chicken all day tomorrow.

I was laughing earlier however. Jesse and Hannah came to me at different times today with stories about their youngest brother.

I was taking a shower after dinner. You ever have that experience when you wash your face, turn around and there stands a naked kid in the shower with you? Yeah, all modesty seems to leave with preschoolers in the house. So, I'm washing his hair and Hannah barges into the bathroom. The door slams open, the gush of cold wind flows over the shower door and she's got a complaint. Ammon has an obsessive fascination with the toilet brush. I made the mistake of letting him "clean" the toilet one day and its been downhill ever since. Apparently, Hannah came upon Ammon scrubbing away in the toilet, scared him when she caught him, and he flung the toilet brush at her, hitting her right in the stomach. By the time she gets to this part, she's practically yelling the entire story to me. "So NOW, I'm soaking wet with TOILET WATER!!!" I'm trying to control my laughter at this point. You know, there's a good naked and a bad naked, and someone laughing hysterically while naked is not good naked. But I tried to control my laughter so she didn't hear me, and told her quite calmly to just go clean up the mess. I'm still laughing though. If she saw me laughing, she would think it was at her, so I'm still trying to contain it, only, I'm dressed now.

Earlier tonight, before I found out about the freezer situation, I had taken Jesse with me on an errand. I laugh at his stories. I don't know if he'll see these stories as humorous when he's older, but I still get a good chuckle from them. It is something so simple, part of toddlers learning about life that makes these stories sweet and funny, but to a nine year old boy it just doesn't have the same charm. We've been trying to train the dogs on indoor behavior. They've never been snappy, but they know that Ammon and Joshua are just their height and lo and behold, their snacks are just right there for the taking. Ammon helped himself to a pepperoni stick today. He couldn't get the wrapper off, so Jesse helped him. Ammon managed to take one bite and then Oreo snatched the rest and ran off. Ammon figured he'd just go get another one, only this time he tried to get the wrapper off by chewing on it instead of getting Jesse's help again. By then, Jesse stepped in to help him, managed to get the now mangled and chewed up pepperoni stick unwrapped and gave it back to Ammon. Who promptly dropped in on the floor and the other dog, Cookie, helped herself to a pre-chewed treat. Jesse then realized he wanted a pepperoni stick, but sadly discovered that was THE last stick in the house, and the dog just ATE IT! This last sentence was punctuated with hands thrown in the air, a huge sigh, and a raised voice, as if eating the last pepperoni stick in the house is the crime of the century.


Meanwhile, I can only picture Ammon in all this, with his chubby little hands, wide eyes and busy body intent on the task at hand. Most likely, he won't remember these incidents, but his brother and sister sure will. He runs from one activity or in other words, mess, to another all day long. I'm not sure he remembers what he did this morning or even 10 minutes ago, but he sure is cute doing it all. Usually.

Again, I'm laughing about all this. If we didn't laugh, we'd cry, right?

Friday Funny: Why Having a Toddler is Like Being at a Frat Party

I followed this link this morning to a blog listed on a friend's post. It was hilarious! You need to read the comments too.
Toddlers vs. Frat Party


Sorry about the Facebook Like button on there. Not sure why it's there. But if you do like the article, maybe the button really works.

New Diagnosis: Celiac Disease

Last week was eventful. Monday, as I was enjoying my stack of Oreo cookies, I got a call. I have Celiac Disease, the allergies to wheat, gluten, barley, rye and some oats. Guess I would be stepping back from those cookies. Dang! And they were so yummy!

This doesn't come as a surprise. I suspected this about three years ago when two of our kids were diagnosed with Autism, which also came with the diagnosis of Sensory Integration Disorder, ADHD, and a few other food allergies at the time that really stood out, like red food coloring. I half heartedly tried to go gluten free at that time, but found it very difficult given our location. I tried to back off on the gluten products, but financial constraints led us to cooking a lot from scratch and well, noodles and breads became fillers. Now that I look back on that time, eating like that was making us worse. As a mother, I tend to look to my kids' well being first and then my own. By Dec. 2009, I couldn't ignore myself anymore.

Griping stomach pains were taking over. I went to the doctor and was told I had an ulcer. I didn't know how bad it was, no tests were run or anything, so I went home with a pack of Prilosec and a gallon of milk and eventually the pain disappeared. I did stop drinking sodas and eating many acidic foods, which helped as well. I was disappointed in myself though. I felt bad that I had damaged my body and related all this to the worst year we had ever experienced as far as health problems and mental problems.

At the time of my ulcer diagnosis, I had gotten a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD, and possibly Schizophrenia for Isaac. All I will say is that getting to that diagnosis was horrendous. Isaac was flying off the handle on a daily basis, major melt downs, dangerous behaviors, and the revelation that he was hearing voices made me feel like some stranger had moved into the basement years ago, but I was just finding out they existed now. However, I couldn't look at Isaac without seeing the same big brown eyes and sweet cheeks he had as a baby and couldn't really accept these were what was wrong with him. We got him on medications and that helped stabilize him, but even then, I didn't look at our diet. My other son Simeon had rashes breaking out all over his body, was diagnosed as mildy autistic with traumatic brain injuries. He was improving in his development but was estimated to be about two years behind his actual age. My daughter, who had always been defiant and "difficult" was only becoming more so as she got older. She was resistant to almost everything: new foods, new houses, new places to visit, new board game to play, getting dressed for the day, wearing hair accessories, meeting new people. My 3 year old was NOT potty training and spoke with a lisp and seemed ADHD to me but when he was tested they said he was a normal kid. My baby wasn't talking at 18 months so he was tested for Autism and delays, and put on a watch list. At night I laid in bed wondering what was going on with us and was I failing as a mother. With tears shed and prayers uttered I was starting to feel desperate most of the time, wondering what I could do to help them. After Christmas break, in which the kids had calmed down considerably, I figured out it was school food they were eating. (Yes, I homeschool, but last fall I entered my four school age kids in public school for the sake of therapy and help they could only get through the school system where we lived.)When they returned to school it was with a sack lunch. There was some improvement in their behavior and skin problems, but it was minute. Just to clarify, since Isaac was so bad off, I kept him home to homeschool the remainder of the year. Only a month after they returned to school we moved to Utah, and at that point we returned to homeschooling.

We got out to Utah and suddenly I was having major problems with my health. My stomach was killing me. I was low on energy, was running to the bathroom with one problem or another, my neck was out of control with pain, and my migraines were somewhere around 3-5 a week. I was breaking out in hives on a daily basis. Then the pain started in various places of my abdomen. Sometimes on the right, the left, lower left, wrapping around to my back. I couldn't get comfortable, and Tylenol wouldn't touch the pain.

I found a doctor and he prodded around my belly and told me to return when I was in full blown pain. I felt like saying I wouldn't have been there if that wasn't an issue right now, but agreed and left disappointed. Two weeks later the pain was now on the left side. I couldn't bend over, which is kind of an important function when you have kids that are only three feet tall and drop stuff, spill stuff, and lay down to throw tantrums. The house started to go: things were just everywhere. Daily life stopped: didn't feel like doing anything or going anywhere. Curtis started taking on more errands because I couldn't walk from one end of Wal-mart to the other without leaving sweating, pale and in pain.

By June they had done an EGD, where they send the scope down your throat and look at your stomach. I now had two ulcers. More antacids, but that didn't take care of the pain, nor did it explain anemia I now developed. I knew I was anemic because I had been eating ice like I was addicted to crack, but there wasn't a reason for the anemia. I was sent over to gastroenterology where more tests were run and it was determined I had Celiac Disease.

I didn't eat any more Oreos that Monday, and by that night I had bagged up almost every thing I could find that contained wheat. I figured if one of us had to eat gluten free, all of had to eat gluten free. Besides that, it couldn't hurt to try out that diet with the kids when a gluten free diet has shown to help Autism.

With the exception of an ice cream sandwich I forgot to get rid of on Monday, we were doing really good. We had tried some rice noodles, cooking with rice as a starch, and getting creative with alternative ingredients for some of our favorite recipes. We even tried eating out at Taco Bell on Friday and I thought we did pretty good, and no ill effects.

In fact, the things that were improving were tempers, moods, compliance, and other complaints of headaches and various aches and pains. Simeon had complained of his legs cramping all the time. Hannah always had tummy or head aches, and Jesse complained of migraines (since he was 4!). I wasn't starving all the time. I was sleeping a little better. I wasn't sure, but I wasn't so pale looking in the mirror. My hives had almost disappeared. The rashes on the kids' arms were lessening. My energy was coming back!

Then today, our 7th day gluten free, we had a set back. Oatmeal for breakfast. Curtis had picked some up from the store, but it didn't list it as gluten free. I cooked up a delicious breakfast of apple-cinnamon oatmeal. By noon, Hannah, Jesse and I had hives. Simeon was running his head on the pews at church and contorting himself into things like the Stiff Board and London Bridge. Ammon, Joshua and Simeon were screaming all at the same time. Simeon said his head hurt while he rammed it into my hip. Ammon passed out shortly after getting to church. Joshua (who still is not potty trained) decided he needed to go to the bathroom 6 times during 1 hour at church. Hannah and Jesse complained more about itching. Isaac seemed fidgety and folded the program into an airplane.

Towards the end of church Simeon had continued his outbursts of weird words, like "chin to chin" to describe someone with a mustache. He had a melt down when they sang Happy Birthday to the kids having a birthday this week. In Sunday School he refused to sit in a chair and continued to try and get out the window, then tried to run away at the end of church. By this point I had a headache starting, my legs were cramping and hurting, my eyes were dried out and felt as if hives were everywhere. My faced and some of the kids' faces were bright red. And everyone was starving.

We had been "glutened" with the oatmeal.

After feeling so good, I realized by tonight how bad we all must have been feeling before the diagnosis. While I did some shopping this week I didn't have any major breakdown in the grocery store with all the things I couldn't have. I knew what I needed to look for and found those things, quickly getting out of the snack aisle and bread areas. We had a talk with the kids explaining why its so important not to cheat on this diet, or even to give it up for birthdays, holidays or just because we were hungry at the moment. This didn't sink in, at least not for Hannah, until we had to return to church for a special program tonight. They served all cookies for refreshments. She started to cry when I told her we just couldn't allow her to have any. She admitted to remembering the feeling out of control just a week ago, and how different she felt this week. This seemed to raise her spirits some and by the time we left, about three minutes later, the tears were dried and she was laughing at funny stories I was telling her. As I type this though, I feel a craving for some chocolate chip cookies. BUT...we are out of eggs and no cookies are to be found.

I hear it takes about three days to recover from being glutened, and while I think we were doing better, I know we are not healed yet, and this will take some time. I told Curtis it is one thing to suspect you have a disease, and quite another to be told you HAVE a disease. Oh my stars, I have a disease!!! Looking back in years past though, it was very evident this has been a problem from when I was a little girl, to when my children were babies. It will be interesting to follow this and see what happens with the autism, medications, behaviors and symptoms. It will be a challenge. Whether I'm up for that challenge isn't negotiable. That seems a little daunting, but there isn't time for me even deviate on that decision. We have to do it or we are S.I.C.K.

For our blog followers, I will try to post gluten free recipes on here as I discover them. I don't have much to post yet in that way, but if anyone is following or stumbling across us for the first time, I would be very interested in hearing your stories and how you coped, what you found was good for you and how you are healing. Thanks so much for reading!!

Piano In The Home = Home

Once again here is another blurry picture from me. It could have been from my rush to just take the picture so I could play on the piano or I just can't get the setting right lately. A dear friend thought of us Friday when her brother was giving away this piano that had been their sister's who passed away 10 years ago. I left my sad, ghettofied spinnett piano back in Nebraska when we moved out to Utah 4 months ago, and I missed it! So it was missing a leg, the other one was broken, the music holder had been snapped off and it was slightly out of tune, but I had dragged that thing around with me for the last 16 years. I took mercy on it and left it there in Ogallala with an elderly man in the retirement home. I hope he loves it as much as I did.

When my friend called me to ask if we wanted it for free, we just had to find a way to get it home, I jumped at the chance. Something seemed to missing from our home, I realized. It didn't feel complete without a piano. Granted, I get very limited time to practice the piano (which I need a lot of to sound like I know how to play anything) but that still didn't stop my desire to play all the time. And this piano sounded wonderful. I spent awhile last night memorizing the small details: chipped ivory keys, black wooden keys, how the music holders are built into the lid and the front panel slides down that also has a music holder, and there are the Victorian spider webs carved into the corners of the legs. It's just.....GORGEOUS. And about 100 years old.

While I was trying to teach Isaac how to do scales Hannah showed me one of the keys were stuck because a quarter had slipped between the keys. I got it out and while I'm not a sign seeker, there are some things that just seem coincidental that make me smile. It was a Nebraska quarter. How interesting!

Kids Can Make It: Peanut Butter Candy

We also used to call these Peanut Butter Balls growing up.  The kids can make it themselves and get their sensory fulfillment at the same time.

Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup honey
2 cups instant powdered milk

Directions:
Mix together.   Roll into balls.  Set on wax paper and place in the refrigerator for an hour.


It's a great snack and nutritious too!

Summer Activity Ideas: Boredom Box

In 2004 I started putting together this box and really enjoyed the motivation and activity it provided my kids.

I put all this together in a plastic tote you would use for storage. I only kept it out for the summer because usually by fall most of the things in it were used up. I basically put a bunch of new things and some old things in it that would occupy the kids for an afternoon on a rainy day, sick day or just sheer boredom. Don't be shy to join in your kids, some of these things were enjoyable even for a frazzled mom.

For the box, I gathered these supplies:
Play-Doh and a collection of cookie cutters and tools
A board game (new..that way I knew all the pieces were there. The one I loved the most was Caboodle)
Bubbles and wands
Puzzles
Toy collections (Littlest Pet Shops, Club Penguins, Cars, etc)
New coloring books and box of crayons
Small box of beads with lacing for necklace or bracelet creations (I taught them how to make those beaded lizards and dragonflies a few years ago, so you could do that for boys)
Sensory items from the 1.00 aisle (kush balls, squeeze tubes, balls)
Another box of art items and a list of challenges to make with those items.
One movie
Sidewalk Chalk

This box was under lock and key and it was not something they had free will to get into. I only allowed one activity out of the box at a time and they had to bring it back to me when done, even the movie and small toys. It made for some good afternoons of fun and good will towards each other.

Movie Review: Letters to Juliet

I recently saw Amanda Seyfried in Dear John and thought she was a new actress, then realized she had also been in Mama Mia. I think she is a beautiful actress and thought she did very well in all three movies.

This movie takes place in Italy. She arrives in Italy with her fiancé on a "pre-honeymoon", but is essentially a way for him to do some samples of suppliers for his new restaurant. Sophie spends the time mostly bored or by herself as her fiancé spends time with suppliers and auctions.

One afternoon she comes to Verona to see the Letters to Juliet wall, where troubled women leave notes taped to the wall. A woman comes in the evening and gathers them off the wall and then answers them with a group of women known as Juliet's Secretaries. Sophie joins them and one day finds a letter hidden behind a loose rock, and answers the 50 year old letter.

Soon Charlie, the grandson of the Clair, the author of the 50 year old letter, arrives because his grandmother insisted on a trip back to Italy to find her long lost love, Lorenzo. What transpires is a comical hunt for THE Lorenzo and Sophie gaining some personal revelation that her fiancé may not be the one for her.

The movie is rated PG and is a nice, refreshing romantic comedy devoid of inappropriate language and sex scenes. It was really enjoyable and a nice break for an evening. Enjoy!

Homeschool Curriculum Review: KONOS

Because we have had so much change over the last last 5 months we are going to continue homeschooling through the summer. I am using the KONOS curriculum, a unit study based curriculum that is divided into older kids, middle kids and younger kids activities. So far it is going well for us.

A quick review of this curriculum: At first I was a bit confused on how she had it set up and got overwhelmed trying to understand it. Now I realize it was my state of mind at the time, so when I picked it up again, I understood perfectly how it was organized and how to read and plan for the week. She recommends having a language arts and math curriculum separate from her units, so I have been using Horizons Math workbooks and FlashKids language arts (you can find those at Barnes and Noble)to supplement those subjects. I have a planner in which I spend Sunday nights filling in for the week and using her suggested schedule that is located at the beginning of each section. She has the sections divided by character traits (Attentiveness, Obedience, Honor, etc), and those are incorporated into the weekly activities as well. We designated Friday as our activity/field trip days and that has been working very well, pus motivating the kids to get all their other assignments done for the week otherwise they spend Friday catching up and then doing the activities.

Last week we were studying hearing and classical music. I checked out a book from the library that had a CD with it about "Carnival of Animals". It was great fun and entertainment to listen to the music, interpret it and then watch the kids dance or imitate what they though they animals were doing as one of the activities.

KONOS curricula books come in 4 volumes with 2 years worth of work in each volume. It's affordable and it's a whole family approach, which works well for me with 6 kids at varying abilities and ages. We spend about 4-5 hours on shcool, 1-2 hours on chores and cleaning and the rest of the day is left to them to enjoy.

I think this will definitely be one of my "go-to" curricula when life is feeling chaotic and/or stagnant. The kids are enjoying the units as well, so it has been win-win on both parts.

Homemaking Tip of the Week: Cleaning Lists for Kids

We put up a list on every door of the house so that the kids can look at the list and know what needs to be done in that room every day, or on designated days of the week, for special cleaning. These lists are printed in large letters to help with easy reading.

To take this a step further for visually stimulated kids, I will be working on this project over the summer. Take pictures of the room in various stages: messy, cluttered, and clean. Laminate the pictures, add velcro to the backs of the picture and make a chart of sorts to where they can move the pictures from NEEDS TO BE DONE to DONE. The pictures will help them see the how the room should look when it is finished. Maybe they can compare the "dirtiness" of the room on the picture as well.

Another thing I did for my younger kids was make a game of sorts for their daily jobs, like getting dressed, brushing teeth, schoolwork, cleaning their rooms, taking a bath, and going to bed. Because Simeon loves penguins, I laminated a penguin, added a magnet on the back and named the penguin. "Chilly" needs to hop onto the icebergs that have pictures of his daily chores on them so that he can get home to his igloo at night. So far, this has been working great for Simeon, but no one else because they don't love penguins like he does. I thought about adding a chart and favorite laminated character in each child's room so that they can do the same thing with their favorite character. For Hannah it would be a Littlest Petshop animal and for Joshua it would be dinosaurs.

There's some ideas for you try. Feel free to share some of your own ideas with us!