Having Trouble with Chores or Even Bad Behavior?

Having Trouble with Chores or Even Bad Behavior?

I did, and it is a work in progress every day.  As a Mom I think we all hit a certain point and we ache for some advise, some course of action to help get our kids to help more around the house with out making it some End of the World Drama.  I won’t even go in to the trouble I am having with my to older ones and their constant fighting.  I have had enough, I needed something to entice them to help more, fight less, and I needed help.

So I did some Pintrist searching and after following a behavior chart that I had found which had them move up and down with a point system, with very little luck as a long term solution. I needed to revamp it for my kiddo’s.  So I am here today to share with you what I came up with.

This Behavior and Chore Chart System is a big blessing in our house.  Is it not perfect, not by a long shot, but it is working very well.

Having Trouble with Chores or Even Bad Behavior?

I did, and it is a work in progress every day.  As a Mom I think we all hit a certain point and we ache for some advise, some course of action to help get our kids to help more around the house with out making it some End of the World Drama.  I won’t even go in to the trouble I am having with my to older ones and their constant fighting.  I have had enough, I needed something to entice them to help more, fight less, and I needed help.

So I did some Pintrist searching and after following a behavior chart that I had found which had them move up and down with a point system, with very little luck as a long term solution. I needed to revamp it for my kiddo’s.  So I am here today to share with you what I came up with.

This Behavior and Chore Chart System is a big blessing in our house.  Is it not perfect, not by a long shot, but it is working very well.

What I did was take One Room with every thing that needed to be done in it and assigned points to each chore.  Some are worth 10 but most are 5 points.  Trust me, it adds up fast.  The pictures above just show a couple of the rooms.  I have Living room and Family rooms, Bedrooms, Kitchen and Dining rooms, Office and or Library, Laundry room, Pantry, Bathroom, and Hallway and Stairs.

I also have a card with extra chores. For me I have Pull weeds, each min of pulling weeds is 1 point.  Clean the door knobs of the whole house, read for 20 min for 10 points, and Help clean the car. I also have for our house music practice points.  Each time my Son practices his Violin for 30 min he gets 10 points.  Gets him doing something he needs to do any way and he still feels rewarded by getting bonus points.  

Now, to help with the bad behavior that my kiddo’s have had of late, I minus points for certain behaviors.  A couple of examples are Not listening and fighting minus 5 points.  Another one is Lying to us.  I can’t stand this so it is one of our big minuses.  If they tell us they lied before we find out they get less taken away, but if we find out first then it is even more.  We have not had any more lying because of this.  One more I will share is Bad words and hurtful words to family members.  That one is a work in progress with siblings.    Behaviors will change in each home as to what is not okay and what is.  That is Okay, as long as you can be consistent.

I also think you should reward for good behavior as well.  So if the kids are cought doing good things they will get points added.

Now for the big and so simple reward for why this system works in my home.  They get to spend their points on two different things.  the first is 1 point for 1 minute of electronics.  that could be computer, t.v. or tablet  time.  The next one that they can spend their points on may seem low to some but for me it is a compromise.  They can spend the points on 1 point for $0.01.  So if they have a 100 points they get $1.00.  For me it is a compromise because I don’t really think my kids should get an allowance.  I feed them, cloth them, cook for them, and many more things that come from being a mother and a parent.  Yes I asked for it, I wanted it with all my heart, but I am also a human being who needs help as well.  And like I said before the points add up fast.  If they did every thing I asked during the day in chores they could easily walk away with $5.00 each.  Now I have two kids old enough to help with these chores.  My 3 year old is struggling with learning that she needs to help, especially as a third child because older siblings could do it for her.   The day will come were the kids walk away with only a couple dollars each but I am sure as they get older I will need to revamp in adding and taking away some things to this system.

To get my Cards you can email me or message me through face book.

Please if you have any suggestions,  I love feedback on the things I post about, so feel free to contact me.

Ocean Waves Blanket

Ocean Waves Blanket

I just finished this fun afghan for my niece for Christmas.  Her favorite color is teal blue, so I really wanted to do something that would give it a beach or ocean feel.    I looked around for several days before I found this beautiful pattern from Frayed Knot.  It was well worth the price and I highly recommend it to others looking for some thing a little different.  I say different because it hasn’t been anything I had seen or done yet.  Obviously with it only my third completed project I haven’t seen much. LOL, but I am working hard on changing that.

I made a few changes of my own for this project.  I add a few more rows then Frayed Knot’s pattern, I also did it almost big enough to fit a twin bed.  I wanted her to be able to grow into as she got older.  it turned out to be about 50 in wide and 62 in length.  It will make a wonderful little movie blanket.  I got a little taste of it, and now I need to make one for my self, eventually.  Till then I will enjoy knowing my niece is getting it.  

The materials I used were:

3  Caron Simply Soft Paints Peacock Feather

3  Caron Simply Soft Blue Mint

3  Caron Simply Soft Pagoda

Hook size 5.5 mm

Honey Mustered Chicken Spinach Salad

Oh My, do I have a recipe to share with you today.  I made this for my family last night and it was a huge hit.  With us trying to eat better by making things that have little to no sugar or trying to find substitutes with no Gluten for when My parents eat with us, I took a recipe I got from a friend and made some changes to fit our family’s likes and needs

My First Step was Take 6 pieces of Chicken strips along with half of the bottle of Hak’s Bbq sauce Smoked Maple Mustard and put them in the crock pot for 4 hours on high.  When they where finished cooking I placed it in the fridge to cool.  I did this first thing in the morning so it has time to cool.

Dinner time is here, time to put every thing together!

In a large bowl combine 8oz of Spinach,

1 Cucumber,

3 Roma tomato’s,

1 Green Bell Pepper,

1 purple/red Onion,

1/2 Cup Cheese,

1/4 Cup Slivered Almonds,

And finally we get to add our chicken after we have diced them into bite sized pieces, and 1 Cup of the Hak’s Sauces that you cooked and cooled.

Stir and enjoy your labors!  We sure did. 

Color Flashcards

Sorry, this month has been a rough month.  I also have good intentions of doing a post and something happens.  I will try to do better. 

I have mentioned in one of my first posts that I love to make things that help my kids learn.  I finished these Color Flash cards a while back and thought I would share them with you today.

Made into a 3×5 card, double sided, and then laminated to make them more sturdy and to protect them from my amazing Kids.   My 3 year old loves them.  She colors on them using dry erase markers and all I have to do is wipe them off and there back to like new.  She also likes them because they are not too small but not too big for her to hold.

To get my Digital down load email me or hope over to face book and message me.  

Southern Utah Sunset

I absolutely love taking photo’s.  I am not great at it, but it is something that brings me joy into my life.  A photo can tell a story, it is a memory, it is a treasure.

I took this picture on our way home one evening in Southern Utah.  I love sunsets.  The colors are just amazing.  This particular photo caught my eye immediately after taking it.  The haze in the photo gave it almost a mystic feel to me.  Just like this photo life isn’t always clear.  We may be unsure of things unsure of what to do next.  It can drag us down in to a bitter and stressful bog. But life is also beautiful, it is full of life, love, and hope.  Life isn’t easy but it is how we view it that will change how react to it.

Lol, here I am getting all serious when I am one of the most stressful people out there.  Now if only I could remember this every time I start stressing about things. I guess we all can learn from a sunset huh.   

Crocheted Flower Hair Clips

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  My family and I were able to escape for several days to enjoy the great out doors and to visit the grave sites of several of our family that have past away and that served our country and gave us the great freedoms we enjoy each day.  

Today I wanted to share these cute little flowers that are very simple to make and just plain adorable.  I love that it is very simple and that you can change the size of the flower with the adding or subtracting of just a few chains.

I have used these as hair clips, and have made a cute little welcome sign that I made from an old cupboard.  You will get to see that in a few day on a separate post.

You can find the pattern for this adorable flower here at Little Miss Stitcher.  She has since stopped blogging but the pattern is still available.  She has several other cute things, check her out.  You can also email me or message me through face book to order these cute things.  :)

Almond, Herb, Chicken and Tomatoes

Came across a recipe the other day that just made me water at the mouth.   I really wanted to try it, but it was made with flour, vegetable oil, and half and half.  Three things that I couldn’t have or just isn’t good for you, so I made some changes and waiting to see if my kiddo’s and hubby approved.  After 2 trips back for each person and guess it was a hit.

Almond, Herb, Chicken and Tomatoes

You will need:

* 1 1/2 tsp Basil Leaves
* 1 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
* 1 tsp Crushed Rosemary ( I like fresh)
* 3 tbsp Crushed/ Ground Almonds
* 1 1/2 lbs Organic Boneless/Skinless
Chicken Breasts
* 1 Onion, finely chopped
* Coconut oil
* 2 Vines Tomato’s, diced
* 1 1/2 c Chicken Broth
( I make my own homemade broth)
* 2 tbsp of Almond Milk
* 1 heaping tbsp of Corn Starch

First, mix seasoning in a gallon baggies. Reserve in a small container
2 tsp. Add 2 tbsp of ground almonds to gallon baggies. Add Chicken
to baggie and shake till chicken is evenly coated.

Heat Coconut oil in skillet on medium heat, add chicken and cook till
golden brown or cooked through. Add more oil if needed. Remove
chicken and keep warm.

Add more coconut oil if need and saute onions. When soft add
remaining ground almonds. Add tomatoes and reaming seasoning, bring to boil, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in almond milk and a mixture of corn starch
and little water to dissolve corn starch. When starts to thicken and chicken and heat till warm.

I love finishing this recipe off by adding it with Organic brown rice and steamed zucchini and yellow squash.  Hope you like it as much as our family did.