Free Printable:: Chore Chart

In a perfect world, I would be showered, my make-up would be done, and my hair would have just the right amount of volume. The kids would all leave to school with eager smiles, give me sweet kisses good-bye, and skip out the door singing, "We love you, Mother!", in English accents.

I would spend my day being domestically domestic, chirping with song as I glide from room to room dusting and spreading cheer. My house would sparkle with cleanliness and the floors surrounding my toilets would be urine free.

My kids would return from school with those same eager smiles announcing, "School was absolutely lovely today, Mother!", with those same English accents, mind you. They would put their back-packs and shoes away in an orderly fashion and then set off to do their homework. I would give them a sweet and nutritional snack, home made of course, to fill their starving little bellies.

After homework is done and put away, they would begin to help with any other house hold chores that might need getting done... setting the table, helping with dinner, emptying the dishwasher, taking out the garbage, and rubbing my feet.

And since we're on the topic of a perfect world-- my perfect world-- the 'sisters' would be perky and the 10 extra pounds of baby weight and stretch marks would disappear... and I would have the power to fly, naturally.

I think I really love my perfect world.

Unfortunately, that world I speak of- that magical, glorious place- is not real. I know, I wish it were too... especially with the sisters being perky and all. But since the world that I live in is much less than perfect and full of crazy and chaos, I've tried to come up with something to make life a little bit more manageable.

CHORE CHARTS!

Not that chore charts are a unique idea by any means, but a cute chore chart, on the other hand, is hard to find. I scoured the internet trying to find a cute free one and never had a lot of luck. So I thought, why not make my own. Two months later (because I'm awesome at procrastination) our chore charts were printed, laminated, and ready to go.

It helps to have something visual, something that the kids can see and know what's expected of them. Something that helps them feel a sense of accomplishment. It's crazy the excitement they get just by checking off one chore. They're happy. I'm happy. And life suddenly feels a little bit more organized. (for Macie, I put my art skills to work and draw her pictures of what chores she needs to do- picture of a bed for making her bed, dishes for unloading the dishwasher...etc.)

To download your free chore chart click HERE

You can add your child's name by using photoshop or probably any other editing software. If you have any problems with the download just let me know.

Since these chore charts seemed to be such a big hit with the kids, I decided to make one for the husband. It's been fantastic! You should see how giddy with excitement Nate is every time he gets to choose a sparkly sticker to put on his chart. It's priceless!

. . . . .

In which Eden winks... or at least attempts to.

The cheapest form of entertainment comes in the body of a 1 year old.

This could possibly be my favorite age... ever.

. . . . .

9 Years of Abrie

She wanted a surprise birthday party and a surprise birthday she got.

We checked out a few of her friends from school and had them come over to our house

to hide and wait for Abrie to come home.

Abrie walked through the door happy and unsuspecting.

"What do you want to do today for your birthday?" I asked.

"Umm, I don't know." was her quick response

and before she knew it, 4 cute girls were jumping out yelling, "SURPRISE!".

A completely shocked Abrie could barely spit out the words,

"How did you...?! How did they...?! How could you...?! When did you...?!"

and then a high pitched squeal and a giant hug was followed by

the most enthusiastic thank you I've ever heard.

And we were off to go paint some pottery and indulge in some yummy cupcakes

for a little birthday celebration.

My Abrie, she is a happy little soul

and a mother couldn't possibly ask for more.

I'm so glad she's mine.

. . . . .

Last night was insane...

at least the parts I can remember.

If I were a single 20-something year old this story would have a completely different ending, probably a more exciting, one-for-the-journal, or maybe not-for-the-journal ending.

But I am a married 30 year old with 4 kids and my life is full of a different kind of excitement.

It all started with a *drive by Diet Coke-ing and a little texting conversation with a beloved friend, Angie (insert link to Angie's family blog here, or at least I would, but she's private and that would just defeat the purpose.)

Me: Macie has probably thrown up 13 times in the past three hours. 9:01 pm

Me: Make that 15 times... 9:13 pm

Me: Now 17, and Abrie is joining in. It's going to be a long night. 9:40 pm

Me: Pretty sure I've never seen that much throw up come out of one little boy- it was everywhere. Best part is, he was in our bed... on my side. 10:40 pm

Me: Macie, Kaleb, and Abrie... It's called synchronized vomiting. 10:46 pm

Seriously. What are the odds that three of my children would have the flu at the exact same time. It was almost comedic; as I would be racing to help one child, Nate would pass me in the hall rushing another one to the bathroom.

I think if we were to add up the amount of times my kids threw up the number would be well over 50. For reals... not for fake. I don't kid when it comes to vomit.

The fun part was when I was running between Abrie, Kaleb, and Macie trying to help them, I started to feel a little bit queasy. And then, BAM! It hit me (just minus the sound effect).

At least Nate's not sick yet. Right? He can take care of me and the kids and nurse us all back to health. He'll be there to rub my back, do the dishes, and feed me grapes. And maybe, this will end up being like a mini-vacation for me. Maybe me getting the flu was divine intervention.

So I'm laying in my bed when I hear Kaleb throwing up. I turn to Nate eager to use the I'm-sick card when I see Nate stagger out of bed, but instead of rushing to help Kaleb, he ran straight for the bathroom. My visions of grapes and massages quickly disappeared.

It was kind of like that feeling when you reach for the bag of Samoa Girl Scout Cookies to eat that one last cookie you've been saving-- saving for that one special moment where just you and the cookie could be alone together-- but you reach in the bag and find that it's missing. Gone. Stolen. No where to be found. And your heart breaks just a little.

It was like that, but worse.

The rest of the night was pretty much a blur.

I remember a lot of footsteps running to and from the bathroom.

I remember thinking I'd rather natural child birth than the stomach flu... or not.

I remember hearing a lot of throwing up... in surround sound.

The sound echoed through our house and I couldn't help anyone- just myself.

The next morning Abrie was crying to me while I was laying in my bed, "Mom, I yelled a lot for you last night, but you never came. So I came and slept on your floor so you could hear me and when I called for you, you still didn't answer." Poor thing. But I couldn't help it, I was in a flu induced coma.

So we spent the day together laying around being sick. It was such a great bonding experience for all of us-

me, my husband, the children, and the can of Lysol.

P.S. The hypochondriac inside you is feeling sick now, isn't it. Or maybe that's just me.

*Drive by Diet Coke-ing- the act of driving past one's house with favorite beverage in hand, jumping out of the car placing it on the door step, knocking on the door, and then quickly running away as to not receive any germ exposure from the sick and otherwise afflicted.

. . . . .

Blech!

We're taking our turn with the stomach flu this week.

It's no fun.

. . . . .

And that was a most awesome observation, miss Boilergrl.

I was indeed wearing the coke shirt while rock climbing.

And I would still be wearing it today,

but it got thrown up on...

It was a really special moment for both me, and my shirt.

. . . . .

I've got a new hobby

I went rock climbing this weekend with one of my dearest friends, Whit & her hubby.

They were kind enough to let me invite myself.

And I was gracious enough to accept their obligatory invite... of me inviting myself.

They were pro. And I pretended to be pro.

I got some shots of her husband in action.

And Whitney managed to get some great shots of me.

She thought I was pretty funny.

And this was my special thank you text from me to her...

You can check out more pictures on Whitney's blog.

. . . . .

Well, this is awkward

I thought I'd have a little sit down at my computer to see if I could get the sarcastic/writing/creative juices flowing...

and,

I've got nothin'.

It's seems as if I'm fresh out of funny and running low on creative.

But,

I do have this...

On any given day, you could stop by my house...
Actually, don't just stop by. Call first. I have dishes to hide and Febreze to spray.
(so after you call, and after I pretend clean)

you can show up to my house and odds are I would be wearing this shirt.

ENJOY COKE!

And I do. Everyday. 32 oz. of love.

And Coke doesn't even pay me for it,
but they should.

And that's all I have to say on the topic of having nothing to say.

. . . . .

Two for the price of one

I have a baby that doubles as a puppy...

And a puppy that doubles as a baby...

Sadly, I find this extremely entertaining

and oddly cute.

. . . . .