Dr. Seuss and Savvy

For Dr. Seuss Day at my kids school they had to take a picture of themselves reading in a funny place and then make a Dr. Seuss style poem. Savvy was pretty creative and came up with these three poses. She chose the first pose on the trampoline and came up with this poem...

"Oh Me, Oh My 

Look at what you've seen!

A little girl reading on a trampoline!"

Pretty cute if I say so myself!

Hailey had to join in and try it too!

UPDATE on CHORE CHARTS!

UPDATE!!!!

UPDATE!!!!

As of February 1, 2013

I have a new blog created for all of my chore charts, click on the button below!

They are new, updated and awesome!

Welcome Olympic party...

We welcomed the Olympics this year with a 'minute to win it' Olympic party. Our chef McKay made 6 cakes that resembled the Olympic rings..

  Our 'event' table-

Ping Pong Cup Game where you throw the ping pongs into the paper cups.

Cereal Box where you put together the cut up cereal box.

Chocolate Unicorn where you stack 7 ding dongs on your forehead for 3 seconds.

Saltine Challenge where you try and eat 6 saltine crackers in less than a minute. It is impossible!

Golf Ball Stack where you try and stack 3 golf balls on top of each other .

Dice Game where you must stack 6 die on top of a Popsicle stick for 3 seconds.

IT WAS HILARIOUS!

 

 

 

I must say the best challenge was the Saltine cracker challenge. Everyone thinks they can do it and NOBODY can ever do it! We were hysterical watching even the big guys choke on their crackers and spit out the crumbs...

It was a great time!

Keep kids brains WORKING during summer!

My kids think summer is a time for laziness, games and endless sleepovers. Though we do have a lot of those days, I also make sure their brains don't turn into mush with some daily reading, math, and  projects. My new favorite project is our weekly Sunday reports. Every Sunday the kids draw their subject and have one week to write a one page report to be presented in front of the family. It has been a blast and some of the papers have been pretty interesting!

 Logan presenting his report!

Here is my list of subjects...
YOU CAN PURCHASE THE REST HERE:
www.iheartchorecharts.blogspot.com

Smart kids=College Scholarship=Happy Parents!

HAPPY LEARNING!

Welcome SUMMER!

 The last day of school was fun...

My friend Amy and I decided to make a fun banner and attach it to the trees at the bus stop. We had treats, food, balloons and fun.

It was cute to see Savvy's face as she got off the bus!

And of course, they all ran through the banner...

When they got home, I had candy grams on their bed for them...

Now to entertain 6 kids all summer

(wish me luck!)

World of Coca Cola

The World of Coca Cola.... 

We had lived in Atlanta for about a week when we decided we needed a break from the insanity of moving in and went to our first tourist trap...

Seriously I thought my kids were going to throw up, they had samples of EVERY flavor from every country that Coca Cola makes. Dozens and dozens and my kids sampled every one!

Sweet brother...

It was fun to get our minds off of unpacking and spend time as a family!

Candy Gram Fun...

My kids are very routine oriented kids and it was pretty stressful looking for a home in Atlanta. They didn't like the 'uncertainty' of it all and had a hard time waiting as we found a house and it fell through, maybe this house, nope... 

Mind you,  I was picky and wanted great schools for my kids to attend. 

If you don't know about this website yet... GREAT SCHOOLS.ORG it will show you every school out there, their test scores, rating, etc. We eventually found a home and were able to move pretty fast. To tell my kids  'thanks for your patience' we gave them a fun candy gram...

Needless to say, we are finally settling into a routine and of course Summer is just around the corner which will mess it all up again, but it's nothing that some TLC and a little candy won't fix!

Tuck Ins...

We have six kids...

that is half a dozen kids...

that is 6 kids involved in 6 sports...

that is 6 kids going through different attitude stages simutaneously...

that is 6 college educations

and

that is 6 nightly tuck ins...

Jason and I decided since our time is spread so thin with each kid

and our time to communicate with them is sparse, 

we would make tuck ins

a very special time.

We talk, 

listen

and tickle their backs.

We ask each kid three questions...

What was the best part of today?

What was the hardest?

What is your hope for tomorrow?

This opens up the doors of communication and means so much to both of us.

To tuck the little girls in, Jason tells them the most amazing stories about two little girls taking adventures (he does throw in how the girls also attend Harvard, you know it doesnt hurt to start planting an idea!)

I like to plant gardens on their tummys. 

We go through the process of raking the dirt, making rows for the seeds and planting whatever their hearts desire-which often includes cake, roses, shoes...
cute silly girls!

These times are so precious and my kids make sure we try and do it every night.

I came across this TED talk today, it's amazing and talks about how we all need to slow down a little.

You should really take a moment and listen to it...

Here's to happy tuck ins and happy kids...

Halloween Countdown...

Whoever thought of the paper countdown is seriously a genius.

Our little munchkin Savvy loves the holidays.

She has asked about 4 million times in the last week when Halloween will be so

we had to make a countdown to show her.

She never skips a day and the asking has dissappeared.

Hang in there Savvy, 

Halloween 

is

so 

close!

It's off to Florida...

We are so over do for a relaxing vacation-we headed out to Florida for a nice

little vaca-

My kids were sure wishing they would get first class, but with

a family of 8, that ain't happening! So I made their own little 1st class packets.... seriously who

needs 1st class when you travel with our little family or better known as, Madsen Incorporated?

It was a great flight but we are so glad to be here!

Rewards for Chores....

UPDATE!!!!

UPDATE!!!!

As of February 1, 2013

I have a new blog especially created for these chore charts, click on the button below!

They are new and updated and pretty awesome!

I have been asked by many to show what I do to motivate 

and reward my kiddos when it comes to chores 

(or really anything I feel needs to be rewarded)

Honestly, I have tried dozens of reward systems and some seem to stick more than others.

This is our most current one and seems to be working!

They get points for completing chores, helping each other out, helping mom out, 

going the extra mile, etc.

Once a week we have a cash in day where they can buy certain items I have on little sheets in 

these drawers...

 

I have so many rewards, some of them include:

mom makes your bed for a week, $5.00 for a book, game night, favorite candy and soda, favorite box of cereal, 1 extra hour of screen time, a visit to a yogurt shop, your favorite ice cream, the front seat in our car for a week, one itunes app, etc.

I think motivating and rewarding kids for things is a lifelong task that works for some and not so much for others. My 14 year old is more motivated by me saying, get it done or no friend time- it seems to be different for each kid and with our 6 it takes some serious thinking!

Good luck!

If you want a copy of the rewards I have made, please click on the BUY NOW through PayPal. It is only $1.50, includes the chore charts as well and will make all of the requests I have had for these worth the time it takes to send them out. Just make sure to include your email! I send these asap via email so if you do not get them within two business days PLEASE send me an email at rebeccamadsen@comcast.net! THANK YOU!