not so piggy ~Bank.
A while back Isabelle and I were driving home and she said to me "Mom, I want to have my own money" I told her that was a great idea.......Then I asked her "how did she think she could get some of her "own"money?"
"I dunno".....she replied "Maybe I could do something for you and you could pay me for it?!" B-I-N-G-O...she ain't no dummy.
I was very excited. What a perfect opportunity to teach her about the value of money, hard work, budgeting, spending, saving and more! I talked to her about it all the way home...by the time we got there she was elated about all the possibilities and was an eager beaver to get to work and start raking in the cash!
First task - Raking the leaves out of the back yard....she started with gusto and quickly tired out. she did finish and before I paid her we sat down and made a piggy bank.....not exactly in the shape of a piggy but it'll have to do. She wrote Isabelle's piggy bank all around the top and I LOVE the picture she drew on it. It's of her throwing the money she's earned into the bank. Great depiction of the money actually being thrown.
The next few days were wonderful! She scrubbed out cupboards, put away laundry, raked more leaves and even changed one of Scarletts poopy diapers! (I had to pay out dearly for this last one but it was worth it. Scarlett is about ready to potty train and she is an eating machine...let's just say her diapers are extremely unpleasant to change! don't worry I supervised the whole thing, but it was genius on my part)
We talked about what she wanted to save for and what she wanted to buy. We told her any bigger purchases she chooses to save for we will pay half and she must save half. Anything else she has to pay for herself. She thought long and hard and decided she wanted to pay for a ride on a mechanical elephant at the local mall and that she would save everything else she earned for our upcoming trip to Canada. She wants to buy something nice there. (I may surprise her with her own wallet to bring her money to Canada in...)
A ride on the elephant costs 10pesos. She carefully counted them, put them in her pocket, and we headed out. She walked right up to the guy collecting the money and said how much for an elephant ride? He said: "10 pesos." She looked up at me with a huge smile, proud as ever, carefully took her 10 pesos out of her little pocket and handed them over.
Even though she has been on theses rides many times before I guarantee that this was the most enjoyable elephant ride ever! Things always taste 100 times better when you have worked for them. I was so proud of her and I could see it in her eye's she was proud of herself. She had earned the money and had paid for and enjoyed the ride. The first thing my tiny little baby girl has ever bought on her own....where does the time go?
It all happens to fast....sniff sniff.
"I dunno".....she replied "Maybe I could do something for you and you could pay me for it?!" B-I-N-G-O...she ain't no dummy.
I was very excited. What a perfect opportunity to teach her about the value of money, hard work, budgeting, spending, saving and more! I talked to her about it all the way home...by the time we got there she was elated about all the possibilities and was an eager beaver to get to work and start raking in the cash!
First task - Raking the leaves out of the back yard....she started with gusto and quickly tired out. she did finish and before I paid her we sat down and made a piggy bank.....not exactly in the shape of a piggy but it'll have to do. She wrote Isabelle's piggy bank all around the top and I LOVE the picture she drew on it. It's of her throwing the money she's earned into the bank. Great depiction of the money actually being thrown.
The next few days were wonderful! She scrubbed out cupboards, put away laundry, raked more leaves and even changed one of Scarletts poopy diapers! (I had to pay out dearly for this last one but it was worth it. Scarlett is about ready to potty train and she is an eating machine...let's just say her diapers are extremely unpleasant to change! don't worry I supervised the whole thing, but it was genius on my part)
We talked about what she wanted to save for and what she wanted to buy. We told her any bigger purchases she chooses to save for we will pay half and she must save half. Anything else she has to pay for herself. She thought long and hard and decided she wanted to pay for a ride on a mechanical elephant at the local mall and that she would save everything else she earned for our upcoming trip to Canada. She wants to buy something nice there. (I may surprise her with her own wallet to bring her money to Canada in...)
A ride on the elephant costs 10pesos. She carefully counted them, put them in her pocket, and we headed out. She walked right up to the guy collecting the money and said how much for an elephant ride? He said: "10 pesos." She looked up at me with a huge smile, proud as ever, carefully took her 10 pesos out of her little pocket and handed them over.
Even though she has been on theses rides many times before I guarantee that this was the most enjoyable elephant ride ever! Things always taste 100 times better when you have worked for them. I was so proud of her and I could see it in her eye's she was proud of herself. She had earned the money and had paid for and enjoyed the ride. The first thing my tiny little baby girl has ever bought on her own....where does the time go?
It all happens to fast....sniff sniff.
Isabelleism......
Isabelle drew a picture of a dinosaur today.
She then said "This Dinosaur is 33 kids tall"
She even wrote 33 kids at the top of the page...just so everyone knew how tall the dino actually was.
Love the train of thought. So cute!
She then said "This Dinosaur is 33 kids tall"
She even wrote 33 kids at the top of the page...just so everyone knew how tall the dino actually was.
Love the train of thought. So cute!
Great Goals
Kids......oh how they grow...
I have really been thinking about my kids and how fast they are growing up. I feel like my time with them, my time to shape and mold them into the great people I want them to become, is so short. The task feels overwhelming at times and I worry about falling short....about failing them. This parenting job is not one I am willing to take lightly.
I have very high hopes and dreams for my children ~ as I'm sure most parents do. I see, so very clearly, their potential.
I worry about sending them out into the world. I worry about Jr. High School and all the trials it can bring, especially for girls. Girls can be so catty, vindictive and hurtful. Throw that in with raging hormones and you have a recipe for disaster.
I so badly want my girls to be self confident, self assured, focused, motivated people. I want them to have a strong sense of there own ability's, talents, likes and dislikes. I want them to be comfortable and confident in their own skin.
I do not want them to be "sheep" and simply follow the crowd because they have no idea what else to do or who they are.
I want them to know the value of hard work and the pay off that comes from it.
I want them to have a secure, strong family and home that they can always turn to and rely on.
I want them know the feeling of personal achievement and take pride in what they can accomplish and know there are NO limits to what they can do.
So how does one go about shaping and molding these tender young minds.....gently leading them to greatness?? Isn't that just the question of the day!?
Lately, I have been reading and studying about how to raise children to prevent all sorts of "issues" through out their growing up years. I personally believe there is not one big answer, no secret key, no magic wand or perfect recipe for success. I feel like it is many small things that can make all the difference. Put the small things together and great things can be achieved.
We have started a goal chart, if you will, with Isabelle. We sat down and had a long chat explaining what exactly a personal goal was. Every Sunday afternoon she comes up with and writes down 2 goals for herself, for that week. It's only 2 and she can easily focus on those two things every day. She is really starting to catch on now and it's wonderful to see. She comes up with them on her own usually suggesting them to me sometime before Sunday is even here saying : Hey mom I have and Idea for one of my goals for next week!" She's starting to be able to look at herself and figure out something she would like to improve on.
Every night we have a little chat and decide how she did that day. She get's a super sparkly sticker if she did perfectly, a normal barbie sticker if she did ok and an X if she didn't do good at all. She is the one who makes the final decision as to what she thinks she deserves for the day and I don't argue with her about it. She is very fair and honest with herself. I love seeing the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction on her face at the end of a day when she's done really great. You can see she's so proud of herself, as she picks out a sparkly sticker.
Every night we have a little chat and decide how she did that day. She get's a super sparkly sticker if she did perfectly, a normal barbie sticker if she did ok and an X if she didn't do good at all. She is the one who makes the final decision as to what she thinks she deserves for the day and I don't argue with her about it. She is very fair and honest with herself. I love seeing the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction on her face at the end of a day when she's done really great. You can see she's so proud of herself, as she picks out a sparkly sticker.
Some of her goals over the last little while have been:
~practice my reading everyday for 10 min.
~play nicely with my sister
~Do what I am asked the FIRST time I am asked
~wipe, flush and wash my hands everytime I go to the bathroom
~practice riding my scooter around the loop everyday to get better balance
I LOVE the goals she made this week. I was so proud of her for coming
up with them on her own. They are bang on and she really tries hard
throughout the day.
1. Don't argue or complain
2. Don't say NO to Mom and Dad.
She always like to draw a little picture ~ of course, cause she's Isabelle ~ In this one she is shown saying "YAS" (yes) instead of no, like goal #2 says.
Making personal goals, big or small, and actually ACHIEVING them leads to great things. It helps develop trust in yourself, you then in turn gain self confidence. When you are a self confident person you want to grow and achieve so you set goals to better yourself and the cycle continues. You feel proud of yourself and what you can accomplish. Making, setting and achieving goals is a great tool to success. It is a very good habit to get into.
It provides focus and purpose to everyday life. It helps one to continually grow, progress and evolve as a person.....always moving forward, always learning.
I have noticed a huge change in Isabelle and myself over the last month or so that we have been doing this. She is such a good girl with a good heart and I am so proud of her!
Mom, I cut my bangs!
Oh those dreaded words.
It took 5 years, and 5 months for me to hear them. They came out loud and clear the other day along with the explanation of some glue stuck in the bangs and trying to get it out....oh no.
I honestly thought we were past the point of having to worry about it. We have had the "You NEVER cut your own hair talk more than once" and she always nods in agreement and understanding.
Here is a picture of her with the chunk out of her bangs. We are growing them out and they were just to the point of being able to fit into her little pony.
(Note: Yes, those are cat whiskers drawn onto her cheeks by herself.)
It took 5 years, and 5 months for me to hear them. They came out loud and clear the other day along with the explanation of some glue stuck in the bangs and trying to get it out....oh no.
I honestly thought we were past the point of having to worry about it. We have had the "You NEVER cut your own hair talk more than once" and she always nods in agreement and understanding.
Here is a picture of her with the chunk out of her bangs. We are growing them out and they were just to the point of being able to fit into her little pony.
(Note: Yes, those are cat whiskers drawn onto her cheeks by herself.)
Monthly Family Getaway!
Bohol ~ March 2011
The next day was spent playing around at the beach and in the pool at the hotel.
The next day we ventured out and went exploring the Island.....
Second Stop: River Boat Dinner Tour.....We got on a nice wide
boat. They served us an all you can eat buffet as we cruised down the
river while listening to a live band and soaking up all the beautiful
scenery. There were a few docks along the side of the river that had local kids singing and dancing for our entertainment. Our girls
loved watching them.
Last Stop: Tarsier Monkeys....oh these were great! They are tiny nocturnal little monkeys with huge eyes. Scarlett was DYING to hold them and when she finally got her hands on one I think (as you can see by the picture) she squeezed it a wee bit hard. There was a rooster raising farm right next door.
When we got back we fed the kids some fruit and cereal, we had in the hotel room, for dinner and put them to bed. They were wasted from the excitement of the day and fell asleep quickly with smiles on their little faces. Lance and I then went out to the restaurant by the pool to have ourselves a nice little dinner date. It was a great way to end a great day.
The next day we had to pack up. We were traveling back through cebu so we planned to stop at the S&R (costco) and stock up on a few goodies before catching our flight. On the cab ride Isabelle was playing with a comb and got it stuck in her hair. We didn't have scissors or the time to sit and try and untangle it so she shopped and ate with it in.
At the airport Lance broke the comb in half and finally got it out but at the expense of a LOT of lost hair. Poor girl she hardly has any to begin with....
It was a nice family weekend exploring, eating, swimming and relaxing!
The next day we had to pack up. We were traveling back through cebu so we planned to stop at the S&R (costco) and stock up on a few goodies before catching our flight. On the cab ride Isabelle was playing with a comb and got it stuck in her hair. We didn't have scissors or the time to sit and try and untangle it so she shopped and ate with it in.
At the airport Lance broke the comb in half and finally got it out but at the expense of a LOT of lost hair. Poor girl she hardly has any to begin with....
It was a nice family weekend exploring, eating, swimming and relaxing!
Piggy's piggy's...
Over here in the Philippines they love pork. They eat it all different ways...the pig's over here are huge. I see them all the time. Finally the other day i got a chance to take a picture of one that was just tied up by the side of the road. This is not the biggest pig I have seen but it gives you good idea of the size.
Family Rules
The other day we were driving home and out of the blue Isabelle suggests to me that we make a poster of our "family rules" and hang it on the wall so we can all see them and so we don't forget them. "Great Idea Izz" I say, while wondering what exactly her idea of our family rules are. So we get home and get busy carrying on with the day - I completely forget the poster.
The next morning she woke up in a huff "MOM we forgot to make the family rules poster!" We quickly found a large piece of paper and some felt pens. She walked me through the whole thing. "First, write Jarman Family Rules at the top." Check. "Now write numbers 1-10" Check. Meanwhile I am thinking TEN rules, she's going to come up with TEN rules?! My curiosity was peaked.
She then proceeded to List them off one by one. I helped her with the wording on a few of them but most are word for word. She them wanted to draw a picture of each person in our family. Then she got out the poster puddy and plastered it to the wall.
I wasen't sure how much water the "poster" would hold but only minutes after she had put it up it came into play. She was sitting at the table just finishing her bowl of cereal, she jumped down and started to walk away from the table and then she said "oops, better clear my bowl, family rule you know mom!" I was very pleased with the outcome of the whole situation. It was her Idea and she came up with all the rules so whenever I need to enforce them I can simply say "Remember it's a family rule on your poster" nice.
The next morning she woke up in a huff "MOM we forgot to make the family rules poster!" We quickly found a large piece of paper and some felt pens. She walked me through the whole thing. "First, write Jarman Family Rules at the top." Check. "Now write numbers 1-10" Check. Meanwhile I am thinking TEN rules, she's going to come up with TEN rules?! My curiosity was peaked.
She then proceeded to List them off one by one. I helped her with the wording on a few of them but most are word for word. She them wanted to draw a picture of each person in our family. Then she got out the poster puddy and plastered it to the wall.
I wasen't sure how much water the "poster" would hold but only minutes after she had put it up it came into play. She was sitting at the table just finishing her bowl of cereal, she jumped down and started to walk away from the table and then she said "oops, better clear my bowl, family rule you know mom!" I was very pleased with the outcome of the whole situation. It was her Idea and she came up with all the rules so whenever I need to enforce them I can simply say "Remember it's a family rule on your poster" nice.
Little Leprechauns!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
I love explaining to Isabelle about different holidays and the "to do's" that surround them. It makes them so much fun for me, now that I can live them through the eye's of a child. She's at that age where she just absorbs that stuff like a sponge. She is all over it, asking me all shorts of different questions about the can and can't do's of the said holiday. So obviously the latest one was St. Pat's day. The night before I told her all about it...the leprechauns the rainbows the pot of gold the lucky 4 leaf clovers the importance of the color green.
The next morning we all got up and quickly dressed in our best green to avoid the little pinches of my 5 year old. We made cookies with green 4 leaf clovers (please excuse the art, I realize my clovers need some work :( The girls had green funny face toast and green milk for breakfast. We walked down to the resort by our house to talk to a lady and she commented on our color coordinated outfits. I told her it was St. Patrick's day in Canada and everyone wears green....she looked at me funny and then she said "I have son who was born in March and his name is Patrick" .....hmmmm.Apparently they don't celebrate the traditional holiday over here.
All in all it was good day. Hope yours was good to!
Hot new heals
While we were in Cebu a few weeks ago we did some shopping. Lance likes shopping (thankfully) but I LOVE it! Seriously, love it.
Lance is so good to me when we go shopping together on trips. He walks around with me, goes into girl shops, watches the kids run around the store while I try stuff on...all because he knows I need my "retail therapy"
Anyway, I found a few great items this trip....but my absolute favorite purchase was the 2 pairs of hot new heals I found.
What girl doesn't love a great pair of heals?!
Ok, I know lot's of girls don't. These pic's are for those other women who share my love of a fantastic pair of shoes.
Pasta and Pool's!
Pasta and Pools - Those were the main activities of our Saturday Morning.
Isabelle just loves Crafts. Anything to do with coloring, cutting, gluing, painting, stickers ~ well, you get the point, she just loves it. She'll sit at the table for an hour or more just working away.
We got up Saturday morning and loaded the table with felts, glue, colored paper and pasta noodles. Let the fun begin!! Here are a few of our creations. I think the girls ate as much raw, hard pasta as they glued on. Is it weird how much they love it, uncooked?!
Fun was had by all....and we think that's exactly how a Saturday should be.
1,2,..,4,5,6
We were invited over to our friends the Beatties the other day for a Birthday Party! Their youngest turned 2. We had a great time!
Pizza, Sushi, Candles, Cake, Presents and a Pinata! Meghan stuffed it FULL of super yummy candies and the kids had a blast taking turns whacking it!
A interesting thing about this Birthday is the consecutive ages it puts our kids at. Between us we now have a 1,2,..,4,5,6 year olds. This is won't last for long however, with in the next few months Sydney will turn 5 and Scarlett will turn 2. Then we will have two 2's, two 5's and a 6.
The answer is yes, we have our hands full!
Here are the few pictures I got before my camera battery died :(
Lifes Just more FUN!
We went downtown shopping the other day....This is what Isabelle wanted to wear on her feet. So she did.
Life's just more fun with this one around!!
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