Pocket Change for Little Readers!!

I found a creative way for the kids to earn a little of that extra pocket change and have them learn at the same time.  They do very well (most of the time) keeping up on their daily jobs and with so many children around most of the jobs are pretty well covered.  (for free!)   There have been times though when I will offer them a "pay book."  Usually amounts to a couple bucks here and there.  But with so many 'eager' readers all wanting a piece of that pocket change I decided to do stories.  Here is how it works.  I got a couple of "big" books off the shelf and sat them down.  Of course when they saw the big books I got a few gasps until I told them what we will do.  Right now the littler kids are reading from Window on the World, Eric Carle's Treasury of Classic Stories For Children, and The Lilac Fairy Book.  For each story read they can earn anywhere from .02 to .25 depending on the length of the story.  They love it.  They don't feel too over burdened with a huge book and so they get excited to sit and read for a bit and earn cash for it. They like to exchange names with each other at Christmas and buy a present for their special someone so they love it when they can earn a few dollars.

My Heart ACHES To See These Yummy Kids

juli mckendrick photography

juli mckendrick photography

But not just to see them. To plant tons of hugs and kisses on their little cheeks!! To hold them, caress their precious heads, look into their little eyes, tell them I love them and I think about them every day. Our married children recently made posts on their blogs with recent photos of the grand kids. I MISS them so much. While photos are great, and I love to see them and how they are growing, I still can't feel fully satisfied. We are planning a road trip out west this spring to see them and I can hardly wait. The first picture is Gemma. She will be a year old in January and next June will get a new brother or sister!! The one in the middle is Aubryn, who will also have a birthday in January. She will be 5 already. And the last one is of Aubryn's little brother Beckham who will be turning 3 in April.

World's Greatest Library

We have a very cool library here in our BIG town of 700 people!!  Seriously though, they have tons of huge and small puzzles, stuffed animals, dolls, puppets, games, educational kits, felt kits, Laurie puzzles and accessories, computer games, and so much more.  The building itself can't be any bigger than a 2 car garage but they certainly know how to organize.  And of course we can't forget the internet library loan.  It may be small but we lack for nothing.  Plus, ALL the ladies who work there are great.  They know everyone by name and if ever you forget your library card, (which I always do) no problem, because they "know where you live!"  We have often had library fines waived, just because!!  And let me tell you we can work up some big ones with as many people that we have in our family.  

E-Z Meal Ideas

I hope you didn't pop over here to my blog in the hope of joining my EZ meal club, because if you did then you will be greatly disappointed in me because I have NO imagination in that department.  My family loves meals such as this but they come few and far between because I get a brain freeze every time the dinner hour arrives. So if YOU have any great EZ meals in your head feel free to send some my way.

This meal consisted of~~

avocados

natural cheddar cheese spread

black olives

beef sticks

organic cheddar cheese sticks

Ritz Crackers

Cranberry Kombucha

Kefir Lemonade

(as usual my calendar dates are off, if anyone knows how I can use my camera without having to reset the date each time I would love to hear about it:))

 

Sooooo Humiliating

Man I did it AGAIN.  Here's the story~~~

Once in a while hubby will call from work using his desk phone instead of his cell phone.  I always recognize it is him because of the 721 prefix.   Earlier this morning I had called the Ford dealer to have him help us locate a "monster" van.  But of course I forgot I called him so when the phone rang with a 721 prefix I knew it was obviously my hubby because who else would it be?

Me, answering the phone~~~HEEEELLLLOOOO  BABY  LOVE!!

Guy on the other end of the phone~~~UHHHH, hu, hu, hullo!!

Me again~~~OH, hello!!  Uhhhhh, hi, ummmmm

Other guy~~~wow, what a way to start out the day!!!  that was sure nice of you!!

Me again~~~well, what can I say, I'm just a nice lady.  So um, who are you? [pause]  Oh, yes, the Ford dealer guy, I thought you were someone else.  Sorry about that.

Guy~~~Oh, no, don't apologize, it's not everyday someone answers my phone calls with such an upbeat attitude.

When will I learn????  I've done this twice now.  At least the last time I did it I knew the guy which isn't always a good thing because since I go to church with him I never hear the end of it. If any of you out there have experienced this kind of humiliation I would love to hear about it!!