The Big Surprise

So we tricked the kids into making their own shirts for their own surprise.  I told them I was going to a baby shower and wanted to make shirts for me to give to the baby's siblings.

Then we sent them to the basement and added our own text to the shirts...Here's how the surprise went...

They were SO SURPRISED they actually had a hard time processing it all...

They were happier than words can express.  Along with Nate's fairy dust wishes they had been praying for a baby for several years now.  Roy and I did not even discuss that a baby was ever even a possibility.  A happy moment we never want to forget!!

Kayla age 8 (almost 9)

Nate age 10

"Pay the Maid"

Our Chore System

Around here my kids earn a dime for most every chore or task assigned to them. They keep them in a little jar on the kitchen counter.

Some chores are worth 2 dimes, and some chores they have to do "just because".

After I've asked my kids to pick up their things...every toy, shoe, or item belonging to them that I put away it costs them a dime. In other words, they have to "pay the maid".

All money left at the end of the month can be cashed in and spent.