Meet Milo

 Meet the newest member of our family, Milo.  He is an 8 week old Pekingese that we adopted from a rescue organization. 

 

We've been talking about getting a dog for a while now, and had planned to do it over the summer so the kids could have time to play with it.  But we just hemmed and hawed about it, and weren't coming to any decisions about anything...

 

 ...Until we saw this adorable face pop up while doing an internet search on nearby rescue organizations!  My husband had a Pekingese while growing up, so was familiar with the breed. 

 

 So we hopped in the car, and two hours later we had a new member of our family!

 

 As you can see, he is soaking up all the love here!

 

 He is the sweetest little thing!

 

 I mean really, how can you resist that little face?

 

Or that tongue?

 

He is definitely going to fit right in here, and the kids are so excited about having a dog!  Frankly, I'm pretty excited myself.  I've only had cats as an adult (we had both dogs and cats when I was a kid), so it's been a while since I've had a canine friend around.   Once the kids are back in school, I know I'll appreciate having a little buddy to keep me company!

 

And although he loves playing with the kids, I'm sure he's also going to appreciate having some peace and quiet once they're back in school as well!  As you can see, they really get him tuckered out!

 

Chore Charts

Before the summer began, I knew I was going to need to get a bit more organized with our chore system.  Over the years, I've tried so many different chore charts/reward systems/etc.  Depending on the age of the kids, some worked well, and some didn't work so well.  This past school year was extremely busy, and really, the kids had very little spare time, so I was just happy if they brushed their teeth and cleaned their rooms once in a while! 

 

But, as I said, for the summer, I wanted to get something in place that made things as easy as possible for us all.  So I sat down and decided how the chores would divide up, and then I created these handy-dandy chore charts!

 

 They run the length of this hallway, between Riley and Noah's rooms.  One for each child, and one for me as well (this way, they see me being held accountable for things, too!). 

 

I used 11 x 14 frames from Hobby Lobby (during a 50% off sale-woohoo!).  I printed out the documents and hung them BEHIND the glass.  This way, we just use dry-erase markers to check off the finished chores.

 

 The boys have the rustic aqua frames with tan behind the document, and the girls have brown floral frames with aqua behind the document, so they all coordinate very nicely!

 

At the end of the week, we count up their checkmarks, and they get 10 cents for each check, which averages to about $3 or $4 a week.

 

So far, it's worked really well!  Once school begins again, I may readjust a bit, but for now, things are getting done, which is all I can ask for!  And I can't complain that it looks pretty to boot!!

 

Mom's Waterpark

The beginning of the summer is always nice because the kids are still pretty easily entertained.  Throw a cheap plastic pool out in the backyard, and Mom's got time to herself for at least a couple hours!  Eventually the entertainment value decreases though, and they start requesting trips to the "real" pool and the "real" waterpark.  While I also enjoy those things from time to time, I'm holding onto these early days of summer, while Mom's Waterpark in our own backyard will still hold their interest!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kids playing in water make for some pretty entertaining photos, don't they?  I just always have to keep my distance, or else my camera will get splashed!