and tomorrow there is work....

back to work tomorrow...(well work of another kind. This summer has felt like ANYTHING but vacation.) I am so grateful for the time I have had with the kids this summer. Although it was nothing like I had thought or planned, it was still time well spent and needed. And now....12 weeks later, it is back to work, back to school and keep pressing on.

Today was the second day of school, and poor Taddy was so sick he had to stay home. He slept for a long time and just sat around, never too far from a bathroom. I am praying he will be better tomorrow, since I need to go back to work.

I spent today being a little creative. I hade made name labels for the kids sweatshirts, so I sewed those all in....

Then I made allowance jars. I heard of this good idea from another single mother (I cannot remember where I read it, in a magazine I think, I would love to give credit or a link, but I don't have it.) She had jars for each of her children and put their allowance in it at the beginning of the week, in quarters. Then during the week, misbehaviors, poor attitudes or other grievances could result in a quarter being removed from their jar. At the end of the week, what was in the jar was theirs.

What I like about this is I do not want to pay allowance for chores. I want chores to be what each person does to contribute to the family. The second thing I like is that often I am repeating the same correction over and over. They know what is right and often choose due to a consequence they do not really value. They all love the purchase power of money. :) Third is I added a twist, that I can add a quarter to any jar at my whim when I catch someone being extra nice, or helpful, or going beyond. So I made jars with each of their names on them...and one for momma too. Any lost quarters go into mommas jar and I can use them for the following week. We are going to start this on Saturday...so I will let you know how it goes. It was fun making the jars....

The other creative project I wanted to do, before I returned to work, was to make a new bag/purse. My friend Donna brought back some cool french general fabric and trim for me from a trip she took recently. I had found a cute embroidered napkin at an vintage store..so I wanted to put them all together into a new bag for back to work. :) I made some pockets inside for my keys and other items. I sewed some buttons on to embellish the handles and the embroidered napkin became a pocket on the front for my cell phone. It truly does look cuter in use....and I had some extra and made a little eyeglass bag too.

Thank you Donna, that was a fun way to spend my last day off from work, as well as looking after Taddy, organizing my sewing room, doing laundry, putting sloppy Joes in the crock pot and now I am getting ready to go pick up the kids from their second day at school!

Praying a structured schedule willl help us do better. (aka, get along more. Nick said, Familiarity breeds contempt...and I said, well, so they say, BUT, intimacy is the cornerstone of our relationship with God, so I am not so sure I want to buy into that "contempt" philosophy. I want us to be different!