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Sunday, April 27, 2008

Update on Mom

Hey all.

Just a quick note of update. Mom was moved to her own room yesterday. So no more ICU, thank God! The ventilators and oxygen are no more. She is breathing totally on her own. She is also talking. They've removed the feeding tube, she is able to eat. She went through a small throat therapy to make sure that she didn't aspirate any food or liquid from the tube having been in her throat for so long. She is up and moving around to go to the bathroom and such. She sits up most of the day in a chair now. Yay, may God receive all the glory!!

I will be going to see her tomorrow night. I'm going to take a portable cd player and some of her favorite cd's by Connie Wetzell (These are the music/scripture cd's that we used exclusively while Stef went through chemo. They are so relaxing. As a matter of fact, these are the scrip cd's that my kids sleep to every night.), as well as, the cd's from the women's conference that I was at last weekend.

I recommend you check out Connie's cd's if you are looking for a comforting, non-boring, way to bring the word of God into your home. Makes great background noise too. :)

Friday, April 25, 2008

The Challenge...

Ever feel the need for a challenge in your life?

I mean besides climbing Mount Everest or running the Boston Marathon. All worthy feats, no doubt.

BUT, if you ever want a REAL challenge...ask your 11 year old son to pick out yarn for his new Babette blanket.....

Yeah...I know...I'm sweating, too...



I literally refused to make the blanket until he went and sat down around the corner and said to himself "it's my blanket, i can have how i want it."

Ok. Point made. You win.

I have devised a way to make this blanket as nice as possible. I will overcome!

Besides, the longer I look at them...the more hypnotized I become by them....I'm starting think this will actually work!

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Rewards Chart/ Medieval Money Bag & Coins Crochet Pattern

Let me start by saying there is a lot of info and pics in this post/pattern! (Blogger smooshed all the words together, so I apologize for no real definition in the pattern 'stops and starts')

Ok What is a rewards chart with a medieval style money bag and coins? I was trying to come up with a way to have my kids 'earn' without having to spend a lot of money that I didn't have to give them. A way to also teach my kids frugality and working for what you have/want without necessarily having to dole out 'allowances' every week. I don't think that kids should be 'paid' for chores...but sometimes incentives are fun. This is what my brain(with the help of God) came up with:

We chose to use jobs they have to do anyway. They are things that are expected of them...just because we are a family and all family contributes to the well-being of the household. BUT..like I said we wanted to teach them certain things and frankly, I'm tired of having to remind them to do this stuff EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK!!!! They are 13 and 11 for heaven's sake. I should NOT have to remind them to pick up the bathroom after usage and comb your hair and brush your teeth before leaving the house. Yet I do. Daily. Everything on the "Jobs" list has to be completed without me reminding them. If I see it before they do it, they don't 'earn' the coins for the day. They still have to do the job, but they get no rewards from it. (for instance, My son was the last one out of the shower today. It was his job to pick up the bath mat, make sure the curtain was closed and pick up his dirty clothes from the floor...he didn't. I saw it. He has to still do it..just no rewards.)

From there we then gave each 'job' a 'value'. If I do this...I earn this for it. You can see in the picture below what types of jobs I used and what kinds of values I gave them. (You customize this to fit your family...you are not required to follow my list) What you can't see on the list is the things like "for every 'A' you can earn 10 coins, every 'B' 7 coins...etc" I home school the kids and I thought this would be a good incentive to do well on their assignments and tests. My MIL gave me a good idea too...for every 'D' or 'F' they would have to PAY me back! That's awesome! Thanks for the idea, Ann! Anything that needed a 'disclaimer' on it, I put it on there in red or another color. (i.e. Our household jobs like dusting/vacuuming/mowing the lawn are available to only one child in a week. I think I would love the cleanliness...but the house being dusted 10 times in a week??? A bit excessive...and I know my children would do it just to earn the coins....LOL) I also put what was expected of a certain job in red. Like for us, clean/organize the Living Room means to fold and put away all the blankets, pick up the movies and put back on the shelf, make sure all dishes have left the room and straighten up the coffee table. It might mean something totally different to your family. That's the beauty...this is totally customizable to your family, your needs, your children's ages and ability levels. Mine are 13 and 11...so not only do I place a larger 'value' on the jobs..but it also costs them a great deal more to 'buy' rewards! :) Oh one more thing: I put a green dot next to all jobs that are required daily. I even put on there "Daily Hygiene w/o having to be reminded...must have parental approval before claiming". We have a 'list' in the mornings that I have to run through with my 11 yo EVERY DAY! Hair, teeth, pits, underwear. The boy would go commando every day if I let him. And he stinks from more than one spot on his body...and he hates to brush his hair...I'll let you know if this list actually works to correct any of it and make him more responsible for himself (a plea to God...Pleaaaase)!!! LOL

They get 'paid' their coins every day before bed.

**side note** We took our 'jobs' list to a local sign company and had them laminate it. It cost us $4.75 and we can use dry erase markers on it. A wise investment so you can use your list for a longgggg time!



Here's a supplies list for the Charts: (I only have two kids, you might need more poster board for more kids)
2 pieces 20"x28" poster board (got mine 2/$1 at the dollar store)
Markers of choice
Long ruler
List of Jobs and corresponding 'job worth'

Here we get to the FUN and REWARDS portion of the charts. I started out writing things down that I thought the kids would think were great rewards. As a matter of fact I thought some of the rewards like "mom picks up dirty clothes" would end up fueling their imagination and they would be all about 'what kind of dirty things can we make mom and dad do'.... Not so when it came down to it. I asked them to read over what I had put down for rewards like "I get to choose the movie for the night" or "I get to rent a movie" or "I don't have to empty the dishwasher for a day/week"..stuff like that. When they thought up rewards it was nothing like what I was expecting. My son was all about getting done with school early or getting extra time on breaks and things like that. My daughter was into buying picnics at the park or going swimming at the pool or buying an hour with mom or dad and doing whatever they wanted with them alone(excluding spending $). (Please don't get the idea that we spend no time with our kids...it's just usually all together as a family.) I wanted to include them in choosing the rewards because, ultimately, it was going to have to appeal to them if they were going to work towards it.
We placed high values on most of this stuff because they have the 'potential' to earn close to 100 points in coins/day with just their daily stuff and grades. I didn't want them to think that they were just going to get it for nothing...because then it means nothing. This way if they have to earn for one or more days...it makes them think "What do I really want to spend my coins on?" "What is worth working that hard for?" (Early financial training, 13 yo has already decided she's going to spend only a portion of her coins for rewards and save some for really big rewards later. LOL. That's cool!)
Items that cost real money are only available on Fridays/Saturdays and only to one child per week. Once one child decides to buy that item (we decided that whoever earns the most coins in a week gets the chance to be the first one to 'buy' the real money items) then it goes on an every other week schedule. You will only be eligible to 'buy' that item every other week..if you choose not to buy that on your eligible week..then you forfeit until your next eligible week. So no fussing about how you didn't get a chance to buy it and you got skipped...blah, blah, blah...if the rules are in place before you begin...no one can fuss. Obviously you need to tailor this to your family and your financial situation. Our financial situation does not allow us to arbitrarily spend extra money for more than one or two things a week. That is the reason behind "One real money item per child/per week".

The mom and dad list is one of the most expensive lists. No way was I going to put a small amount up there for me and Tony to have to clean their rooms! If they want to save their coins and it means THAT MUCH to them for us to clean it...then I will do it for a 1,000 points in coins. LOL.
We also have a special times list that I didn't take a picture of. That's where it has the "15 extra minutes on break" or "Picnic at the park". I will let them pool their coins together to purchase things like 'swimming at the public pool' or 'picnic at the park' since these are items that the whole family would partake in anyway. I don't think that just one child or the other should have to pay for things like that.
Ok, now onto the crochet pattern(pics first, then patterns)!!
Medieval Money Bag and Coins
by Elizabeth Mareno 2008



***This pattern has been tested by no one but me..let me know if anything needs to be fixed!***
Materials List:
1/2 skein-Bernat Softee Chunky Acrylic yarn (or other #5 bulky yarn) color of choice.
med-large scraps- RH Super Saver in Gold, Carrot, and Light Grey
I Hook(bag), H hook(straps & coins)
Scissors
Large eye needle for weaving.
Bag: Working in rounds, do not join until stated.
With I hook and bag color.
R1- ch2, 6sc in 2nd ch from hook (6sc)
R2- 2 sc in each (12)
R3- (sc in 1sc, 2sc in next) around (18)
R4- (sc in next 2sc, 2sc in next) around (24)
R5- (sc in next 3sc, 2sc in next) around (30)
R6- (sc in next 4sc, 2sc in next) around (36)
R7- (sc in next 5sc, 2sc in next) around (42)
R8- (sc in next 6sc, 2sc in next) around (48)
R9- (sc in next 7sc, 2sc in next) around (54)
R10-R16- Sc in each sc around.
R17- (sc in 7sc, sc dec) around (48)
R18- sc in each
R19- (sc in 6sc, sc dec) around (42)
R20- sc in each
R21- (sc in 5sc, sc dec) around (36)
R22- sc in each
R23- (sc in 4sc, sc dec) around (30)
R24- sc in each
R25- ch3, (sk next sc, dc in next sc, ch1) 13 times, sk last sc, sl st to 2nd ch of ch3. (14dc)
R26- ch1, sc in join, sc in each ch1 and dc around. (30sc) join.
R27-28- ch2, hdc in each sc around, join. (30hdc)
Finish off, weave ends.
Strap: Make 2 for each bag.
With H Hook and Gold.
ch51
Sl st in 2nd chain and each across. (50)
Finish off leaving a long end.
Weave through dc's on row 25, sew ends together firmly, pull on opposite side to hide seam.
Weave and sew the second one so that it pulls the opposite direction.
Coins-Single color:
With H Hook and coin color.
ch4(does not count as first dc)
15 dc in 4th ch from hook. sl st to first dc. Finish off, weave in ends.
Coins-Double color:
With H Hook and first color.
ch2
8 sc in 2nd ch from hook, join, cut first color, join second color.
2sc in each sc around. (16) Finish off and weave ends.
Our coin values go as such:
Gold= 10
Grey= 5
Bronze= 1
Bronze/grey= 20
Bronze/gold= 25
You can give your coins any value you want for your individual needs.
If you use this plan...I hope you have fun...and let me know!! I'll be updating as our family becomes more involved in it. So far, so good.





Crafting Memories: Section 5 of the Memories Blanket CAL

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