Happy 2nd Birthday!

Ella is TWO!

I cannot believe that my sweet baby is 2 years old. It seems like just yesterday that we were anxiously awaiting her arrival. She's grown into such a fun, smart, adorable little girl & I guess she's officially not a baby anymore! *tear* 

Well, since this is a new blog I should formally introduce you:

Ella Claire was born April 30th at 8:08 am, weighing in at 9 lbs, 1 oz & she was 21 inches long!

It was love at first sight!

Keenan was so excited- such a proud big brother!

This last picture is from her FIRST birthday pictures. She's grown soooo much since then!

I always have at least one present waiting on my kids when they wake up on their birthday. Ella's was her beautiful Abby Cadabby doll & she also got to unwrap her new Abby dvd. 

Later, she'll get a fun surprise - a cute table & chairs and a My Little Pony dollhouse with TONS of ponies/accesories. I bought both from a Facebook online yard sale. I can't believe the awesome deal I got :) She'll be one happy birthday girl!

Busy!

Oh my goodness, it has been a long time since I've visited this blog! It's been so busy over here. Easter festivities, soccer practices/games, lots of crafting in preparation for my little girl's 2nd birthday!! This month has just been flying by. I have some yummy recipes to post when I get the chance. Hopefully I'll get caught up enough to show off some of these cute Abby Cadabby party decorations I've been making for Ella's birthday party, too. I am just loving this theme - running wild with the pink, purple and aqua color theme! Oh, and tomorrow I get to join my 6 year old on his class field trip to a strawberry farm. It should be fun! Maybe I'll be posting pictures of strawberry pie soon?? Wishful thinking here... hoping for the time :)

Well, sorry for the quick catch-up post. I'll be back soon!

Chore Chart

I have been searching for a good chore chart system for a long time. We've tried the printed sheet of paper with rows for stickers .... didn't work. I came close to getting/making one like this, that uses magnets. Then I found these awesome chore chart printables from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I love it! It has been working great so far. 


You need cardstock for printing out your chore cards, some type of hanging card holder or pocket chart to organize everything in, small reward stickers and a small prize box filled with any kind of small prizes you like. Here's a picture of our chart (front and back). 

I found this nice hanging jewelry organizer at Ross for $7! I like it because it matches our dining room much better than a traditional pocket chart, so now I can hang the chore chart in a more central location in our home instead of having to hang it in the school room. I also love that it's reversible, allowing me to add in a row for Saturday and Sunday. No, I do not plan on cramming lots of chores into my kids' weekend, but I just like having the whole week on there. I only changed a few things. I created new bigger week day cards for the top row. Since I only have two kids, I didn't need the extra vertical rows so I have two rows for each child (to do:) and (done) - This is an easy way for them to move their chore cards down so they'll see how much they have accomplished and how much they have left to do. 

close up:

At the end of the day, I look to see which tasks are completed and switch them out with reward tickets and stickers. I put the tickets where their completed chore cards were, and then put the chore cards in one of the extra pockets at the bottom of the chart to keep them out of the way.
I have told Keenan that he can trade each ticket for 25cents or a small prize from the prize box (*gum, candy, erasers, pencils, etc), his choice. We'll do this at the end of the week. 
If your child completes all the assigned tasks in a day, they receive a sticker on their reward card. Once that reward card is full, they can exchange it for something more special from a larger prize box. *You could use things like mini-Lego sets, Pet-Shop’s, Polly Pockets, computer time, TV time, Wii Time etc.


There are also "“Best Bee-havior” cards that you can reward when your child has displayed a good attitude for the entire day, or done anything else that you deem as outstanding behavior.

If a task is not completed, the child does not earn tickets or stickers.

I highlighted the most important parts and/or things I have modified to suit our family's needs, but if interested in implementing this system you should really head over to Erica's blog and read the whole thing. I am so glad that I did. I can't believe that Keenan is coming to me asking to do more chores! 

Here's my boy after setting the table, very proud of himself for completing one of his chores: 

Ella's only 2, so she only has a few easy chores a day (get dressed, take nap, brush teeth)