Help your kids do their own laundry - with a cool easy project

I decided that my kids were totally old enough to help me so I wasn't so overwhelmed with laundry.  I really mainly only have my 8 year old and by 6 year old do theirs.  I have them dump their stuff in the washing machine and I take it from there - I do the soap and I transfer it to the dryer but once it is dry I have them bring our green basket and take it from the dryer to the living room.  My four year old brings his too and I at least have him fold his pants but the process takes.a.long.time.

They  have their ways of doing it.  My son dumps it all in a pile on the floor while watching TV.  I have encouraged him to do what my daughter does to make it easier.  See the picture below.

So here it is:

Step 1.  Take laundry from dryer to room where you are going to fold it.

Step 2.  Separate clothes into categories.  My daughter had me make signs for her - pants, shirts, skirts for the girls, pajamas and socks and undies.



Step 3.  Fold.  Below is a video of a little invention I made for them to make folding easier.

* I got this idea from reading I Heart Organizing's blog a long time ago.  She had a picture of this thing.  It is a FLIPFOLDER from the Container store and it costs $21.99. 



 Get one if you want or if you happen to have a thin, long box that used to hold wipes like this one:

from Sam's Club

Then you can do this on the video below.  I used these basic instructions but really I just kind of figured it out myself.  




Step 4.  Put away - "Please, put them away.  Please put away your clothes.  Could you please put away those clothes.  Can you get the clothes off the Futon and put them away in your drawers?  Please."  Let's be honest that is how it usually goes.



 

If you take your kids to church - read this.

Growing up I went to church - every Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night.  There wasn't really children's programs on Sunday night and sometimes not on Wednesday nights and then there was the time where I grew too old to go to children's programs on Sunday mornings so I sat in the service.

Now that I have children I think about that.  It was what I knew.  But yet there were sermons that I heard that I probably shouldn't have heard.  Once when I was around 7 I was there with my grandma.  I tried to sleep (she let me sleep on her lap) and the pastor told a story - a horrific one - that was in the news.  Of course he had to detail it.  Of course my seven year old mind could not grasp the horror of it and so I had nightmares for years.

It still haunts me.  It haunted me so long that when the internet came into existence I actually looked up the details of the story to make sure it was real and I hadn't imagined it.   Sadly, it was real.

Why am I telling you this?  Because well meaning Christians who would never let their kids watch a PG-13 movie allow their kids to sit in church with them and listen to sermons that have PG-13 content.

There is a big push now with the Family Integrated Church (Or movement - whatever) to have your kids in service with you.  And that is fine.  I don't care if you have your kids in service with you - but please, please, please screen the content and if it gets too much, get them out of there.

Another thing happened when I was 9 - it was during a Wednesday night AWANA's program and we were in there listening to a tape from the perspective of the child who was being aborted.

WHAT??????????????????????????????????????  I would never let my 9 year old listen to that.  My parents probably did not even know that I did listen to it.

It also shook me up and scared me to death.  I was a fearful child and had nightmares pretty much constantly so none of this helped.

Because of this, I am a much more discerning parent - or at least I try to be and I have vowed that I would walk out of a sermon if they start saying things like that with my kids present.  I also walk out now if it gets political.

Listen, kids don't need to hear that stuff from preachers, they need to hear it from parents in a loving home environment.  Just because it is from the Bible does not mean it is okay for kids.

I also once visited a church and had my kids in service with me (because they were to scared to go to their class).  The pastor started talking about demon possession and I had to run out to take care of my baby and I left the older ones in there for a moment.  Ack!  I wish I wouldn't have and I wish I would have left.  They don't need to hear that.  Not that he was wrong in what he was saying just that it was not for children's ears.

Yes, we will talk about all of those things someday and I will be the one to talk it through with them. 

Kids are quite literally a captive audience.  Think about them as you listen to sermons and teachings.  If it hurts you and makes you uncomfortable then get the kids out of there.  

This has been on my heart lately so I wanted to share it.
 
 

Worst Case Scenario Parenting

A friend was over a couple of weeks ago and one of my kids did something (I can't remember now what it was) - but my friend looked at me and said she could never let her kids do that.

She didn't say it in a mean way just kind of an astounded way.  I think it was because it would cause too much of a mess.  I totally understand that.

Lately though I have started using what I like to call "Worst Case Scenario Parenting".  It basically goes like this - the kids ask me if they can do something.  I then think of most of the possible scenarios that could happen if they did "that" and I get to the worst one.

Then I decide if I could live with that happening and still keep my sanity.  If so the answer is yes.  And you know what?   I say yes a lot more these days.

"Mom, can sissy and I play with the role of toilet paper?"   In my head I can't think of a worst case scenario here except we would waste some toilet paper.  I said yes.  Guess what happened - they put most of it down the toilet and some in the sink.  Guess what then happened?  I fished it out of the sink and my husband unclogged the toilet.

Big deal - not really.  Inconvenient - maybe.

"Mom, can I put my wrestlers in the salt tray?"

"Mom, can I use these ingredients to make something gross and then microwave it?"

"Mom, can I jump from this part of the deck?"

"Mommy, can I give you a manicure?"

"Mommy, can we play on the clothes pile?"

"Mom, can I wear my Batman costume to the wedding?"

"Mom, can I put the baby in a  . . ." NO!

My no answers usually involve questions about what they can and can't do with the baby.  I do draw the line somewhere. 

My point is that kids need to explore.  They need to make a mess sometimes.  They need to fail.  And what better place to fail than at home with parents who hopefully love them and tell them it is okay to fail, just don't stop trying.

Over the last couple of days we have had to unclog the toilet twice.  I had to get the wire cutters and cut off a measuring cup from my daughter's finger (she stuck it through the hole in the end).  I have had to sweep up broken glass at least three times.  We use glass.  The kids use glass.  Glass breaks.  We sweep it up.

"Mom, can I put my WWE belt on the baby?"

"Mom, can I make the baby a play area?"

"Mom, can I set the table with little wrestlers?"  Okay so she didn't ask me on this one.

Every parent is different. But give it a try.  Just think of the worst thing that could happen - and then realize that it is not that bad.  (Use common sense of course).

I realize this will mean more mess for you.  But we should all realize that kids are young for about 5 minutes and what do you want them to remember?  How neat your house was or how wonderful their home was.

Update:  I did forget to add that I do require them to clean up their mess when they are done.  This takes some work but they are getting better.

 

I stepped back

We have had a little of a rough week in school.  I messed up.  We were doing math.  I started him in lower math so that he would build his confidence and it has worked and he flies through math most of the time.

This week they were teaching a concept he already knew but they were teaching it in a different way.  So I made him do it that way.  Math that takes us maybe 20 minutes took us 90 minutes for two days.

It was reminiscent of the days before I knew what I was dealing with - the days before the dyslexia diagnosis.

After the second day of this I finally let him finish the back side of the paper how he knew (because a friend encouraged me to).  He was done in about 6 minutes or less.

Today I let him do the same thing but I was standing over him and we got to the last problem - a word problem.

I read it to him as I often do and I saw the wheels turning in his head.  I started to jump in and say "Write that down.  It's too big of a problem for you to do in your head.  You won't get it right if you don't write it down."

But I stopped myself.

I waited.  And in a few seconds he told me the correct answer.  To my astonishment, because it was a multiple digit problem that he did in his head.

He was proud.  I was proud.  I didn't jump up and down because I didn't want him to know I didn't think he could do it.

He did it.  He can do it.  I just have to step back and let him try.


 

I should probably tell you that I relax now

I should tell you that what I knew to be the right way to do things concerning educating my children has begun to change.  My friend told me she was making some of the activities that I had posted on here that I do with my kids.  I wanted to go into all the details right then and there about what I am doing now, but I thought I would do a blog post instead. 

I thought school at home was the way to go - calendar time, workbooks, planned crafts and activities.  I thought you had to do this by this time to get them ready for this.

Until my oldest son decided to teach me a few valuable lessons.  He didn't do things on the time frame that "they" said should be done.  I couldn't get him to, no matter how hard I tried.  So we struggled.  We really struggled in this left brain society that we live.  So then doing all of the other stuff I thought we should be doing with the other kids was also a struggle.  I woke up dreading the day.


I tried calendar time - over and over - a few different ways.





I printed, I laminated, I planned, I scheduled, I failed.  I tried again a different way and each time we really didn't enjoy it.  But wasn't this what I was suppose to do?  Isn't this how you did schooling?  Didn't they have to know this at this age to go on to know something else at the next age?  Wouldn't they be behind?  How would they get into college?  Forget college - how would they make it into high school?  Oh the dread, the worry . . .

Until - our journey with dyslexia.  I can't express enough how this has been THE biggest blessing in my life.  I don't know quite yet if I believe that dyslexia is a learning disability - well I actually don't believe it is - I believe it is just a different way of learning, but I can tell you this it has made me . . .

I have seen the proof that if I don't work every day (or every week day) with a child that they still end up learning.  I have seen that even if I don't do addition flashcards that my son still memorizes the addition facts - eventually, by doing, not by memorizing a card.  But we had time - time to let it be.  To let him practice - to let him see addition done several different ways - on a chart, by blocks, on paper.

Even though I don't see signs of dyslexia yet with my middle two, I am not doing what I used to do.   I am doing some things - but not things that involve a lot of time and prep by me.  I am now just laying out things on the table - or making art supplies more accessible.  I am asking them to create with no direction from me.   Then when they do I ask them to explain what they have created - and the imagination just astounds me.  My 5 year old did some painting yesterday and she explained to me that the blue streak was a dragon and the pink streak was a princess in a tower and she went on from there.

I would never think that up.  I used to read those preschool blogs for inspiration and now I'm just letting my children be my inspiration.  It is A LOT less work and it is a lot more interesting.  I still lead them - like doing our chalk art lessons.

I'm not saying you shouldn't try out my fine motor activities for littles,  I'm just saying you shouldn't force it on your kids like I did.  They HATE the lacing cards - all of them do.  Some things they find fun.  Some things they don't.





 
I just no longer find it necessary to make them do things that neither one of us enjoy.  I no longer worry if they make a bench mark set up by someone that doesn't know my children.  I'm not leaning completely towards unschooling but I am leaning a lot more towards relaxing.

I have proof that things will come eventually when we work on them slowly and without frustration.  So for those of you out there - now you know where I stand.  I don't do what I used to. 



For my oldest (8 years old) we don't work on any one subject for more than 15 minutes at a time.  We do math for 15 minutes a day (Math U See).  We do writing - one page a day (Handwriting without Tears cursive), we do his Animal Devotion book.  We do this book Toe to Toe recommended by another blogger.  We don't stop in the summer because what we do doesn't take long - a total of maybe an hour.  We will pick up more subjects in the fall - like science (he LOVES science and history).




For my daughter (5 year old) I occasionally have her do Starfall and read a Bob book but other than that I let her play.  My husband wants her to go to school in the fall (I mean summer because they do the balanced calendar) so we are going to try that out for this year.  I don't want her to do any more than she has to this summer because she will be in school for like 8 hours a day.




For my other son (4 years old) I let him play people.  He loves to play (unlike my older son who never wanted to play with toys).  He will play at the table with toys.  He will play in his room with toys.  He will make up elaborate things that his toys are doing (I used to do that with Barbies - he does it with wrestlers and superheros).  The key here is - I let him play!




And my baby girl - we just do a little patty cake here and there and I try to convince her that moving to get somewhere really isn't a bad thing - except that she has three siblings and me who will bring her whatever she wants - so why move?

Did I mention relax?

Begin again, again

I heard this verse today in my Bible study.  I posted it on Facebook and I'm about to write it on our white board.  God knows - He knows I needed this verse today.

In Bible study she talked about the little things - how we let the little things get us off track spiritually - things as simple as a laundry mishap.  Today I got to have that test.

My son unloads the dishwasher for us every other day.  I was in the other room and he came to me with a piece of a dish and a sheepish look on his face.  He said, "Mom, I didn't mean to are you mad at me?"

I told him I read a verse today for a time like this.  He literally asked me to read it to him.  So I read him Proverbs 24:16:

for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again,    but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.

I explained to him what righteous meant and how when they make a mistake - they get back up and try again.  Not to try again is to let the enemy get a foothold on your spiritual walk and rendering you ineffective.

I told him we all make mistakes but the important thing is that we get back up and keep going.  He said, "Mom, thank you for reading that verse because I make a hundred mistakes and you didn't get mad at me for breaking this and I am just going to keep going."

Oh be still my heart - hearing those words from my eight year old - they were priceless.  May I always remember this verse and use them to encourage others.

Chores at our house - today anyway

I was inspired by this post at Our Busy Homeschool to tell you about where we are with our chores.

I have done every chore chart out there and let me tell you - keep it simple!  Let me first tell you what we do.

8 year old (just turned) boy
Unloads the dishwasher every other day
Wipes down (cleans) the bathrooms every 2-3 days or as needed
Makes his bed
Picks up when asks
Helps vacuum when asked

5 1/2 year old girl
Unloads the dishwasher every other day
Wipes down little bathroom as needed (unless brother has already done it)
Makes her bed and helps her little brother make his bed
Cleans her room
Helps dust when asked

3 (almost 4) year old boy
Unloads silverware from the dishwasher every day
Makes bed with the help of sister
Picks up toys when asked

*Notice I put "when asked" because as of yet, my kids don't do things like pick up unless they are asked.  My daughter will occasionally pick up the living room without being asked and I treasure it when she does.

As far as the weekly cleaning - I don't do a schedule.  I wipe down the kitchen counters everyday (try to).  I steam mop the kitchen and living room/hallway as needed.  My husband usually does the bedroom vacuuming.  We don't really have that much to dust in the kids room and in our room (we like it that way - less to clean).

I dust the living room when people are coming over or when I see it getting too dusty and the kids will help me with this.  I also do mirrors as needed - not on a schedule.

We don't have a huge house - about 1400 square feet so we try to not have a lot of stuff - we declutter constantly and we are finally down to a manageable amount of stuff.  We could always do better of course.

I used to have a checklist for the kids and we may go back to that someday but I'm all about easy right now.  So I just put initials on the calendar for unloading the dishwasher.  Everything else is just done as needed.  I'm not a slave to a schedule anymore.  If it is dirty - we clean it.  We don't clean it because its Tuesday and Tuesday says we should clean the bathrooms.

This is easy.  It works.  Things get done.  As far as laundry - we are spoiled.  We pay my mom a little money to help us fold and put away our laundry for us.  We do the laundry and pile it on our futon for her and she comes twice a week to fold and put away.  It is the best investment!  I have paired the kids clothes down for her though. 

And let me say a bit about perfectionism - stop it.  I don't expect perfection when it comes to bed making.  I am thankful they do it.  I do point out if it is really messy but if I see they put forth effort I thank them and move on.  My son is not the best at bed making.  My daughter could make a career of it - she is excellent at it.  As far as the bathrooms - I go over how to do it the first several times they do it.  I go back and look at their work and point out if they missed something but again - I do not expect perfection.  I just try to keep reminding them of how to do it but praising them as well.

I could be better.  I could be stricter.  I could be more consistent.  But right now, our house is clean enough for company and can be picked up pretty quickly.  There you have it - our chore system for today anyway.









 

I might have never known

I wrote about our Journey with Dyslexia last week.  I think as mothers with intuition we have a feeling about our children but sometimes we just don't know what to do about it.  If you live in America you know this machine that we have here - get up go to school, go home, do homework, keep doing that until you are around 18 then do it again for another four years or so until you get a degree to get a job where you get up go to work come home, maybe do some work at home and get up and do that again.

I'm not much for the machine, never have been but I did not know how much I wasn't for it until our foray into dyslexia.  I went to school.  I studied hard (sometimes).  I was decently smart.  If I would have tried a little harder I could have done better.  But I've always been a dreamer.  I am still a dreamer.  I am not always a follow-througher, but I still dream.

I was skeptical of homeschooling before I did it.  I don't know if we would be doing it had dyslexia not come into our lives.  We learned quickly that our round peg would not fit into a square hole.  I describe our school experience as sucking the soul out of my child.  If you have never dealt with a child with learning issues then this will seem very foreign to you.  When  you put your child in school and beat your head against the wall doing simple homework that they just don't get - you get frustrated and nervous because if this is what kindergarten is like - then how will I make it to senior year?????

I honestly did not know or believe that school could be enjoyable.  It was a box that just needed to be checked off.  It was a place you must go to be involved in the system.  You know the system - go to school, go to college, get a job, make money.

I went through the system and did fine.  But my son will not fit in this system.  Not right now - maybe someday but I don't know.  I will tell you that the change in him since we started straight homeschooling is unbelievable.

My son hated books.  He would get so upset if we made him read.  It was so painful for all of us.  And I could not figure out what he was interested in because of all the schooling we "had" to do, I had no time left to explore what might really interest him until now.  I have finally discovered his love for science and animals.  People - the boy leaves a book in the van so he can read it to us while we are driving.  Do you understand how incredible this is?  It is a book he is interested in - dare I say - passionate about.  It is all about extreme animals.

Everyday he asks me to do research with him.  He likes to have "face offs" between different animals.  Today was about the harpy eagle and the peregrine falcon.  Say what???? Then he tells me all of the facts he has memorized from different books and from national geographic websites we have looked up and then we compare their skills and abilities and decide on who would win in a fight between them.

Do we do reading and spelling and math - you bet we do!   But we spend the bulk of the time learning the things he is interested in.  Even my Dad and stepmom  couldn't believe all of the things he new about all of the animals he has studied - on his own accord people.  He is 7.  To me it is incredible.  I don't push books down his throat because some list somewhere says he has to read them.

You know why, because when I graduated from high school I had spent so much time studying for tests and doing exactly what the curriculum required that I honestly had no idea what I loved and what I was passionate about.  I had no idea what to major in at college.  That is why this video struck a huge cord with me.  It is so true.

I would have never known what my son could do had it not been for this dyslexic journey.  To see your kids passionate about learning - makes you want to do whatever you can to keep that enthusiasm going.

Here is the text if you would prefer to read it.

" For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, “You have to learn this for the test” is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades."

It is so good.  P.S.  I am not against whatever school you send your child to.  We are probably sending our daughter to public kindergarten but I am aware of the pitfalls and will keep a close eye on how things go.

I am just so thankful that my eyes were forced open through our journey and I can say that children can learn in a variety of different ways and it doesn't have to be with a paper and a pencil and a test and a grade.

 
 

Our Journey with Dyslexia Part 1

Source

It started when he was 2 years old.  I would take walks with him almost everyday and everyday I would tell him the grass was green and the sky was blue.   The next day we would take a walk and I would ask him what color the sky was and everyday he would not remember.  I know two is early but we worked on colors for a long time.  So long in fact we joked he might be colored blind.

This was my first inkling that he didn't learn like everyone else.  But what did I know - he was my first.  Next came his letters.  I could show him an A flashcard everyday, five times a day and the next day I would ask him - what is this?  He would say an E (or any random letter).  I wasn't worried but someone finally recommended The Letter Factory DVD and it was honestly the only time he got his letters and he also learned his sounds this way (so did my 2 year old daughter).

At least he knew his letters but writing was a horrific experience and he hated coloring and doing puzzles.  I just thought he was a boy's boy and didn't want to sit for long.  When it came to numbers - life got more difficult.  Here he was about to start kindergarten with a year or so of preschool behind him and he could not recognize his numbers.  I wanted so badly to homeschool him but my husband just thought he really needed to be in school.  I agreed because quite honestly - whatever I was doing was clearly not working.

http://www.garrickgreathouse.com/design_blog/2012/5/29/dyslexia.html

We finally decided on a Christian school and went in for the first meeting.  We did not know we had to bring our child to do a test for K5 and so the principal just asked us questions about him and we told him what he knew and he said, "Oh, he'll be just fine."

I should have done more research about what kindergartners should know but I thought kindergarten is where you learned these things - not anymore!  When he started kindergarten I remember just thinking - it'll be fine.  He will do well with someone else teaching him.

A week later his teacher said to me, "Why is he in my class?"  Um, excuse me?  She explained to me that their school only took children that had been to a K4 program.  She was a first year teacher - to be fair.  It took her about 2 weeks to finally figure out he was left handed.  Then she showed me a paper that he had done and basically asked me what was wrong with him.

Source

I went home that night and googled what this was and the only thing I could think of was mirror writing.  Because literally if you held up his paper to a mirror you could read it.  Here is what I found out:

Mirror Writing

Mirror writing is writing left-to-write languages (like English) backwards AND also reversing the letters so that the writing only appears normal when held up to a mirror and the reflection viewed (see Figure 3).



Figure 3.  Example of Mirror Writing

Some people are able to write quite easily and naturally this way (for instance, the Italian inventor and artist Leonardo da Vinci famously kept his notebooks in mirror script). If a left-handed child has a tendency to mirror write, the teacher can help him or her overcome this by making sure the child always begins writing on the left side of the page. This can be done by placing a mark on the left side of child's paper showing which side to start writing from. If the mirror-writing persists, the teacher can try other strategies to help the child establish the correct direction and orientation of the letters. For instance, the child can be instructed to slowly and carefully copy text from a correctly written page. If the child has trouble even copying text, the teacher can have the child trace over correctly written words (in either case, remember to mark the starting point on the left side).

This is what I found with a simple Google search (from Handedness.org).  Later I wondered why a teacher who had had 4-5 years of college could not do a Google search and find out about this.  Better yet - why don't they teach anything like this to elementary teachers that are suppose to teach writing????

To say my son's year in kindergaten was frustrating would be an understatement.  What we did not know was what we know now - he does not learn like everyone else learns.  But he can learn!

Therefore teaching him to memorize his numbers and write them correctly was torture to him.  Making that poor child memorize 100 sight words was so difficult for him and me.

It was so sad to me that school had become so awful.  I cried so much that year.  My heart ached for him and I had no idea how to help him.  I knew one thing though - he would not go back to that school.  And I know that school was a private school so they don't have the resources to help everyone.  And his teacher was kind to him and loving.  She just wasn't equipped or taught how to teach right brain learners.  I also knew my child was smart.  He just could not memorize the things they wanted him to in the time frame that they wanted it done.

During our second parent teacher conference (I was beginning to dread them so badly), his teacher said he was doing okay.  But we would have to reevaluate in February (when they started enrollment for next year).  In February she told me he would need to repeat kindergarten.  So in two months he went from doing okay to needing to repeat kindergarten.  Do you know how devastating it is to sit in a tiny little chair in a kindergarten classroom and be told your child needs to repeat K5?   I mean he was one of the younger kids in his class but something inside me knew repeating kindergarten was not the answer.

One thing I had learned about my son was that when he got something - it clicked and it stuck for good.  It did take us a long time to get that something to stick but we knew there was hope we just didn't know how to teach him or what would make things click.

As the year came to a close it was such a wonderfully blessed relief.  I was so ready to be done with that place.  I was so happy to leave and never look back. We did not get any help that year - at all.

We did finally decide that next year we would do a hybrid school - it wasn't complete homeschooling but it was partial homeschooling and I would get to help him more.

The journey was just beginning . . .

Our Journey With Dyslexia Part II

I might have never known

I should probably tell you that I relax now


 

We love Club JellyTelly!

I found out about a free one month membership from Clarisa's blog 1+1+1=1.

 I can tell you that I signed up immediately because I had bought a few of the What's in the Bible DVD's and my kids liked them (some are a little long).  Plus we LOVE LOVE LOVE Adventures in Odyssey and there are several actual cartoon episodes on there.

We have a nightly ritual where we were listening to the free Whit's End Radio shows of Adventures in Odyssey but now we all pile on my bed (or the couch) and I fire up the laptop and we watch an Adventures in Odyssey show before bed.  I love them just as much as the kids do.

My one month subscription isn't over yet but when it is I will be signing up.  $5 a month for quality kids' shows is worth it to me.  Plus I will plug the laptop into the TV and we can watch it on the screen (as soon as I figure out how to get the sound to work).  I just wish it could be a channel on the Roku.

I get nothing from this - it is my own opinion.  I just really like this and hope to see it continue!

Have you tried it?  What is your favorite thing?

 

A New Nightly Ritual

Last night before bed we turned off all of the lights.  We lit a candle.  I opened up my laptop and we started listening to Adventures in Odyssey from Focus on the Family.  They have programs to listen to for free and some you can buy.

It is so relaxing and it gets us all settled down and ready for bed.  There is always a good moral at the end of the story too.  I think we may have to continue this for the unforeseen future.

Do you have any relaxing nightly rituals you do with your kids like this?

 

She's so sweet

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Sorry its sideways . . .

She's Five!

Warning - LOTS AND LOTS OF PICTURES!  

Our sweet girl is 5 years old.  5 YEARS OLD - I cannot believe it.  We love her so much.  She is a bundle of energy.  She never stops jumping.  She is into everything.  My father-in-law nicknamed her "jack russell" because she jumps up and down just like the dog.  She is sweet.  She loves her family.   She tells us that everyday.  We are so blessed to have her as a daughter.

 

 We love this girl!