Working Around Here....

I've just been thinking that alot of my posts are the fun things we do together; so I'd better do a post of the other side of our "real life" around here:) Not that work can't be fun...several of the kids actually enjoy some of their "work" or "chores". Or at least it gets done with minimal complaining usually. Griping DOES happen at times too!!! Do you ever wonder what other families have their kids do for chores? Just thought I'd share some of my kids' responsibilities:)

So for starts, here's how our basement gets many times!!! But I can send a cleanup crew down there and it can be fixed really fast. This particular time I had Camille and Garret do it.

In about twenty minutes it looked like this:) Not perfect....but great enough for me to consider it done! Of course, the big kids can do it alot quicker and nicer...but I want the little ones to learn too!

Our school days start by getting up at 7:30. (we are just getting back to that schedule after being thrown off by the recent time change!) Before school starts at 8:30....here's what the kids do. Of course they all eat and get dressed/comb hair. One of the girls put away all folded laundry and vacuum all the hard floors. The other one empties and fills the dishwasher. Some of the days, the clothes person gets a break since I now only do laundry twice a week.

By school time...things are looking all shined up and ready to go:)

Chauntel has been doing alot of the bread baking. I sometimes help her with part of it. She seems to enjoy it, though.

Chauntel and Alexa help with Jared so much. They love to come snatch him from me and take him to play.

One of Alexa's favorite ways to entertain the little kids is doing art work with them. Many times I can hear her asking them if they want to "do art". Of course they always tell her yes and she whisks them away to do it.

Blayne's morning (before school) chores are taking care of the chickens. Rain or shine....he heads out there to care for them. He also does it again later in the day. More of his chores are helping clean the garage, (which always seem to be a mess no matter how much we clean it!) starting the fire, and doing any baking or cooking he can get his hands on. And, of course, they all have to clean their rooms once a week or for sure once every two weeks.

Garret and Camille love to help with the dishes. They also have to do quick clean up around the house quite a bit. Alexa and Chauntel also do the lunch and supper dishes and help with supper clean-up. Zac is our empty the garbage man; and is great for showing up at supper making time and known for his offers to help me make it. He has peeled countless potatoes, fried many, many pans of hamburger, and cut up lots of veggies for me too. I love the help!

I know I didn't name half of the things they do...but these are some of them. Of course, summertime brings mowing and they help Dad with any outside chores, like wood cutting/stacking, whenever he needs. So, they are all a big help and I definitely feel blessed to have all their little hands to help me keep up the house! I remember back to the time where I did most things by myself or with the help of James. I feel quite spoiled now! I've learned to never underestimate what they can do. Where there's a will, there's usually a way! It's fun to see my overly energized toddlers turning into very helpful, bigger kids!

Another thing that James and I have learned through the years is that when we do have a busy Saturday full of chores or projects that the kids are helping us with...stop and do something enjoyable with them. Show them how much we appreciate their help and do something fun as a family too! Otherwise you can wear them out! Let them know that as a team we can accomplish alot, but then we have time to enjoy life together also! Life is not only about work...but we really want them responsible enough to realize that life is also not only about play! Work and chores need to be done whether we feel like it or not!

Hopefully this wasn't too uninteresting:)