6th Blog-iversary!

It's my 6th Blog-iversary! This past weekend marked 6 years of CTBaker In The Acres (Formerly What's Bakin'?)
I last left you with a Wocket in Ollie's Pocket. And I had all these great plans for celebrating 6 years. They didn't happen...yet. I hope to still do a fun post to commemorate the occasion.

I feel so slack sometimes when I don't blog all those "little moments". I used to be really good at it! But the truth is that back in the day when I first started blogging, I burned the midnight oil...lots. I would stay up late to post all the day's  happenings. I seized those perfectly still and quiet nap-times to jot down a post or two. Quite frankly...I'm too old and tired to blog at night any more and there are no such things as nap-times in our house any more. It's so hard to find the time, but I love blogging!

I love having a journal of sorts for my children to follow in years to come. I love to keep family and friends up to speed with our craziness. I love sharing my projects and creations on the web (although there hasn't been a whole lot of that recently). I find it to be therapeutic and fun, but when I have so much going on it kinda feels like a chore. And I don't want it to be that AT ALL!

I have some 20-something year-old friends who blog for a living...truly. And I admire their dedication. I cannot drag my dead-tired self out of my bed another minute earlier to write a post, not to mention, my brain doesn't begin to function until - oh say - 10:30am-ish. And by that point I am already in the throws of a day-in-the-life-of-a-30-something-mom-of-three-busy-boys. So I hope down the road that my boys don't think..."what happened to mom between 2012 and 201? she got really slack."

I read an article recently, as I had been feeling a tad inadequate as a mom, and it made me feel so much better. {It's right here. Read it!} I felt a sense of peace with my "slackness". I have had so much on my plate lately and it's just catching up with me.

I plan to continue blogging! However, I feel like my cute husband and precious little children need me and more importantly...I NEED ME! So for now, here is a sneak-peek of posts I plan to write (it may take a while), so bear with me.

Coming Soon!!!!...

• 6 years in review
• Our great couples Bible study
• Sam's guitar performance at Sunday School/And recital
• Easy-Peasy Shoe Tying Lesson (Project)
• Our family road trip over Spring Break
• A Beautiful Easter
• Disney on Ice with precious Oliver
• Double Dippin' for The Word
• And various others...

So please stay tuned! I have lots to share.

XO,

A Wocket in my Pocket

Last week, Oliver had a "dress up as your favorite book character day" at preschool. He chose his favorite character from Dr. Seuss's There's a Wocket in my Pocket. Currently, that is his fave. He wanted to be the boy on the cover.

I love how proud they are when they dress up. He woke up and saw his clothes lying out with the "Wocket" I had made. He just beamed!

They did a little parade around the school grounds. And here he comes...with his Wocket in his Pocket.

Hamburger Helpers!

Several weeks ago I decided to do a little revamping of our chore system. The previous plan had actually become non-existent and I had just resorted to having temper tantrums to get them to get things done. Not working so well.
I googled chore charts and found a few on Pinterest, but none of them were "new" to me. I wanted something to make them excited about helping and earning a commission.

We are big Dave Ramsey fans. I have mentioned him several times (here, here, and here). Dave suggests paying your children a "commission" rather than an "allowance". Here's his theory: An allowance is kind of a given...not earned. A commission is earned. Then there are responsibilities...you don't get paid for those. It makes perfect sense to me.

Our new system covers commissions and responsibilities. There are no handouts in the real world. So why should there be in our home? We have a "PAYDAY" and they are paid only for the work that has been done. We are also teaching them about tithing (Malachi 3:10), so 10% is immediately taken off the top and put in their envelope for church. They're not so fond of that part, but it will make it less painful when they are adults.

Any who...
I took a combo of concepts online (from this blog) and made up my own. I like to call it Hamburger Helpers.

I made it with Popsicle sticks, mod-podge, and magnets. Super easy!

Each burger has a bun; top bun= A.M. Responsibilities and bottom bun= P.M. Responsibilities.
Sam and Fulton each have six sticks making up the burger and condiments. Each stick has a chore (or chores depending on the complexity) and a value of the commission to be paid. There is an A list and B list of chores to be rotated between the 2 big boys. Yes! Ollie has his very own baby burger, since he is only 3, with age-appropriate chores.

So far, so good. There hasn't been any yelling or complaining involved and they really look forward to payday. Who knew Hamburger Helpers could be so good?

If you'd like a copy of the printable Hamburger Helpers to make your own, just leave me a comment below or contact me. I will email it to you! It will have our chores on it, but they are very basic and common household tasks. If the chores don't suit your family contact me through my SHOP and I'll customize one for you.