Money, Money, Money: Part 3

We've been doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University in my small group and the assignment for the past week was to take steps in teaching our kids about money.  Since I have already started this concept with my kids (here are the links to my 1st Money Post and my 2nd Money Post), I thought this would be a good time to fine tune.

The big weekly/biweekly chore has been going really well.  That's where the kids earn the bulk of their money.  In January, they helped pull weeds one weekend and wash the cars on another weekend.  When we do this weekly/biweekly chore time, we have the kids divide their money into their "spending," "saving," and "giving" containers.  (We typically do 20% Savings, 20% Giving, 60% Spending.)

Isaac has learned a lot since the first trip to the store with his first dollar.  He now has a goal to save even his "spending" money in order to buy a $10 Lego set and is highly motivated to work hard and save for it, rather than wasting his money on a junkie toy that he will likely lose a few days after he buys it.  I have learned that Abby, being younger, needs more immediate gratification to motivate her work.  She will work with the prospect of an immediate trip to the store for a candy purchase.

 So, after the car washing, we went to the grocery store and the kids brought along their wallets.  They lucked out and found gingerbread house kits marked down from $11 to just $1.  They each bought one.  Isaac, who had $8 at that point toward his $10 Legos, said, "I still have $7 and I'll earn more."  And I know he will.

They had a great time decorating.

Abby was fast and indiscriminating about it, eating almost as much as she decorated.

Isaac was uber-precise, pre-planning every step of the way.  He took so long I finally had to tell him we were out of time for decorating!

One change I decided to make was to the chore chart I had created earlier.  I added new chores, took off some old ones, and increased the pay on some (no more penny wages).  This chore chart is for the kids to do as needed.  These are things I do daily or weekly and if the kids want to earn more money, they can opt to do it for me to get paid.  They are pretty motivated by it and I let them choose whether the coins they earn go into their "savings," "earnings," or "spending" containers.  (They usually choose "spending!").

We have decided that all of their "savings" will be saved from now until they are old enough to purchase their own car.  I know that sounds incredible since they are only 3 and 5, but as their abilities increase with age, the chores will become more complex and the commissions for their chores will increase with it.  And think of the payoff 10+ years from now when they are able to buy their own car with their own savings!

Finally, although we started a "giving" container for their commissions, we have yet to actually take it to the church to "give" it!  We really should be reinforcing this behavior by doing this on a monthly basis.  So, we finally remembered to bring in their coin purses this Sunday to church.  We talked about how we give to the church to let God know that we know our blessings come from Him and so that we do not become too selfish and want to keep it all for ourselves.

Obviously, with such a big concept as money, this lesson will be a continuous work in progress, but so far, they are learning good life lessons at a young age.

Play Time

This weekend we finally hung up the dartboard Isaac got for Christmas.  He was so excited to play it!

Taking aim.

Action shot.

Thank you Uncle Allen and Uncle Adrian. 

He LOVES it!

Meanwhile, Abby had fun setting up a tea party for all her dollies.

Enjoy, everyone.

Recipe #11: Chicken Tortilla Soup

This soup recipe was passed to me by my Aunt Teri.  I'm not sure where she got it but it's really yummy and healthy and we've gotten a lot of mileage out of it recently.  Due to the amount of ingredients and chopping, I would not normally consider this an "everyday" dinner recipe.  However, if you devote an hour or so to making a large pot of it, you can freeze it in smaller containers.  Served with a quesadilla and some sliced avocados or tomatoes, my family can get 3-4 meals out of 1 pot of soup.  It is great to pull it out of the freezer and warm it up, knowing my family is getting a well-rounded meal with very minimal effort (after the initial cooking-day).

Chicken Tortilla Soup

chopped de-boned meat from a rotisserie chicken

4 cloves minced garlic

1 large onion, chopped

3 large carrots, diced

4 sticks celery, diced

1 can black beans

1 can corn

1 teas cumin

1 teas chili powder

1 can RoTel tomatoes

2 teas lime juice

about 10 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup masa (corn flour) 

fresh cilantro

1 tbls butter

in a big pot on med heat, saute onion, garlic, celery, and carrots in butter until the veggies are tender......add flour and masa....it will be a gooey sight......slowly stir in about half of the broth.......add chicken, RoTel, beans, corn, lemon juice, and spices.....add almost all of the remainder of broth......simmer for about 45 minutes......then add oh, about 1/2 cup of washed and chopped cilantro.....simmer 5 more minutes, and then it’s ready!

And here are Aunt Teri's notes for adapting it in various ways:

*i usually keep a little of the broth to the side, just in case i decide it doesn’t need all of it.... that way you can control the thickness or thinness of the soup..... 10 cups is just a “ball park” figure

* sometimes i add about 3 diced corn tortillas, just to give it a little extra tortilla taste

* sometimes i crush a few fritos or doritos to give it extra flavor

* it might need salt, but if your chicken broth is salty enough, there’s no need to add to the soup

* sometimes, i add thinly sliced zucchini or squash during the last 5 or 10 minutes.....


Our Scores:
Megan: 9/10, if a healthy soup is going to be the main course, this is a good one
Adel: 7/10, not exotic enough to be a favorite, but it's a good meal
Isaac: 10/10, he LOVES it (which is great, because he's eating mixed ingredients!)
Abby: 6/10, picks out and eats only the beans and chicken, but it's growing on her

Teaser!

I'm so very thrilled to have finally started a new writing project.  This idea came to me around Christmastime and I have just started working on it this week.  It's a book for 5-10 year-old girls and the working title is...

God's Real Princesses: A Bible Storybook for the Real Princess in You

And, for a teaser...here's the introduction as of now (of course, we know that in writing, all things are subject to change until the day the book gets printed):

This is a book about princesses.  

Now it may surprise you to learn that these princesses do not speak to fluffy forest creatures.  Song birds do not routinely perch upon their dainty fingers.  Most of them do not even sing or wear pretty dresses.  And (this is really going to shock you), almost none of them end up marrying princes.  

With that description, you must be wondering how this book can even claim to be about princesses at all.  But we must remember that God’s ways are not the world’s ways.  This book is about women who loved God and chose Him above everything else.  And because they loved God, He made them His princesses, princesses even more real than all the gown-wearing, sweet-singing, prince-marrying princesses of this world.  

The book will have 8-10 Bible stories that focus on women who loved God.  Most of these are stories that I have not found in any of the kids' bible story books that we have owned.  The coolest part is that my friend Jennifer has agreed to illustrated it for me.   We plan to self-publish the same way I have before and sell it on amazon.com.  It feels SO good to be writing again!!!

And, to not have a post without a picture, here's Isaac showcasing his own creativity:

It's an alien.  I told him it looks like a praying mantis so he said it's a praying mantis alien.

The Lake House

We don't own it.  We don't even pay for it (the best way to do vacations).  But now that we've stayed there for our second weekend getaway, it's starting to feel like ours.

Since it was rainy, we spent much of our time in the house.

In our jammies.

Just sort of hanging out.

Playing with family. 

Yeah, don't ask.

Occasional technological entertainment.

And a few battles.

A few children did get hurt during the making of this photo shoot, but they are now okay.  

On both Saturday and Sunday, the rain cleared up enough for an afternoon hike.

The kids spent the first half of the hike running at the front.

We found a rock and just had to climb it.

Adventurers.

Mimi and Andy showing Amelia a millipede.

Toward the end, the little ones started getting tired and needed to be carried.

Abby found a sucker to do the work for her.

These three kept up the lead the whole time...no complaints!

I love seeing the kids out exploring nature.  Thanks Mimi and Boppa for hosting our wonderful weekend getaway!

Girly Girl

Caught a cute moment.  Nuf said.

2010 Goal Review and 2011 Goals/Expectations

Before I record my goals for 2011, I want to review what I wrote at this time last year (see original post here).  First of all, here's what I wrote when explaining how I complied this list of "goals" for 2010 (it will be the same philosophy for 2011):  While I tend to avoid resolutions because I'm way too flaky to keep them, I do have many plans and hopes for the year.  Some of these expectations are out of my control and will happen without any input from me.  The rest are sort of a to-do list of the things I would like to accomplish before the year is up. 


In other words, I have compiled a list of goals and expectations for the year.  As I review 2010's list, I will hi-light the points I accomplished with green and the ones that didn't quite work out with red.  My added notes will be in regular script.  So here's 2010's review




(Review) In 2010, I would like to:

• Continue my small group for moms (I love it!)  I still love it!
• Celebrate living in this house for three years (the longest we've lived anywhere since we've been married and my life-time average)
• See if I can talk Adel into rearranging the furniture (beats moving!)
• See my dad become cancer-free!  Hooray!!!
• Make an attempt to promote my books at Christian bookstores and local churches. I did make a few attempts and walked through every door that opened itself even the tiniest bit, but after completing two speaking "gigs" for the whole year, I decided to turn my focus elsewhere.  I never did the all-out effort I originally had in mind of mailing brochures to various local churches.
• Make a video of my grandparents, interviewing them about all the interesting experiences in their lives. They loved it!
• Celebrate Abby's third birthday!
• Learn everything I can about local adoption.  We attended one adoption conference in the fall but we still have SO much more to learn!
• Come up with a new book topic that I feel inspired to write.  Nothing yet.  Still hopeful.
• Plan a great get-away for Adel and I to celebrate our eighth anniversary.  Another stay-cation.  Home turns out to be a great place (especially when the kids are not here!)!
• Continue my attempts at new recipes and family nights.  I get a half for this as I did continue, but at a much slower pace than planned.
• Finally contact that life insurance company I signed up with when I was a teacher and get my money (what little there is) out of there (I've been putting this off for a few years now).  Decided just to let the money sit.  Too many fees for moving it. Oh well. 
• Celebrate Isaac's fifth birthday!
• Help Isaac adjust to Kindergarten!
• Decide whether I want to take on a part-time job once Isaac is in school full-time.  I  tried a few avenues but to no avail.  Since I love being a stay at home mom, I am extremely picky when it comes to finding a part time job.  It just has to be so worth it.
• Run a 10K with Jen.  In exactly one hour.  Yay!

Now, in 2011, I would like to:

• Continue my small group for moms and find another leader from among the women to split and grow the group.
• Celebrate living in this house for four years!
• Do some more decorating (slowly but surely) in my house.
• See my dad remain cancer free.
• See my mom become cancer free.
• Celebrate Abby's fourth birthday!
• Learn more about local adoption.
• Do more writing.  Come up with an inspiring book topic?
• Plan a fabulous stay-cation for our ninth anniversary (and start planning a real getaway for our tenth...we actually started budgeting for this this year).
• Continue my attempts at new recipes (once a month) and family nights (twice a month).
• Celebrate Isaac's sixth birthday.
• Help Isaac adjust to first grade.
• See Abby start three-day-a-week preschool.
• Figure out how to use my new-found "free time" wisely (One of her preschool days will be my bible study day.  I'm thinking one of the other days will be for cooking a good crock pot or pre-prepared meal.  The other day...I'm not sure yet...the perfect part-time job maybe?).

New Year Tradition

We started this tradition last year (see the original post here).  We are looking forward to taking one or two cards each evening at dinner and spending time really soaking in what they say and praying specifically for each family.  See your card here?

If not, and you sent us one, know we'll be praying for you one of these evenings coming up.  We are so blessed to have good friends and family to pray for!

Happy New Year (Belated)

We spent this New Year's Eve at Mimi and Boppa's house.  It was the first time we had ever attempted to celebrate NYE with our children.  We had a lot of fun and I can see us developing some lasting traditions for making this holiday a family holiday.

First of all, we celebrated the new year at 8pm.  I set one of the clocks ahead so it would "strike midnight" at our 8pm.  Guess I didn't see any reason why celebrating with the kids meant they had to be grumpy all the next day.

I also found a NYE craft online for the kids to make NYE clocks.  This will work even better as they get older.  As it was, I did most of the craft myself and they just did the coloring and minute lines.  Isaac was interesting in learning to use the clock to periodically update it with the "real" time. Abby wasn't, so I used her clock as our "goal clock" so Isaac would know what midnight looked like.

 We watched a youtube video of last year's NY countdown and ball drop. 

Then we started our own celebration.

Here's Isaac filling his pockets with "bombs" at the "bomb shop."

I was trying to use different settings to capture the sparkler but it all went so fast, this is all I got.

We got a $10 "Kid Pack" of fireworks.  

They were all really mild and noiseless, but I like this pic of Dad and Adel running away after lighting one.

Isaac in excited terror as the first firework goes off.

Abby collecting silly string into a ball.

Isaac finally settling in to the fireworks.

Their favorite was the colorful smoke one.