What's Working Wednesdays

It feels like it's been a while since I have been able to get around to the what's working focus. This week I want to give a shout out to the library (yes I just gave a shout out... to the library... go ahead and laugh... I did)

The library rocks! The limit of books you can take out from our library system is 50, and we are almost always at the limit. We have been reading all kinds of neat stuff, some school related, some not so much. We finished reading Little House in the Big Woods. We are reading Little House on the Prairie. We are smack in the middle of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Augustus Gloop just got sucked up the pipes, giggle). I am reading a few parenting books, the kids have books they are looking over, and all of this glorious bounty of books came completely FREE! YAY!!!!!! I love love love love love the library!

And one of our most favoritest things from the library are books on CD. Audio books are just terrific... and a great blessing for a momma who has been spending so much time in the car. Most of the books we get on CD we have read outloud first. It's neat to hear the kids' opinions on how good of a job the narrator has done. We have a few abridged books on CD that I got at the Dollar Tree... nicely done versions of Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Robin Hood, Tales from the Jungle Book, Riki Tiki Tavi, and Brown Wolf. In makes my heart happy that the kids would rather listen to these than to the radio.

But the library opens up whole new worlds of audio book enjoyment. Unabridged versions of so many wonderful children's books, all on CD! We are in the middle of The Wind In the Willows (read by Jim Weiss, he is just brilliant). Previous favorites have included Charlotte's Web (read by EB White himself), Stuart Little, A Little Princess. Shorter read along books are a big hit too (thought he kids prefer to listen without the page-turning signals). And we just borrowed the first two Little House books, and a few other Jim Weiss titles that are literature tie-ins to our history book. I can hardly wait (well, I CAN wait to get in the car AGAIN, but I am excited about listening to new stuff).

I know this whole post is long and rambly... but I really just love the library that much... I get so excited about the thought of new books to read and stories to listen to that I can barely contain myself!

What's Working Wednesdays

What's working this week is thrift store shopping. I am trying hard to curb my consumer tendencies and shop second hand if I shop at all. Some days are better than others. But we've had some cool recent thrift store finds. The first are games... Family night is a lot more fun with new games. We've added Boggle Jr, Candyland DVD, and Mousetrap, all for less than $10 total.


And the best score lately was a pair of skates for K for $2. Look how cute my little girl is!






J also used his allowance to buy a toy for himself, and one for K too! I love the sweet sibling moments.

What's Working Wednesdays

Here's our what's working update for this week.

We have had a few people recently comment on our light switch extenders. We LOVE them! K is on the shorter side of small, and still can't reach any of the light switches, even on her tippytoes. So these have been great for letting her be able to turn lights on and off (an no longer have to pee in the dark). And now W is almost tall enough to reach them too. The best part is that they are totally clear and aren't very noticable at all.

We have these... the company has excellent customer service, too!

What's Working Wednesdays

I have just a minute or two (literally) but I don't want to skip this. So this week's What's Working is dishwashing :) It's amazing how much better my morning goes when I wake up to a shiny sink! I'm on a roll... my sink has been clean for about a week now. I think this is some kind of record.

What's Working Wednesdays

So today, in our little owl nest, our new lamps are what's working! Really, I didn't realize such a little thing like ambient lighting could make me so happy. We used to have table lamps, but both of them, with their glass bodies, suffered mortal injuries (at my hands, no less... never throw blankets down the stairs if your lamps are along the staircase and your aim isn't very good).

So, the kids went with me today to pick up new lamps. Check them out here. All three lamps are now assembled and strategically placed around the living room. Let's hope Owl Poppa likes them when he gets home from work!

What's Working Wednesdays

One night each week we have our Family Night... Family Night must be capitalized, since this is a big event we all look forward to. What does Family Night look like?

• Supper is a meal we can all make together so that we are all working in the kitchen together. The favorite so far has been individual pizzas (including making a mini pizza for W).
• We all sit down to an early supper, and then
• we get to do a fun activity together as a family. So far we've had a few movie nights, and a game night.
• Special snacks, picked up just for family night.

This isn't TOO much different from a normal night, but the kids love the hype of Family Night... They look forward to it all week, they are extra kind to each other on Family Night, they willingly help out around the house earlier in the day so that we'll be ready for Family Night (Family Night can't begin til afternoon and evening chores are done). It makes me happy to think that we are building these sweet memories together, and reinforcing that spending time with one another is something we value in our family.

Besides building memories, Family Night is giving us a platform for other family-building activities. Starting tonight, allowances will be given on Family Night. I also hope to make Family Night into part family meeting, where we can talk about things that have been going on in the family, air our grievances, brainstorm about family issues, etc.

This weeks plan: pizza, popcorn, and a movie

What's Working Wednesdays

NOTE: I stumbled across this idea at exhale. return to center. Erin's blog is really neat. I love the idea of taking some time to really appreciate what IS working for us. I am hoping to make this a regular Wednesday feature.


One of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles I am always facing (besides the laundry, and the dishes, and the... oh wait, let me focus here) is how to keep the hosuehold running with my children. This isn't as simplistic as it sounds. I know how to keep a household running without my kids -- when I send them away for an afternoon playdate with Owl Poppa and I hurriedly check tasks off my to do list. I know how to keep a household running in spite of my kids -- haphazardly putting out whichever fire is burning hottest at the moment, and hoping to play catch-up when everyone goes down for the night. But I spend hours pondering how to keep things going WITH my children -- working together harmoniously as a family to get done the things that need to get done as part of everyday life in a family (like the laundry, and the dishes, and the...)

So, one thing that is working for us has been the creation of two new household roles... the Kitchen Helper and the Baby Buddy. J and K alternate roles each evening. The Kitchen Helper helps Momma prepare supper, helps set the table, and does general odd jobs in the kitchen area. The Baby Buddy spends quality time with the littlest, and is responsible for helping him wash up and get into his booster seat. So now I get to prepare supper without tripping over W or removing him eighty-seven times from the cabinets. But more importantly, I get to spend some time one on one with the older two, and they get to spend some time one on one with W. Plus, I feel like they are learning some real life skills in both roles... learning some kitchen skills (and practicing math and reading) as the Kitchen Helper, and learning to be nurturing and really what it means to be in a family as the Baby Buddy.