Smithsonians: Bye-Bye 2013

Today was mostly spent recovering from Christmas and our trip. We got the kitchen entirely clean! Yay! Mostly Mike got the kitchen clean. I wish I moved as fast as him. It is nice to start to feel under control again.

We had Family Home Evening today. I had the lesson. It was on service and goals. We held FHE around the kitchen table. The kitchen was so clean I wanted to enjoy it as much as possible. When we called the kids to the table Stockton said, "Not the table. We must be getting more rules." Sorry about that. You are right, but the table has nothing to do with it. Mike and I had put together a cleaning calendar. Starting simple. We decided to use one of our Disney calendars and write who cleans what bathroom etc. That way we won't have to figure it out every weekend. We also assigned them to do a dinner chore. Simple stuff. Set and clear table, dishes, cook dinner, sweep floor and wipe counters. They will rotate these a week at a time.

Mike and I also gave them goals for the new year. I know they should pick out their own, and they can do that; but we gave them a goal that we want them to accomplish. For Maysen, we want her to self-publish a book on Amazon. She did not like that idea! Mike told her it didn't need to be a long book, something simple so she could learn the process. Stockton's goal was to design an app and get it in the app store. He didn't like his goal either. Luckily, now that he has his Eagle requirements done, Mike will have time to work with him on this. Jorja's goal was to finish her Faith in God before her birthday. Preston's goal was to read the Book of Mormon with the family before he is baptized. The other kids thought Preston's goal wasn't fair because we were doing it anyway. My goal is to finish my Personal Progress before Jorja turns 12. That way I will have completed it with Maysen and can start on it again with Jorja. The advantage of having girls 5 years apart! Mike's goal is to head up the house organizing project. We will see how these turn out.

Steve and Shannon invited us to their house to sleep over. We had a great time. We ate lots of food and played a lot of games. I fell asleep watching Wreck-It Ralph with the kids. I woke up in time for the ball to drop. I am not a night person! Stockton brought silly string to their house. He got this silly string at Bret Barrow's birthday party when we lived in Georgia. I think it was from when Bret turned 8. Most of the kids used their spray at the party, not Stockton. H wanted to save it for the perfect moment. Five years later he is ready to use it. He was pretty excited about that.

Stockton and his silly string