Bump on a Blog

First off, Melissa Bone of Spring Glen, Utah is a genius. I've been struggling to get my girls to clean up after themselves, especially in their bedroom. Her "Great Idea" ended up in Family Fun magazine and I implemented it today. She writes:

My 13-year old daughter hides a certain number of pennies under things than need to be put away, and my younger kids, ages 10, 6, and 3, make a game of finding the coins. The rule? Anything they pick up or look beneath, they have to put away. Their goal is to find all the pennies and have fun cleaning in the process. If all the pennies are found, the kids get a special treat.

Both London and Kamryn had so much fun with this. I hid the pennies under toys and they found them. They both ended up with about 15 pennies each (lots of small polly pocket toys). I didn't even make them a treat, because the pennies were reward enough. Good thing they don't know the value of a penny yet!

And finally, I was able to take a break and get away while Jeff took care of the girls. I canned refried beans, macaroni and pancake mix. I am hoping to start off the canning season with a bang and actually do a bunch of wheat next month.