A Helpful Hint.

I have gotten so blog-lazy lately.  Just pictures and short comments.  We have so much going on that I would love to share.  Today I decided to post a helpful hint.  Hope it is helpful!

 

This time of year we get lots of papers from the school requesting money or signatures for various last days of school activities.  In addition, the summer camps start sending letters with sign-up sheets and deposit requests.  

 

It can be totally overwhelming.  I can never remember it all. With 4 kiddos in school, I found myself under this pile of papers and needing a better system.  The old one of writing things on the calendar just wasn't working anymore.  

 

So I came up with one.  I organized the information/request sheets by due date. Then I stapled them together like this.

 

I put the lists of information on top and then filed the papers under those by due date.

Like this.

Then I used envelopes (These happen to be business envelopes we have collected out of bills we get in the mail.  Use up what you can instead of throwing them away!!) then I label the outside with the kid's name, what it is for and how much money is inside.  I sit down with a pile of 1's and 5's and begin to fill them up.  As you can see in the lower left corner, Levi M. needed 3$ for pizza.  This goes into his folder and to school.  The same goes for the rest! 

 

Now back to that stapled pile of papers.  I go back to the request sheet and label what has been paid and when it was paid.  This way I don't do it twice if they send a reminder sheet. 

I do write things on the calendar to keep up with everyone.  But it is nice to keep these sheets in a handy spot in case I forget information such as; do they need a sack lunch, will they need sunscreen or extra money for snacks at the event they attend.  That is hard to fit on a calendar.  :) 

When an event passes, I can clean up my stack of sheets by removing the old ones or adding new ones as they come in. 

I probably seems like a lot of work but it really saves stress in the end.  I hate pulling up to the school and having Jolie say, "Oh, I need 2 dollars today for..."  Then I end up digging trough my purse and trying to count change if I don't have cash.  This keeps me from giving my kids the stink eye.

I love finding a system that works for us!  Any help I can get in raising this brood is help I will take.



More pictures requested. :)

By popular demand, (with the grandparents) I am posting more pictures of the family.  :) 

Gampy came to visit.

The hours at the ballpark have made an impression.

Keep your eye on the ball Levi!  Nice shorts and boots Daddy.  ;)

Matt got the boys belt-making kits.  I had no idea there was such a thing.  So they now each have  a belt that Matt claims will last them through high school.  Matt has had his current leather belt for 13-14 years!

Asher chose a grey color for his belt.

We were blessed with several days of rain which turned our yard into a mud pit.  Jolie lead the pack into a mud fight.

Crazy kids!

Zaddy was a policeman for career day.  He looked very handsome! 
We had a sweet officer friend lend us a hat!

And finally, Miss Micah!  Someone help the poor child.  Nobody is feeding her.

Not sure where the double chin came from.  :)

IT'S A...?

Precious Father we thank you for giving us the blessing of children.  Please make us good stewards of that blessing.  Keep us captivated by these little treasures so that we will never forget how important this time is or how fortunate we are.  Thank you most of all for hearing the prayers of a little girl who desperately wanted a baby sister.  You are truly a God who sees hearts.  

Zaddie's birthday and a bee.

I don't know who was more excited, the birthday boy or the brother.

He was still a little sleepy but was happy to see his donut cake.

Then he got a Beyblade set.  This was a BIG deal!  

He had a party with his cousins at a local pizza place.  They played games, ate pizza and had a great time.  I, however, forgot the camera so no pics.

This is my girl concentrating at her spelling bee.   She did great!  She made it several rounds before she got out.   You can't believe the pressure these kids felt.  There were tears from some.  It was kinda sad.

These three friends were all in the bee together.  Sweet and smart girls!

Good job spellers!  Good job my girl!

The old camera

I found my old camera a few weeks ago.  I put the pictures on my computer and found these sweet babies, 2 years ago.  I cannot believe how fast this is going.  They have changed so much. 

  Sweet baby girl playing dress up.

Fat drooly baby!  Be still my heart.

Little Handy Zaddy.  Oh my.  That was his wearing-collared-shirts-under-long-sleeved-shirts phase. 

Oh my stunt man.  You keep wearing that helmet.  I may make you wear it
 when you start driving.

 Look at that mess!  This is homeschooling with a baby.  Kinda makes me sad
and relieved all at the same time.

My baldy!!!  I miss kissing that bald head.

 Yep, this is a picture of Spider Man's butt.  These are the pictures we get when the
 kids steal the camera.

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Super Ashie!

Here: she is wishing she was a fairy.

Poor little baby.  He sleeps just like his daddy. 


Children are a blessing from the Lord!!!  I am so blessed.  It was good to see these old pictures again. 

He's okay.

Levi was so excited to see his sister and brothers.  He kept putting his hands to his face and yelling, "Asher!"

Asher found us first.  He ran up and hugged his daddy.  He didn't want his picture taken though.

Jolie ran up and immediately began talking about Broadway Kids.  It's a special music team that the 4th graders can be a part of.  That was the best part of her day.

Here he is!  I worried about him all day long and then found out that he did great.  His teacher said that he was an example to the rest of the class!  Praise God!  He had a great day.  He even told me, "When we practiced walking down the hall, my teacher didn't have to call my name once!"  He did say a little girl kept punching him but that he "blocked her off."  He didn't even tattle.  He just took care of it himself.  That's my boy!  He even looks bigger.

So happy to see that smile!

First day photos.

Here they are grandparents, aunt and uncles!!!  Mama is doing fine.  Kind of. 

My 4th grader.

My 2nd grader.

My Kindergartner.

The new shoes.  Always the most exciting part of back-to-school.

Does anyone else see the hesitation on Zaddok's face?

The brothers.

He tried so hard to be happy.

Oh my baby.  This is what I was dreading.

We had to leave him in his classroom, crying his eyes out.  Then Mama had to leave so I could cry my eyes out.  I just wanted him to feel happy and excited.  Instead he feels unsure and scared.  God, please be with him today.

I just want it to be 3:00.