- Making their bed
- Feeding either the dog or the fish
- Completing two math worksheets/workbook pages
- Reading for 15 minutes
- Journaling 2 times a week (Evan writes one sentence, the date, and draws a picture. Sean writes three sentences, the date, and draws a picture.)
- Picking up their toys in the playroom, outside, and their bedrooms
If they complete all the tasks, they get paid $2 a week. This past Saturday was their first pay day and each boy got an extra dollar for cleaning the basement. Despite Evan's face, they were both very excited to earn their money! And I'm really happy to say that this, so far, has made them willing to do all the things on the list without complaining or a battle. My kids are motivated by money...
Aside from rolling out the new checklists, the boys started their summer activities. Monday is going to be a free day (with the exception of this week and last week when Sean had baseball games). Tuesday Evan has Lil' Kickers class in Novi in the morning that Scott takes him to while Sean and I grocery shop. In the evening Evan has his t-ball practice that we coach.
He seems to really like his class! And the best part is that it's free! It was a part of our sports basket we won at the boys' school carnival a few weeks ago. T-ball is off to a great start too! Evan had his first game of the season last night and the kids all seemed to enjoy the game.
Wednesday the boys both have swim at 9am at Goldfish; another freebie in our sports basket. They've both enjoyed their new class, despite Evan getting swimmer's ear after the first session last week. Drops 2 times a day in the ear for the past week has been pretty tough given it's the summer and he wants to be in water all the time. But, it seemed good enough to get back in the water today.
Thursday mornings Sean has his reading support at the library. His tutor, Mrs. Verble is pretty awesome and he likes going to meet with her. While Sean spends an hour with her, Evan and I find books he can read to me. I read him The Berenstain Bears, he plays on the computer for a while, and the boys cash in on their reading prizes for the summer reading program. Free kids meals at Chipotle, free passes to Skatin' Station, and trinkets have been the first two week's prizes.
Fridays we will have open after this Friday. Sean finishes out his baseball season with his last game this Friday. I'm looking forward to being able to go to Music in the Park on Friday evenings. But, it's been fun watching Sean make progress with baseball this season. He really has improved so much!
Week 2 is off to a much better start than the first week of summer. While the kids took to the checklists and the new classes rather well, we had a few bumps along the road. Sean's virus he had the last day of school and Father's Day weekend up north turned into a pretty gross cough. A doctor's appointment showed that it was only allergies. He tested negative for environmental allergies two years ago, but we were warned he'd likely test positive soon. Unfortunately, we can't get him back in to the allergist until the end of the summer. In the meantime, we spent several nights getting up with him during coughing fits, coughing so hard he'd throw up before we were told to try a liquid allergy medicine before bed. Since then things have improved.
Evan also got swimmer's ear in addition to a strange one-day virus that left him exhausted and without an appetite. Of course, this was on a day we bought tickets to see The Incredibles 2, but we brought a blanket and had reclining seats so he was able to relax and curl up with the movie. He still managed to eat some popcorn even though his stomach hurt.
Another big bump was my grandma being admitted to the hospital last Friday. She has been to the hospital several times over the past few months for abdominal issues (UTIs, abdominal pain, etc.). Things were looking better on Saturday, but on Sunday, while we were visiting Amy and Eric's new baby, we got some devastating news that she had developed a pulmonary embolism. With her being 93, diabetic, and already having a chronic issue that affects her lungs, this was a scary situation. My dad and uncles opted to go the blood thinner route for treatment and it's been up and down the past few days. We're praying for her recovery, but we're realistic given her age and health issues.
This cancelled our plans Sunday for a BBQ at my parent's house, but look! A cute baby! At least we were able to meet baby Bryce and I was able to go up to the hospital and visit my grandma.
I know life isn't perfect and while our summer hasn't been off to the best start with everyone's health, we've still been enjoying the time off together. And we've been productive. Without further description, here's what a week and a half off together looks like!
