Getting my act together or at least trying to

{the Martineau Board}
I have been trying to get myself more organized in a way that worked for me and my family. Its been a struggle to figure out how to home school my kids with so many little ones, but I think I am finally starting to make a break through. My friend Tricia in Utah helped inspire me to finish my own family board after she posted a picture of her family board a week or two ago on her blog (she is one amazing gal). I had a framed board made 5 or 6 months ago and its been hanging on my wall all that time empty. All because I couldn't figure out how I wanted mine to work and function so I hadn't done anything with it. After seeing her's it gave me some clarity and I was able to finish my own. Thanks Tricia!


I stayed up until 2am on Monday putting the finishing touches on my 'Martineau Board.' I still have a couple of things to add like our family's mission statement, master inspire plan documents, a calendar, and some pictures. However I am a million times closer to having a functioning 'Board' than I was a week ago. So hallelujah to that!

{Good o'le Fun}
It just makes my heart feel good when my children play together happily like they did today. This race track is great and even though the special cars it came with are broken the kids had a marvelous time using normal matchbox cars. They played for over an hour and enjoyed every second of it.


{my little Scholar}
I'd like to think I must be doing something right because today Brea got it in her head that she wanted to look at books. I kind of laughed and figured she'd want off the couch 30 seconds later, but she kept looking at books for close to 20 minutes. If my prayers are answered she'll be a little reader. I am keeping my fingers crossed. :)


{the Kindness Jar}
After feeling like there had been too much tension and raised voices in our home I created a kindness jar for our family. Every time someone does something nice and kind to someone else glass beads go into the jar. When it's full our family is going to have a fun little reward like a trip to Bahama Buck or Cold Stone or something like that.

The kids are so excited and can't wait to get it filled up. I am not sure if the jar is working or not, but I have noticed a better feeling in our home since we started last week and I think there has been a decrease in fighting between the kids. I love that its a win-win for everyone if someone earns beads, because everyone will enjoy the reward once its full. It takes away competition between the siblings and replaces it with a shared excitement if beads are added even if its by someone else. So far I am loving it!