School Ready... (and a winner)

 It's that time of year again... a time for making lists and checking them twice.  (Okay so it's not that time... but you know what I mean.)  I think we're pretty much totally ready for school to begin now.

 Well, except for me... because that means I have to part with my hoodlums again and I don't particularly like that.  I was consoling myself with the thought that I'd have a puppy by the time we began but alas... the mama doggy we were waiting on pups from died and all her puppies with her.  Very sad.  (It's possible we will be able to get one from the breeder's next litter, due mid September. I'm so READY for a sweet obnoxious puppy dog!)

I came up with these chore charts last year for each of my kids and it knocked 80% of the morning stress from our routine.  All they had to do was read, do, check off and show me.  (And occasionally there was a fantabulous and unexpected reward in it for them... kind of like a pop quiz, only more like a pop-reward.  I like those.)   

 I laminated the charts, and purchased small clipboards for them.  I painted the clipboards so each hoodlum would know which is theirs, because we don't want any fighting over that sort of thing around here!

I hung them on the fridge with 3M hangers, and placed magnetic dry erase markers beside them.

 I love little boxes waiting to be checked off.  and yes, I did put "Hug your parents" in there... it gives us a daily giggle when they get to that "chore."

 So you see how easy that was to whip together? You can do the same and get your mornings organized and ready... And if you don't want to go to the trouble of making these and putting them all together for yourself, I've stocked up my shop, and you can order a customized one for your hoodlums, here! (I kept the clip boards unpainted in my shop.)

 Also... (and perhaps this has nothing to do with being ready... or perhaps it does, because I seem to need more preparedness to get going each day...) I am now the proud new owner of a French Press coffee pot. (Target)  I'm still not a coffee drinker, but this is for all my family, friends, neighbors and overnight guests who ARE.  And I really really love the smell.

I wish I could make a pot each day just smell it, and then give it away.  Ha!  (Basically what this means is that as soon as school begins, I can now have girlfriends over for COFFEE.  You know... with actual COFFEE.  I'm a little bit excited about that.)

 And lastly, the dreaded lunch chore is nearly upon us... Is it just me, or is making lunches just about the suckiest job out there next to laundry?  I always start out with such a bang too... little cute notes, fun snacks, cute packaging and then by about mid-October I'm hucking things into their lunchboxes left and right, desperate to get all the lunches packed and put away so I can collapse onto the couch and do nothing for the rest of the night.  (Again... maybe this is just me.)

Anyway, I created these re-useable bags for my own kids. (Though I'm still working on one that JJ doesn't roll his eyes over because apparently the black and white paisley lining I chose for his green striped one is too girly.  Whatevs.)

You can slip sandwiches and snacks into them, wipe them clean with a damp cloth and you're good to go.  And you can be a good steward of the earth's resources in the process and who doesn't love that?

But the main thing is... I made them cute.  Because if lunch making is such an obnoxious chore in my world, I was kind of hoping that the sight of cherries, flowers, stripes, checks, and butterflies might perk things up a bit.  I made all different kinds and you can see the variety here.

And if you'd like some, you can order yours here.  (P.S. I didn't make that many because well, we're getting ready for school and I've been kinda busy.  I will be hitting it hard and listing a bunch of other stuff soon though, so if you miss them this time around, let me know and I'll hook you up via custom order, mkay? You know I love ya.)


And the winner of the National Lemonade Day giveaway was Janet@ordinarymom.  The peeps over at Blood Water Mission picked Janet using random.org.  Congratulations Janet!  Shoot me an email at lemonademakinmama@comcast.net and I'll hook you up to claim your prize!

Happy Wednesday my friends... I hope it's a good one for you!