"A #picture is worth a thousand words," they say. Well I've got only four, but they sum it up appropriately, too..."The struggle is real." 😢😂😛 All of that #laundry... I have NO idea where it even all came from! I've been behind on my laundry, but this past week I worked on getting caught up. I literally thought I only had one load left! The kids must have been hiding all this shit somewhere!!! And I don't even know where!!! Do they have some secret hidden door, way in the back of their closets that they open just when I think It's all finished, so they can torment me? "Hahaha, mommy we have MORE!!! 👹👹 And...Yep, that is my son in his #birthdaysuit just hanging out..literally😜...next to a garbage bag, watching his brother try to help with the #kitty #litterbox for the first time...all while the #dog looks on. 😧🙄😱😜😅 #justanotherday #momlife #freakinglaundry #ihatelaundry #children #laughoryoullcry

via Instagram

I love how Kallie is sticking her tongue out in this photo! It is super adorable! There were very few photos I got where she actually kept her hat on, which makes this one super special! #Goldenretriever #GoldensOfInstagram #doggielove #cutepuppy #loveher

via Instagram

Family Chore Chart

MeSs. C l u t t e r. DisorganizAtion. Such nasty words. And such a nasty way to live!  Yuck! Our house was recently feeling like this...chaotic to me!  The kids weren't picking up after themselves around the house, their bedrooms were atrocious, and this momma was doing her best to run (or limp) around like a crazy nut to just find some semblance of order--even just once in a while!  I suddenly realized that I had stopped expecting the kids to help around the house.  I had been so overwhelmed by just the day-to-day living, especially since my hip surgery, that I had forgotten to enforce our expectations. 

Immediately following my October surgery, the kids had pulled together to help me out.  But as time wore on, they became less and less inclined to help.  They became less cooperative, and downright lazy! I knew I needed to change things up, to flip the "script" that had been recently written. 

So, right after the New Year, I finally implemented a family chore chart that I had been working on for a looooooooooong time...like 1 1/2 years looooooong!  A couple of years ago, I had researched chore charts on Pinterest, finding many fabulous ideas.  But there wasn't one particular one that would work best for our family.  So, I just melded a bunch of ideas together to come up with our own system--one that I hope will work for us for a while! 

I knew I wanted the children to be responsible for themselves and their own rooms, but I also wanted them to contribute toward the family.  Because, well, family is a LOT of work, amiright? I also wanted an incentive system, or as educators and psychologists would call it, an extrinsic reward system.  I wanted to get my kids on board with regular chores and helping around the house, so I wanted to entice them with the promise of a reward for a job well-done.  But then as they become more accustomed to helping regularly again, my plan is to gradually reduce the rewards they receive.  I want them to learn that as a family, we all work together to run things, that each person is an important cog in our wheel.  Too, I want them to learn that we all have a responsibility toward each other to care for ourselves, our family unit, our home.  We are interdependent on one another.   

I decided to go with a "token economy" type of system, where the children receive a ticket for each time they complete a chore.  I also decided that I can use the tickets to encourage the kids to chip in even more often than just by doing their own chores.  So for every extra chore, they can earn one to five tickets, depending on the difficulty and length of time the chore takes.  I can also use the tickets as a positive reward for when they are super-thoughtful or kind to each other.  They are generally pretty good toward each other already, but every now and then one of them goes out of their way for another.  And by all means, I want to encourage that!  Of course, I always praise them verbally for their help and their kindness, too. 

On Sundays, which is our family day, we sit around the chore charts and have a family meeting. The children choose which chores they would like to do for the following week.  I have two categories of chores they have to choose from.  They pick a couple of chores they will have to be responsible for every day for the following week, and a couple of chores they only have to do once or twice during the week.  Little Miss is responsible for a bit more than the boys, due to her age being twice that of Miracle Man and Chub-Chub.  Other than that, my one rule is that they cannot choose the same chore they just had the week before.  That gives everyone a chance to try out each of the different chores, learn a new skill, and share in the responsibility of running the household.

Here is what our family wall with the chore charts looks like:

For the individual chore charts, I used shadow box picture frames for each child.  Inside the frame, I printed on cardstock the list of personal responsibilities for each child and I made areas where the chosen chores could go. I also printed the individual chores on cardstock, but I wanted a different color so that they would stand out against the background of the photo frames. Then, I laminated the personal responsibility pages, as well as the individual chores they can choose.  After the chores were laminated, I cut them up and attached a piece of Velcro to the back of each one.  Originally, I was thinking that I would open the shadow boxes up every week to change chores (primarily because I was concerned that Miracle Man would rip them all down if he had access to them). But, fast forward a year and a half, and I realized that idea wasn't going to work. It's too cumbersome to open them up each week.  And it was difficult enough to put the backings back on the frames in the first place!  So I ended up hot gluing Velcro pieces to the glass on the outside of the frames in order to have a place to put the chosen chores.  It seems to be working just fine and Miracle Man hasn't touched them (yet)!

To hold the individual chores and have them readily accessible each week, as well as to distinguish between daily and weekly chores, I made a simple table for each set of chores in Microsoft Word.  I then printed them on cardstock, laminated them, and hot glued Velcro to them.  I hang these up with a clip on the wall above the kids' chore charts.  So far, it seems to be working well!  Here is what they look like:

The boys' personal responsibilities are the same, but Little Miss has a couple additional responsibilities. 

Here are each of the boys' chore charts:

If you zoom in, you should be able to read the personal responsibilities pretty well.  When I originally created these charts, the boys were going to be able to earn a piece of candy for completing their chores.  However, several dental visits later and I do NOT want them to have any more candy than they already have!!  So I have substituted the tickets for the candy.  Luckily, the boys can't read all that well yet!!  Shhhhhh.....don't tell!!

Here are the tickets that I am using.  I covered an old recipe box with a pretty paper using Mod Podge to make it look nicer!  Even though you can't really see it in the picture, it looks adorable!  You'll just have to take my word for it!

 



On Sundays, when we are having our family meeting in front of the chore charts, we discuss what went well the past week, and where we need to improve.  We are also discussing ways we can make this system work better for us.  Then we choose jobs, each child getting to pick one chore at a time.  Afterward, the children can choose to trade their tickets in (or not) for prizes from my special prize box. 

Secret Alert:  (It's filled with junk I already had laying around the house)!  Mum's the word!  I do need to add some more things to the box that the boys would like to earn, but for now, it works just as it is!  When the children are trading in their tickets for prizes, we discuss how much each prize is worth.  For example, a pencil, an eraser, or a small sticker sheet is worth only one ticket, but the larger items might be worth 15 or 20!  Little Miss has decided to save her tickets to earn some of the bigger prizes, while the boys want to use up all of their tickets at once!  Oh, and bonus:  The basket I am using is something I already had around the house, too, so that's another win!!

 

 

Just look at all that CRAP!!  Literally, it is just crap! But to the kids, it is so ultra-cool!  Chub-Chub has such a difficult time choosing!!  LOL  I hope that keeps them motivated!!

Well, there you have it!  My new family chore system. It may not be perfect, but it is working right now!  I'm sure I will have to continue to tweak it over time, and as the kids get older, but I'm loving it at the moment, and so are they!

Hopefully yours,

Marathon Momma

P.S. Don't forget to subscribe to my blog so that you don't miss a post!  Feel free to share it with your friends if you think there is someone you know that would appreciate it! 

P.P.S. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have in the comments section.

Thankful

Recently, while thinking about Thanksgiving approaching, I was feeling blessed for my beautiful family and wonderful friends.  And that led me to begin thinking about all of the many things I am thankful for.  So, I decided that I would write a list of 27 things I am thankful for...one for each day of November leading up to and including the big feast...plus an extra!! Please note...these are not necessarily listed in ranked order!

1.  My husband, Prince Charming, who has been the love of my life since high school (that would be 23.5 years as of this writing).  We have made it through thick and thin. We've celebrated each other's successes, supported each other through difficult times, and have begun a beautiful family together. He is a very hard worker and I am proud of all that he has become.

2.  My smart, sweet, and beautiful daughter, Little Miss, who blows my mind with her math skills and performing talent. She may keep me on my toes at times, but she is an amazing little girl who has a heart of gold (standing over my shoulder, she tells me she wants me to write diamond instead of gold).  Ahhhhh, my princess!

3. Chub-Chub. He is an energetic, silly, loving, little "big" boy. He loooooves to play with his cars!  I don't think there is a single square foot of our house and car that don't have a hot wheels hidden somewhere. He is my shadow and loves to "nuggle" with me.

4.  I'm thankful for Miracle Man.  I'm incredibly humbled and grateful to have him in our lives.  Having almost lost him when he was 7 weeks old, we give thanks each and every day that he smiles upon us. He is silly, giggly, and loving. He loves our dog, Boomer, more than anything in the world, and Boomer is incredibly tolerant of him.  We love watching him make amazing gains in his development. He truly is our Miracle Man!

5.  My mother, who has shown me a different side of her than I ever knew before.  She has been a great support to me recently.  Having had a strained relationship in the past, the effort she has made to reunite us has been incredible.  I am thankful for the love she has shown me. And I am thankful for the beginning of a new chapter in our lives together.

6.  My dearest friend, Dee, who has been my rock for many years.  I could not have survived the past 4 years without her constant support and love.  Even as she battles cancer, she still takes care of me and my family. I think she is applying for sainthood sometime soon.



7.  My little sister, who has shown me love and support through very trying times. I can't even count the number of times she has been to the hospital with me and my children this year.

8. My little brother, aka Lil' Bro. He's hilarious, and sweet...and very loving.  Although he lives far away from me (waaaayyyy too far), and I haven't seen him in 3 years...and despite his own busy life, he still manages to offer me his love and support. Plus, he idolizes me! 'Nuf said!

9. My older brother and his family. We've shared some wonderful times together over the years. I just wish they didn't live on another continent. It makes it super hard to visit!

10. All of my sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, other family members.  Each of them have shown me kindness and love over the years.

11. Boomer, my first dog.  He is incredibly sweet and patient.  I love how his big butt wiggles along with his tail when he's happy.

12.  Kallie, the first dog I've raised from a puppy.  She is just what I needed.  Her companionship and love mean the world to me.

13.  My friends, many of whom are reading this right now.  How could I not be grateful for the love, time, support, and special moments we've shared? You've all contributed to my journey...sometimes in ways you cannot even imagine. Kindness given and received infiltrates the soul.  This is what you have done for me.

14.  Cheetos.  The crunch.  The cheese.  What's not to love?

15.  My kittens, Komet and Kupid, who have moved right into our lives and our hearts.  They are non-stop purring machines that love to cuddle.  They came to us at a difficult time and helped fill a void.

16.  My Ipad.  I know it's a material thing, but this material thing has given me countless hours of entertainment and knowledge on the days when my fatigue and pain mean that all I can do is hold down the couch.

17.  My bed.  It is incredibly comfortable. Sometimes it is the only place where I can get comfortable.

18.  My home.  It may not be the nicest, biggest home in the world, but it's ours. And it is filled with love.  It is also our sanctuary from the crazy outside world.

19.  My readers.  There may be only 2 of you, but I'm grateful for that!  Thank you for your support!  You're AWESOME!!

20.  When my children listen and follow directions. 'Cuz that's like...never.

21.  My health.  Despite the challenges I face, it could be worse!  I am thankful that it's not.  Hey, I'm seeing the glass half-full!

22.  Movie nights.  When the whole family is hanging together, "nuggling". Plus...the kids aren't fighting or running around the house screaming like wild banshees!  BONUS!!

23.  My neighborhood. There are many wonderful people living here!  I am having a blast getting to know our neighbors over the past several years.

24.  Random strangers at the store.  'Cuz sometimes, a lady just needs to talk to SOMEONE!  ANYONE!! Especially someone taller than 42 inches!

25.  Books! Tangible old-school books, eBooks, audiobooks, hard cover, soft cover, picture books, non-fiction, fiction, you name it.  I am grateful for the authors who can transport me into another world and teach me things I did not know. 

26. Music.  It fills my soul. It can heal me, calm me, pump me up.  It can ease my troubles, and bring such joy!  I love to watch my kiddles dancing to music!  That is truly one of the most enjoyable moments I experience as a parent of young'uns.

27.  Hot showers.  The warmth radiating over my aching body soothes me like nothing else can. I only wish my hot water lasted longer, and my energy wasn't zapped each time I take one. But I truly am grateful for this fabulous remedy.

Twenty-seven things is a long list, but at the same time, it's hard to narrow down the people, places, and things I am grateful for to only that many.  I challenge you to try it, too!  There really are many wondrous people and things in our lives. 

Gratefully yours,

Marathon Momma

This is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!

Halloween has been my favorite holiday since 1976. The day I was born. OK, maybe not that long...since I wasn't aware of anything for a few years yet. Still, I have always loved Halloween. I was the girl who continued to trick-or-treat all through high school. And into college, I still wore costumes. Then it was time to start having Halloween parties while I was in grad school and that continued through until I had the twins. I have always decorated to the nines for my favorite holiday. I have more decorations for Halloween than for Christmas...and we're talking like six or seven giant bins! The fun and excitement of Halloween has always captured my heart, and the child in me never gave it up.

This year, was a little different, though. I was feeling overwhelmed, my body has been in pain, and I was feeling depressed. Although I felt guilty about it, I didn't decorate or do any of my usual fall or Halloween activities with my children. Last weekend, we did finally go buy our pumpkins. But I didn't have the energy or desire to carve them. I had purchased the boys costumes ahead of time, but not Little Miss's. That ended up being fine, because she decided she wanted to be a rockstar, anyway. And we already had things around the house that we could use to pull together a costume for her. So that worked out fine.

As Halloween was nearing this week, and Little Miss kept asking to carve her pumpkin, I finally relented and spent Thursday evening doing that with the children. Well, sort of. Little Miss carved her own and she did a great job! 

The boys well, they didn't really want to have much to do with it. Chub-Chub did try to carve a little and scoop out some of the pulp and seeds. 

But Miracle Man didn't want to even touch the pumpkin guts! It totally freaked him out! He did, however, take the stem off!

So basically, I carved three pumpkins-mine and the boys's!! Here they all are:

Little Miss's is the bottom left pumpkin.

So, there. We carved the pumpkins. But we still didn't have any decorations up. The kids kept asking if we could go ahead and put them up, and so I figured that we would do that on Friday. Sure, there would be only one day left before Halloween, but at least it was a day before and not the day after! Besides, I decided I would only pull out a few things so that it wouldn't be as exhausting and as much work for me.

Friday night came (all too quickly)! And there we were, pulling out the Halloween decorations. All of a sudden, MiracleMan  started running around the house shrieking, "Aahhhh! It's a spider! Aahhhh!!" He had pulled out one of my furry spiders and was so thrilled with the thing that he was making a huge deal out of it!

And it was at that moment that I realized that I had to do this for my children. No matter how terrible I felt. It was important to them. And they loved it!

The more they all screamed and shreiked and got excited, the more I kept pulling out and hanging up. Miracle Man's excitement especially continued to escalate! He grabbed my phone and started snapping pictures. He's a budding photographer (wink, wink). Here's a sample of his work:

They almost look like pics from a horror movie, don't they!?

Chub-chub was fun, too. His excitement for the night was setting up my giant skeleton that stands over 6 feet tall and says things when you walk past him. I set him up inside the house on Friday, but on Saturday I put him outside the house where the trick-or-treaters would be walking past. Mwahahahaha!!!!

Chub-chub couldn't wait to open the box and put him together, but once he heard the skeleton speaking, he wanted me to put him back in the box! Immediately!! Which I did NOT do! Of course, that doesn't quite compare to our dog, Kallie's, reaction. She was quite unnerved by this giant skeleton man! She wouldn't stop barking at him!! I had to turn him off and "introduce" him to her. She did eventually get used to him last night and all was well.

So, in the end, we had a great time, even if I got to the point where I was flat-out exhausted! The kids were thrilled to have decorations up for Halloween! And I was grateful to them for bringing me back some of my Halloween joy. 

When Saturday finally dawned, I couldn't wait to take them trick-or-treating! We cleaned a little bit and prepared some food, as we also got ready for trick-or-treaters. The boys took their afternoon nap, and once they woke up, it was time for costumes! :-) The boys were firemen, and Little Miss was her rockstar costume. She was too cold in it, though, so she covered up with her jacket. Kallie was a bumble bee, and I was a "good" witch (though some might argue that point). Prince Charming pulled out his cow costume that we got for him many years ago. Our whole family was ready to go!

We had a nice evening, walking, chatting with neighbors...and the kids brought home a ton of candy for us! Oops! I mean for themselves....yeah, themselves!

Today, I'm a train wreck. Every single part of my body hurts. And I am feeling incredibly fatigued. I didn't really move around the house much today at all. But, I am thrilled that I had enough energy yesterday so that I could enjoy trick-or-treating with my children! 

And in the end, I'm grateful to my children for reminding me, once again, that this is all about them. And I have to push through my pain, exhaustion, and depression, for them! They need me. They need me to show them how to have fun and how to celebrate holidays. They need me to teach them that it's OK to still be young and not have to shoulder any adult burdens. They need their momma to be who she used to be...even if only for a day!! I'm thankful for my kiddles...in some new ways, even.

Feeling blessed,

Marathon Momma 

Geocaching Inside My House

My kids and I love to go geocaching and letterboxing.  It is a wonderful family activity that gets us outside and exploring new places and things.  The thrill of the hunt and the excitement of locating the treasures keeps us coming back for more.  Not surprisingly, Little Miss loves geocaching and letterboxing the most out of all of my kiddles.  Naturally, she is at the perfect age for hiking trips deep into the woods.  And at her age, she understands the process the best.  It can be difficult taking the boys on one of these expeditions, though.  Chub-Chub loves to find treasures and is quite the willing participant, but he is still a toddler and, as such, can be challenging to reign in on long nature walks.  Miracle Man is an entirely different story.  He gets too hot or too cold...and cranky very easily.  He tires sooner than his siblings, and he gets easily distracted.  As for me, chasing after two toddlers while trying to keep up with Little Miss is painful and exhausting for me at the moment. Long story short, we don't go letterboxing or geocaching nearly as often as we would like to.  In fact, as the boys have gotten older (and less easily confined to their stroller), we have gone on fewer and fewer of these types of hunts (and none for this year).  I am sure that, with time, it will get easier and we will be able to geocache and letterbox all over the place once again.

Lucky for me, I recently discovered that each day I do my own treasure hunting of sorts.  When I vacuum.  Of course there is the usual dirt, dust, cat hair, dog hair, etc.  But each time I vacuum, I am always surprised at what is lurking in the nooks and crannies of my house a mere day after the last time I plugged it in and began a search.  So while I cannot go on geocaching outings as often as I would like,  I take comfort in knowing that each day, there will be a new cache to find right inside my own home with my favorite machine, the vacuum.

Here is a list of the top 10 most interesting items found in today's vacuum cache:

10.  Cheerios...yes, AGAIN! Today's location:  the couch.  Because everyone knows that you simply cannot watch the Smurf movie without cheerios, mommy.

9.  A tiny leaf...I'm not quite sure how that got into the living room.  Are we growing a tree inside our house?  Am I that oblivious to the sheer number of living things in our home that I did not notice an entire tree growing in here??  Alas! It's gone now, anyway!

8.  A black olive...so glad it was in the kitchen where it belonged at least!

7.   Kitty litter...always, always, always.  Today, though, it wasn't just scattered pieces kicked off paws from jumping out of the litter box.  Nooooooo, today, there was a whole pile of litter next to the litter box (obviously in an attempt to cover up a stinky floor tile).

6.   Dried up playdough.  Of course.

5.  A paperclip...ummmm, do we even USE those in the house?  I can't remember the last time I took out a paperclip.

4.  An earring backing...we should own stock in the company that makes these things!

3.  A feather.  Nope, we do NOT, nor will we EVER own any kind of bird!  NEVER!!!  Did the cat bring it in the house, then?  And, if so, where IS the rest of what used to be attached to said feather????  YIKES!

2.  A turquoise, high heeled Barbie shoe...I guess her prince won't be able to see if the shoe fits her now!

1.   A cheese stick wrapper.  On.the.floor.  (Oh no you didn't!)  Now, I KNOW that none of my children would ever throw their wrapper right on the floor.  There must be some logical  explanation for this.  Like:  Chub-Chub's arm broke off and was swallowed up by the dog just as he was about to put the wrapper in the garbage maybe? Or perhaps Miracle Man tripped over a giant elephant with pink polka dots on his way to throw it out, and that caused him to miss the garbage can completely? No, these stories could not be true you say? Then what the ever-loving-heck caused the cheese stick wrapper to end up on the freaking floor for crying-out-loud? A child carelessly dropped it?  Nahhhhh!  That's too far-fetched for sure!

Well, there you have it.  My cache for the day!  I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!


Yours in geocaching,
Marathon Momma

In a Nutshell

It's been a while again since my last post.  It's been hectic in our household. Miracle Man and Chub-Chub have turned four and Little Miss has turned nine. We lost our beloved doggie, Khloe, unexpectedly and suddenly. Prince Charming is working around-the-clock, and his business is doing well. Miracle Man is making good progress in his school program, Chub-Chub loves being a big boy now, and Little Miss is thriving in school! Phew!! That's the shortest update I think I've ever written!

As for me, well, I continue to receive diagnoses. "Woohoo!" (She says sarcastically!) And with another one potentially on the way, sometimes it feels like the diagnoses just won't stop coming! 

Daily, fatigue remains a fire-breathing-dragon chasing me down and often incinerating me. Yesterday I was so fatigued, for instance, that I took not one, but TWO long naps!!! The changing weather definitely effects my pain and fatigue. I am trying to live in the moment, acknowledging my body's needs with acceptance and flexibility. It can be frustrating, though, especially when it comes to my children. I feel like I am missing out on a lot with them due to the fatigue in particular...especially all the little moments. On the days when I have more energy, I try to make it a point to do things with them that will be memorable and enriching.

I've recently begun to learn about meditation and mindfulness to help me cope with the emotional aspects of living with these illnesses. I haven't gotten very much into it yet, having only read one book and tried meditating just once so far. I struggled with the intense focus required during that meditation because the pain factor was kicking in. My shoulders and back were aching and I had stabbing pains while I was sitting on the floor. I'm hoping that when I try it again, I won't be experiencing the pain. 

I have also begun following the FODMAP diet on my doctor's orders, which is similar in some ways to the Paleo diet, only more strict. For example, I have had to eliminate garlic and onions from my diet! Imagine that!! Try cooking without garlic!! It's a feat unto itself!! Though, I have to say that I am getting used to it by now, since I've been on the diet for several months. But sometimes it does feel like SUFFERING! Lol

That's about it in a nutshell...feel free to leave a comment below...especially if you have experience with the FODMAP diet, as I'd love some more tips!

Garlic-less yours,

Marathon Momma

P.S. No vampires are welcome in my house! ;)