Of All the Things Our 4th Grader Could Inherit from His Parents . . .

Every month, our son is required to do a 4th grade Book Talk Project.  This month's genre is poetry.  Not having had much experience with reading or writing poetry, he did not know which book to choose.  I named several famous American poets and, when I came to Robert Frost, he chose that one.  I think he chose Frost because that's the only name he remotely recognized.

After thinking about this for a day, I thought I could solve the problem by buying the book American Poetry from the Poetry For Young People book series, which contained poems from a wide array of American poets.  Unfortunately, after looking through the book, our son said he did not understand any of the poems.  I certainly do not blame him.  He's 10 and I'm 40, and I still needed to read the explanatory paragraph that accompanied each poem in this book.  I even tried to walk through Walt Whitman's Oh Captain! My Captain with him since it was about Abraham Lincoln, one of his favorite historical figures.  He still just looked at me blankly . . .

That's when I pulled out this book titled Kids Pick the Funniest Poems: Poems That Make Kids Laugh, a book I had previously purchased, but had not given to him yet.  I have to say that he loved this book and is anxious to share his favorite poems from this book with his class.  The poems are about topics that every child can relate to.  For this project, he chose to create a book jacket as part of his presentation.  He's nowhere near done with it yet, but I was so impressed with his illustration for the front cover that I just had to share it.

Of all the things our 4th grader could inherit from his parents, I am thrilled that he has inherited my husband's and my love of drawing.  Of course he also inherited my need for perfection, which is why it took him 3 hours to complete this illustration.  And, he inherited my husbands tendency to procrastinate, which is why he started on his monthly project six days before it's due.  Still, in the end, he always produces something wonderful that we can all be proud of.

Silly Monkey Stories: Snow Play Photos (Taken with the #SamsungNX300)

I know we usually share our Silly Monkey Stories on Tuesdays, but we're a little off schedule this week.  One of our beloved family pets fell ill and he passed away this morning.  Although the children were very sad this morning, they are apparently far more resilient than I am.  I really could use some cheering up and a few extra reasons to smile today.  That's why I thought it was the perfect time to share these photos my husband took last weekend.

The children lasted almost a whole hour outside playing in the snow until they decided it was too cold and wanted to come inside for hot cocoa.  Luckily, my husband was able to capture several fun moments with our new Samsung NX300 Smart Wifi Compact Camera.  He shot all these photos on auto and I'm quite impressed with how they turned out . . .

Click here to read all our Silly Monkey Stories!

Silly Monkey Stories: Our Children May Be Tiny Hoarders

Last weekend, we decided that it was time for the children to clean their room.  With all the new items that came into the house over Christmas and their birthdays this month, this was long overdue.  Originally, we thought they just needed to clean things they left out and around their room.  Then our oldest child, Jake, discovered he had lost a prop he needed for a school project.  This led us to turn the room upside-down.  When they had no luck finding the missing item, I had a turn trying.  That was when I had the revelation that my sons might be hoarders in the making . . .

Here is a diagram of the items (I could recall seeing) that were in our boys' bunk beds.  There were many other little items, but I just cannot remember them all.  I honestly do not know how they have room to stretch out and sleep comfortably at night, but they seem to manage to.  Some odd things that stood out to me were the chemistry set, the 8 t-shirts, and the bookmark I found in the bed of a boy who never reads in bed.  My husbands says that he empties out their beds completely when he changes their sheets, but somehow everything ends up back in the beds eventually.

What is the oddest thing you've ever found in your child's bed?

Click here to read all our Silly Monkey Stories!

Surviving 3 January Birthdays with the Help of Hallmark #ValueCards & Party Supplies for $.97 and Under! (#shop #cbias)

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This value greeting cards shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser Hallmark.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Our son just turned 10 at the beginning of January!  I'm still having trouble wrapping my mind around how our little baby turned into a young man overnight.  It used to be that we took his January birthday in stride, even though it takes place so close to Christmas.  Then, when the twins came along, we added two more January birthdays to the equation.  Even though they will be turning 7 later on this month, my stress level goes up when December approaches.  It's not just the amount of planning it takes to make both Christmas and the 3 birthdays special each year, it's also the amount of money it costs.  Over the years, I have fine tuned what works best for us to make our children's birthdays memorable, but also affordable.  My latest victory is discovering Hallmark value greeting cards, gift wrap, and other party supplies at Walmart for $.97 or less!

Checkout what I purchased on our recent trip to Walmart . . . 

• (A)  Luncheon party napkins for $.97
• (B)  Square party plates for $.97
• (C)  Hallmark birthday cards for $.47 and $.97 each
• (D)  Gift bags for $.97 each
• (E)  "Happy Birthday" Buttermint Creams for $.97
• (F)  Number birthday candles for $.97 each
• (G)  Sequin tissue paper for $.75

The best thing about these greeting cards and party supplies from Walmart are that they are part of the regular inventory in most store locations.  It's much different than shopping at a dollar store where you never know what you will find.  I was thrilled with the selection of Hallmark Value Cards available.  Not only were there birthday cards for children, pre-teens, Moms, Dads, and other members of the family, there were also Valentine's Day cards.  I was able to buy cards for each of our 3 January birthdays plus one for my grandmother's and my mother's birthdays coming up in February and March for just $3.85 total (not including sales tax)!  I would say the average price I normally pay for a greeting card is $3.99 to $4.99.  Compared to paying $3.99 each for 5 birthday cards, I saved $16.10.  What could $16.10 pay for? . . . A birthday cake, another birthday gift, or how about 2 or 3 dinners from the children's menu at your favorite family restaurant?

When I choose a card, I try to find something lighthearted and humorous.  Then I write a personal message inside.  I know my children take to heart what I write and they save all their cards as keepsakes.  Some people skip giving cards to save money, but I never do.  With the price of these Value Greeting Cards by Hallmark, you don't have to.

To add to the value of buying Hallmark Value Cards at Walmart, you can earn a reward for every 5 cards you purchase and report with the Hallmark Card Rewards Program!  It's free to register and it is a separate program from the Crown Rewards Program.

Reporting my purchased cards could not be any easier.  I just used the Hallmark Card Rewards app on my smartphone to scan the UPC bar code on the back of each card and selected the name of the retailer where I made my purchase.

I still cannot believe that I spent $3.85 on cards I needed to buy anyways, but now I get to choose a reward for doing so!  Some of the rewards currently available are $5 gift cards to retailers like Nike, Lands' End, and Starbucks or $10 promo codes to Shari's Berries and Omaha Steaks.  Which one would you choose?

Make sure you check out connectionsfromhallmark.com to sign up for Hallmark Rewards, and to see great content from other bloggers. You can also join in on the #valuecards conversation on Twitter!

Teaching the Joy of Giving to Our Children . . . A Work in Progress

Now having gotten past Christmas, I can look back to examine how we did as far as our ongoing task of teaching our children the joy of giving goes.  Since our oldest, who is about to turn 10, was 6 years old, he has put aside 50 cents of his allowance every week to do something charitable with at the end of the year.  Every single year he has chosen to buy toys to donate to Toys for Tots.  Since this has become a tradition, we did the same thing with the twins when they started earning allowances this year.

Our 6 year old son did just fine with it.  He saved his 50 cents each week all year long, picked out a toy he loved, and donated it, making a point to tell me that he would return when he had enough money to buy one for himself.  His twin sister, however, had an awful time with it.  She picked a toy that she loved, but then changed her mind about the toy multiple times.  She seemed very conflicted.  I think she did not want to donate a toy she wanted for herself and would rather choose a toy she liked less to donate.  Ultimately, she chose a giant stuffed purple unicorn to donate and cried for the next two hours because she spent her money on a toy she loved and had to donate it.  I was just beside myself and could not figure out another way to explain to her how happy a little girl just like her would be to receive the unicorn as a gift this Christmas and that it may be her only gift this year.

Another way we've tried to show our children the joys of giving is to have them gift presents to each other for Christmas and for birthdays.  These are small, but thoughtful gifts that usually cost around $5 to $10 each.  All 3 children do very well with this.  They all put a lot of thought into what each sibling would really love.  I can tell by the looks on their faces that they are overcome with joy when their gift to their brother or sister has successfully put a smile on that sibling's face.  I also like doing this because it teaches our children that a gift does not need to have a high price ticket to be a great gift.

What kinds of things do you do to teach your children the joy of giving?  Any ideas would be appreciated, as our work in progress continues in the new year.

The #ChannelOneNews Common-Core Aligned Video Library is an Excellent Resource for Non-Fiction Learning

This is a sponsored post on behalf of Channel One News. All opinions expressed here are my own.

There are several things that impressed me immediately when attending Curriculum Night for our 4th grader's classroom this past fall.  One of the main things that stood out was how much the 4th grade curriculum was centered around real life.  The monthly Book Talk Projects are not focused around novels only, but rather a variety of genres, including non-fiction, historical fiction, biographies, autobiographies, and more.  Also part of the curriculum is weaving the topic of money and finances into other aspects of classroom learning.

"Managing the ins and outs of money is something schools across the country are trying to tackle. And they are looking for creative, hands-on ways to do that." - Channel One News

I have to say that our son's 4th grade teacher has this covered!  The students all have bank accounts (with checkbook registries) and wallets for their classroom money.  They earn classroom money by doing their homework and passing it in on time, passing tests, doing Book Talk Projects, and taking paid positions around the classroom, for which they need to submit job applications.  They also get fined for things like forgetting to pass in their homework or failing to complete it.  The students can spend their money weekly at the 4th grade store and at the 4th grade auctions, which take place several times throughout the school year.

Currently, my son and two of his classmates have submitted a business proposal for the upcoming opening of the 4th Grade Mall.  The whole class will submit proposals that will need to be approved.  Then each business will need to make a financial plan, list out their expenses, their inventory, and other business basics.  I am very much looking forward to finding out if the business run by my son and his two associates will be a profitable one.

I only recently discovered Channel One News' Generation Money series.  I am definitely going to recommend it to our son's teacher as a resource for her lessons in finance.  Channel One News offers a whole video library on a variety of non-fiction topics that are reported in a way that is kid-friendly.  Whether you are an educator in a Common Core classroom or are a parent, you can tap into this resource by registering on ChannelOne.com.  Simply filling out a brief form and indicate whether you are a student, a parent, an educator, or a homeschooler, then you're in!

Silly Monkey Stories: Santa Shakes Things Up!

About a week and a half ago, we attended the annual Christmas celebration hosted by the Taekwondo studio where all 3 of our children study.  During this celebration, everyone enjoys a huge pot luck feast, as well as a belt ceremony for any students who are being promoted around that time, and an awards ceremony.  Both our boys were being promoted.  We also had a wonderful surprise when our daughter was called up to receive a "Best Lil Dragon" trophy.  Both those things were thrilling for our children, but what they were waiting for came at the end of the evening.

After all the ceremonies have taken place, the children catch a hint of bells jingling from the distance.  Then shortly after, Santa Claus appears with not one, but two huge sacks of toys.  All the children then sit around Santa on the floor and patiently wait for their name to be called.  It always seems like it is torture for the last 25% of the children, since they have been waiting for quite awhile.

To loosen the children up this year, Santa gave them each a bouncy ride on his knee.  It seemed to work like magic.  Even the children who were shy seemed to smile.

Even the older kids, who were on the edge of being too cool to sit on Santa's lap, smiled when they got their little jostle.  What a great way it was to end the evening.

Click here to read all our Silly Monkey Stories!

My Photos: Our 9 Year Old Son Competed in the U.S. Masters Taekwondo Open Championship

On the 3rd of this month, our 9 year old son participated in his first Taekwondo competition.  It was the 2013 U.S. Masters Taekwondo Open Championship, a local competition and a supporter of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.  He competed in one form plus sparring for his division.  I cannot say how proud my husband and I are of Jake because it takes a lot of courage just to compete.  I know there are many students who are older than he is who never took the leap to take part in a competition.  The organization even recognized this by presenting each competitor age 11 years or younger, who did not place first, second, or third, with a medal of participation.  I thought that was wonderful because it really is an extremely long day for someone who is young and it could be disheartening to go home with nothing, making a younger student hesitant to return the following year.

Our son did not place in forms, but we are so proud of him.  He got out there in front of a gymnasium full of people to compete even though he must have been so nervous.

What our son was looking forward to the most was the sparring competition.  He had been training for about 5 weeks for this day.  He had a great coach, who is also one of his instructors.

Jake's first match only lasted seconds.  Once he got his first kick in, his opponent seemed to get the wind knocked out of him and could not continue.

After all the matches in his division took place, Jake ultimately placed second and took home a silver medal in sparring.  We were so proud of him and I knew he was feeling quite proud of himself.

One major theme for such a competition is to meet defeat gracefully and to accept a win humbly, and our son did both those things that day.

Click here to view all my past favorite photos.

Silly Monkey Stories: Post-Photo Shoot Sillies (3rd Installment)

Recently, I shared the portraits we took of the children for our 2013 Holiday photo cards.  Like always, our 3 children looked like sweet little angels in those photos.  However, if you've been reading this blog for awhile, then you'll know that the secret to getting those poised photos is the promise of a silly shoot after we've finished up with the serious business.  In case you've missed them, feel free to take a look at the first and second groups of Post-Photo Shoot Sillies photos.

I hope you enjoy these photos.  I know I can't help but smile when I look at them.  Can you tell that the first photo was when they were starting to lose their composure?  That was my first clue that I needed to wrap things up.

Click here to read all our Silly Monkey Stories!

Silly Monkey Stories: Renaming History

The weekend before last, we took the kids to King Richards Faire, a local renaissance festival and one of our favorite places. Although Karen and I have yet to dress up, the kids have a blast dressing up for the faire.

This year Jake dressed as a pirate, Makenzie a fair maiden, and Luke a wise wizard. While we were getting dressed up, I over heard Jake explaining to Luke about the costumes:

“Yes, these costumes are from MEDICAL times”

Of course he meant 'Medieval' times. The part that was most amusing and interesting to me is Jake reads a great deal, I mean A LOT. So all this time he was reading 'medieval' as 'medical'.  I wonder what other words he has mixed up? Only time will tell . . .

Look for more photos from our trip to King Richard's Faire this week!

Click here to read all our Silly Monkey Stories!

Silly Monkey Stories: Post-Photo Shoot Sillies (2nd Installment)

I just realized yesterday that I had these photos put aside to share and never did share them.  I saved them because everyone seemed to enjoy the last group of Post-Photo Shoot Sillies photos I had shared.  For those of you who are not aware of this, I always take silly photos of the children after they do a photo shoot for me.  This is the only way I can keep them from being silly when I really need them to focus and be serious.  I tell them that they need to save all the silliness for afterwards and boy do they ever.  You would not believe how much silliness they have bottled up inside!

By coincidence, just like the last photo shoot, this one was also for a fashion review for a Gymboree campaign.  I must say that, since I learned to let them do this, our photo shoots have gone much more smoothly.  I am actually looking forward to shooting our Holiday card photos next month.

Which silly photo is your favorite?

Click here to read all our Silly Monkey Stories!