Harvest Break

 The kids had some fun adventures after we picked apples at the college orchard and then checked out the waterfall nearby on the first day of Harvest Break.

The next week I joined Jared on his work training for a few days and totally indulged in family history, reading piano blogs and adding a bit more to my personal history while he was in meetings. It was awesome not to have to cook or clean for almost 2 full days I could have repeated it for at least 2 weeks without getting bored!  During the busy months of fall football it feels like we rarely get time to really talk, so it was nice to enjoy the evenings and drive together.

Compiling my history is a bit daunting of a task, but when I take the time to reflect and remember the people who have had a meaningful impact in my life it reminds me of how good the Lord has been to me by sending me to a loving family and sending influential friends teachers and leaders to help me along journey of life.

Following is one "memory" that I typed up about my childhood.  

"My mom tried numerous strategies to help instill in us the value of work and keep the home organized enough to keep her sanity.  When I was young I remember looking forward to adding stickers to my chore chart which included basic things like “ I got dressed without being told. I cleaned my room.  I brushed my teeth. Etc.”  I took pride in getting a perfect sticker chart and have a fond memory of going out to IHOP to eat breakfast with my dad one on one when I won the chore contest.  I ordered a pancake with strawberries and cream and never knew that kind of “dessert” breakfast existed until then.  Later it was trips to get a Dairy Queen Peanut Buster Parfait, Farr’s ice cream cone that kept me motivated, but I also just loved the intrinsic feeling of being good and having an organized room.  Later we had colored pegs for our am, pm housework and talent responsibilities inspired by Richard and Linda Eyre’s “Teaching Children Responsibility.”  One of my favorite strategies was when we divided up into 2 teams of four and were assigned different zones of the house to get completely clean as we worked with our team.  This appealed to my competitive spirit and in the end we usually all ended up getting a special treat despite which team won the contest."

I feel like teaching my kids to clean the house is definitely not one of my strengths.  Although I took pride in keeping my own room clean as a child, I fall short in the "managerial" duties of training my kids to do their chores consistently. So I expected to come home to somewhat of disaster after leaving our older teenagers in charge, but it was totally worth the break!  But I was pleasantly surprised to come home to a totally clean kitchen with some leftover homemade apple muffins that Rebecca had made.   I was so glad they stepped up and helped out.