The Job Jar

Well, it's been almost one week of the dreaded job jar. When we told the kids about it the other night at dinner, we had a myriad of reactions. We had one set of rolling eyes, one "Yeah, I love to do jobs!" (not the response we were going for, mind you), one "Oh well!", and one very teary/bordering on hysterical reaction. I'll let you figure out which reaction belonged to which child.

It seems to be going well--at least for me! So far:

the refrigerator has been wiped out
the laundry room has been vacuumed
my bedroom has been dusted
the plants have been "dead headed"
the van windows have been washed--twice
the van has been vacuumed--twice
the garage fridge has been fully restocked with water, pop, etc.
a few bedroom drawers have been organized
a bedroom closet has been cleaned out
both garages have been swept
and we've had clean towels all week, courtesy of one child or another!

We've been busy around here!

We're also doing well on our Bible reading. Although I did have an interesting--albeit unanticipated--conversation with Sawyer about "adultery" yesterday, thanks to Proverbs 2! Jeff has set up and explained the web group, and we are all making our daily posts about what we've learned from our Proverbs reading.

It hasn't all been smooth sailing though. I will readily admit that the four hours with no tv/computer/video have been the hardest. The kids do fairly well for the first three hours but that last hour can really drag--for them and for me trying to keep them busy! Although we have found quite a few things that don't require electricity or batteries to keep us busy! Imagine that! We have

Played many rounds of Skip-bo and set up a summer Skip-bo tournament, which Jeff is currently winning.
Played many rounds of Dutch Blitz--which can be agonizingly slow with an eight-year old who is learning to play. But he is getting faster!
Taught Payton to play Blackjack, including the fine "art" of bluffing. (can you hear my dear grandfather rolling over in his grave? Cards and card games were a no-no in our house.)
Played Blokus, which isn't quite the same without the Ferbers!
Brooke and Jeff visited the Baltimore Museum of Art yesterday, just for fun. They took a picnic lunch to enjoy in the outdoor garden and then spent the afternoon enjoying the Monet and Renoir paintings, among other things.
The younger kids and a neighbor have invented some sort of game for the trampoline that I don't understand but they seem to enjoy immensely.
The kids have rediscovered the joy of fireflies and spent MUCH time catching them in jars and then watching them flicker in their dark bedrooms at night.
I have thoroughly enjoyed Julie Andrews auto-biography Home.
Brooke created her very own homemade macaroni and cheese recipe, which is yummy!
I have a closet full of neatly pressed, ready to wear summer clothes!
Sydney created her very own Lego city.
And, most importantly, we are having fun and learning there IS life beyond the Wii and the computer and that "pineapple under the sea"!

It's been a good reminder! And hopefully the fun will continue. I'll keep you posted!