Two for Tuesday & Tried it Tuesday 6/24

Greetings blogger friends! 
Today's weather looks a little dreary, but I plan to make the most of this summer day. It looks so gloomy out and there is a good chance of rain, it might be a perfect day for the $1 summer movie at our Regal theater. Everything is AWESOME since today's feature in my area is  The Lego Movie, the boys have been waiting for this week. 
Before heading out for the movies I am linking up with the wonderful team of bloggers at The Teaching Tribune for the Two for Tuesday deal. I am also linking up with Holly at Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday. 

The first item available at 50% is my Scoring Spelling Sheets packet. Today, it only costs $0.50. This packet includes a scrabble like spelling activity for students to spell and add up their points. The sheets are great for word work centers, homework, sub tubs, and early finishers. 

Today's second item is my Coordinate Grids Task Cards set. Today, they are only $1.10. These were a huge hit with my 5th graders this year. My teammates really enjoyed them too. For our unit test I copied two of the task cards and used them on their test. They were excited and surprised to see the task card questions on the test. 

Something else that I did with the task cards was to copy the cards for them to work on in their notebooks, then they explained how to solve it to their classmates. 
Don't forget to hop over to The Teaching Tribune to see the other great Two-for-Tuesday deals. 

I always imagine the best outcome for everything. 
I think that is a good approach to life. 
Of course that means that not everything lives up to the expectations. 
Today, I am going to tell you about some things I tried, that did not really work up to their potential. I would not want you to think that everything is butterflies, lullabies, and rainbows in my world, it is more like tantrums and bruises with some wonderful victories along the way!
I want my sons to grow up to be responsible, well-rounded, and able to take care of their home and selves. Over the years, I have set the expectation and envisioned them helping us out with tasks around the house. I think it is really important for them to grow up knowing that I am not going to wait on them hand and foot. I am sure you can guess where this is going, chores. 
Oh, the boys doing chores! Yes, it means less work for me with them helping around the house. Right? Wrong! Take a look....

The top is a picture of the counter after my youngest tried to bring in the mail. He LOVES to help and I never discourage it, but it often means a mess that I end up cleaning up. Since he is stubborn and determined to do it his big-boy self it is tough to help him out during the process. This was what the mail ended up on the counter, this was of course after he went back to pick up the pieces off of the driveway. Hopefully only ad flyers flew away. 
The bottom is not really bad. It is my oldest son's version of putting away the silverware. He obviously does not have any OCD tendencies! I left it as is, I can live with it. He helped and I did not have to empty the silverware tray, left me plenty of time to clean up the counter. 
Being eager and motivated about encouraging them to help out I made chore cards for them. After all, they wanted to earn money and were so excited about the opportunity. Success? Nope, another fail! 

I made 3 sets of daily chores so I could rotate the jobs (wipe down the bathroom, recycle, vacuum, set the table, clear the table, empty the dishwasher, pooper scooper, swiffer the dog hair from the floor, and help with the laundry). They would each get I set of 3 jobs a day; read and clean room was a mandatory daily chore. All was well for the first 3 days, then the enthusiasm fizzled out. 
My youngest always asks to help, so for him he still works on the chores or jumps in to help when I am doing something. 
The cards weren't motivating them and I heard lots of complaints. My oldest told us he wanted to find another place to live where he wouldn't have to do any work. I told him that he was welcome to move, just give me the forwarding address. I don't think he expected that response, which lead to a whole other set of issues.  
So what am I doing? Giving up? No way, they need to help out. 
I still post the chores, remind them about them. I am not fighting it. Honestly, I don't clean that much daily so if we skip a day or two, all will be fine. But as I am working on something, I call them to help. I have stopped myself from doing everything all of the time. 
They can carry in groceries and help put the items away. The end result might be a little messy, but they need to learn. 
I have learned to ask them for help and do the chores alongside them.
I have not given up, just adjusted my vision back to reality. Small steps will lead to great strides in the future. 

I must have huge finger beds, the sample only fit my pinky!
(Day 1 - looks nice)

Here is another high expectations, but fall on my face tried it, Jamberry nails. I keep seeing all these cute posts, and wonderful offers. I love the look and really wanted to hop on board, I even considered joining as a sales consultant. Well, after a brief trial, I found my reality. They just do not work for me. 

Day 3 - not looking so good - besides the sample did not fit my ring finger)

My nail polish did not last nor did the Jamberry.

I am not saying anything about the quality of the product, I do not think my experience is necessarily a reflection of the quality. It is more about what works (or doesn't) for me. They are so cute and I love the sassy styles. But as I talked about yesterday, I am a KLUTZ! I am not a glam girl partly because I am awkward with the utensils and products necessary to go all glam. I constantly burn myself with a flat iron and mess up make-up application. Why would nails be different? It probably doesn't help that I am hands on with my kids. Climbing and playing at the park does not lend itself to finely manicured nails. 
The stickers did not stick to my nails too well either, especially after swimming. Once they started to lift, I was doomed, I peeled them off. So for me, it is back to natural and polish free. 
If you are interested in trying Jamberry for yourself, you can then tell me how well it worked, check out Tori's Jamberry webpage. 
So I think I have shown you that I really am just a normal girl who tries things and sometimes fails. It is all about learning and growing. I am thankful for all of the great lessons I am learning and not afraid to admit, sometimes I learn the most from my mistakes! 
I hope you have a wonderful day full of success!