5 Things Friday: New Scarf, Something Red and Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

#1: I made an infinity scarf last weekend. I was originally going to use a really pretty spring green fabric, but decided it was too thick to really work. Luckily, I'd also picked up a fun turquoise gauzy fabric from Walmart. Here's an instagram shot of me wearing it...

Granted. This is not the most flattering shot of me (nor the best shot of the scarf!). It was one of those instagram tags, share five things about yourself and...well, I was being silly. Pretty normal for me. 

Anyway, I'm really happy with how it turned out! Although it seems a bit bulky when I wear it. Maybe I just need to get used to it? Or maybe...everyone else is thinking, "Hey, that scarf sure is bulky." :)

#2: My son finished the little owl stuffie he was making for his sister. He whipped it up so fast! He was so excited to give it to her.

I tried to snap a good picture of her hugging him in thanks, but...well....it was hard to get...

You can tell she's pretty darn happy though!

And Sam was quite proud of his handiwork (although Molly had decided to stop smiling!)

Emmett decided he wanted to get in on the sewing action. And since the boy loves dinos, we found a really great free printable template and instructions for this fun dinosaur stuffie at The Green Dragonfly...

I'm so proud of my boys for doing these almost entirely by themselves! They each have their own sewing kits and they know where fabric, needles, thread, etc. is so, basically, all I did was print the pattern out for Emmett, help Sam a bit with his (told him how to add the seam allowance and to make the ears bigger) and they did the rest! Emmett needed a little bit of instruction with the construction of his, but overall they just went to town and I'm so pleased with that! 

And it was fun to see how pleased they were with themselves, too. It's so great for kids to acquire new skills! 

#3: I started this blog January 1st of this month. And I can't believe what a great response from others I've already gotten. I just wanted to say thanks to all those who were actually interested enough to follow the blog and also to those who have left such kind comments. Thank you so much! It's fun to blog, but it's even better if it seems as if people are (lo and behold!) reading it.

#4: We started a new chore system this week. So far, so good. I've read about this idea before in one of the Eyre books. I think it's Teaching Children Responsibility. And we've even tried it when the boys were younger. But we didn't stick with it. I think they were too young at the time for it to really work.

But I read about it again on the blog 71 Toes recently and decided to give it another shot. I like that she uses charts instead of the peg boards. The peg boards are fun and all but these seem more doable...

Sam is up before me getting his stuff done! And he even starts on his stuff the night before. Yeah, he's quite excited about it. 

See, the kids have the ability to earn their age in cold hard cash every week! Yep. That sure caught their attention. But, of course there is a catch (there's always a catch, right?) If they miss filling out one square, their payment goes down to half. Miss two squares and they get zip, zilch, nada. 

UNLESS, they memorize a poem or scripture, then they can make back one square. I'm really hoping this will help our kids learn some major motivation. Oh, and if you're surprised we might be paying our 13 year old $13 a week....he's going to need it! He's going to be in charge of buying half his clothes and paying for all extra items (ski trip for PE class? He's responsible for it. Trip to the movies with friends? Better hope he has money!) 

Also, they won't be able to keep all that money. A portion of it will go to tithing, some to savings and then the rest of it is theirs to spend however they want. 

Of course, we've just started this, so some tinkering will need to occur. Maybe I'll do a blog post in the future about how it's working for us. 

#5: Now we've come to that moment you've all been waiting for. I know you've been holding your breath in anticipation, counting down the days until the news was revealed. Or not. :)

{Drum roll please} 

It's time to announce the winner of Hazel & Company's very first, but certainly not last, giveaway.  

And the winner, chosen by random (a.k.a. the names in a bowl and my daughter picking one) is...

MARA! 

Send me your address and I'll get this popped into the mail for you soon!

P.S. Be sure to come back Monday to see a fun project I finally finished last night. Here's a sneak peek...