The start of The Great Toy Purge

Here we are going through all the kids toys. As you can see, we have a bin for each child. the toys tend to get mixed up as the days go on, in the rush of cleaning up. so i piled them on the living room floor and we took about an hour to go through them all. i asked the kids to give me a toy to donate for every toy they wanted to keep. it was amazing how they got into the spirit and were willing to part with some of their things.

Fastforward to today: They are now starting to earn back their toys that have been in our garage for 3 weeks now. They understand that they really have to earn them back. I'm seeing an attitude change with them too. Mostly Monkey has changed. He has been working hard with whatever chore i ask him to do to earn his beloved toys back. He's taking much better care of them and reminds me from time to time what he did to earn the toys back. Also, his prayers at dinner have become longer and more thankful. He still prays to have his toys back of course. But he's being thankful for his family among other things.

Drama... not so much. She has become willing to pray. And she does say that she is thankful. But right now she could care less about earning toys back. I'm not sure if its a stubborn thing or she just realized she doesn't really need them to have fun.

And Bug is along for the ride. every time one of the kids gets a toy back so does Bug. He's at the stage where he is just happy to play with any one's toys. He does absolutely loves his tools though. And that can't be more adorable!

We will continue our journey of Grateful Hearts because it is never really done. I'm still needing to learn it in some areas too.

There is a great song on the Christian radio station these days that talks about how God uses the small annoyances in our day to teach us patience and His Love. my kids have learned that song and we sing along with the radio. so today I'm thankful for Christian Radio Stations that help teach my kids and myself to have Grateful Hearts.

Operational Definitions of Character Qualities

I LOOOVE the TLC reality show about the Duggar Family! I love that they have 19 kids and all of them are sane, normal children (so far). they have such a gift of generosity. i truly believe that the example that both of the parents set (Jim-Bob and Michelle Duggar) is why the kids have so easily followed in their footsteps. I enjoy their thriftiness, modesty, and their willingness to show that this is how they are and they are not going to change. i think the most that has changed since the beginning of the series is the girls hair. but they are still very Conservative. side-thought: i wonder how many of the boys will grow up to join the military. i wouldn't be surprised since they are a very service hearted family.

i want to grow all these character qualities in my children as well. and because we have a much smaller family (less positive examples for the little ones to see) and we do not home school our children, i think the "world-view" is seen through my children's eyes a ton more than the "Christ-centered-view" that I'd prefer them to be seeing. so by whatever means necessary I will take every step I can to teach my children positive character qualities. that's why I thought this chart was so awesome. i found it on the Duggar Family website. i printed it out and will be putting it into a lovely frame to be hung in our hallway. it has the positive character quality vs. the negative opposite, the definition and a verse to go with all 49 Character Qualities and here is the chart on the website for you to print out as well.

http://www.duggarfamily.com/characterqualities.html by the way the chart says that the opposite of gratefulness is unthankfulness. the definition is "Making known to God and others in what ways they have benefited my life" and the verse they used is 1 Corinthians 4:7

Donating

The kids have been doing really good with having no toys (again they do have books, puzzles, games and Lego's). however, now Monkey is praying at dinner to bless the food and have God bring his toys back. Heavily Armed and i could not help but laugh at that one. Drama and i went through her dresser and pulled out all the clothing that she had out grown. we filled up a trash bag! and now she can shut her drawers all the way. i was going to drop it off at a thrift store but luckily i ran into a friend who could take them off my hands. it also gave Drama the opportunity to see who the clothing was going to specifically. she was so happy to give it away! i was proud of her for her service attitude. we also went to the fair this past weekend and to my surprise and thankfulness none of the kids asked for anything! it helped that the second we got their we set down some ground rules. they were not going to be getting any toys. they were allowed to ride 3 rides each. no fits, no matter what. they commented on all the character balloons that we passed by and looked wide eyed at all the carnival ride options. it was a very very fun family time. and i was so happy that when we left there was no sadness. i also set the same rules for myself. so i didn't get a cinnamon roll or lemonade like i was secretly wanting. luckily for me i had a bag of lemons at home. so we rewarded ourselves with making homemade lemonade when we got home from the fair. i was so grateful to have that time with the family. i didn't need to spoil my kids and i didn't need to spoil myself. and for that, homemade lemonade was a perfect reward for us all! we are still working on the same bible verse. i want them to memorize it and keep it in their hearts forever.