"Mom, I'm bored" board

Becky sent me an awesome idea yesterday. A lot of houses have great big mirrors in the bathrooms. She created a really cool border using vinyl shapes that she cut out with a Cricut. She used Sure Cuts Alot software which allows you to make any shape or true type font without having cartridges(nice). I think it is a very inventive idea and how perfect if you are living in an apartment because you can easily take it down when you leave! Check it out HERE. Thanks again for your email Becky! I really appreciate it!

Do you ever hear your children complaining of being bored? I remember being bored as a kid, but as an adult, I really can't imagine ever feeling that way. I really do pack my days so full that I sometimes wish I had a couple more hours mixed with a bit more energy to accomplish everything that I'd like to. Although I am really busy, sometimes I feel like I am busy with the wrong things.

There are a ton of things that I want to teach my kids, but sometimes I just forget to do it. I decided to come up with a way for me to remember to teach them about something every day. I bought a clipboard at the dollar store and painted it blue.

I cut out pieces of craft paper and put different categories on them. The categories are things that I feel like I want to focus on teaching my children on a weekly basis. I'm sure our categories will grow over time. The thing that is going to make this successful is my kids! They are so excited about it. It actually surprises me. My oldest ran down the stairs this morning to see what we are focusing on today.

It's not going to be a huge thing. Maybe just the half hour after dinner that we work on them. For my categories I picked:

• Sports(I'm not super great at any one sport, but I know enough about a lot of them to give my kids a good intro. Plus it will remind us to exercise as a family.)
• Cooking(I thought I would have the kids plan and prepare a meal with me including shopping for the ingredients. I figured I could throw a little budgeting and time management into the mix.)
• Music(learn a new song, teach them how to lead music or go to a musical production.)
• Library day(literacy)
• Service(family service project once a week. I'm really excited about this one.)
• Family Night(spend the night with each other and include a spiritual lesson, game and of course treats.)
• Crafts(my kids always craft while I am crafting each day, but I rarely teach them how to do what I am doing. I want to start.)

I glued a bunch of magnets on the back of the clipboard and hung it on the fridge.

I decided to keep mine pretty simple, but you could do all sorts of embellishing if you are a better scrapper than I am:)

I also wanted to share with you the cutest thing that my son did for me yesterday. While I was painting he made a craft corner for himself in our pantry and would NOT let me peek while he was working. He knows I love decorating, so he made me this:

He even took one of my old sponge brush sticks and glued it to the back as a hanging mechanism.

So clever and sweet!