SparkDad

Progress is sweet! For those that read Operation Organize the House you have to check out the results of the first phase of the garage. It makes a huge to be able to park a car in there. Now granted even if both sides were cleaned out, it would be impossible to park two cars in there. Uncle Pete lives with us and gets home after us usually, but he also leaves after us in the morning. Therefore parking is like musical chairs. It works out best if I park my car in the garage and leave the other side, for now, full of junk : )

Mama and I have been discussing the organizational system that we plan on building out there for a few weeks. We have decided on a plan that utilizes a combination of new shelving and existing cabinetry.

We are going to paint the garage a light gray. Then we are going to paint a red and black racing stripe around the garage mid-way. Next we plan on using a polyurethane interlocking grid flood covering to cover the floor. (The photo beside came from www.floorjunkies.com )

Mama suggested that we paint the new shelving system white with red and gray highlights.

The next steps are as follows:

1. Clear out the large double door cabinet and move away from the wall.
2. Clear the Right Side wall and ready for painting. This includes repairing any holes in the wall.
3. Paint left side main color (gray)

Here are the plans the Mama drew up last night. She is much better at organizational planning than me, so she drew up the plans and I will execute.

More »

Today is going to be a full day again. I worked on the calendar and hourly break down for the family up until dinner.  It is more detailed than last week, so I will let you know what works.

Also Mama and I are starting a program for the kids using the Character Counts program.

Uncle Dee and I made a chart Saturday night and we will use it to track the boys performance in the Seven Pillars of Character, which you can see below.

This morning during breakfast I am going to explain the Pillars. Throughout the day I will use a merit / de-merit system when they interact with others.

At the end of the summer if they have a total of 100 points together then they win a trip to the Lego store with $50 in hand. This is a big reward for them for sure! Also when they get to 50 points we will take a family pizza night to Incredible Pizza.

I am out to make breakfast!

Our Seven Pillars of Character

Honesty

Be honest • Don’t deceive, cheat or steal • Be reliable — do what you say you’ll do • Have the courage to do the right thing • Build a good reputation • Be loyal — stand by your family, friends and country

Respect

Treat others with respect; follow the Golden Rule • Be tolerant of differences • Use good manners, not bad language • Be considerate of the feelings of others • Don’t threaten, hit or hurt anyone • Deal peacefully with anger, insults and disagreements

Responsibility

Do what you are supposed to do • Persevere: keep on trying! • Always do your best • Use self-control • Be self-disciplined • Think before you act — consider the consequences • Be accountable for your choices

Fairness

Play by the rules • Take turns and share • Be open-minded; listen to others • Don’t take advantage of others • Don’t blame others carelessly

Caring

Be kind • Be compassionate and show you care • Express gratitude • Forgive others • Help people in need

Citizenship

Do your share to make your school and community better • Cooperate • Get involved in community affairs • Stay informed; vote • Be a good neighbor • Obey laws and rules • Respect authority • Protect the environment

Bravery

Go places in the dark • Go to the restroom without telling me • Stay in a room alone

Mama and I love our house. It is not huge at only 2000 square feet, but has a very open floor plan. The kitchen opens into the dining room and entry hall making it very good for entertaining. The only problem with the house is a huge lack of storage. It is hard to keep the closets neat and organized.

One of my June-July projects is to handle these storage problems. Yesterday I hit the food pantry. I organized it and found out that everything does not fit. There is no place to put the bread! For now the bread is on the top of the refrigerator. Not the best place to store the bread. I think that condensation will make it get soggy but we will see.

I copied Mama and used an empty coke 12 pack boxes but in half to store cans of soup and tomato sauce that we have a lot of.  That worked out very good.

I am going to be looking around the home improvement sites to see if there is a better way.

Today was a very productive day! I was able to get the bikes hung up in the garage and get a lot of the "stuff" that needed to go to the Salvation Army taken out.  Now I can park a car in there! Only one car, but that is a start.

I have some work to do still and will upload more pictures as I get them done. Some of you might know that I am a Knight of Columbus and that I follow the Fathers For Good website. They have great information for families and specifically focus on a Fathers role in the family.

One of the articles that I found with some great audio is this one. It talks about pornography and treatment of women. I think that many man more than likely have a problem with these subjects. Many men think that it is not a problem but Deacon Ralph Poyo tells about his own former addiction to porn and how simple things in our life sparked by the liberal media establishment can lead to a life of addiction and heartbreak.

Please take a few minutes to listen to his podcast interview at the website. Good day, I am off to fix the leaking sink…

Hello all and I am sorry that it has been so long since my last post. I have been busy transitioning to full time Dad. My last week at work is this week and there has been a lot to do. I sell insurance and there is a lot to transition over on my current leads. As I write this, Astro our fat cat jumps up on the desk and flops down. What a life they have. I clean up their poop and feed them and even pet them when they feel like getting petted. But I digress…. I am currently working on Operation Organize the House (OOH). If you missed that post check it out here.

I have been spending a lot of time at the baseball park so it is slow going.  One thing that I did accomplish is that I cleared one side of the garage. You can actually park a car in there now. I also installed eight sets of hooks for the four bikes that are in the garage right now.

Pork Chop’s last day at full time day care is Friday, so starting Monday I will have him with me all day and Skeeter after school at 3 pm. This will be a challenge for sure.

I have to focus this weekend on getting the week organized.

My list of to do’s is as follows:

• Study plan for Pork Chop
• Daily Schedule : Must include education, physical activity, character building and fun time (gotta have some of this) – House cleaning rotation schedule finalized
• Work ahead in school so that I am ahead 1 week before my surgery on the 29th

I must do some homework now, so Hasta La Vista!