Arbor Mist Frozen Wine Cocktails Merlot Blackberry

Description on the bottle (err.. package):  Arbor Mist Frozen Wine Cocktails are an entirely new way to enjoy great tasting wine with a splash of fruit - just freeze, squeeze and enjoy.  No mixing of ingredients, ice or blender required.  The delicious blend of full bodied Merlot wine and natural blackberry flavors make a perfect frozen cocktail for you next get-together, celebration, or evening with friends and family.

Directions:  Freeze for about 5 hours - Gently massage and squeeze to pour - Enjoy in a glass.

Sarah says:  There is something about a frozen cocktail that just sounds appealing on a Friday night after a long week.  It took a tad more work than my normal pop the cork and pour, but it's worth it.  (It also has more calories than a normal glass of wine; 280 vs 100!)  This drink it totally tasty!  It pretty much tastes like a Slurpee.  It's one of those things you could drink several glasses of and not realize you are drinking at all!  I'm a little discouraged that the package doesn't say anything about drinking it while enjoying the quiet of your house after the kids are asleep.  Oh well!  Cheers anyway!

The super cool wine glass in this picture was a gift from a co-worker for bosses day (which was totally unexpected and unnecessary, by the way!).  It says Vino Vixen and is super cute.  Apparently in the 2 months I've been working in Canton I've made quite the impression regarding my interest in wine.

Overall rating:  Frozen thumbs up!

Sarah says:  Speaking of things being more work, but being worth it in the end - chores.  Liam has had a new chore list for 3 weeks now.  He's had "chores" for about a year and a half now - but they weren't really real - the were more like things I expect him to do everyday.  Things like brush your teeth, clean up your toys, no hitting your sister, take your dishes to the sink, etc. Now he has REAL chores.  He has 6 days of chores - 2 days a week he does dishes, 2 days a week he does laundry, 1 day he dusts, and 1 day he feeds Havanah.  I realize feeding the cat is kind of a lame chore - but it's on the day that he has karate - and as previously discussed, there just isn't time or energy for anything else!  He gets to rest on the 7th day.

In typical kid fashion, Liam is super excited to be helping me!  He just loves every second of it.  He's also awful at all of it!  Which means him doing chores is basically creating more work for me.  I have to help him a lot, so each task takes twice as long as if I had done it myself.  In typical Mom fashion, I'm generally trying to get stuff done in the most efficient way possible.  Having Liam help is not efficient.  But it will eventually pay off.... right?  To make it even better - now Mary wants to help too!  And she doesn't want my lame "not really chores, chores".  She wants to do the dishes - and she needs even more help!  Anyone have any chore suggestions for them that won't drive me crazy?

I do pay Liam for his services - since he is 5 years old - assuming he does all his chores, he gets 5 quarters a week for his work.  If he misses a day (which he hasn't done yet) he only gets 4.  I make him put one quarter in his piggy bank, and one goes to church - so the kid is really only getting 75 cents a week.  For those of you doing the math - Liam gets $39 a year to spend.  For a 5 year old who pretty much gets everything his heart could desire for either Christmas or his Birthday - that's enough.  That gives him money to buy a couple of mid size toys a year.  I actually have to give him some credit - he's saving right now for a kickstand for his bike.  Really - what 5 year old would rather have a kickstand than a toy?  Apparently my kid who rides around every possible second.  He'll have enough for the kickstand tomorrow after I pay his allowance - so we'll see if that's what he actually goes for when we get into the store. 

How come I don't have that much fun doing the dishes?

The real question here is:  where can I find a good chore chart?  I've tried so many different things - and I don't love anything enough to keep it around for more than a few weeks.  I've printed some online - but I didn't like having to print it all the time.  I tried creating my own - but it looked like a 10 year old made it - I'm just not creative!  I've seen some nice wood ones in the store, but they are like $25 and I'm not about to spend that much!  I want something under $10 - any suggestions?  Right now I just have a hand written list that I put a sticker on next time he does the chore - but I dislike having to write out the list each week.  Maybe I'm just lazy - but not only does doing the chores cause me more time spent, but now I have to spend time making the list too?!  I'd rather spend the little bit of time I get with them reading books, talking, playing games - things that we all enjoy! 

I know the importance of teaching my kids to help out and that they have to work to earn a living - which is why we're doing chores in the first place.  I'm also teaching Liam that he can skip a day, but then he has to do two tomorrow or the opposite; two chores today means you get tomorrow off.  I think this teaches him a lot about making decisions and living with the consequences as well the whole concept mentioned above - a little extra effort now will pay off in the end.

Any thoughts on how I get through the extra effort now without loosing my mind?  That's right - wine.