Our camera officially died. It was old and on the fritz, and the final straw came when Ben spilled water on the table and it got on the camera.
I am really grateful for memory cards because I have a lot of pictures on that camera!
I'm also slow on uploading all the pictures because our computer is on the fritz, we got some virus or something that keeps randomly shutting off our computer. So, sorry there haven't been any pictures lately. I'll get them up one of these days!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Chore charts and such
We used to have chores on popsicle sticks, the kids would each pick 6 chores and get them done.
My experience with chore charts is that they don't last. Every system I've ever done to help the kids with chores and behavior have always fizzled.
So I think the key for me is to keep it fresh and every couple months start a new system. The kids get excited and work harder than before. And then of course it fizzles, and then that's when I'll start something new.
So our new chore chart is simply a sticker chart. This time instead of having them pick chores every day, they are assigned 6 chores and those are their chores every day. I think this is helping them to get better at cleaning up those areas, and also it helps them try to keep "their" areas clean during the day so they won't have a huge mess to clean up tomorrow.
Each kid gets a sticker every day if they do all of their chores, and if they have good behavior. Luckily I have really awesome kids and behavior is not really an issue with the older ones. (Ben the 2-year-old however is a different story.) (And Katelyn is coming up on those pre-teen years so we are bracing ourselves).
Benjamin has 2 stickers to earn every day, both for behavior, one before nap and one after nap. If he gets at least one sticker a day his reward is getting to spend a couple of hours alone with Grandma and Grandpa Clift. This worked like a CHARM last week. He was mostly good all week with his eyes on the prize. He would wake up every day hoping it was Saturday. And then finally on Saturday we said, "Ben you get to go see gramma and grampa." He replied, "No, on Saturday"
Alex decided his reward would be either a $2 allowance or he could choose Mommy and Alex time. This was so precious to me, that he would work hard all week just to spend alone time with mom! So we went to lunch, and then we walked around Target. I found it interesting that even though he's a boy he really enjoys looking at boy clothes--something that I never really stop and look at because I figured he was a boy and didn't care. We spent an hour and a half walking around Target looking at everything. I let him lead the way. I really loved getting to know more about his growing personality.
Katelyn chose to either get a $2 allowance or a back rub. She lucked out because she got alone time with daddy, they played the Wii the whole time Alex and I were away. And then when I came home she got a relaxing massage with lotion. She was in heaven.
I think it's easy to forget that sometimes it's just those small little things, like alone time and back rubs, that kids really want. I like how they didn't choose the allowance or toys. Man, I have some great kids! :)
My experience with chore charts is that they don't last. Every system I've ever done to help the kids with chores and behavior have always fizzled.
So I think the key for me is to keep it fresh and every couple months start a new system. The kids get excited and work harder than before. And then of course it fizzles, and then that's when I'll start something new.
So our new chore chart is simply a sticker chart. This time instead of having them pick chores every day, they are assigned 6 chores and those are their chores every day. I think this is helping them to get better at cleaning up those areas, and also it helps them try to keep "their" areas clean during the day so they won't have a huge mess to clean up tomorrow.
Each kid gets a sticker every day if they do all of their chores, and if they have good behavior. Luckily I have really awesome kids and behavior is not really an issue with the older ones. (Ben the 2-year-old however is a different story.) (And Katelyn is coming up on those pre-teen years so we are bracing ourselves).
Benjamin has 2 stickers to earn every day, both for behavior, one before nap and one after nap. If he gets at least one sticker a day his reward is getting to spend a couple of hours alone with Grandma and Grandpa Clift. This worked like a CHARM last week. He was mostly good all week with his eyes on the prize. He would wake up every day hoping it was Saturday. And then finally on Saturday we said, "Ben you get to go see gramma and grampa." He replied, "No, on Saturday"
Alex decided his reward would be either a $2 allowance or he could choose Mommy and Alex time. This was so precious to me, that he would work hard all week just to spend alone time with mom! So we went to lunch, and then we walked around Target. I found it interesting that even though he's a boy he really enjoys looking at boy clothes--something that I never really stop and look at because I figured he was a boy and didn't care. We spent an hour and a half walking around Target looking at everything. I let him lead the way. I really loved getting to know more about his growing personality.
Katelyn chose to either get a $2 allowance or a back rub. She lucked out because she got alone time with daddy, they played the Wii the whole time Alex and I were away. And then when I came home she got a relaxing massage with lotion. She was in heaven.
I think it's easy to forget that sometimes it's just those small little things, like alone time and back rubs, that kids really want. I like how they didn't choose the allowance or toys. Man, I have some great kids! :)
Friday, January 15, 2010
Nut Tree Park
During Christmas break we went shopping and Ben was really good so we took him to ride the train. This is him waiting as patiently as he could for the train to come back. The other day he saw the Nut Tree sign onthe other side of the freeway while we were driving and he said "Choo Choo mama!"
When is the train going to go?
Katelyn and Ben on the spinny toy.
Life size chess game. Joel is teaching the big kids to play chess so they had a lot of fun practicing on this.Sunday, January 10, 2010
Christmas!
So these are all out of order because I always forget I have to go backwards in time when I'm uploading them, but I don't want to spend the time to go back and do it again. Sorry! :)
Joel's Grandpa playing the Wii. We were bowling. We brought our Wii Santa gave us last year over because Grandpa bought the kids some new games to play.
Ben's great Aunt Allison bought him a battery powered train that he just loved to play with and watch.
Grandpa bought Ben a new tricycle. He loves it so much. And Alex and Katelyn love it just as much. They ride it all around downstairs.
Great Grandpa Mills with Alex, Ben, and Katelyn.
Katelyn opening her special present, a Tinkerbell DS game she wanted.
This is Alex on Christmas morning with the skateboard he'd been asking for for months!
Ben playing with his kitchen that Grandma and Grandpa Clift bought him.
Coming down the stairs Christmas morning.
The kids on Christmas Eve.
Joel's Grandpa playing the Wii. We were bowling. We brought our Wii Santa gave us last year over because Grandpa bought the kids some new games to play.
Ben's great Aunt Allison bought him a battery powered train that he just loved to play with and watch.
Grandpa bought Ben a new tricycle. He loves it so much. And Alex and Katelyn love it just as much. They ride it all around downstairs.
Great Grandpa Mills with Alex, Ben, and Katelyn.
Katelyn opening her special present, a Tinkerbell DS game she wanted.
This is Alex on Christmas morning with the skateboard he'd been asking for for months!
Ben playing with his kitchen that Grandma and Grandpa Clift bought him.
Coming down the stairs Christmas morning.
The kids on Christmas Eve.
We had a wonderful Christmas season. We enjoyed having Joel home for a week and a half for a wonderfully relaxing vacation! More pictures to follow, but probabaly another day! :)
Making Christmas Cards.
Making Christmas Cards.Saturday, December 12, 2009
Christmas piano party
Some of my piano students. I have 20 students, and 14 came. I always want to get a picture with all of us in it but always forget! I'm so glad I remembered this time!
This was a totally casual piano party, no parents allowed! Only some kids wanted to play the piano, and I didn't make everybody play. After all, it was a PARTY!
We had pizza, and chips, and cookies, and brownies, and hot chocolate and marshmallows, and carrots and tangerines for dinner. Totally easy, and just what the kids like! We made little ornaments. They were supposed to bring them home, but most of them put them on my tree. I love all my students they are all such awesome kids! We played "four corners", hide and go seek in the dark with glowsticks, the Wii, sang some carols, and my sweet husband did some card magic tricks. It was a BLAST! And the only complaint that I had was that it wasn't LONG enough! I'll probably do this again next year, and I guess it will just have to be longer!
Six Flags holiday in the park
We had some free tickets that come with our season passes, so we took Dad and the kids' friend Brandon to Six Flags. We rode rides (except Joel), sled down a fake hill of snow, had snowball fights, walked under sharks, had hot chocolate, and oh so much more! It was really fun!Apple Hill!
I've always heard about Apple Hill and have never gone, so this year after 21 years living near it I took the kids. First we went and picked up their great grandparents. Apple Hill is, you guessed it, a big Hill with lots of apples. Apples, apple cider, apple donuts, apple pie, applesauce, apple syrup, apple jam, and I'm pretty sure the list just keeps going.We walked around, ate some samples, bought some apples, and then got some delicious hot apple cider. Afterwads we went driving around for this restaurant that great grandpa Mills wanted to go to, and we finally found it and it was closed! So we ate burgers:)
It was a really fun day. We will be going back next fall!!
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