Fun Sister filled Weekend

I've absolutely loved visiting with my sisters yesterday and today.

I went to lunch with my oldest sister and Mom.

My sister talked so much and was so happy.

Then it was time to visit my newlywed sister.

Her home was so nice and she has 2 cute guinea pigs.
My dad talked with me at dinner for 1 1/2 hours.
What a treat.
I enjoyed visiting with my brother.
I felt lucky to spend the whole day with my mom.

Helping my sister, Linda, at her house was productive.
We washed walls, attempted to wash blinds, and sort and put away clothes.
We enjoyed some Olive Garden and then shopping.

My nephew, Matthew, did awesome in his play Peter Pan.
He made a great pirate and put such enthusiasm into his acting.
Friday and today were great bonding time with family.

On a side note, back home our rabbit had 5 baby bunnies.

Off for a Mom Weekend

This wonderful family of mine is letting me go all day today and tomorrow.

I'm off to spend time with my sisters.

Thank you family for letting me go!

Happy 7-11 Day!

The highlight of our day was walking for a half hour in the heat of the day to 7-Eleven to get a FREE slurpee.

Daddy-O is doing great at his job with putting the bad guys in jail.

He feels happy and satisfied when he can do his job well.

He has felt quite inspired lately about where to go and what cars to pull over.

He does well at his job.

The heat has been a killer for me causing me to want to sit around and not do anything but read.

Today was a good day as I tried to do my job well of cleaning, cooking, and caring for the kids.

Being a mom is so exhausting, but well worth all the effort.

Discipline

 James had fun helping Daddy make breakfast this morning.

Here is how I discipline my kids.

I got this idea from my sister-in-law, Susan.

We have used this method for over a year now and found it to be quite effective.

Our kids start out on a level 3 (Celestial Level), which is the best level with all priviledges plus extra special priviledges.

Level 2 (Terrestial Level) are regular priviledges like being able to play electronics, desserts, playing with friends, watching t.v. or movies, etc.

Level 1 (Telestial Level) are just the bare necessities; love, food, clothes, medical help, etc. 

For bad behavior they get strikes; like talking back, not getting chores or responsibilities done, etc.

If they hit anyone or have violent behavior, they immediately go to a level one.

They have to stay on a level one for 3 days with no strikes or at least erasing strikes by the end of the day.

They erase strikes by earning brownie points.

3 brownie points erase a strike.

Brownie points are earned through doing chores.

They stay on level 2 for 2 days.

And when they stay on level 3 all week, they get extra special priviledges like a night out with Mom and Dad, or a Slurpee, or extra treats.

It seems to work well and I get a lot less frustrated and let the board do the consequences.

Pretzel for bed was yuuuuuuummmmmmy!



A New Bike

Joyanne was up and dressed this morning, ready to go with Daddy to buy her new bike.

All the kids bikes are falling apart, even after Daddy has tried to fix them several times.

So, this summer, we decided to motivate our kids to earn NEW bikes.

For each chore they do, the kids get a "brownie point".

Some chores are more than one brownie point.

Each day our kids had to earn 3 or 4 brownie points.

James (4 years old) has to earn 50 brownie points to get a new bike.

Jaden (6 years old) and Hiram (7 years old) have to earn 100 brownie points.

Joyanne (11 years old) and Noah (9 years old) have to earn 200 brownie points.

The catch is they lose brownie points, 3 of them, if they are being bad.

So Joyanne finished earning her 200 brownie points yesterday.

Today she is thrilled to have her own, beautiful new bike.

Being a mom was a challenge for me today.

There was more fighting, tattle telling, and whining than usual.

I think my hormones are gettin' to me too.

So I cried this afternoon and tried to nap.

And, I sent the boys, who were the trouble makers, to bed 1/2 hour early.

On the upside, my ears are slowly started to feel better and I'm not dizzy anymore.

Noah's Home!

So nice to have Noah come home tonight.

I love it when all the family is under one roof all together.

Monday's laundry day.

Got it all done.

I went to the doctor this morning to find I have an inner ear infection.
Augmentin was the choice of antibiotic with a nasal spray as well.
I wish my oils would've have worked better.

Cleaned off our patio thanks to Joyanne.

Just a regular good day.

Resting from Pain

So nice to enjoy a day with Daddy home.

He has been working long and hard again.

He worked Tuesday through Saturday, 10 hour days or more.

Usually going until 1 or 2am.

I now have some horrible ear pain.

To the doctors tomorrow I go.

The Lavender oil I've been using has really helped with the pain.

So I laid around most of the afternoon and this little boy enjoyed laying right next to me.

He also loved his big sister playing with him.