Conversation with Cowboy

Cowboy: I have to tell you a secret.

I lean in close so he can whisper in my ear.

Cowboy: (whispers) I am a genius.

Me: Really? Who told you that?

Cowboy: No one. I just figured it up.

Conversation with Cowboy

I didn't hear this conversation directly but my brother did and has requested that I post it. Reed, correct me in comments if I don't do it justice.

Reed, Hottie and Cowboy were driving down the street and Cowboy saw a Chuck E. Cheese.

Cowboy: Daddy, there's a Chuck E. Cheese! I want to go there!

Daddy: Chuck E. Cheese is for losers!

Cowboy: No, it's not, it's for winners!

Daddy: No, it's for losers!

Cowboy: Well, I guess I'm a loser then...

Six Steps

I just sat here and watched it happen. He stood up in the middle of the floor, unassisted and walked towards his brothers. I don't think I'm ready for this.

Baby Update

My Baby finished his antibiotic on Thurday but, as I mentioned in my last post, he was still not himself. He definitely didn't seem to feel as bad as he did last week. He's been into everything as usual. But he's been fussy. Just not himself. And sleep? We both could use a good nights sleep. So this morning I decided to take him back to the doctor. He STILL has a double ear infection. So they wrote him a prescription for a stronger antibiotic. Hopefully he'll be feeling better soon.

Last night he woke up three times. The first time was no biggie. I hadn't gone to sleep yet. He nursed then went right back to sleep. The second time it was hard to get out of bed but like the first time, he nursed then went right back to sleep. Then woke up an hour later. I didn't want to go get him. I was tired. But knew he wasn't feeling well. And he was very upset. I brought him into my bed and he snuggled up close to me for a few minutes. Then he saw his daddy and snuggled him for a few minutes. Then he was back and forth between us every couple of minutes and fussy and neither of us could comfort him. That is so hard at four in the morning. We gave him some Motrin and he finally settled down.

As I was laying there with him curled up beside me he put his soft little hand on my cheek. And his hair smelled like Johnson's baby shampoo. And I was thinking about how big he is getting. And how fast he is growing. And how it is totally worth losing sleep to have a sweet baby that needs his mommy snuggled up beside me.

Chore Time

Sometimes it's like pulling teeth to get these kids to do their chores. We've done sticker charts, we've given them a weekly allowance, I've even reached my limit and yelled on more than one occasion. All of those things work to some degree but I didn't always get results. I made this chore chart last year and I love the way it looks. All of the kids chores are listed and below the chore there are dots for the days of the week the chore has to be done. They put a check mark on the dot when they do the chore and at the end of the week we count the checks, erase the dots then at the end of the month we add all the weeks together and pay them for their chores. This worked for a couple of months but they eventually got tired of it and frankly, so did I. (Sorry, this is a terrible picture)

In my resolutions post I mentioned that we were working on a new chore system. It's hard to find something that will work for a 12 year old a 4 year old and in between but I think we finally found something that works. We started this in mid January and I think we have worked out the kinks and my kids happily do their chores (most of the time, we're not perfect here).

They each have a list of everything they have to do in a day. It's broken down into morning, afterschool, and evening. They can earn up to seven "dollars" in a day. They can also earn extra dollars for doing extra things. But there are consequences when they don't do chores. They don't just not get the dollar for that chore, they loose a dollar. They all have four morning chores, if they only do two of them they don't earn any "dollars". At the end of the month they can bring their dollars to the family store and cash in. The family store has things that I pick up on clearance or at the dollar store, it has candy and it has a few bigger ticket items (hopefully they will learn a little about saving). The kids knew there was going to be a store but I didn't present the items to them at first. And they did alright with their chores. But when I brought out the basket of goodies with the prices on them they were totally motivated. Tueday night we did our first cash in. Caveman had the most dollars. 23. He bought an incredible hulk bobble head for 15 and a box of Gobstoppers for 5. He is saving the remaining 3 for an i-tunes card that costs 50. Sassypants had 19 and bought two five dollar boxes of candy and is saving the rest for a shirt next month. Rockstar had 20 and spent it all on a Littlest Pet Shop and was kind of disappointed that she didn't get any candy. Cowboy had 15 and got some colored pencils and Cars dominos. Caveman realized they actually have the opportunity to earn 210 dollars in a month and they all agreed that their totals were pretty lousy. But now they are very motivated. Even Cowboy. I got out of the shower this morning and went to check on the little boys. Baby was still asleep but Cowboy was gone and his bed was made! He made his bed without being asked! In the dark so he wouldn't wake up his brother!

So for now, we have success. Hopefully it will last. I'll keep you posted.

Wow!

I was just looking at one of my favorite blogs and found this link. So inspiring! I am so thankful to have a living prophet and apostles on the earth to remind us of these things. I am thankful for the talents that my Father in Heaven has given me and am now inspired more than ever to use those talents. And create!

Busy, Busy

Thanks for all the sweet comments on my last post. Baby seems to be feeling better but is still pulling on his left ear. I might have to take him back to the doctor. Last week since he didn't feel well, he slept a lot so I was able to get a lot done. On Wednesday I not only washed all the clothes, but I ironed and put everything away. I haven't done that since he was born. I always start the laundry on Wednesday but it I usually have a few loads left on Thursday then the folded clothes sit on the table in the laundry room for a couple of days. And the ironing...I usually only iron as needed. So it felt good to get it all done in one day.

Wednesday I also took this:

And by Thursday afternoon had turned it into these:I have one more to make but my super helpful Cowboy thought it would be nice if he cut 2 1/2 yards of ric rac into 2 inch pieces. So I'll finish that one another day.

Friday my friend Laurie came over and we made this:

35 jars of strawberry freezer jam.

That is serious deliciousness.

Saturday I painted the little boys room. I'll post pictures in a couple of days. It turned out nice. Slowly but surely things are getting done around here. And it feels good!