Nothing much

I noticed that it has been QUITE a while since I posted on my blog. I haven't had anything super exciting to post about. Our reward system that I described in my last post has been working beautifully. The girls LOVE earning marbles and getting mystery gifts. They have already earned one mystery gift each and will each have another one by Saturday (or sooner). They both love school and even do their homework really well (most of the time). They love the different workshops at school (Art, Science, Computers, Music, Kitchen, History, and Foreign Language). We have just been doing everyday events...go to school, do homework, play, etc. Wendy has come down to visit us a few times since Spencer has been working in Provo lately.

Today was one of the days that Wendy came to visit. I took both the girls to school and then met up with Wendy. After we picked the kids up from school we went to the mall. Wendy and Marla gave me a PF Changs gift card for my b-day and I still hadn't used it so Wendy and I decided to have that for lunch. We got it "to go" and took it over to the mall food court so we could get the kids some lunch too. After lunch we thought it would be funny to put Kaylee, Gabby, and Roman in a photo booth for some pictures. First the camera wouldn't go low enough for the kids so we had to have them stand on the bench...then it got interesting. It kept taking pictures when we weren't ready...Gabby got bonked and started crying, then Kaylee was trying to hold Roman up. Here's the pictures we got.

Our Reward system

Kaylee's and Gabby's reward chart has gone through a few changes since we started it. I think it has continually gotten better because of some ideas that I have come up with...as well as borrowed from a few of my friend's blogs. That's why I decided I should post this, since I have borrowed other people's ideas I would like to thank them for posting them on their blog to help me.

This started with a reward chart game that had pictures of what they were earning. Each day that they were good they got to move one spot on their game board. This worked pretty well but there were days that I wasn't sure if they earned their spot or not. Plus, some of the rewards they wanted...I didn't really want or were getting kinda pricey. Then I was reading my friend Miriam's blog and she had a reward chart where her kids earned a wrapped up mystery present. I loved this idea...so I changed all the rewards on the reward chart to "mystery gifts". I found some inexpensive prizes and Wendy helped me wrap them up. Then I was looking at my cousin Tiffany's blog and her little boy earns marbles to put in a jar. I also loved this idea and had a great way to incorporate this into our "reward system".

So, here's what I came up with and my girls are really loving this idea...and so am I. It starts with their daily chore chart...things they are supposed to do every day. Here is what their charts look like:

For each chore that they successfully complete they receive one marble in a jar. They have extra things they can do to earn marbles faster...but, if they act up, don't follow rules, etc. they lose a marble. Marbles can easily be earned, but if they aren't careful they can just as easily "lose their marbles."

For every 7 marbles that they earn they can then "redeem" the marbles for one space on the reward game chart. Gabby has a ladybug game piece that moves around the board and Kaylee has a bumble bee game piece.

Every time they get to a 'mystery gift' square they get to choose a gift from the reward box. If you notice on the reward chart Gabby's last square is wrapped in Tinkerbelle which means the mystery gifts with Tinkerbelle wrapping paper are for her...and Kaylee's last square on the reward chart is wrapped in princess wrapping paper, so, all the ones wrapped in princesses are the ones for her to earn. There are books, games, dolls, toys, etc....just inexpensive prizes that they are absolutely thrilled about.

So, this is our reward system, that also is a consequence system (Since they can "lose their marbles" if they aren't good.) Thank you for people posting their reward programs to give me ideas for ours. I think the biggest thing my girls like about it is that they can see their progress from doing one chore...all the way in steps to getting their reward. I don't know if this would help anyone, but I know that others helped me.

First day of Preschool

Gabby didn't want her picture taken...she wanted to get in the car to go to school.

The back of her hair. I did it in braids and linked the braids.

Today was Gabby's first day of preschool. Yesterday I had a hard time getting Kaylee to hold still to let me take some pictures. She just wanted to get to her class. Today, Gabby was good about letting me take a bunch of pictures. I even got Kaylee to sit still long enough to get one with both of them together. It was harder for me to send Gabby off today than it was to send Kaylee to Kindergarten yesterday. Kaylee has been going to school for a while now with preschool, but this was Gabby's first time going to school. She was thrilled! Last year every time I dropped Kaylee off Gabby wanted to stay to play...now I told her she could stay! While both the girls were at school I went on some errands. It felt SOOOO weird with no kids. I went to the grocery store and felt really weird walking around by myself, then I sat in the waiting room getting my oil changed all by myself. When I picked the girls up from school Gabby was peeking out the classroom door when I got there, but not at all in a hurry to leave. She had so much fun. Both Kaylee and Gabby were so eager to tell me about what they did at school that I had to designate whose turn it was to talk. They both had singing time today. They played with rhythm sticks and instruments and Gabby had kitchen time to learn the kitchen rules. There is a turtle in the science room that I heard A LOT about (what it eats, where it lives if it didn't live in a cage, what it does when it's scared, etc.) I am so happy to see both my kids so eager and excited about school and learning.

Puppy update

I have received a request to update about my puppy. Nothing to exciting...she's housetrained, she comes when she's called, she's really good at playing fetch. We're still working on what she's supposed to chew on and a few other things. I took a few updated pictures. To see my original puppy pictures Click Here

First day of Kindergarten

Today Kaylee started Kindergarten! I can't believe she's already old enough to be in Kindergarten. Her teacher is from the south and calls everyone "darlin" and she is so cute. Kaylee loves her new teacher. I dropped her off about 15 minutes early today and before I had even left the school she had made a new friend. When I picked her up she was thrilled to tell me all about her new class, and everything that they did. She even told me that she didn't mind me waking her up early every morning to go to school (but if I wake her up for anything else...forget it!)

New Twilight trailer

I saw this on my friend Elaine's blog. This is the most hilarious twilight trailer I have seen. I couldn't get the video to work on my blog so Click Here to view it on YouTube.

Kid's Interview

This was on my cousin's blog and I thought it would be funny to see how my kids answered these questions.



Kaylee's Interview


1. What does mommy always say to you? (Giggle)
2. What makes mommy happy? "Being Nice"
3. What makes mommy sad? "Being Bad"
4. How does mommy make you laugh? "Tickle Me"
5. How old is mommy? "This is a tricky one"
6. What does mommy like to do? "Clean the house"
7. What is mommy’s job? "Cleaning the house"
8. What is mommy’s favorite food? "Macaroni" (Funny, I hardly EVER eat macaroni, Definitely not a favorite but I don't mind it either)
9. What is mommy’s favorite color? "All the colors"
10. How do you know mommy loves you? "Because you love me so much."

Gabby's Interview

1. What does mommy always say to you? (Sticking tongue out)
2. What makes mommy happy? “Smiles”
3. What makes mommy sad? “Tantrums”
4. How does mommy make you laugh? (Giggle)
5. How old is mommy? “Five”
6. What does mommy like to do? at this point she looked at me weird and walked away…I guess I’m just weird.
7. What is mommy’s job?
8. What is mommy’s favorite food?
9. What is mommy’s favorite color?
10. How do you know mommy loves you?