It's Not A Christmas Decoration

Sam made a candle holder at school for Christmas.

It was time to pack up the Christmas decorations until next year. I grabbed her candle holder and she adimately told me

"This is not a Christmas decoration momma! It is just a candle holder. It's supposed to stay out all year."

Oh, okay and here it will remain until next Christmas.

Chore Chart

Ever since my parents flew in to meet their newest granddaughter, Seth and Sam have been all about flying to Florida next year rather than driving. Grandma Loken said how they only need to save a dollar a day to have enough money to pay for their flight. Hmm... what can they do for a dollar a day?

Feed the dogs ~ Garbage duty ~ Set/Clear table ~ Dishes ~ Laundry ~ Daily Helper

Not all of these are done daily, nor is one person responsible for all of them.

As long as they don't complain about doing their chores for the day, I will pay them $15 twice a month into their savings account.

But what about spending money?

We also started Star Money. If the kids behave exceptionally well or if they have done something unexpected, we will give them a Star.

5 Stars = $5

10 Stars = Out to Dinner

15 Stars = Movie Theatre

But... if there is whining or tantrums then a star will be taken away.

The kids are all about their chores now. They get home from school and check to see who is on what for the day. Before they play, they get their chores done and out of the way.

I have to admit, this is going quite well!

Ethan turns 5

Ethan Robert is Five Today!

Ethan is full of energy and loves to be the center of attention. He likes to do crazy things to get the attention of those around him. He is goofy and loveable. His strong-will and independance makes him a bit challenging but then again, he is five. He'll grow out of it... eventually ;)

Recognition

Tonight Church School resumes from Christmas break. I promised my class of 2nd graders that I would bring the baby in to see them today. We walked in the door and it was like I was handing out a lifetime supply of candy. Before I knew it I was completely surrounded by kids of all ages. Leah stepped in to help out Kelly with teaching the class since it would be too hard for me to continue teaching with Nick not home to watch Adelynn. I was asked to stay for a while by one of the directors. I sat in the back to not distrupt the kids.

Each teacher received a St. Marks t-shirt as a gift which was nice of them.

Seth and Sam were called up front to share their exciting news. They have a new baby sister named Adelynn and they love her to bits.

Leaving Adelynn

It is that time of year for my trip to the dentist office. Since it wouldn't be too smart to bring a 2 1/2 week old to the dentist with me I called up Grandma Linda.

You just can't help feeling as if you have left out some important information on how to care for an infant when walking out the door. She has raised four kids, she knows how to take care of a baby... right? Right!

Linda always jokes about how she makes Adelynn cry everytime she hold her. Well, now you get to hold her for a little over two hours. Can she handle it? Of course she can... It's all those little things that run through your head.

I say goodbye, give my girl a kiss and out the door I go. I did it!

My New Book

I am not very good at reading books in a timely manner. It typically takes me a good 6 months to read one. At the most it took me three years to read a book. I would get into the book, become busy with life, then remember I was reading it, go back a few chapters and then get busy with life again.

At Christmas, Linda gave me a Nook. I was in the middle of the Twilight Saga's Eclipse paper book. I couldn't wait for my next book to start using the Nook, so I bought the e-book of Eclipse. Finished that one and moved onto book four Breaking Dawn. Finished that book and started The Hunger Games series of three books. I have since finished the first book and I'm a quarter of the way into the second book Catching Fire. I've never read this many books in a months time. It's not because I'm on maternity leave because I was on maternity leave two other times and didn't read like this. I give credit to what I love the most (besides family) being technology.

It is small enought to go into the diaper bag or my purse just in case I'm someplace and I'm looking for something to do to pass time. I bought a nice leather cover to protect it from getting scratched while carrying it around. It is nice because there isn't a backlight, so it's not hard on your eyes to read. Downfall is that when I'm up in the middle of the night feeding Adelynn, I can't read my Nook because there isn't a backlight.

Problem Solved!

 My Nook library is accessible through a handy App for the iPhone.

Nick has even taken up reading books on my Nook or his Andriod phone if the Nook is being used by me.

Next step: Upgrade to the Nook Color which is like a tablet and can have interactive books for the kids to read/listen to. Sam loves to read so it would be great to be able to hand her the Nook when she is bored or needs a distration and say here - read your book.

Happy New Year

2012

is here!

What do I plan to do more of this year?