A new view

This is becoming a regular sight at our house these days.

Only by the time we usually catch her, her diaper is already off and she is running free.

Poker Chips

It seems like lately my patience has been tested over and over again.  My sweet Addie loves a good debate, or so it seems.  Anytime I ask her to do something it instantly strikes up an argument while she tries to justify herself.  And Kimber.  That sweet girl.  All I have to say is "Kimber, will you..." and suddenly her knees buckle, she drops to the floor and her body goes into convulsions while she wails.  And let's not leave Lucy out.  I love that baby (I know, she isn't really a baby anymore) but sometimes it seems like she is learning from her sisters' behavior and follows precisely in their footsteps.

After a long weekend while Jared was away, I had had enough!  I was feeling like I was being shown no respect as their mother and like I was a total mute.  I knew words were coming out of my mouth but nobody could hear me.  It was the oddest thing. 

Jared got home late on Saturday night but that didn't stop me from unloading on him and finally telling him that I felt that at this point it was his turn to talk to the girls about their disrespect.  He agrees and decided he would tackle it during Family Home Evening. 

Monday night rolled around and Jared talked to the girls about what was going on.  They admitted that they did ignore me at time and didn't talk to their mom quite the way they should.  Then it was like a lightbulb went on in my head and I had an idea.  I explained everything to the girls and the next morning we began our new system.  Here's how it works.

I watch the girls throughout the day looking for outstanding behavior, whether it be they listen the first time, they eat dinner extra well, they do something without being told, etc, and I reward them with a poker chip.  If I catch them doing something they shouldn't be doing they loose a chip and I place it in the Mom and Dad jar.

I believe that when you are part of a family everyone has responsibilities that helps a household run so I don't reward them for every little thing but for things that I know is individually outstanding for them.  For example, Kimber hates getting her hair done and cries and complains when I tell her it's time.  For the last few days she has handled it very well so I rewarded her with a token.  On the other hand, Addie was again given the Citizenship Award at school yesterday.  An award that takes a lot of work and dedication so she was given a chip for that. 

Each chip is equal to one quarter and at the end of a certain period of time they can cash in their chips and do whatever they please with their money.  As of right now Addie has 8 tokens, Kimber has 7 and Jared and I have 4.  Today is the day they are cashing in and they have been talking about all kinds of things they can do with their quarters.  They talked about combing them and buying a pizza (yuck!) if they can earn just a few more, going to Dairy Queen, or going to the dollar store.

I have been pleasantly surprised at how well this has worked.  Things have been so peaceful and chores seem to get done with little effort on my part.  Don't get me wrong, my girls are super sweet and not always total beasts, but they are, well, kids and I will do everything in my power to make our home a peaceful place for everyone.  Even if it involves poker chips.

Christmas, Insanity, Creeping and Lots More

It's been very busy around here!  We've had home improvement projects going on, we've been away from home, we've had company, we've been living everyday life, we've celebrated Christmas and lots more.

I'll try to catch up in chronological order.  First off, the snow.  We got LOTS of snow at the beginning of December and my girls enjoyed every inch of it.  Even Lucy enjoyed it for a little bit.  It got to where we had a routine going- dress up in their snow get-up, play hard and get cold, come in and drink hot chocolate.

 It was also extremely cold for a week or so.  After that cold spell it became unseasonably warm.  You'll hear no complaints from us about temperatures in the 40's and 50's.  Sending Addie to school when it's -10 degrees and she's wearing more clothes than I thought she owned was not my idea of fun.

Next up, our failed attempt at a Christmas Card.  We snapped a few quick pictures at the beginning of the month and I ordered what I thought to be a super cute card.  I waited and waited for them to arrive and nothing.  I finally tracked them down in California.  They were coming from Utah but thanks to the Postal Service they took a HUGE detour and ended up arriving on Christmas Eve.  Rather than try to explain my late card to every person, I decided to skip sending them out.  A lady at the Post Office told me I should send them out next year.  I told her that sounded great because they would be done but my kids are growing like weeds and it would look a little off.  Here's our picture.

If you were expecting a card and wondered if I forgot about you, I didn't.  Next year.  I promise.  We have a whole box of them and I just don't have the heart to throw them out yet.

The girls got to have an early Christmas with Aunt Jeanie and Uncle Kenny.

Are you familiar with the art of creeping?  Looks like we had our very own creeper that night.

We received lots and lots of baked goods and sweets during the holidays.  One of those yummy treats was a container of delicious caramels from Aunt Jeanie.  I caught Lucy helping herself one morning.

She also adores the creeper, ahem, Baby Alive she was given.  I have been surprised how much attention she gives it and how she tends to it.

Some of you know that I love Denise Austin.  I've been using her work out videos for about 9 years now.  Well, one morning Addie saw me working out and wanted to get in on the action.  I found a video called Fit with Kids where Denise leads a group of kids through some fun exercises and Addie got right in there and stayed with it.  It was just a matter of minutes and Kimber was in on the fun too.  They have asked a number of times to workout since and have enjoyed every second of it!

Christmas Eve FINALLY arrived.  I'm not sure who was more excited, me or the girls.  I always try to have my wrapping finished before Christmas Eve but it just didn't happen this year.  Jared took Addie and Kimber out for a few hours and I wrapped my brains out.  I finally finished just as they walked in the door.

Jared's family has a tradition that we are carrying on.  Each Christmas Eve they light "Santa's Runway " with luminaries.  It was bitter cold outside so the girls helped for a few minutes but Jared ended up finishing the job himself.  

 We had a yummy dinner and a Christmas program of sorts and then it was all about the fun of Christmas.  The girls got to open a gift from Jared and I which was new jammies. 

Then it was a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus.  Lucy hated Santa and didn't want anything to do with him.

Amazingly, we had the girls in bed and asleep by 8:45.  All we had to do was wait for Santa to arrive.

Addie woke up at about1:00 am and was ready to go.  It took about 30 minutes but we were able to get her settled back down and asleep.  I remember the feeling of excitement I had when I was a kid and told her all about while she fell back asleep.

We are still lucky enough to have kids that don't wake up insanely early.  We finally woke them up at 7 and that was because we had to get moving.  Church was at 9 and then we had to rush to the Valley.

The girls had a great time opening presents (what kid doesn't, right?) but in all the commotion I only got a few pictures.  

After breakfast we rushed to get ready for church.  Getting a picture of them in their dresses was exhausting.  Lucy was loving the candy from the stockings and wasn't about to part with it.  I guess you could say this picture has "character."

The day after Christmas was spent in the Valley visiting family, going through Jared's Grandma's jewelry, eating an awesome meal my Dad made with his new smoker and most of all, just enjoying the beautiful weather.

Next up, Insanity.  On the 28th of December I started a new workout program (appropriately) called Insanity.  My sister in law told me about it and I decided I wanted to take on the challenge.  It's a 60-day workout program that if followed correctly pretty much guarantees results.  It's the kind of workout where you are dripping sweat and pushing yourself constantly.  As of today, I am 23 days into it and as badly as I hate it when my legs feel like they are filled with lead and my core is burning beyond what I think can be healthy, I love it!

You start the program by doing a fit test so you can track your progress as you retake the test every two weeks.  I would be lying if I said that I didn't want to puke my brains out and that I didn't drink almost a gallon of water in the 25 minutes it took to complete it the first time.

Everyday is a major challenge and it takes some serious dedication as I am now working out intensely six days a week.  But I have to pat myself on the back because I have never missed a day (with the exception of taking a day off to recover from a pulled muscle and one day that we were out of town) and I have seen a huge improvement in my ability to take fewer breaks and make it through the 40 minute workouts with more endurance.  I'm also starting to notice changes in my body. 

I am going to do five weeks of Month One instead of the four it calls for because I want to make up for lost days and then I'll rev it up during month two.  I'm not doing this for a ripped stomach or to train for a marathon or something but more as a way to get toned up and push myself. 

Enough about that.  Now for something I've been waiting for a long time to do.  For Christmas Jared got me new counter tops!  Yay!  New counter tops also meant painting our cabinets.  It was a very long and very messy few days but I am so happy with it!  I'm saving the before and after pictures until the backsplash is complete but I'll just say that my kitchen has finally left the 70's!

On January 3rd, my little brother, Taylor, left for the Army.  It was a rough week for him after arriving at Fort Sill while he was in reception but once he made it to basic training things got much better, for him and the family.  After his training is complete he will head to Texas where he will do his medic training.

On the 6th of this month we finally had our first break.  My girls were with a babysitter while Jared and I were on a date when I got a frantic call from Addie telling us we needed to come home because Lucy was bleeding out her nose and mouth.  I talked to the babysitter who seemed calm and had things under control.  We hurried home to find Lucy with a broken nose and black eyes beginning to form.  I'm not sure if I felt worse for Lucy or the babysitter.  She felt so bad and I kept reassuring her it was a total accident and if she knew Lucy then she would be surprised that this was the first break after all the falls she's taken.  And like a good blogger, I didn't take any pictures.  Can you believe that?

Last weekend I had a Doctor's appointment in the Valley and on our way our of town hit Uncle Kenny's 70th birthday party.  My niece Karen took my camera and snapped some pictures of the kids playing around at Rockin R' Ranch.  The kids had a great time running around and Jared and i had a good time socializing with the company.

Last of all, Jared turned the big 3-1 this week.  It was a wonderful day-he got to go to get up early, spend the morning driving from here to there getting things together for his day, go to work, come home and rush to get ready to go to dinner, go to Bishopric meetings where they sent him home when they realized it was his birthday and finally opened gifts and had cake at 9pm.  Sounds awesome, right?

Jared's birthday means I get to make his favorite cake, Hungarian Sponge Cake.  It takes a lot of work and has to be done just right so it's not a total flop.  Thankfully Kimber was there to help me out.

 The frosting is Jared's favorite part of the cake.  I guess it's Lucy's too.

At one of the grocery stores here I can buy butcher paper for super cheap.  My girls made a 10 foot long banner for Jared for 50 cents.  They had a great time coloring it.  I'll have to get it back out and take a picture of the completed project.  It's was too cute.

Phew!  There's a HUGE catch up on us.  It's been busy but lots of fun.  Tonight the girls are having a pajama party with pizza and popcorn.  I'm off to make preparations.