Grateful kids step 1

lately my heart has been grieved by the way my children have been not as thankful and very much "gimme, gimme". i know that they are only 5, 3, and 1.5. however, the first 5 years is the most crucial in teaching our children their core values and morals. so i decided that i need to change their ungrateful hearts and do it FAST. so after speaking with my husband, we decided to take all the kids toys away. yup, ALL the toys. even poor Bug had to have his taken away (or the other 2 would just play with his toys). we left mega blocks, puzzles, and books. their rooms look really clean! we had a family meeting telling them why we were taking their toys away and that after a while they could start earning them back. Drama was the one who had the most to say about our decision. go figure! she cried and said "you've made me very sad!" not only will we take their toys away but i will be doing daily activities with them to drive home the subject and adding a bible verse in there of course! 1 Chronicles 16:34 "Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!" seemed like the most obvious choice. so today i typed up the verse in the middle of a blank page and my kids will be cutting out pictures from magazines or drawing what they are thankful for. we will put them up on their walls in their rooms so they can continue to look at them through our "grateful hearts journey" if you'd like to print this out for your own children, let me know and i will send it to you.

take two...

so much is going on and i want to take time to journal it out and share with people who care to hear about it. i am now officially an army sniper wife! so proud of my husband. concerned about the future of course. but excited too. i have a new ministry starting at church for military and deployed families (we say it that way because we have several members who have gone overseas as civilian contractors). and of course my children are growing up faster every day! so i will try AGAIN to keep up with a blog. hopefully this attempt sticks. stay tuned....

august!

i can't believe how time flies when you have three kids. Bug is now 6 weeks and has gained half his body weight. HA has been working out like crazy so he's getting big too.
Drama and Monkey are in their own beds now. they share a room right now but i think that's helping them transition easier. basically we just tell them its bed time. we kiss them good night, tuck them in, and turn the light off. sometimes they talk for a little bit. but most nights they stay in their own beds and fall asleep. this has been going on for 2 weeks now since Monkey turned 2.
Potty training is still going. Monkey actually tells me when he has to go so i take him and Drama. they get a sticker and we sing a song when they go potty.
i started rewarding them for good behavior with a sticker too and have seen them be more cooperative and even helpful since starting the sticker reward system. Drama even emptied the dishwasher for me. the items that were in the higher cabinets i helped her with. i was impressed that she knew where everything went! Monkey loves to get the little dishwasher cubes and put them in, close the dishwasher and push the start button for me. they also help me with laundry! if they help, the task usually takes longer but if i have the time then i enjoy their help. i wish they could vacuum!

HA was away at drill for the weekend. so a long time friend of mine came from Cali to stay with me. we had so much fun catching up. i miss having her in town!
nothing too exciting has been happening lately. all the days seem to blend in together. we are stuck inside most of the time since its getting up to 114 degrees here. I'm having to focus harder (this heat makes me tired) and be creative to keep the toddlers busy indoors. God bless the MOMS Club! we all have been coming up with ideas to keep our little ones busy together.
i will be leading an un-official La Leche League meeting this Thursday for the first time. its un-official because i have not completed the course yet. been trying to do some homework here and there. its great that this is self paced.
this Saturday the Monkey turns 2. I'm still shocked. but excited as well. i see the little guy he's turning into and i love it.

Boppy babies!!!

Bug

Monkey

Drama

BOPPY BABIES!!

Monkey as a newborn

Bug in his wrap

Drama at her first ballet class

Drama had her first ballet classes. it was a summer program for 3 & 4 year old that were just starting off. it was only 3 weeks. each class had a fairytale theme. they read a book, did a craft and then did basic ballet stuff. a little too basic for Drama who lost interest in the class after the book. she had no interest in waiting in a light just to jump over a scarf that was on the ground. or wait for her turn skip across the room. i was getting frustrated with her not listening and waiting her turn. the teacher would barely get out what they would be doing next and then Drama was running off to do it. i thought i had failed in some way. some of the other moms told me i should put her in pre-school so she can learn to take turns. after thinking about this i realized they are full of it. why would i stick my kid in a class for several hours a day so she could learn to take turns? she's 3! everything that a pre-school would be teaching a 3 year old she already knows. shes sounding out words already. she saw the word "latitude" on the side of a bus and was sounding it out. so if not understanding how to wait her turn is the only thing she still needs to learn at 3 years old, I'm really OK with that. plus i think it would have been better if i just put her in a regular class where she learns more than how to jump. i think she just really wanted to dance. nothing wrong with that.

Monkey will be 2 in 2 weeks! how did that happen? he's officially started the terrible twos. between Drama's "drama" and Monkey's fits expect to put on ear plugs if you come to my house. I'm so excited to throw Monkey's birthday party. guess what the theme is... monkeys! i will be making the cake too.

Bug is getting big. weighing in at 9lb 4oz at his 2 week Dr appointment today. for those of you that are rusty at baby averages, after 2 weeks they should be back to their birth weight. his birth weight was 8lb 3 oz. so he's a POUND more. yay!! he loves to eat. and the funny thing is that he's not eating around the clock either. my other 2 seemed to nurse every hour or 2 hours for the first 6 weeks. he'll sleep for 4-6 hours straight and then eat and sleep several more hours. and he's still huge. what a good baby. and i gotta say, thank God for my wrap! how do mother's get anything done without them i wonder?

new baby

i can't believe that June Bug is 2 weeks old now! he's been such a great baby. he eats like a cow and that has given him some tummy problems. he spits up as much as Drama did. so I'm going to have to watch what i eat and see if that helps him. and amazingly he's a great sleeper. he wakes up once or twice a night to eat and then goes back to sleep. i don't feel very sleep deprived like i did with Drama and Monkey. it helps to have Heavily Armed here. he has to go back to work on Monday. that will be interesting. i will be taking all 3 kids to June Bug's (okay, I'm going to shorten it to BUG now cuz its easier) Dr's appointment on Monday. yay me! I'll be spending more time on the computer next week. promise!