Summer Madness

Summer has been crazy busy for me as I'm sure it has and will be for most of you too.  While I wish it was a nice time to sit in the sun and sip lemonade and watch the kids play in the sprinklers that is not the case.  We have started swimming lessons. And while I am ecstatic that my kids enjoy it and that they are learning to swim it seems that when we get home the day is almost over.  Between this and the many projects that I have started (story of my life), and all the other projects we have planned this summer, my new obbsession, and my kids being naughty, my time is extremely limited.  And my time is very valuable to me. 

So if my posts seem few and far between as of late, this is the very reason. 

The boys room is right next to the storage room.  The man recently told me that we need to watch him a little closer.  The man went into his room the other night, and whilst retrieving something from under the bed found an open box of cereal.  Sneaky Sneaky!

And the other day the boy was playing in the kiddie pool with some friends.  The man found them carting sand/mud in to the water.  Well the man told the boy to stop that and keep the dirt out of the water.  About an hour later he looked out and saw 3 buckets sitting in the kiddie pool and when he went out to investigate found they were filled with dirt.  He began to get after the boy, who calmly replied, "but dad, the dirt is in the buckets, not the water!"  I had to chuckle at this one.

See! These are the kind of boy things I can deal with! At any rate... here is the highly anticipated summer plan! I can't take credit for the idea, but I did modify it to fit my needs. My good friend and neighbor from Idaho, whom I miss dearly, first posted her plan here. My kids just turned into little monsters who wouldn't listen to a thing I said. And I don't really feel like they respond well to any discipline. So I decided to try some positive reinforcement. Maybe if I rewarded them when they did the things I wanted them to do, they would do them more often. I bought a roll of raffle tickets from Walmart. Then had each of my kids paint their own jar. Now when they do great things, they may get a ticket. Some things they may earn tickets for are:
making bed in morning
picking up toys without being asked
following instructions the FIRST time
sharing/being kind to siblings
finishing daily chores
doing "homework" I have planned for them
ect.

I also bought a bunch of toys that I knew my kids would want and set up a little store. I put "prices" on the toys of how many tickets it would cost to buy that item. They have really had to work hard, but I can see a difference in their attitudes. I really think they like it. So it's been working out pretty good for us. I really try not to threaten to take tickets away, because I don't want it to be another way to discipline. Also I think I would probably end up taking more tickets away then what they earn. So I decided that was not the way I wanted to go with that. I swear I took pictures of my "store" and what-not but I can't find them anywhere. So here are just a few random pictures from recently. I'll also throw a few in there of my new hobby(obsession) of before and after furniture redo's that I have been busy with.

Anyway, there is a long update for you. Sorry for the long drawn out post. Sorry also for the absence. We have some exciting events coming up so stay tuned, but don't expect it soon.

Happy swimming/sunning/biking/hiking/camping/whatever-you-do-in-the-summer!