It's Puzzle Girl!

It seem like all of the kids have gone through this stage, and now the torch has been passed to Gracianna! She lives and breathes puzzles! Every chance she gets, she playing with them. It is an opportune time for her, being that each previous child has had to fend off the puzzle eating, crawling, baby-monsters. Nathan is not yet crawling, so she can actually complete an entire puzzle without chasing after pieces.

I am convinced that this stage of puzzle-mania must be very beneficial for their little noggin's. Their reasoning skills and hand-eye coordination has got to be making some connections up there somewhere. She was a bright little cookie before puzzles, can't wait to see what's to come :)

It's Payday!!

Around here, every Wednesday is payday...for the kids, that is. They earn "points" throughout the week by doing various things around the house. They'll get points for doing their chores without being told, getting caught being kind to their sibling, washing their plate after eating, or a list of other things. We have a simple method of keeping track of the points and every Wednesday, they get to turn them in for a number of different "prizes". Most of the prizes cost Paul or I nothing, or very little, such as "get to sleep on Mom and Dad's floor, 12 points", "watch a movie during naptime, 10 points", "get a small treat, 4 points", or "get to play a game on the computer for 45 minutes, 16 points", ect. A few of the higher point things actually cost us a little money, like "go out with dad for a donut, 25 points", or "get a Jr. Frosty from Wendy's, 25 points". They could also earn a trip to Chuck E. Cheese (with $5.00 to spend) for a whopping 50 points!

The kids absolutely LOVE point day, and it is good incentive for them get their chores done. They all have the potential to get a bunch of points, but usually they end up with somewhere between 15 and 30 points for the week (with a "no roll-over" rule). Caleb worked REALLY hard this week, vaccumming and mopping almost the whole house and doing lots of extra things. He ended up with somewhere around 110 points! He had a blast trading in his points. What he's holding in his hands are all of his "prize coupons" that he "bought" and can redeem whenever he wants.

Sledding!

The kids and I went sledding yesterday. It was the first time we had gone this year. I like to go in the middle of the day during the week (yet another benefit of homeschooling) so there's less of a crowd. It was great, we had the sled hill all to ourselves! Gracie spent most of the time napping in the car, but the rest of the kids had fun. Nathan even got to sled a couple times with momma. He was snuggled up in my (actually Paul's) coat. This sled hill in Shorewood actually has little moguls in it so the kids fly a bit in the air when they go over them. There's an action shot of Noah flying in the slideshow!

Who said parenting was easy?

I have been trying different parenting/discipline techniques for, oh, about the last 9 years. One of the hardest things about parenting is being consistent, which I am not, but I do attempt. Lately, we have been on a tattling rampage. I have been hearing ALOT of "so-and-so hit me" or "she's chewing at me with her mouth open" or "he's looking at me weird". I didn't want the kids to retaliate when they were being wronged, so I told them to come and tell me and I would play referee. Well, that got old real quick. I seemed to be constantly going to the scene of the crime and trying to determine "who dunnit", or who was first to do it. Usually, I found out that if someone got hit, it was because they were instigating the fight in the first place. I don't get it... Do they really think they can get their brother/sister in trouble without risking the same punishment? Between playing detective and weeding out the "give me a break" kind of tattling, I was ready for a change.

So....within the past week or so, I have shifted course and decided to guide them in settling their own disputes. Duh. That's a no brainer. I'm thinking that it's probably a good thing to know as they reach adulthood :) So, when someone comes whining about a brother not playing nice, I simply tell the tattle-taler, "You tell your brother that what he did was not kind, and if he's not going to play nice, then you are not going to play with him" or something to that effect. That's just reality, right? No one wants to play with a meanie.

Well, Gracie came to me today crying and saying "Ellie hit me...", so I gave her the same speech. "You tell your sister that if she can't play nice, your not going to play with her." Gracie started crying even harder saying, "I don't want to, I don't want to". I realized the problem, and said, "Ok, then go back up and play." Not willing to sacrifice her playmate for something so petty, she instantly dried up, turned around and went back to play with Ellie. Ahhhh, problem solved.

Girly Girls

 

A friend of mine came over last week with her kids. Alexa, the cutie in the middle, is just 9 days older than Ellie, but she must have some basketball superstars in her ancestry because she's got way more height.

The Call to Dunkirk

I heard about this video on WMBI's morning show, and now finally got to see it. It is interesting. I'm not so sure I like it out of my own selfishness, since, if there is an exodus of public schools, there will most likely be a crackdown by our government on private schools/ homeschooling... But I do think that whoever has the biggest influence on our children will be the winner of our children's hearts and minds. Granted, there are some christian teachers in the schools and some districts are better than others, but there is a general "flow" away from anything to do with God or Christianity. The picture of a fish trying to swim upstream comes to mind. That is not necessarily saying "no" to public schooling, just that those parents who do use public schools have an even bigger challenge to make their values and morals come out as the winner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRGZLSVph3A&feature=related

Euchre, anyone??

Some five-year-olds play with puzzles, some practice their alphabet, some play with play-doe,
Mine plays...Euchre?? (I don't even know how to spell the game!)

Gma Betty taught the boys to play Euchre, and Caleb and Seth were teaching Noah the ins and outs of the game.

More Nathan catch-up

Gracie and Nathan helping mommy cook. I believe those are potatoes she's cutting up


Grace and Nathan

Nathan's just starting to be able to sit up for a few seconds- a little longer if he's on a bed. He's much happier when he can be up and checking things out.

Doin' the Nathan catch-up

Snoozin' on the couch. Hey, when your kid #6, does it really matter where you take your nap??

Nathan's first time in the Johnny-jump-up. Photos courtesy of daddy, since I don't recall the "first time in the Johnny-jump-up" episode. Daddy reported that it went well with no ricocheting casualties.

Nathan's sportin' the coolest hat in the world... Daddy's

My artists...

Gracie is quite the artist... She decided to draw a family portrait. That's me with the wacked out hair job, I think. Not too bad for a two year old.

Seth decided to get in on the act with some drawings of his own- a chicken, a lion, and a bird in a tree...

...And a Happy New Year!

Well, the majority of the kids made it until midnight. The girls were lacking naps and needed to be tucked in early, but all the boys were up, even Nathan. We toasted to the new year with our sparkling cider and then hit the hay. A friend of mine commented that you can tell your age according to whether you "get" to stay up til midnight, or "have to" stay up. I'll admit, I am now on the "have to" side.