Like Father, Like Son

These are my many attempts to capture a "good" picture of the two goof balls!

Success!

Deck the Halls

Wednesday night the kids and I decided it was time to decorate the Christmas tree. They were such great helpers! I think we're going to add some ribbon instead of garland, but we're almost done!

The pictures are little blurry, but it kind of captures the magic that I love about it! When all the lights are off and the Christmas tree lights are on, it makes my living room seem so cozy and magical!

Crafting Hour

One thing we worked on over Thanksgiving weekend, was bow making. Mary was kind enough to teach us how to make them and Kara and I made some darling bows for our girls. When I got home I really wanted a place to put them so I saw this idea on another blog and made one of my own!

Thanks is Given and Unicorn Farts

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. It was full of yummy food, good company and lots and lots of noise. I didn't take any pictures because our camera has been throwing fits lately and sometimes it almost refuses to work at all. But we had so much fun.

One night we played a game that my parents taught me and I taught Steve's family. My parents called is 10,000. Another name that I heard that caught on at the Smith's house is Farkle. We were telling Jared about the game a little and he said "What's farkle? Is that a unicorn fart?" So over the course of the weekend we tried to describe what a unicorn fart might be like. It made the game just a little more interesting. Just use your imagination like a Smith might! And I'm proud to say even those people who started the game out seeming not all that interested ended up really enjoying the game (at least it appeared that way).

So until next year, I'm thankful for family and unicorn farts and fun times.

I'm Only A Little Crazy. I Promise.

I've decided I must be at least a little crazy. I have decided to join some other mothers (and friends from high school) in a "Whittle My Middle" challenge. It's a six week challenge where we work specifically on strengthening our core muscles. If anyone wants more information or is interested in joining the challenge, let me know! Part of the challenge to keep you motivated is posting before, middle and after pictures along with your stats (measurements). I know I have not gone totally over the deep end because I would never inflict that kind of scarring on anyone who didn't want to view it. So I have created a private blog to post these things and other healthy tips/ideas that I've learned along my journey. If you'd like an invitation to my blog and want to support me/join in, get me your email address.

Otherwise, wish me luck!

What Are You Thankful For?

On the way to the grocery store today the kids and I went around saying what makes us thankful. Their lists consisted of the following:

Kurtis:

his room

family

Santa Claus

Kylee:

dress up clothes

dresses

Barbie

I hope someday they understand (all three of them) that they bring me more joy than anything else in the world. I am thankful for car rides with games and giggles and songs with my little non-angels!

The Experiment Is Underway

I have been having some issues lately getting my kids to behave. I don't think it's completely my fault. I don't think I'm a bad parent. But I'm sure I'm not perfect and that's why this experiment is so important. To try to change everyone's behavior. I read about this idea somewhere and have been wanting to try it out for a while. But my brain makes me think that everything has to be perfect before I can start a project like this!

The Experiment:
Take away ALMOST all the toys. Pack them up and put them away. Leave enough that your kids have something to play with, i.e. a couple cars, a couple dolls, some legos, some dress up clothes. But take away the majority of the toys. When the children get home/wake up explain to them that the toys that are out are all they have unless they have good behavior that day. At the end of the day if behavior has been good they can earn back ONE toy. Not one bin full, or one set of something, just one toy. If the behavior has been less than expected then they get nothing.

I guess I feel that my kids have been overwhelmed with all the "stuff". So I'm taking away what's not necessary in the hopes that they don't feel overwhelmed anymore and can be happier children.

Now let's just hope it works! I'll keep you posted on how it's going in the next couple days!