Sweet Boy Riley and a Chart

My little Riley is such a dear. Today he said, "Where is my car? I am so worried about it." Anytime he eats something that he really likes he says, "Mmmmmm, this is tasty!". It's pretty adorable. He is just so kind and gentle. He must have been having molars come in because he's back to being my nice boy. Hooray!

See my pictures? One is of Hannah getting caught playing with the monster trucks (which is totally fine... it just explains her look). The other pictures are of our new charts. I L.O.V.E. our new charts. There is one for each of the boys. Riley's just has fun stuff on it and basically he just likes putting the magnets on and taking them off (which is also fine).
Dylan and Levi have the same chart. What kind of chart is it?? It's a solution for boredom. I was sick and tired of Levi "not having anything to do". So when I ran across this idea on etsy (someone computer talented made the graphics... I just bought the pdf file), I was thrilled! Basically, each day Levi and Dylan have to accomplish something on the chart (for at least 10 minutes for Dylan and 15-20 for Levi) in order to get a magnet. ONce they have collected enough magnets (10 on Saturdays, two of which have to be chores), and 6 on school days (one has to be a chore), they earn 30 minutes of computer time or a video game or a tv show. It works marvelously! Then, they can erase their boards and start over.

However, they can't double dip on the items. Even if all three boys are building, the magnet either goes on "Something Together" or "Build Something", not both.
See the strike zone?? Oh ya... if they are completely disobedient, I remove one of their magnets and put in the strike zone. ORginally I put a new magnet there so as to no negate the ones they had earned, but they kept counting the magnet in the strike zone, so it had to be moved from a spot. (did that make sense?) The boys love the chart too. How do I know? They are playing together more. They go outside, they help each other. I hear more "Yes Mom". It's a beautiful thing! Aren't you so glad you know all about that??

A whole week off

I have always thought it quite strange that the schools up here give the kids a week off for Presidents day, er... week. Huh. So, I will be coming up with lots of fun things for us to do this week in an effort to keep my sanity, wear the darlings out, and get out of the house. :-) It'll be great!

Dylan turns 4 in two weeks. How exciting! Riley has started becoming really whiny. I don't like that at all. He was such a charming little, cuddly boy until just this past week. I hope it's just a glitch and it fixes itself real soon. Hannah has started to try to get her headbands off. Usually if I distract her she'll forget about it, but still..... :-( Boooo! Levi is trying to be more obedient and helpful. I'll keep you posted on those results. I made something for dinner last night that was from scratch (meaning no packaged ingredients or microwave). It seemed to take forever to make and was just okay. I'm waiting for some magic recipe to make me want to cook. I'm also extremely tired lately and it can't all be attributed to interruptions at night. Maybe I need more vitamins or something.

Not coordinated

Dylan and Riley wanted me to take their pictures.
Matt was super useful yesterday. Like his sideways picture? He's fixing the outlet for our dining room lights. He didn't turn off the power, and he didn't die. He also mopped the floor with the boys.
Yesterday I went to a Hula class at the gym. I have decided I am not coordinated. I am not successful at piano playing because I can't get one hand to do something different than the other hand. Same goes for hula.... I can't get my hands to do some sort of pretty dance while my hips are doing something totally different. It was HARD!
I finally moved out of double digits in pants. Hallelujah! It's about time!!
Hannah is almost 9 months old. Can you believe it?!?!? I can't.

Kid Photo Shoot

My friend so kindly took pictures of my kiddos. They were so willing and agreeable until we asked them to smile. Levi's favorite picture is the "zombie" one. Seriously? It was quite difficult to get all 4 of them looking at the camera and happy. However, they are realistic pictures of my kids. Enjoy!

glue

Did you know that it only takes about 4 seconds for an entire bottle of elmer's white glue to be dumped out on the floor? It comes out really fast. I was sitting right next to the culprit and didn't see what hit me until 4 seconds later... everything was in slow motion. I'm so proud that I didn't even yell at him. Hooray for being patient today!

Still BUSY!

On a daily basis I hear this phrase or some version of it: "I'm just an electronic kind of kid." Huh. Really??? There has got to be some genetic mutation (I can say that cuz I believe it) that wires Levi to love electronics. It sure isn't environment. It's mildly frustrating.

We went bowling as a family yesterday for the first time and we had a blast! We bought a groupon for the local bowling alley (complete with food and games in the arcade) for only $25. That's a fantastic deal! We are trying to make this a year of family togetherness (in an effort to create lasting and memorable experiences that bond our family). See above pictures. Levi loved the loud music and got his groove on! Dylan and Riley both rolled their balls (picture them squatting and pushing the heavy balls) and came in 2nd and 3rd place. How'd that happen?? My only strike didn't even register on the score sheet. Good thing I don't care about winning. Riley loved that he got to eat Cheetos and was doing something new and exciting. He also had a great time visiting people in the lane next to us. Dylan loved the whole bowling thing, and of course Matt and I were just glad that everyone was content and it didn't cost a fortune! Success!!

I made a cute little dress for Hannah. The matching bow was easy to make, however, I have no idea how to do button holes and keep my attached hem from rolling and looking bad. Moral of this story is I have to be patient to sew and take the time to figure out how to actually do parts of it. Hard to do with 3 boys around screaming and cute Hannah trying to get someone's attention. I shall leave the sewing to my mother! To top off my attempt at this cute dress.... while I was changing Hannah's diaper Riley grabbed the scissors (That were in their case) and cut a nice chunk out of the bottom of the dress. He ended up in time out. Delightful children....... :-(

I went to my second Zumba class today. It was still fabulous. All instructors are not alike and all choreography is not the same. I was drenched with sweat by the time class was over. It was awesome!!

And now at 7:22pm I am going to bed.

Living and Loving

Don't freak out on me. Those are stick on jewels that I use for scrapbooking not real earrings on my daughter. However, she does look stinking cute, huh?
Lately I have been working on spending more quality time with my children. This means putting them first and spending time with them playing games, coloring, reading, teaching, etc. It's what I've always meant to do as a Mom and I am slowly getting to that successful point of it being a consistent thing. I'm finding that I actually enjoy it! I do prioritize and put my kids first now above pretty much everything. I feel quite accomplished that I've reached this point. I also feel like I have SO much more to do! It's daunting to think that Matt and I are responsible for these darling kiddos. I do stress out regularly over whether or not anything I teach is sinking it and whether or not I am raising them righteously and if any of it will stick. It's overwhelming really. I think my repetitious prayer every morning for help with them really does work. My patience is improving (at least I think so) until Dylan figures out a way to push my buttons.
I did figure out that if I give Dylan my undivided attention for a good hour and a half each morning that he is pretty good for the rest of the day. Riley's favorite thing to do is run into the street and take off as soon as he's out of the car. He's almost been hit twice. He has to be back in a stroller now because of it and he screams and screams (but I'd rather have that than a squished kid). Levi is a super star reader and math guy. 1st grade is basically easy for him. Hannah crawls all over the place and puts everything in her mouth. Yesterday it was a marble. I didn't say that my cleaning habits improved.... it's pretty hard to get all the little boy stuff constantly off the floor. I am trying though! Obviously I don't want my little girl to choke on something! She's pretty stinking cute. She also eats a lot. She loves to talk (baby babbling), smile at her doll, chew on monster trucks, and watch her brothers.
Matt is busy, busy, busy. I suppose that is good. I'd really just prefer that we were independently wealthy so that he could stay home with me all day long. Wouldn't that be heaven???? I think guys are grateful they get to go to work. Anyhow, we are alive and well. :-)