Chart Update:

As you know we have implemented a sticker chart system back around the 18th....

and I have to RAVE about how fantastic it has been for our family.

Now, I understand that all kids are different, and what may work for one family...does not necessarily mean it will work for YOUR family....but as far as OUR family goes....

Here are the GREAT results:

Bug has tried the following foods:.... Like/dislike:

1. Ham (from easter dinner).... Like
2. Shredded Pork.... Like
3. Potato Salad-no sticker... Dislike (spit out)
4. Hamburger.... iffy
5. Catfish.... Like
6. Country style Pork Ribs.... Like
7. Green Beans (cooked).... Dislike

Now our stipulations for him earning the sticker for "Courtesy Bites".... is that he has to take a bite of something he has never tried.. and he CANNOT spit it out, or make a scene. So far we have only had one time where he spit it out....but even then he was willing to try something else in its place so he could earn that sticker!! :)

And as far as chores/good deeds go: ( i try to "catch" these as he does them)

1. Helped his sister get a toy she wanted without me asking him to.
2. Picked up a HUGE mess his sister made with pins.
3. Carried ALL his laundry upstairs to the laundry room.
4. Grabbed a diaper for me as we were leaving, knowing full well I would forget :)
5. Picked hundreds of pine cones up in the yard and put them in the can :)
6. Was totally awesome on a 4 hour errand run I had to go on, with him tagged along.
7. Learned how to tie his own shoes (Hallelujah) by practicing OVER and OVER!!!!!!!*

AND MORE....but I can't remember them all~

Here is a video and a more detailed explanation. Please ignore my voice...I have been fighting a cold.

All in all I am so happy with the results....especially with his eating. He is looking for new things to try and that is above what I had hoped. I was just hoping to get him to take a bite of different things, and here he is ASKING to try them. :) How cool is that!?

Have I mentioned how much i LOVE this boy!

Good 'ol Family BBQ

On Monday, we had the pleasure of having my cousin Katie and her family over for a BBQ. :)

It was sooooo much fun...and the day flew by. We had TONS of food....Veggie Kabobs (Kate's a vegetarian), hamburgers, hot dogs, bbq chicken and italian marinated chicken....homemade potato salad, olive salad, bean dip and chips, fresh fruit bowl, fresh salad, cake...and a few more things I can't recall! :)

My Aunt Brenda, Uncle Danny, Randy's Dad and Mom, Randy, Keegan (Katie's nephew), and little Alek were SUCH a pleasure..... We mostly hung out and caught up on the past 10 years! :)

The boys had a BLAST playing with each other, and didn't stop the ENTIRE time. :) I don't think I have ever seen 2 more tired boys, then Matthew and Bug. :):):)

Anyway, here are the pictures we manged to snap (mostly thanks to Brad) :)

My mom, me, bug, the back of Katie's head :) and Aunt Brenda.....


Uncle Danny scoping the cake..


Matthew, me, and Aunt Brenda....


Aunt Brenda and I...


This is Randy (Randy's dad), Uncle Dan, Aunt Brenda (in pink), Randy's mom, and Katie (on the floor)


Aunt Brenda, Katie and Alek, and Grandpa....


Mom and Uncle Danny catching up...they went to high school together and have a reunion coming up!....


Me and cuz..(I was in the middle of asking a question....nice one dear.) LOL


Alek and his 1st piece of celery....can you tell how much he liked it? He is cutting his top teeth, so we CAREFULLY watched as he gnawed his way through it....offering a bit of relief.


This picture actually has a story to tell....he was trying to eat the vent...I'm not sure if it was the air he was after...or just the feel of the metal on his mouth....what a cutie!


Drama Mama (who proved her name well) enjoyed reading Alek's little quack book....She loves her "stoowies"


Katie and a very worn out Alek...poor little guy's teeth were bothering him..


If he isn't just the cutest thing ever....I actually called his name and said "Alek say cheeeese", and this is what I got! (Katie and Randy are YOU in trouble when he gets older!)



The boys (and Kayla) even got to enjoy a quick boat ride...compliments of Brad.....despite the 45 degree weather....







This was Matthews 1st ride on the boat...I wish I could let you feel his excitement....but this pic will have to do...


Here's a video of them leaving...


Here's a shot of them outside..having a blast..


And lastly....Mr Keegan....he LOVES his popsicles!!!! :)

Well...I REALLY hope my cousin takes us up on the offer of them coming over more often, or at least letting US come up THERE to see them......BUT...she can be stubborn. Trust me, I know.

After all, she DOES have that Rock blood in her. :) ;P

ALSO....WANTED TO DO AN UPDATE SOON ON HOW WONDERFUL THE CHART SITUATION IS GOING. IT HAS BEEN SOOOO AWESOME. :) But I have spent enough time on here today.... :) So...check back in.

Too cute for words...



God, I love this girl!!!

Happy Easter + Happy Birthday

First off I have to wish my mother a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

This is the first time in about 5-6 years that I could be here to celebrate it with her.

I baked her a chocolate cake, and we went out to dinner at the Whispering Woods Golf Club restraunt.

Her friend Linda drove 3 hours to see her, and they had a wonderful time catching up... I actually had to fib to her, and tell her it was a relator that had called, because Cody failed to inform me that it was a SURPRISE that she was driving down.

Boy was she SURPRISED! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I LOVE YOU VERY VERY VERY MUCH!

As for Easter....we had a WONDERFUL day...

it started off with finding what the Easter bunny had left....

and luckily enough...I had wrote to the Easter Bunny to tell him that my nephew would be here in N.C and not in VA....so to be sure that he delivered his stuff here....and he did!!

Matthew's is on the right, then Kayla's and to the left Sam's....

Then it was time to get ready for church....to celebrate the reason for Easter.... the resurrection of Christ.

Daddy helping Bug get ready...

We are ready to go.... :) :) Aren't they ADORABLE!?!?

Grandma and her boys....LOVE it!

Right before we left...they all had to check out their stash...

And while we were at church...the Easter Bunny came BACK and accidently dropped a couple (hundred it seemed) eggs outside....so we had a hunt....

Just a few of the spots he dropped them..

During the hunt....

After the hunt....checking the loot..:)...

Matthew found the special egg that said "you won" so he got an extra bag of loot...

Of course we had Easter Dinner too...boy, the ham was AWESOME this year!....

Started with a prayer...

We (meaning Brad) set up the tent for the boys...they LOVED it...here they are all tuckered out..

All in all we had a FANTASTIC easter....and hope that you and your family did as well!~

HAPPY EASTER!!

Tag:

4 RANDOM (maybe weird) facts about my kids...


#1.....My daughter is strange....(but we knew that right?)


#2......Bug got his first "black eye" when he was 3 by falling into a corner of the table on Thanksgiving.


#3....My daughter tends to for-go the untensils.....



#4...My son is part fish...he learned how to swim (with no floaties) by the time he was 3...here he is at 2. (there is no sound)

Now I wanted to tag 4 others: Ummm....how about...

Amber...

Lindsay...

Sabrina...

and Chels.

Now post your answers on your blog and tag 4 others. Looking forward to reading! :)

Incentives:

I have 2 VERY different children.

My daughter will eat just about anything at ANY time.... (and actually DOES still eat every two hours...just real food now)

and Bug....

well Bug kinda sticks to the SAME 5 things over, and over and over.

The sad thing is.....there isnt any nutritional value in what HE likes.

1. chicken nuggets
2. Peanut butter and jelly sandwhich
3. Bologna sandwhich
4. fish sticks
5. Corn Dogs

Now he DOES like a soup I make that is from Popo...its an herb soup from singapore made with rice..YUMMY!!!.....AND he likes fried rice with spam. (its a Hawaii thang ya'all)

But other than that...its a BATTLE.

So....

We have decided to try something new (Thanks Mimi)

A sticker Chart.

An explanation on how it works for us is in the video. It's a little different since we had different issues to address. Mainly his eating habits.

We JUST put it up last night, but ALREADY he is doing his best and very excited to earn stickers.



Now I agree, that you can't reward a child for things they are supposed to do (being nice, doing a few chores, etc...) because then they expect something every time.

But I firmly believe in positive reinforcement.

And with MY children...it seems to really be an incentive.

Especially when it comes to eating and teaching chores, and responsibilites. He won't be getting stickers 2 months down the road for the things he may be getting them for today, because as he grows and learns...so do my expectations.

With that said...

we shall see how it works. :P

TTFN ya'all, and have a GREAT Day!~ :)

Again....the POWER of words...

from a CHILD!



I am so thankful we have children like this out there.

Way to go Parents!!!

HAPPY ST. Patricks Day!!





TTFN!~

A visit from Cuz and other MISC...

My cousin Katie and her husband Randy came to visit yesterday.

We had such a wonderful time sitting back, catching up.

Her and I used to be so tight.....

but time went by, and we were so far apart....

we never really lost touch, but our relationship became distant.

It is so nice to reconnect with her, and get to know her AWESOME family.

Here are some pictures from her wonderful visit....and boy did time FLY!!

Katie, Alek, and Randy....


Adorable little Alek.....


Drama Mama and Alek sharing a kiss.....how sweet!~

Katie and Alek.....he is such a cutie pie!


CANT WAIT FOR OUR BBQ ON THE 24th!!!! HUGS TO THE FAMILY!!!

Now here are a few of Drama Mama I took yesterday...

hehe..she is NOT happy...I just did her hair.


Outside...noticing her shadow for the 1st time...


and a quick video....she is so precious to me.



ALSO...............

Wow

I was visiting a friends blog today....she had lost her 5 year old daughter in a drowning accident last year, and has been a huge inspiration in my life.
I know she isn't perfect (who is?)...but it is her constant outlook on life...even after something as devastating as a loss of a child that amazes me.

She had found another blog of someone who had lost their 3 and a half old little girl, and as I visited this site to offer words of comfort and prayer.....

I was surprised to find that I was the one who was comforted.

She had posted a video (in her Dec archive) of a 12 year old (at the time) young man.

He lives in a VERY rural town in Nebraska, and had to put a calf down one day. He called the radio station after and said this...



I am stunned that a 12 year old can have so much wisdom and depth in his words.

It only goes to show how POWERFUL words can be.

I am thankful I got to see that, and will refer back to it often.

Hope you all have a MOST WONDERFUL Day!!!! God Bless!

Like mother...like daughter...


I REALLY wish I had a scanner to show you a picture of me right around this age with my beloved stuffed animal...

as it is....

I STILL have him to this day...

here is a picture of him...

(if you know me at all...you know this thing goes where ever I go)

*blushes*

....yes, he is missing both his eyes, yes I sucked off his nose, yes he is missing his arm, and yes he has numerous stains (and holes) of who knows what on him....but i love him :)

He even went to boarding school with me in High school! :)


Well Grandpa searched high and low knowing how much I cherished this pink panther (if you havent already guessed THAT'S what he was at one point...LOL)

and found one from the 1960's the resembled what pinky (as I called him) USED to be in his prime (thank you eba*y)

Well, guess who got to him first....







*sigh* I just LOVE it.

So for Grandpa and Papa....that was for you ! :)

P.S I had originally gotten mine from my father (Papa)....when he was stationed overseas, I was just a tiny baby.....and I had slept with it until I was almost married.

*blushes*

Do YOU have anything from your past you've kept around?? Or am I just a sentimental (mental being the operative word ar ar) fool! :)