Great Day / Things Missed

Today was a great day for John and me. Buck and I have just started attending a Financial Peace University class by Dave Ramsey. Great information. Anyway, last night he touched on teaching your kids about money, and how to use chores with little ones to "earn commission". John loves helping around the house (when it doesn't interfere with TV or playing), but since he doesn't understand anything about the worth of money, it didn't occur to me that he could get the concept. I should know better. Anyway, today I introduced a chore chart and he got SO EXCITED! He has everyday required chores (making his bed, cleaning his room, feeding the dogs, clearing the table, and tidying up the toys downstairs). Each day he can help load the dishwasher and help set the table to earn 10 cents a piece. We also have 5 weekly chores (cleaning out the car, changing sheets on the beds, cleaning the toilets, cleaning the playroom, and taking out the bathroom/laundry room trash). Each of those is worth 50 cents. Granted, most of these things are done primarily by me with a little "help", but the idea is that he's taking time from playing to help, learning to do these chores, learning to help out around the house just for the sake of being a part of the family, and also that sometimes if you work hard you get paid and that's fun. SO, today we did all of the required chores for merely a sticker, and he was thrilled to no end to help set the table, put the dishes in the dishwasher, change sheets on the bed and clean the toilets. Granted, I'm sure the newness will wear off, but he was so excited about all of it, and I got to really praise him for being so helpful and having such nice behavior. AND we actually enjoyed time together while doing these things rather than me doing them while he played on his own. It really was great. THEN, something came over me and I decided to try to cut his hair myself. I sat him down in front of the TV on a step stool, and he did great (except when I tickled him cutting around his ears, and when he couldn't see the TV because I was trying to cut the front). It's not exactly straight, but not bad if I do say so myself!

Now, some things we've missed by mistake...

Eve and I got to go to John's Valentine's party at school. I didn't know how he'd do with us there. He was so excited that he was pretty distracted for a while, but settled in nicely...particularly when we pulled a seat next to him for Eve. From then on he couldn't have cared less that I was there. It was so fun to see them enjoy each other and enjoy the party together. My funny story from the class time...They were reviewing months and days of the week, etc. The teacher (Mrs. Jackson) pointed to the day and said "What day is today?" She gave a hint "f...f...f" and the resounding response from at least 5 of the kids (so proud and loud) "FURSDAY!". So cute!

Then, that afternoon, IT SNOWED! For real this time! By the evening a few inches had accumulated (plenty for snowball fights), and by the morning there was, I'd guess, 3-4 inches. Perfect snow. The next day it warmed quickly, so it was nice and warm while we played in it, then it was pretty much gone by mid afternoon...AND perfect packing snow since it was melting. So, here are lots of fun pictures from the event...

John and Scotty when it first started coming down
Double fisting the snowballs
Eve enjoyed it this time. Probably because it was actually fun snow and not just yucky cold ice

Saturday we packed in the van and went to Mom's for the hills. Fortunately she still had the sled. What fun!

Grandma pulled Eve on the boogie board.

But the ride was much wilder when John pulled!

I'm not sure he could even see anything

John was a champ at throwing snowballs, but when Grandma packed a handfull, he put his head in the snow like an ostrich (she knocked my tooth out with a softball one time...can't say I blame him)
We had a blast on the sled!

The faster the better! These are some fearless kids (all three of them)!

After sledding, Eve went inside with Grandma for a tea party. We stayed outside to work on the snowman.

Heave-ho!

Sweet gum balls for the eyes and mouth. John made a bump for the nose.

Then we came inside, stripped their wet clothes, and locked them in a cage (naturally)

Then this Tuesday when John and Eve woke up, John said his tummy didn't feel good. Within a minute or two, both of them threw up. Fortunately that was it. He was off and on all day, but never threw up again and never really got a fever. We actually had flurries outside, so it was a perfect day to start our vegetable garden!

carrots, spinach, lettuce, peas, and green onions. The rest we'll plant directly in the ground once the garden is ready.

He gets that sass from his dad...of course.