Tuesday, January 31, 2012

3 Month Accountable Kids Update

I have been meaning to do an update about the Accountable Kids program we are using.  It has been 3 months now and I am LOVING IT!!!

Two major reasons why I am so happy with it.  1)Kids are now sleeping through the night, and 2) Quiet Time!!!

I now have all three kids sleeping through the night.  How can a program do that you ask?  Well, let me explain.  In the program they have a privilege pass that can be earned.

 Each night Gorgeous would come out in the middle of the night at least 2 times and Adorable would be up 2 times as well.  I thought the privilege pass may solve Gorgeous coming out, I had no clue it would help Adorable.

So we told Handsome and Gorgeous that they had to stay in bed, expect for having to go potty (and we told them as parents we can tell when you REALLY need to use the bathroom or you are just faking it, since they are young this totally works :)  If they come out of their room before the morning when a light is on and Mom or dad are up they lose the privilege pass.  They also cannot wake up a sibling, if so they lose the privilege pass.

If they earn the privilege pass it is worth staying up an extra 15 min. later the next night, during this time they can play a game with mom or dad, read books, etc.

I was amazed at how well this worked.  The first night not only did Gorgeous stay in bed all night, but Adorable didn't wake up at all..... that's when I realized that when Gorgeous would go back into her room unhappy that she can't stay the night with us, she would wake up Adorable.  With her staying in bed all night Adorable didn't wake up and thus slept the entire night! 

Since the implementation of this about a month ago, I have been able to get a full night sleep most nights!!! I have felt so much better waking up and an now able to wake up early with Kent in the morning!


The second thing I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE is the implementation of Quiet Time.  I had heard many mothers talk about doing it and struggling with it.  When my kids potty trained (around 2 years old) they gave up naps, a price I happily paid for having a potty trained kid.  I really didn't think that quiet time would work for us.  I did not want to wrestle with a kid to stay in a room or to not talk, I knew I was not up for that type of battle, and I didn't want to set myself up for failure.

But in the Accountable Kids program they encourage you to introduce quiet time as a chore that has to be done.  So quiet time is a day time chore that has to be done, if a child talks, is loud, etc. he doesn't get to turn over the quiet time card, which means they do not earn a ticket for the day chores, and they will not get a star at the end of the day for doing all their chores (goes towards a date with mom or dad), and they will not earn any bonus bucks for work they had done. 

So I set up quiet time.  Handsome is in the toy room, Gorgeous is in the TV room, and Adorable is napping.  The kids can do any quiet activity that they would like; reading, coloring, play dough, Lego's, etc. they cannot talk to anyone, play with each other (because we know this will lead to noise) or make loud noises.

The first week I had to be in the middle of the two rooms and give quiet reminders.  After that it has worked like a charm.  And what do I do with my hour to myself?!  Enjoy every minute!!!! I now have an hour to read my scriptures, read my RS lesson manuals, the Ensign, or a good book.  I LOVE IT!!!  Sometimes I even get a nap myself.

Other great things have been happening.  The kids don't watch as much TV, to them it is not worth it, they use their tickets on things they want more than TV.   I feel my relationship is getting better with Gorgeous because of the dates we have gone on, I know she is loving the one-on-one time (Handsome has chosen to go with Dad each date).   We are doing Family Council most weeks.  And our family movie night has changed to family game night.  Since the kids didn't value the movies enough to save up the 3 tickets, after a month of not having movie night, we decided to make it a game night instead.  I am happy about this; more interaction and communication.

I have to say that it did take time to help the kids learn the system, but that extra effort was worth it.  After a month they knew exactly what was expected of them.  They now know the program and so do I, and it is now much easier then what I was doing before Accountable Kids.  Also, after about a month and a half the kids did "test" the system and I had to tweak things a little bit.  Thanks to the support from the Accountable Kids people, I wrote them an email about the struggle and they responded the next day, and the changes they suggested worked great.

Having learned about Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) in college and having ABA training at Northwest Behavior Associates, as well as being an ABA tutor for five plus years... I have had a lot of experience with ABA.  I love how they take the ABA theory, but also take it a step further acknowledging that children have the freedom to make choices, as well as helping to develop inward responsibility and self confidence, and strengthening family relationships.  It is a well thought out ABA system for the family to use.

I promise to continue to review the program and update you on how it is working in our family.

 But right now I have to say,

Thank you Accountable Kids!!!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Handsome's Notes


Handsome has started writing us many notes, of course as his mommy they are all very precious, I just can't keep them all, but I can take pictures to remember them. 


"Mom, I will give you a surprise" left with a toy of his on my bed



This was his Christmas wish list that he wrote down.  "Harry Potter Lego set, and Harry Potter character, a Buzz Lightyear gun, and a Buzz Lightyear flashlight, a Cars 2 Movie" and the picture of the cars represent a remote control car



Since Gorgeous couldn't write her wish list, Handsome wrote for her, "[Gorgeous] likes Princess-y things"



 This note got slipped under my bedroom door once, "Thank you for being a nice mom"

Another time I got a note slipped under my bedroom door saying, "I will watch [Adorable] for you."



This note was left on our bed with a paper airplane, one of Handsome favorite things to make.

I am loving these notes, keep them coming Handsome!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Anniversary Surprise

This last year, 2011, we celebrated our 9 year anniversary.  I thought it would be a simple one, and that was just fine by me.  The day of our anniversary Kent had to work and I did our normal routine.  I did a simple homemade gift for us.  Then the next morning, when I thought Kent would be getting up for work again I woke up and he handed me a paper that told me to get the kids clothes and stuff packed for 2 days worth. 

I was so shocked and surprised, and was still trying to wake up.  Apparently, he had previously arranged with 2 friends to have Handsome and Gorgeous stay the day and night with one family and a day and night with another family.  We kept Adorable with us.

So we got the kids packed and ready, and they were so excited to learn that they would be staying with friends.

Then it was off to do what we wanted, we went out to eat with just Adorable in tow, we rented movies to watch, and were finally able to have conversations without little ears listening in (Adorable doesn't count since he doesn't understand :).

It was a nice break from the norm of "mommy mode."  We only had to work around Adorable's schedule and that was easy compared to usually working around 3 little ones.

One of my favorite things was we finally cleaned out our bedroom, rearranged the room, and now I can go into our room and relax, the rest of the house may be a disaster, but at least my room is not! :)

I have such a wonderful, sweet husband!  I love you Kent.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

One Way to Solve the Pouting

So Gorgeous is famous for her pouty lips, a trait I hear she inherited from her daddy. 

 One way to solve the pout is to "document" the pouty lips.  She didn't last long. ;)







Monday, January 23, 2012

Christmas

So.... It seems I haven't gotten around to blogging about Christmas yet... I can't believe it!  So here it goes. :)

Every year it is tradition to open one present each on Christmas Eve, and it is usually PJ's.  But this year since Adorable and Gorgeous already had Christmas PJ's (thanks to the kindness of those who share clothes) Adorable got an ornament (a tradition that each kid gets an ornament their first year) and Gorgeous got a cute brand new outfit.



 Handsome was excited about new PJ's.  I realized that he was wearing ones that were 2 sizes too small!! I guess when no one else sees them you let them go a little too long. :)


Christmas day was wonderful.  This year I asked Santa to hide the stockings.  So much of the morning the kids were kept busy trying to find stockings, as Kent and I slept in. :)  Then when we got up it was a nice warm breakfast of eggs, sausage, and cinnamon rolls.  Followed by a little cleaning up, and as I was cleaning... I found the stockings!

Then we took turns opening presents.  The highlights;  Adorable got new shoes!  Gorgeous got pink princess slippers and pink sheets.  Handsome got a Lighting McQueen remote control car and a Harry Potter Lego set.  Daddy got 2 new body pillows, and I got the best surprise ever......







Kent had been working many hours at his sister's house working on my gift.  Bookcases that display the front of books.  I had shown him a picture on Pintrest of these bookcases and told him it was a dream to have some in a particular spot.  We both agreed it was a far out there dream and really I didn't expect to ever get them.  Then Christmas morning I saw these!


I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!  And currently they are displaying the winter books.  I am so happy to have them.  Thanks to my wonderful Husband for a great Christmas surprise.

After the presents it was church, then home to cook Christmas dinner.  We were happy to have Kent's parents and my sister, Jana, join us for our Christmas dinner.

I hope you had a great Christmas too.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

You Did What?!

So after the bad ice storm, the trees around our church building were in sad shape.  There were many branches on the ground, but also many snapped branches still in the tree.  So many of the men from all three of the wards went to work on Saturday cleaning it up.  One of which was my husband, who I am told was the one in the tree 30 feet up with a chainsaw?!  No protective gear?!  Ummmm... glad I was at home with the kids and didn't know.



(Thanks once again to my sister-in-law, Beth, who took these photo's of Kent.) 

 And I have to say, I am so glad to have a husband that will take a Saturday and devote it to service.  Although, I have waited many months for help cleaning the house, and will have to wait a while yet, I am glad that I am married to such a wonderful man that is so willing to serve and help others.

Tasty Treats

So thanks to the discovery of Pintrest I have had a renewed desire to cook and make new things.  However, during the holidays all I wanted was to try out the yummy treats.  Here's a few pictures of some of the yummy treats I made during the holidays.




I have to my favorite was the strawberries.  They have a cream cheese frosting inside and then are dipped in gramcracker crumbs.  It was like a bite of strawberry cheesecake.  I LOVED them!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Sledding

Having grown up in the mild northwest and then in Florida, as a child there was not much snow so I had never gone sledding.  But when Kent suggested it during all this snow, and then his sisters got a time and place figured out we all went and had a BLAST!

The fun was really spending family time together, and having tons of extended family there too!

Handsome and Gorgeous had never been, and I was surprised at how much they loved it (especially Gorgeous who is more cautious).










Don't worry Adorable was only crying because Mommy wasn't holding him.  After he went he had a blast and went down with Daddy several more times. 



 Handsome even started going down by himself after a few rides with daddy.  He thought it was the coolest thing around.  And especially loved it when Uncle Jay raced him down the hill.


Even the grown ups got in on the fun!  I went sledding for the first time in my life.  It was fun.  Too bad I only got to go 3 times, but really it was for the kids. :)

Friday, January 20, 2012

Snow

I know for some it is normal to have a lot of snow.  But for us, we get a little and then it is gone.  So when more and more came we just had to enjoy every part of it. ;)

 When if first started Handsome got dressed and was right out there in it!


Then Adorable got his first experience with the snow.  In times past he has been dying to go outside, and on a sunny day when I left the door open, he crawled out and got far before I got him.  So when it snowed he was wanting to get out in it.  So I opened the door.  He started on out but when his hand first touched the snow there was a pause, a removal of his hand, and a slow backing away.  It was hilarious to watch!


 Handsome's first snowman of the year.  Made all by himself. ;)


 And then when there was a LOT of snow (at least to our standards) Handsome, Gorgeous and I went out and made a big snowman.   He was lovingly named Frosty. (of course there was a debate over the hat that was used and the gender of the snow(man/girl)).


Thursday, January 19, 2012

snow and ICE!

We have had lots of fun in the snow this last little bit... but then when it rained and turned to ice... well we had trees snapping and power outages.  We just got our power back and so I thought I would share these pictures to give you an idea of what it is like around here. 

I have to say I stole the pictures from my sister-in-law. (hope you don't mind Beth) :)  With the power outages, I don't want to run the main computer, and therefor can't download pictures from my camera.






Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Gingerbread Houses

For Grandma Cooking Class in December, Grandma Carol brought over Gingerbread house kits and LOTS of candy.  Grandma worked with Handsome on his house and Gorgeous and I worked together on hers.  Gorgeous's goal: to use every single piece of candy.  And I have to say, she did!





A little lick, just to test it out. :)
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