The Value of a Dollar

We have been learning some "value"able lessons around here lately.

We realized we were failing our children when the boys took a large amount of cash to Cub Scout Day Camp last summer and blew it all on garbage. (I'm still mad that the camp sold junk in their trading post. Aren't they supposed to be teaching the boys good values and life skills?) We were so surprised at what had happened, that I think we scared the boys a little with our reactions. That was an important lesson for all of us...make sure we check their pockets before they head out!

And since then, the kids have asked for us to buy certain things, as normal kids would do. Then Daniel started middle school. There are choices in the cafeteria, and they all cost money. He just wanted to buy what looked good, but didn't really see the prices at all. I told him he couldn't use any of his lunch money balance for the a la carte, but maybe he could earn some extra money for occasional treats. That worked out OK.

But I could tell he was still a little slow in understanding the value of the money he was spending. So we finally took a step we'd been putting off...allowance. Heck, I even had to explain what allowance was! We're still dragging our feet; only Daniel gets allowance. (Are we playing favorites? No one has complained so far.) And because we're trying to get better behavior, we worked out a system. He starts the week with $5. He has four areas that he is held accountable for: homework ($1), clean room ($1), dinner job ($1) and behavior ($2). Each problem in one of those areas loses him a quarter. Whatever he ends up with at the end of the week must be divided into three parts: tithing (10%), savings (10%), spending (80%).

We require the first two divisions and don't dictate what he does with the 3rd. Usually, we can say, "That's a quarter" and the problem goes away. So Daniel started earning his money and was doing his best to save. Then came the year book. He really wanted one. I told him I would pay half, but that still left him with $9 to come up with on his own. He barely did it, but it wiped him out. And I enjoyed every nickel and dime. :) Now, he's trying to earn money to buy a certain chess set.

He doesn't ask for stuff as much any more. And he's a lot slower to spend than he used to be. It's worth a few dollars a week to me to give him this new understanding. (He's yet to earn more than $3.50 in one week.) And when he does cause trouble, I just look at it from this point of view: It's cheaper for us!

Half A Smile

Daniel and Nathan got fillings today. Daniel said he was numb, but I couldn't tell by looking at him.

Nathan, on the other hand...

Typical Moment

I was thinking about the personalities of the kids on Monday when they were all home. Things were energetic around here, to say the least! Though they aren't robots, the kids are fairly predictable. If someone was to come by at any given time (and we didn't overrun them in excitement) this is likely what they'd see of each child:

Daniel: he is running from person to person, room to room, stirring up trouble and delighting in the squeals of his siblings

Nathan: he is curled up in a corner somewhere with a book (probably hiding from Daniel)

Leah: she is screaming...at Daniel and then she's reporting it all to me

Rebekah: she is prancing and dancing through the house, singing a silly song and laughing (maybe Daniel has made her insane)

Joseph: he is coloring a picture he made me print off the computer, while he waits until I think it's snack time -or- he is watching The Wiggles (he mostly flies low and stays off Daniel's radar)

Sarah: she is exploring, investigating, climbing, crawling, running and falling...she has quite a bruise collection (Daniel knows not to tease her!)

And with all this, at least I can say that I know what to expect (for the most part).
_________

Some moments from the morning so far:

While horsing around, Daniel threw his hat which then knocked something behind the piano. I gave him a look and a "DANIEL!" to which he replied: "It's Nathan's fault! He ducked!"

Joseph is watching The Wiggles, "Wiggly Safari" and he just saw two characters in a pond of water imitating a kookaburra. It was rather animated. When it was over he said, "That was weird." I laughed because I had just been thinking the same thing!

"Jackie in a box."

Joseph has lost a little of the magic of his friend Jackie. He now knows that Jackie is the Jack-in-the-box in the toy closet at Nursery. He is OK with that (thankfully), but I'm not sure I am. I was really enjoying this little bit of sweet childhood confusion.

He still likes Jackie and considers him a good friend, but it just isn't the same for me. One more step away from childhood. *sniff, sniff*

Black and BLUE

We have been having a klutzy time of things lately. Sarah is constantly falling down and has whacked her head repeatedly. She just gets up and keeps going...until she runs into something, or someone, else.


That is exactly what happened to Joseph. These kids insist on traveling through the house at top speeds. One night last week, he and Leah met head on. They both cried. I rolled my eyes and huffed a bit.

And if we aren't bumping into things, we are falling off of them. Sarah has discovered climbing (she's reaching higher heights) and gravity. I found an interesting bruise on her upper leg today. I'm glad we don't have any check-ups planned!

But the accidents don't end there. I was replacing the ink system for my scrapbook printer today. I was ever so slowly removing the first plug...and Kaboom! I was suddenly covered in cyan. It was a mess and it was everywhere.

Ugh...my hands are starting to look old. Look at those wrinkles! I've seen some shadows of age spots, as well. *sigh*

You can't see it from the pictures, but I have blue spots up my forearm a few inches. If nothing, I was thorough.

Too bad I wasn't wearing a blue shirt today instead of yesterday. I tried soaking it in rubbing alcohol. It didn't help.

Now that I have a new supply of ink (minus a bit of cyan) I should get scrapbooking again. I haven't done much of that lately. I keep getting higher priorities.

Here are my little hams posing for pictures as I tried to get pictures of their bruises.

Joseph thought maybe it would look good if his elbows were up.

I didn't know Sarah knew to smile for the camera! I guess I mostly take candid shots. (I think she looks like her Peterson cousins here.)

I think this was supposed to be a scowl/growl. I see the elbows are at it again.

Smile big and say, "Goofy!"

Joseph (and Sarah) likes to do laundry!

Joseph wanted to do his laundry because we bought him some "new" pants at DI. He started putting his clothes in the dryer because he saw that there was already something in the washer. :) What a fun kid.

I recorded this on my cell phone (first movie I ever recorded) and didn't realize that it was sideways. So, unless you can tell me how I can fix it, you'll just have to tilt your head a little.

Valentine's Day (for real)

Our last day of Valentines included a special dinner (pink waffles, raspberries and whipped topping, heart-shaped sausages, apple wedges and pink fruit dip) and this on the garage door. I took so long getting everything ready, that I was still putting all the hearts on when Chad pulled up. Oh well, it's no real mystery how these things happen.


Since it was Monday, we had FHE. It was Joseph's turn for the lesson and he wanted a lesson on Joseph Smith and how he loves us. Chad did a good job with that interesting twist.

Then we play a hide and seek game with a little, red heart. (You can hear that game happening in the background of the video of Sarah I posted a couple days ago.) We had pink, heart-shaped rice krispy treats for the treat.

Afterward, we had the kids get pajamas on and got ready for bedtime. But before...

...we gave the kids their v-day presents.

I found a deal to get 6 knock-off Pillow Pets for $40...shipped. That is a perfect number for us! I also made each of the kids a personalized book with special things about them. Scripture reading went very smoothly this night...everyone was hugging their pillows.

That night, Chad presented me with a (real) Pillow Pet of my own...a Valentine's Day puppy. I think he was building on the theme. The kids were tickled by it.

Leah's Reader's Theater

Leah's first grade class invited the parents to a reader's theater last Friday. Leah was Narrator 1 and was feeling very important (she had more words than anyone else).

As far as entertaining goes, I can't give it too many points. But the kids were cute and having fun. The story was something about an odd penguin that saves the whole bunch of penguins from 4 hunters.

Ahhh... First Grade.

There were cookies and drinks afterward. I was good and didn't eat any. ;)

President someday

I love finding little gems like these in the kids' school work. (Sorry it's crooked. I am a lazy perfectionist.) I hope you can read it OK. This is very Nathan.

Bathroom Floor

Our bathroom remodel just made a gigantic leap yesterday.

We went from this:


To this:

I love it!

I don't understand why anyone would put carpet in a BATHROOM...unless it was a special bathroom...without toilets or water sources. Fortunately, we do not have a special bathroom like that. And unfortunately, that carpet was pretty gross. When Chad ripped it up, we found a track of black mold running along the wall about 8 feet out from the tub. I know we didn't do it (I am a little crazy about water getting out of bounds). But someone before us must have REALLY love bath time. Not to mention it was a jetted tub, improperly installed.

Anyway, things are looking so much better now. Maybe this will help our house sell. (yeah, right)

P.S. I've had those runners about two years now, still in the plastic, waiting for such a moment as this! We also had the hallway carpet restretched, so that feels like an upgrade, too.

Crayons

I was trying to straighten up the living room this morning (though I can't figure out why I keep doing this fruitless task) and was gathering up the crayons strewn around. After I got all of those, I reached down into Sarah's onesie and pulled out a handful.

There are some things that are only experienced by caring for a child. And it made me smile.

Sarah is growing up!

I love that she is grabbing her foot and trying to stuff it into the leg opening of her pants.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We finally finished up the kids' valentines last night. Or was it the night before?

Anyway, it took a few days to make 80ish of these babies. But it was fun.


All four kids have been so excited about their Valentine's Day parties. Rebekah is already home and now Joseph and Sarah are trying to get her candy. It's not pretty.

I'm planning a nice dinner tonight. I hope we get one. And I hope that everyone has a special day with those they love.

Toothy Trials

Leah has officially been visited by the Tooth Fairy. It was a bumpy road to get to that milestone.

She has had a couple loose teeth for quite a while, without much progress. Meanwhile, the adult teeth were just coming up behind the babies. We did this once before...with Daniel. That didn't give us very good results, so we're all over this current situation.

The kids went in for a regular cleaning and we scheduled an additional visit for Leah to get those two loose teeth pulled. Well, as it turned out, she need 4 pulled, not 2. Unfortunately, only two were loose.

We sent her back and thought she'd be back in 10 minutes or less. (That's how fast Daniel's come out.) It took much longer and involved FOUR pokes with the syringe to numb her mouth. Two teeth came out with the full root. OUCH.

We had planned on going out to dinner after all of this, but decided that Leah wouldn't have much fun sitting at a table, drooling, while we ate. So we went through a drive-though and at hamburgers at home.

Let me just say this...it was a very good thing that she had a red shirt on! ewww

Nathan is NINE!

I still can't believe we've kept him alive this long...he hardly eats anything. Not only is Nathan is alive, but he is FULL of life! (And sometimes just "full of it.")

I felt a little guilty for rushing through Nathan's birthday this year. We had gone out to eat two night earlier, so that wasn't rushed. But this year, Nathan's b-day fell on the same night as my Relief Society meeting and I had to do something for it.

So we had a quick dinner and moved onto presents. Luckily, we'd scaled back and Nathan didn't have as much to open. That didn't lessen the magic any.

And then it was time for brownies and ice cream. (My sincere thanks to Nathan for wanting brownies. I would have had a hard time decorating a cake this year!)

Nathan said he wanted the brownies warm, so they were baking while we had dinner. They were cooling while we opened presents. Too bad they didn't cool longer. Do you know what happens to wax candles when you stick them into hot brownies? I wish I'd thought ahead about 10 seconds.

See the candles tipping over? It was not pretty in more than one way.

While the wax was dripping on top, it was melting inside. We were nearly left with only the candle strings!

I assured the kids the wax would not hurt them, though it might stick in their teeth. What a lovely birthday for Nathan. Sorry, bud!

But they were troopers and undaunted by the blue wax. They ate 7/8 of the pan. I had my share when I got home. I think I got a wax-free piece. (Thank goodness!)

Nathan's favorite gift was a little hex bug he got. He's still dreaming up what to do with his birthday monies, but hasn't sent any thank you notes, so he isn't allowed to go shopping yet. I think more hex bugs are in his (our) future.

SLEDDING

A few weekends ago, we took the kids sledding...for the first time. Truthfully, I was a bit surprised that we had never taken them sledding before. But this is also the first time in a very long time that I have not either been pregnant or nursing (which means someone too small to be out on a sledding hill). So we bought sleds, bundled up and drove 15 minutes away to a great sledding hill.

Thankfully, though it was a (surprisingly) beautiful day, there weren't too many people on the hill. We were grateful. It was a big hill. And it looked like everything was a long. way. down.

And here is why they now make cameras with a "snow" setting. Luckily, I thought of it.

This is much better! Here is Joseph going down on his own. This is not the big hill, but the little slope to the side. Much nicer for the little ones!

That sun was pretty bright and I worried (as I usually do) that Sarah would end up with a sunburn. She didn't, but she probably had some temporary blindness.

Here is Chad getting ready to send Sarah down with Leah. We believe in letting the kids grow up quickly. So the baby is thrown on with the 7-year-old. Good luck, girls!

Unfortunately, what goes down, must go up...if you want another ride. Unless you are Sarah who just rides in both directions. Mush, Leah!

No slacking around here! Pull your own sled, Joseph! It helps that he wanted to and wouldn't let anyone help him.

He didn't care much for the bigger hill, but Joseph was pretty comfortable on this 10 degree slant. It still gave him a decent ride.

Meanwhile, the big boys were on the big hill. Here's Nathan at the end of his ride. He made it to the bottom with the sled under his bottom...that's worth noting.

Here, Chad is going down (sideways) with Joseph and Sarah. Too bad you can't zoom into this picture; there is a nice grimace on Chad's face. I'm pretty sure there was one on Joseph's, too. (He didn't like the big rides.)

So, are we about done? The parents are getting tired.

Daniel burned quite a few calories this afternoon...most of them mid-air. He got a few valuable physics lessons, though.

Rebekah had a good time and was all giggles on her last "ride" down the hill. (She accidentally stepped on the sled she was trailing behind her and ended up riding the rest of the way.)

Sarah is very warm in this puffy jacket. And she can't move. The 2T snow bib isn't helping.

It looks like a successful afternoon. Time for tissues, and hot chocolate.

Of course, they fought the whole way home.

I haven't uploaded a video for a really long time. I took a short one with the camera to see how it would work out. This is Daniel on one of his short rides down the hill. They would have been longer rides if he'd listened to me and moved over a few feet. I guess he likes big bumps.

Nathan's Talent

The elementary had a talent show a couple of weeks ago. They went through a bit of a selection process by having classroom talent shows and letting the kids vote for their favorite two. The winners of the voting moved to the school-wide show at the end of the week.

Before I understood this process, I was a little surprised when Nathan said he'd advanced to the Friday show. Not that I don't think Nathan is talented, but his talent was a grandfather clock he'd made in 1 hour (or less) with K'nex...by following the directions. But I understand that the kids all gasped and ooh'd when he brought it out. I guess the colors were dazzling.

So we (Sarah, Joseph and I) went to the school to support Nathan. We waited almost an hour before it was his turn. Finally, he walks up with his clock, holds it in the air and says, "This is a grandfather clock I made by K'nex." After a moment, the audience realized he was done and started clapping. Then he walked back to his seat. Yep, that's our Nathan!

Pinewood Derby!

It was Daniel's 3rd and last derby and Nathan's first (he missed it by 6 days last year). I was looking forward to watching the boys have this experience together.

They made their cars. Chad did help (of course) but they have satisfaction knowing that it was their car...their design, their work. Several boys in our troop can't say that and I think they missed out on a great learning experience as well as a great memory. But their Dads were sure strutting that night!!

Here are their cars...Daniel's is blue. Nathan's looks like a stretch SUV. Surprisingly, they were pretty good little cars.

Here is one of the earliest races. Nathan's car was the clear winner. And this is one of the few times I got a clear picture.

The younger kids all wanted to get as close as possible to the action...much to the irritation of the "officials." It didn't take too long before they were bored with the tedium of race after race...they all ran off.

Do all Pinewood Derby tracks look the same?

Handsome Daniel (Webelos) waiting for his turn.

Adorable Nathan (Wolves), doing the same.

And the blur of the races. Nathan's isn't winning here.

But it is here.

I did get pictures of Daniel's car winning, too. But it's just more blurs. The final result was that in the Webelos division, Daniel came in 3rd place. It came with a ribbon, which apparently gave Daniel a HUGE self-esteem boost! In the Wolves and Bears division, Nathan came in 4th. Not bad for his first race (and his monster SUV)!

This night, Nathan also received a special pin for completing all requirements in the achievements. He worked hard for that!

I am thankful for the scouting program and the experiences the boys get from participating.