Return of the ring

Several year ago, I made something we called a "routine ring."  Allie and Mary both had one, and it really did help them know what to do "next" in the morning.  

As is the case for most things, we gave it up.  I recently became frustrated with our mornings because getting four kids out the door by 7:30 a lot of mornings is not "cool."

If they would all walk around like robots, I would be all set!  So I made some more "routine" charts.  The kids really should have been doing all these things without my asking, but I was nagging them all the time, and this has made all of us more happy!

I set up a reward system, so that if they do everything on the chart without any reminders (morning and night), they get  a reward at the end of the month.  (The more days completed, the bigger the reward).  I will not be rewarding them every month, but wanted to motivate them and in theory, these things should be habit, and they already are after only 2 weeks.

It has worked so well that at night, Mary takes David around and does all her stuff with him.  She and Allie rotate nights sometimes.  Mary will bathe him, put his clothes in wash, lay out clothes...all while I sit on the couch and watch TV. (I'm kidding).  The girls don't do this as a requirement, but they really enjoy it, so why not?  David is task oriented by nature, so it's the perfect fit for him too!

So what about Garrett?

He is using the ring I spoke about, and it has worked WONDERS for him.  He grabs it from it's holder, and there are cards for morning and night.  He requires a little help getting dressed still and brushing his teeth, but he has done GREAT!  I'm so proud of him.  

This ring was Allie's, and although waterproof, fell in the toilet.  Oops!  Garrett just keeps flipping until he's done, and he also receives a small reward until we get this down!

Below are copies of the cards for little ones.  I don't know if you click on them, if they are printable, but thought it was worth a try.  I laminated them at Kinkos (they have really hard laminator where the cards are stiff when finished).  

The weekend

I think I've only taken one picture in the last week!

It's been really busy with family being in town, and the kids had a blast with their cousins.

This is my niece, Anna Kate.  (My twin brother's daughter) She's only 6 months older than Mary, but she's TALL!  

Things always start going south when the lack of sleep and "too much of a good thing" catches up to them.  I found Mary in her bed with this note from Allie.  She actually wrote her back, but I can't find the paper!

These two girls...I hope they stay so sweet to each other.  

Allie spent the night away last week, and Mary cried and said, "I just don't know what to do when Allie is not here.  She has the best ideas."  :)  

I'm writing this down too because I may need something to look back on when they are teenagers!

Ready?

Garrett had his Kindergarten evaluation at our school to see if he is "ready."

I know they will be glad to have him:) Ha ha ha

Simple day

Hello SPRING!

Yahoo for spring break! 

My SIL loaded up the cousins and brought them over for a couple days.  We had a ball!

Hunter loves uncle!

We never saw Abby!  She was busy with the girls and when she wasn't crafting with them, she was playing with the boys.  No schedule, pajamas, swimsuits, and cousins.  That is the life.

Hunter turned 2 in January.  I have never seen a kid be so obsessed with balls...specifically basket balls.

So hilarious.  I told Mandy that hubs was going to have Garrett out there until midnight practicing!  ha ha!

Movie night!

Thanks for coming sis!  Katie you better not miss us again!  

Ready for summer!

4 + 4 = 8

You know those friends that you not only did life with but lived with...

Those friends stick long after your wedding day, and your first baby's bday, and second baby, well you get the point.  

We can pick up the phone, and pick it right back up.

One of those friends, drove through for a sleep over on Friday night.  It's spring break!

I can't believe we have 8 between us.  THAT is scary, and I never would have guessed it.  

What a gr8 time!

Family

My mom came down for a visit last week.  We moved 10 months ago, but went to Korea a week later, and I just NEEDED to finally "do this" (organizing and decorating....neither of which I do well). We got a lot done, and had a great time.

Baby Hannah is getting so big!

Man bonding.  They all love Adam.(my BIL)

I'm so glad my sissy lives here.  It's funny that we can go weeks without seeing each other even though we live 10 minutes apart.  So fun for the kids too!

Bike-a-thon

Allie participated in her second Bike-a-thon this past weekend with our church kids her age.  They raised money for a group called "Wheels" from LeTourneau University.  The group travels to Kenya each spring to a boarding school for 300 disabled children.  The children are at high risk for malaria and it's cold at night, so our group raised money to purchase blankets and mosquito nets to send with the students from LeTU.

Many of Allie's donations were pledges based on the number of laps ridden.  She was so focused and so determined.  The night before, she told me, "I'm going to pedal until my feet fall off!"  I actually missed the event, but it was cold, and the report was that she would be very sore after riding for four hours and 16.5 miles!!! 

I am so proud of her hard work!  

If you would like to donate, she has until March 17th to finish raising money.  Email me if interested! (meredith.gohogs@gmail.com).

And THANK YOU to our awesome friends and family who donated!

Today we play

What a beautiful day to play outside.

I did NOT color coordinate to play hockey on the driveway.  Those are Garrett's church clothes, and the girls dressed themselves after church.

And Mary learned to ride on two wheels.  She's refused it for so long, but she finally got the nerve up and had no trouble learning.  She was so proud!

9 months

When I sat down to document this past month, I realized that I took so FEW pictures!

Bummer.

And then I remembered,

We've been potty training!

We hit it pretty hard this month.  Once I realized he was capable, I didn't back off.  I just loathe potty training, and wanted to be done, and there is never a "good" time to do it.

I am so proud of him!!!  He's had maybe one accident since Saturday, so hopefully we are really done!

One big change I've noticed this month is that he has REALLY taken to daddy.  David keeps close tabs on him. "Daddy sleep?...Daddy work?"  

He's just way more fun than me! 

Now, when I look at baby pictures of David, it has hard for me to believe he ever lived with another family!  When I looked at these pictures before we got him, all I could think about was his life in Korea.  Now sometimes, I find myself forgetting he's only been with us 9 months, and that he spent 2 whole years somewhere else.  

Many of the pictures are not dated, but you can see that the calendar says March 2012 on it.  So this is what he looked like one year ago.

Now he's a little boy.

He can....

count to 5.

say his ABC's (although not very clearly).

identify almost every letter if asked randomly.

speak in phrases now. (BIG CHANGE!) 

identify most colors. 

EAT.

The boy can EAT as if that's not obvious.

Happy 9 months home little buddy!