Responsibility

This is Luke's new responsibility chart. We've had it for a while but we just started using it this past week hoping to improve some behaviors. We introduced it to Luke last Saturday and explained how it worked--how he had certain "tasks" to do each day to earn a star and what the stars would earn him. This week we decided he would get a new toy. We also set the goal pretty low at only 15 so that he can learn how it works and be successful the first few weeks to provide more incentive. Luke seemed excited by earning stars and the first part of the week he would go around saying his "tasks"--say please and thank you, eat my vegetables, try not to whine, put away my toys and brush my teeth. Overall the week went very well although as Luke understands it more we will be more strict with it. We did have a few problems with not whining and putting away toys but Luke earned his 15 stars easily by Wednesday. So this morning Luke and Troy went to Bass Pro Shop for some man time and to pick out Luke's new toy that he earned. Luke got a play set for camping with a lantern, canteen, pot, silverware, compass and a "gas" stove. Troy thought it was perfect for all the tents and caves we've had around here lately. This week Luke's goal is 20 stars and if he gets those he will earn a treat out (like ice cream or hot chocolate).

Jump Around

Yesterday afternoon after Luke's nap we all decided to go for a walk because it was so nice outside--finally!!! Maggie was even excited about it. More often than not when we go for a walk and it's nice outside we usually stop and talk/play with our neighbors down the street, the Saenz Family. They were out yesterday so we stopped. Sawyer and Luke are only 2 weeks apart in age and Sydney is in 1st grade. Of course the adults talked about the weather and how we had survived all the snow, snow days, no MDO and how glad we were for the warmer temperatures. Eventually we started talking about different toys and then the bounce around inflatable was mentioned. I guess they haven't used it in a very long time and so they got it out for the kids to play in. The boys were a bit hesitant at first but they quickly got the hang of it. The kids jumped, laughed and wore themselves out for about 20 minutes before we headed back home for dinner. Thanks for the fun!

Short Nap--Not too Bad After All

I had a very entertaining and sweet afternoon with my munchkin today. I went in his room about 2:30 because I was pretty sure he would be asleep under his bed and I was right. I ran downstairs to get the camera and then as I was aiming the camera under the bed to take the picture Luke woke up--UGH! I tried to sneak out but it was too late. I rocked him for about 20 minutes with the hope that he would fall back asleep but no luck. I tried to but him back in bed but he was yelling for me less than 5 minutes later. Why oh why did I try to take that picture?!?!

When I went back in his room to get Luke, he wanted me to put up the newest part of the Pteranodon Cave. Troy created this part the other night with a sheet between the twin beds. Luke really likes it because it "connects" the caves under the beds. He also likes for Troy and I to hang out in it with him. I went in the cave with him hoping that maybe if we chilled out and read some stories I could get more "rest" time for Luke.

Well, as it turns out I think I fell asleep pretending to sleep for Luke. Luke must have been pretty quiet though because I'm a light sleeper. I woke up to a book being shoved in my face and Luke saying, "Mom, read it please." He also tried giving me some kisses on my shoulder to get me to wake up more. Such a sweet boy! We didn't end up reading the book because Luke started talking about the minerals in our cave. (There's a Dinosaur Train episode about minerals in the cave--it's not entirely accurate geologically speaking but Luke knows what they are now.) So, we started collecting imaginary minerals. I kept asking Luke what color they were and I got answers such as: blue and shiny; red and sparkly; shiny and sparkly; and your favorite mom, green and sparkly.

Luke then disappeared out of the cave. He went to his sock drawer (he loves to pull all of his socks out of the drawer and separate them). He starting bringing sock minerals back to the cave. These were all sorts of colors and descriptions. There was even a "mineral" with dinosaurs on it.

After we finished collecting minerals we made music for a while by clapping and banging our feet against the foot board and then Luke wanted to go to sleep. Basically that entails laying as close as possible to me after gathering all of his diapers in a pile to lay on. It lasts all of 10 seconds but that's okay because it's 10 seconds of snuggling for me.

Somewhere during all of this I leaned over and told Luke, "I love you very, very much," and he said, "I love you too Mom very much." What a great hour of fun with my sweet boy!

Random

Just a few random thoughts I've had lately.

*I'm sick of snow. Luke and I have only left the house once in the past 5 days and I'm starting to go a bit stir crazy. Our side streets are still completely snow packed. Troy wasn't even sure he was going to make it home last night because our street has very slight inclines at both ends and he couldn't get up one side and barely made it up the other.

*Troy and I were talking about Luke's eczyma this morning and Troy was frustrated that there's not much we can do about it. Luke was at the table eating breakfast and listening to us. He said, "Mom don't make Dad cross." What? I don't even use the word cross. I asked him where he learned that. His response, "The trains get cross sometimes." As in the trains on Thomas sometimes get upset with each other. AMAZING!!!

*I am surprised at the number of blog posts I've been doing this week. I guess that's because I've been trapped in the house all week. This post is #185--almost to 200!

*I wish that I would've been more productive this week. I could not find any motivation--so frustrating.

*I'm super excited about the deal I got on a KitchenAid mixer last night from Kohl's online. It's actually a gift for multiple occassions from my sister but I'm the one with the Kohl's account. Anyway, normal price is $370 and I got it for $250 including tax and shipping plus there is a $30 rebate and I got $40 Kohl's cash and a free magazine subscription--AWESOME!!!

*Luke is really into getting kisses when he bonks his head or hurts himself some other way. I love that he runs to me and says, "Kiss it Mom!" And then everything is fine. The magical powers of a kiss from mom never fade :)

*I'm bummed that Troy is going out of town tomorrow night and won't be here to watch the Super Bowl with me. We're pulling for the Packers because we want Jordy Nelson to get a ring (he's a former walk-on player from K-State).

Okay, that's it for now :) Have a good weekend!

Extraction

Luke has played with several toys this morning. I'm guessing we've had roughly 40 cars lined up in at least 3 different places. The dinosaurs have battled and the tools have been used. The latest game was a combo of tools and animals. Below is the explanation.

Lay on floor and unzip pj's

Pick animal to put in pj's

Locate pliers and go in for the extraction

Attempt to locate animal

Move animal into better position to grab

Move into even better position

Share the success with Mom and her ever present camera

Repeat with numerous animals

(note: the animals are all on their sides or backs because they were tired after their extractions and needed a nap)

Oh the joys of being a little boy :)

Sledding!!!

I have been dying to take Luke outside since it stopped snowing yesterday. The temperatures haven't been very accomodating though--the windchills yesterday were below negative 10 all day. Today wasn't much better (the windchill was around 5) but this afternoon when the neighbors called to see if we wanted to go sledding (they have an almost 3 yr old) we decided it was okay. I will say that Troy and I knew there was going to be much more time spent bundling up and getting out of our clothes than time spent outside but we really wanted to take Luke out. So we bundled up and headed out. Troy pulled Luke down the street in the sled which of course was a huge delight. The "hill" we went to was at our neighborhood park so we didn't have far to go. When we got there I was actually surprised by how many people were out. We picked the significantly less steep hill which also happens to avoid all the trees (we did have some safety concerns in mind at least). Troy took Luke down first and he loved it! Of course he wasn't too excited about going back up the hill and started walking around in the snow which was above his knees. I managed to get him back in the sled and pull him up to the top so that I could go down with him. We each rode down the hill with Luke one more and then decided it was time to come home. We had a great time and managed not to get too cold.

Friends

Benjamin came over to our house this morning because Ashley had to take Patrick to the emergency room because he has vertigo. It worked out well to have B here because he and Luke entertained each other for about an hour before lunch. We all then had lunch and the boys went down for their nap about 12:45. Benjamin is notorious for not sleeping well and I was concerned about him taking a nap in a different place. No need for concern--both of the boys slept for just over 2 hours. Each of them was quite excited to see the other after their naps. We let them watch Thomas after they got up and they sat together on the couch. They are just so, so cute together!