A Few Items of Business

I can't believe how close we are getting to summer. I'm excited, yet daunted. I want to make this summer a bit more special than last year when we moved twice. Really, that gives me an advantage, because almost anything would be better than last year, but at the same time, the girls are getting older and they expect a bit more. Or do they? Maybe I expect more and they are content just to be out of school enjoying the sunshine.

I've managed to keep the once a month date going. Ivory and I went to Color Me Mine last month. (Please don't sigh like that. I told you we really enjoyed that place and there would be more pictures.) Ivory chose the easiest thing in the entire store. We were out of there in less than 25 minutes. (That is a record.) And I think her piece turned out really cute.

We had enough time to grab a treat nearby and still make it home in time for bed.

Our dress-up box has been hidden in the garage since we moved. But Pearl has a friend who begs for dresses every time she comes over. So I finally dragged it out. I think Pearl is enjoying it immensely. Here she is as a fairy with a broken arm.

Do you ever remember a book from your childhood and decide that you can't live without it? (Maybe that doesn't happen to you.) I realized the other day that we didn't have The Sneetches. Or Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. Thank you Amazon for sending things so quickly. And it turns out that Tyler was missing those books from his childhood as well. I caught him reading.

Found this picture on my phone, of Tyler cuddling with Pearl. Naps are pretty rare around here, and it feels good to snuggle with a sleepy kid. Where have all my babies gone?

Lastly, as mentioned before, I should say something about the store. It became apparent one day that I was using candy as a reward for everything. It didn't seem like the healthy choice. Tyler and I discussed other options and came up with the store. We stocked it with fun items and gave each a price and the kids can buy the items with tokens. Tokens look like this:

I painted 100 of these bad boys and then later found colored ones at the store. Bless you kind person who thought to make pre-colored popsicle sticks.

The kids can earn tokens for all types of things, many of which they do already.

Baths
Brushing teeth
Practicing Music
Writing in journal
Having a clean room

And many others. They can also request items for the store or request tokens for specific tasks. The store has been going strong for a month. The kids are doing a great job, and the amount of candy consumed has gone down considerably. I think it also makes the kids feel empowered. They have plenty of say in how we run the store. I hope this is a system we can keep in place for a while.

That is all our business for today. Happy Tuesday.