Quick Post...

Just wanted to write a quick post since it's already 10:30 & I would like to read a little before my eyes yell at me that they are tired & want some sleep... and let's face it, I could use all the 'beauty' sleep I can get. :) It was a good weekend! The weather was beautiful & Luke had his final t-ball practice. First game is this Saturday, so if you find yourself in the area, call us up & join us. I'm a little nervous for him for his first game. Not sure what to expect (like, is there going to be any parents out on the field with them or strictly encouraging them from the sidelines?)... I guess we'll find out on Saturday. I always get nervous when I have a game, so I guess I will get nervous when Luke does too.

After t-ball, Luke & I rushed home to take our showers to get ready for my good friend, Melanie's baby girl's first birthday. Luke was super excited to go to a birthday party... can you blame him? Us Huntoon's love a good party! :) It's always fun to celebrate a birthday & there is something extra special about a first birthday. Plus, Luke got to see his buddy, Kaiden. Unfortunately it seems like our schedules are busy & we haven't gotten the boys together too much to play. (I know, Missy, I need to find a date.)

I finally went to the grocery store yesterday... Kris picked me up (she was out in my area & needed to go to the same stores, so we went together to make it more enjoyable) & we hit Wal-mart (great prices for canned goods, etc) & Marsh (better meats & produce). So, we should be good for at least a couple weeks, with a short trip to Marsh next week.

Not much else is going on... get my haircut tomorrow night (finally) & then softball on Thursday (unless they cancel it... 10:30pm game, ugh). But, this is my last week of work before I'm out for a week. Not going anywhere! Erik is working & Luke will be going to day care. I need to get a laundry list of things done around the house & a lot of relaxing. Hopefully get the majority of stuff I want to get done done in the first couple of days & then the remainder of the week will be spent, watching movies, reading & napping. YEAH vacations like this!

Hope you all had a great week! Until the next time...

Listening issues...

So, at day care they are trying out a new 'system' to get the kids to listen. They all have their name on clothes pins & they start off on green. If they don't listen & get a warning they get moved to yellow. If they are put in time out after that they get put on red & after that they are put on black if they continue to not listen. Well, yesterday I got a phone call over my lunch hour yesterday from the director/owner saying that Luke was having problems listening & keeping his hands to himself & am I at a place where I could talk to him. So I did, they said it seemed to work.

After that I decided to finally make up the reward chart. I made up a calendar & a table that had a 'Task,' 'Symbol/Points,' 'Reward,' 'How many points needed for the reward.' Before dinner we sat down & came up with other 'tasks' that he wants/likes to do. With a little suggestions we came up with Listening (that actually was going to be on there no matter what), set the table, clear the table, get dressed, brush teeth, pick up toys - for each one he gets a point. For the listening there are different parts to that... for listening to mommy & daddy he gets a point when we tell him that he is doing a good job listening, but the points can be taken away. For listening in school, he gets 5 points if he stays on green, 3 points if he's on yellow, 0 points if he's on red & -2 points if he's on black. Yesterday he was on black & today he was on red... so, hopefully we're improving, I know it's a work in progress, but hopefully we're on the right track. As 'rewards' he chose: listening to his music player (1 point); having mommy or daddy lay with him for a little while when he lays down for sleep (1 point); playing the Wii (2 points); going to the park (5 points); going/renting/watching a movie (10 points). The park & movie can be redeemed on the weekends, but the others can be redeemed any night. So, he now has a total of 7 points... not too bad for 2 days.

Other than that, not much else going on. Been working out on the Wii Fit & having a really good time there. Hope everyone had a great day! Until the next time!

Weekend update

So, we had a good weekend... Saturday I got up about 7am to take Avery back to the vet. He is fighting an infection on his ears & needs steroid shots for his eye. Well, this past Saturday is his last visit until his yearly checkup in December. He is 'healing' very well & got the ok to not need any more steroid shots & his ears are clearing up. Then I got home & we all ate breakfast & headed for Luke's t-ball pictures, which were supposed to be at 9:30 but they didn't call his team until almost 10 & it was very hot in the building with no fans. Afterward we headed to the t-ball fields for his second practice. Thankfully no rain this weekend! Then, my parents came down to pick him up for the evening. After they left we (Erik, my father-in-law & myself) headed to the Indiana Microbrewers Festival. That was a good time, but it was a long day. Sunday we headed up to Brookston to pick up Luke & have dinner. It was a busy weekend, but it was a good weekend.

Tonight Erik picked Luke up & I came home & did the Wii Fit & did a little bit on the elliptical. I'm trying to start back up on the elliptical. Erik took Draper for a walk & Luke decided to join them on their daily walk. Erik said that they had a good time walking & talking about the day Luke had at day care. So, it was a good father-son bonding time.

Not too much excitment for a Monday night. Was supposed to come up with a menu for the week so I can go shopping tomorrow after work, but NOTHING sounds good. I'm bored with our menu that seems to be the same thing over & over each week. I want to get back to going thru my recipes & creating a menu each week. We've kind of gotten away from that & we're suffering because we don't know what were having each day so we're usually not eating until 7:30 & then Luke's not getting to bed until around 9. It's a vicious cycle. :)

Well, hope you all had a great day!! Until the next time!

A perfect evening...

So, lately Luke & I have been butting heads. I'm sure it's something every parent goes thru with their kids, but it's very frustrating. Sunday morning I woke up to, "Mommy, can you go get me candy?" "No Luke, it's too early for candy." Then a little while later I hear him say, "I'm going to go get it myself." That's when, in a daze I say, "Luke, if you get up on the counter & get candy then we are not going to see the movie today." Which I proceeded to head out to the kitchen & catch him up on the counter, walking across the stove to reach the candy on top of the fridge. So, of course I had to follow thru with the no movie. Needless to say, Erik was not pleased that I chose that punishment... he really wanted to see the movie. I didn't think it really hit home with him that he understood what he did wrong. Until finally, around 6pm we were sitting in the living room talking about how his actions have consequences to them... then he got it! I was pleased. :)

Well, tonight we had a perfect evening together. I picked Luke up from day care & as we were heading into the house we found Draper with tonights bread (that Erik had just picked up on his way home from work) on the floor eating it. My first reaction was, "that is really brave of Draper to eat the bread with Erik in the house." But then I realized, Erik had taken Avery for a walk. So, I told Luke that we needed to go to the grocery store to get more bread & I grabbed my keys. Well, Luke instead suggested that we walk to the store. Of course I was thinking, it's hot, I'm tired, I don't want to walk even though it's about a 10 minute walk from our house. But, I didn't overreact & say these things to him. Instead I said, let's go to the bathroom & then I need to put on different shoes & then we'll go. So, we headed to the store & ran into Erik & Avery on the way there. Erik said he realized he left the bread out about halfway thru his walk, but it was too late to go back, so he continued with his walk. Luke & I had a really great time on our walk talking about school & he sang me some songs, like the months of the year, counting 10 to 1 & the days of the week. He likes singing those songs & I love hearing them. Then we got home & we all checked our Wii Fit for the night. We ate (ok, there was a little frustration at dinner... mostly him not wanting to sit for more than 5 minutes to eat) & then after Luke's shower we played a game of pool on the Wii. It was a great evening of little argument & those are always perfect!

So, Erik & I have been talking about putting together a "chore" chart for Luke. Little things that he can do to help around the house. If any one has any suggestions I would appreciate them. Also, if you have done or are doing this, what kind of "rewards" should we give him if he accomplishes so many things, etc.

Not much else is going on. I took a few days off from blogging. Been exhausted & haven't gotten much reading done, which makes me sad. I am taking a week off in about 3 weeks & doing exactly what I want to do. Erik is working & I'm sending Luke to day care... hopefully Erik will take him in the mornings so I can sleep in or whatever my little heart desires. I figured I should take advantage of a week off before things get crazy with school.

Well, hope you all had a great week. Until the next time!

Tagged

My friend, Krista, tagged me. The rules are that I tell 6 things about myself and then tag 6 more people.

1. I can't eat chocolate. Of any kind. White, dark, milk, etc... oh how I wish I could. But, it gives me debilitating migraines & it definitely is NOT worth those. I do remember what chocolate tastes like, that's the sad thing. Luke is really cute about it... we recently had a family cookout where there was a chocolate fountain with fresh fruit, pretzels, etc. to dip in to it (Krista, you would have been in heaven), well, Luke says to me, "Mommy, you can't have that chocolate." Then he proceeds to say that he doesn't like chocolate either. We'll see how long that sticks.

2. I love to read. Mostly fiction. I am reading a series now that has 11 books in it, I'm only on book 4. Then I have 4 other series that I want to read. Of course there are random books that I want to read along with the 4 other series.

3. I'm starting graduate school in the fall. I'm crazy! I keep telling myself this because it's the only thing that I can say. I'm going for my Masters in School Counseling. I have 2 classes in the fall that meet every Tuesday from 4:30 - 9:45.

4. I hate to shop! Although I do LOVE Target, I don't like to clothes shop unless I absolutely need something & know what I need. Although I do like to clothes shop for Luke. My mom & sister have learned to just ask if I want to go shopping with them & not get upset when I decline.

5. I LOVE to make lists. This keeps me organized on what I need to do. I love the feeling of crossing something off my list. I have at least one list going all the time. My current list is things that we need/want to do around the house.

6. I check my email every day. I would not survive on a desert island, I could not go on Survivor, I would not survive past day 5 without checking my email. I think that is the longest time I went without checking my email. It's crazy, I know, but at least I know it. :)

Okay, so now I'm going to tag Missy, Erica, Erik (hopefully he'll do it) & Amanda. Sorry, only have 4 other blogger friends.

Here are the rules:
-Link to the person who tagged you.
-Post the rules on your blog.
-Write six random things about yourself.
-Tag six people at the end of your post.
-Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
-Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

There is a disclaimer with this post...

The disclaimer is... I did NOT dress my child on Tuesday! I picked out a polo shirt & shorts... he chose otherwise. He was not having my outfit of choice on Tuesday & this is what he came up with on his own. I was getting ready & had laid out clothes on the bed for him to wear, but he threw a fit & said he did NOT want to wear that, so I told him to go pick out his clothes. I continued to get ready & he comes in to my bathroom all proud, "Mommy, want to see what I picked out?" I said I would love to & that is when I saw it... jeans, colts jersey & sweatshirt. I asked Erik to 'convince' him to put a t-shirt underneath at least. He did do that at least, but when I picked him up from day care he had everything on (outside) except for his sweatshirt & that was only because the teacher told him it was too hot outside for the sweatshirt. I'm a firm believer that you have to pick your battle & this was a battle I was not wanting to fight at 7am.



Today was a different story... we picked out the outfit he would wear Tuesday night. I kindly said, "Preferably something that doesn't involve jeans." So, he picked out his Cubs jersey that was shorts & a short sleeve shirt. Tomorrow they are having a 4th of July parade & other festivities at day care. Too bad I just got the email today because the Cubs jersey is red, white & blue. So, we found a t-shirt that had red & blue in it & he has some shorts that are red & white, so it will have to do.

Hooray for a 3-day weekend! Hope you all have a great 4th. Until the next time.