I love gimmicks. Well, I mean, I love those little tricks we play with our children to get them to do things that we hope they will grow up to do spontaneously on their own. Ya know, like make their beds without being asked (John's still wondering when I'll catch on to that one) or offering to help make dinner (oh, I think John's still waiting for that one, too. Just kidding.)

Our kids will do pretty much what's expected of them. They're good at rising to our expectations. They generally get along with one another, keep the house clean, do their chores, laundry, dishes, etc., practice piano and all that stuff, but I finally decided that kids really need to be rewarded beyond the simple "thanks" and "good job" they usually hear.

It's not a ploy to bribe my kids for doing what they should. They would do it anyway. It's just a way of paying them back for being so great.

So, thanks to a sentence or two that Christina posted on her blog, I started a new reward system.



Above are the kids' marble jars. I give them marbles for making their beds before they leave for school, making their own lunches (and the other kids) and doing their siblings' laundry for them, etc. I reward them for going the "extra" mile and doing things I don't ASK them to do. It's so great!

Then I gathered a cart-load of toys at the Dollar store. I threw them in this huge bin, and on Saturdays, the kids add up their marbles, and for every 15 they earn, they get to choose a prize. Last night we did our first payout (because I didn't shop for the prizes until yesterday.) WOW. I had no IDEA the motivation this would cause!

These little "dollar" prizes are like MAGIC to them. This morning, Ashley helped Natalie shower, they both made their bed, and Andrew made lunches. Ashley gave Bethany a bath last night, and the list goes on and on. They are like little elves looking for ways to be nice and earn more marbles for themselves. I've calculated it so that they can earn one, TWO if they're extremely diligent by the end of the week.

So, one more note. I don't intend for these toys to be long-lasting. (Although there were some really neat and cool toys for a dollar I found!) I think I'll throw some dollar bills in there to encourage the kids to save money as well. But last night my kids were ANGELS for the hour or so that they played with their toys, sharing and taking turns with one another.

In the end, it was just nice to see my kids getting rewarded. They were so thankful and gracious. Love this new idea.

A Star is Born

I remember picking Ashley up for school one day a few months ago, and she proudly announced that she got "the part she wanted" in the upcoming school play. The class production of Aladdin promised many fun leading roles, so I wondered which part she got. "The CAMEL!" she happily announced. Oh. The CAMEL. Of COURSE. Silly me. I was thinking of the princess or the genie or something.

Now, at Carden they did the original story from the book, different from the Disney version we have come to know and love. And after seeing the play, I have to admit, Ashley honestly WAS the star. (This isn't just motherly pride, here. She was amazingly funny!)

The camel is the "comic relief" as it were, and Ashley had such a great sense of comedic timing and inflection. She was so great! I had parent after parent, teacher after teacher, coming up to me telling me that she "stole the show." Now of course the other children were wonderful in their respective parts, but Ashley got all of the funny lines and really enunciated and projected so well that we understood every one. She also stayed in character the whole time, whether the attention was on her or not. She was acting the entire time, and made the play so fun to watch. Way to go ASH! Love you!

Ashley ("I'm surrounded by imbeciles.")


Ashley, "mocking" the evil magician as he tries to lure Aladdin to get the lamp


The Johnson cousins even got out of school early so they could come and see Ashley's play. You guys are the BEST! Thanks for coming!


Ashley and the magic lamp:


Thanks for giving the play a little "magic" of your own, Ashley!

'Tis the Season

Christmas gifts are hard for me to get in some respect. I find myself in search of the "perfect" gift, and that is sometimes so hard depending on who you're buying for.

As the cousins in the Bytheway side of the family drew names for the gift-giving, I overheard one cousin say, "Oh, good. I'm giving to so-and-so. I thought for a second I had to find a gift for Ashley." Now, all I can say to that is "I can relate." I think my kids are just at that age where I am at a total loss as to what to give them for gifts! I find myself asking parents of children the same age what THEY are giving THEIR children!

Now, this may come across as some type of "out of touch" parenting, but in reality, I just don't know what to buy!!! Here's the problem: My kids are extremely cute and grateful, and basically don't CARE what I get them for Christmas. "Whatever you choose is fine, Mom" is the usual response when I ask them what they want.

In our family, John and I have adopted the "3 gift" rule where we only get 3 presents for our kids. Coming from a home where Christmas was like a smorgasboard of everything Toys R Us, Sears, K-mart, and Target COMBINED and presented at our feet on December 25th, I had a hard time adopting this rule. But I knew I wanted to choose QUALITY rather than QUANTITY, and let me tell you, when you're only getting 3 presents for a child, you want to CHOOSE WISELY.

So, in an effort to ease the burden of thinking I might somehow disappoint my kids on Christmas morning, tonight I sat them down and asked each one of them to make out a Christmas list. (Note: My mom is TOTALLY AGAINST this, and this is NOT the way I was raised. You NEVER asked for gifts...but inevitably, Dad would ask us to write a list down so he could shop accordingly. Now I know where I get it from.)

So, here are my kids' lists:

ASHLEY'S LIST



(I think she forgot to mention penmanship lessons ;). Hmmm....not so easy to interpret that, now is it!?

ANDREW'S LIST



Andrew's is a little more realistic, but as I looked over his shoulder, number 2 was actually "CHECKBOOK." WHAT????? I asked him if he knew what it was, and after after he gave me a very accurate explanation, I told him that I got my first one after I was married. It was a "no-go." Number 7 was a "credit card: Mastercard." I told him no, so he crossed it out, and wrote again "credit card: this time VISA." You can't see the back of the list, because by then he was getting silly, but he included "debit card, a passport to Guinea, AA Batteries, a girlfriend, and a stage." He's gonna be one sad boy on Christmas morning!

NATALIE'S LIST



She didn't want to bother with spelling, so she drew pictures. I laughed out loud when she drew her doll, so I wrote her commentary on the picture: "Doll. Well, I don't like Barbies. Just a regular doll like a French doll or a Chinese doll or something." Yeah, like my regular French doll. I'll run right out to Toys R Us and get that "regular" French baby doll.

Then she drew flowers...she wants an indoor flower garden in winter, a belt, a bunny, and she wants to watch t.v.! Ok, I can accommodate.

So, as you see, my kids make it a little difficult. Why can't they just want balls, and books. I marvel at that song where the kids tells Santa what all the children want: "Sally wants a pair of Skates, Suzie wants a dolly, Nellie wants a storybook..." etc. AMAZING. I need to get that child's email so he can tell me what to get my kids!

I've already given Ashley "life"...number one on her list, so maybe this will be an easy Christmas shopping year after all. Wish me luck. Actually, I have a better idea. I think I'll write a letter to Santa myself, and ask HIM what to get my kids. After all, HE always comes through.

FAMILY!

I love traditions. I love the simple ones of singing the same songs my mom sang to me as a child at bedtime to my children, and visiting Grandma on Sundays. I'm a big fan of those more "complicated" traditions, too! Last night was one of my favorites. Every year we get together with the Loveridge extended family and make "haunted" gingerbread houses. Here are some pictures:

Before we begin. These kids are EXCITED!!! Who wouldn't be?
Look at all that LOOT!

The finished products

Dracula's castle (and the architect)

Ashley, Matthew and Natalie and their candy castles


Thanks again to everyone for bringing candy, and to Tim and Tiffany for hosting (and for that AMAZING soup and homemade breadsticks!) Love to you all!

Photo Tag

My friend, Katie tagged me, with the following instructions: I was to open my pictures file, go to the 6th folder, the 6th sub-folder, the 6th picture, and post about it, so here goes:

Ok, it's not a cute one, but here's the quick story! I am in hard active labor here with our 6th baby! I'm so grateful for epidurals! My family had visited in the hospital, and they all decided to run to Costco next door to buy treats for me and any other visitors! While they were gone, I was overcome with a massive WAVE of exhaustion, and tried to catch a few Zzzs. They came back with Kudos!!! Thanks Amy, Dad, and Tiffany! I'm also posting other pictures that finish out the story.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who was tired:

Good sisters Amy and Jennifer to support me and monitor my progress

Here are a few more of the supporters: Mom and Dad, Amy, and Tiffany

Getting ready to push (look at those ugly stirrups!)

They whisked her away and everybody got to see her and take pictures except for me!!!

Then finally, HERE SHE IS--Bethany Anne!!!

Our little bundle of joy

So now, I'm tagging 6 friends: Tiffany, Carrie, Amy, Stephanie, Christina, and Kristi. I'll look forward to reading!

Just a Good Day

I really liked yesterday. Of course, I stayed up way too late on Thursday night, and on Friday Ashley was performing in school devotional, so we had to ALL get up, showered, ironed and dressed and out the door by 8:20. It wasn't THAT bad, but I was so grateful that I didn't have 9:00 church every week after that, I can tell you!

I love going to the kids' school. It's just a great place with a good feeling, and actually, quite a few good friends. Over the years I've come to know more and more parents of other students, and it's always fun to see them...and Mr. Jeffs, of course! He always has this "surprised" and "pleased" look on his face when he sees us (despite the noisy toddlers in our arms!)

After devotional, I got an unexpected visit from Tiffany who helped me clean my house for an hour or so. I don't know what possesses that woman, but she is in TUNE with the cleaning bee. She always knows just what and WHEN to help, and yesterday was no exception. Thanks, Tiff!

Then we both dropped over to Mom's house...with JEFF of all people and hung for a while, helping her organize her new kitchen. Again, Tiffany's amazing skills came in very handy, here!

At around 5:00, I had a new BFF come and stay at my home with her husband. Steph is one of those people that you KNOW you knew in heaven, and now we're just getting reacquainted. She and her husband came from Arizona for a funeral, and I had the good fortune of being on the "to visit" list! What a treat! We chatted, went to dinner, shared stories, philosophized, pondered, ate some more, chatted some more, shared ideas, and all before about 2:20 a.m. I LOVE these people! Thanks for coming to see me!--and thanks for the ADORABLE hand-made bracelet! (Steph really knows the way to THIS girl's heart!)

All in all, it was just a good day. Full of family, friends, food, frivolity, fruit, frolicking, fatigue ;) and FUN. Love to all of you who made my day.

It's been a while since 1962!

Well, I don't mean to be too heavy on the "John" issues, but yesterday my honey turned 46! What a cutie! He's actually 46 going on 25, and that's what I love most about him...his zest for life and ability to keep up with all of our kids! I love you honey--and sorry for making you wear the silly birthday hat!



Make a wish...



Cheesy grin:



And here's to your parents for coming up with perfection, and to you for being the happiest part of my life.

The List

These are a very few of the many things that got accomplished in my home last week:

*lunches made in the mornings for three kids going to school
*spot-cleaned carpets after the kids forgetting the "no food out of the kitchen" rule
*made 2 loaves of homemade bread on Sunday when the realization came that there was no bread for school lunches on Monday
*re-attached a broken stove hood
*spoon-fed the baby
*vacuumed EVERY day
*did dishes almost every dinnertime
*mopped kitchen floor
*folded clean laundry
*woke kids up early to get in shower
*changed diapers
*cleaned clutter and vacuumed out my car
*took Andrew to Football
*picked up kids from piano lessons
*picked up Matthew mid-day from pre-school
*did 100+ sit-ups every morning
*drove kids to school every morning
*ironed kids' shirts for school, church

Now, those may not seem like anything special to any of you, but they are to me, because JOHN did all of that last week. He is amazing. Sometimes I think I'm living in a dream, but when he made 2 loaves of bread yesterday, I KNEW I was living in a dream. He's so cool it blows my mind.

Now that you know it was him, I'll add that he works so hard every day earning money for our family, trying to improve the lives of not only our family, but for so many strangers in the world. He absolutely lives what he preaches, and is a walking model of so many things that I want to be myself.

He makes us all laugh, he constantly makes up jokes and teases the kids, tickles them, and makes them feel good. He is the organizational pillar of our home, and the model of self-control. He is brilliant, and remembers so much of what he hears. He is righteous, strong, humble. To quote Marvin J. Ashton speaking of President Kimball, "He is a most remarkable blend of velvet and steel."

I love John to pieces. I SO don't deserve him. He is my better in every way, and I have NO IDEA how to keep up with him! But I'm glad I get the rest of eternity to try.

Thanks honey!

Here he is with Natalie on that new coaster in Park City



He loves his little "Bess-a-boo"



He buys me chocolate-dipped strawberries for no apparent reason (and I eat them with no apparent guilt)



He loves swiss chocolate (even for breakfast in bed!)



Catching a rare nap (after reading and learning something new, of course)



Off into the wild blue yonder (Isn't he manly?)



Eating pizza



Bouncin' off the walls with the kids



Feeding Timothy...and ENJOYING it!



His "Mr. Bean" impersonation



Keeping ALL of the kids busy at the hospital in that tiny little room when Carrie's baby was born!



Hanging out at the cabin



Here's a scene we get to see just about EVERY day



Taking the kids to school



So now, after looking at the pictures, you may be asking yourself "What, then, does KIM do?" Well, in truth, I think most women do much more than I do, because I'm lucky enough to have someone who is home so much of the time. I think we're blessed with unusual circumstances, but it's just that: a blessing.

Thanks again for being SO MUCH to our family, John! Love you!

So, the truth comes out!

I LOVE this new "snapgrades" system the kids' school has implemented. I get on every day and can see Ashley's grades, assignments, and upcoming work. I can tell what she's missing, and how much each assignment impacts her grade. It's great. I mean, I loved it until last night when I saw an "F" in composition!!!

Dear, sweet, lovable, free-spirited, Ashley; she loves art, acting, drawing, playing, creative time, but isn't so much into those "other" things...like academics. Now, to play fair, her "F" was because she is missing some assignments. She even has some completed assignments sitting in her desk that she simply "forgot" to turn in! Fortunately, her teacher is in my mom's ward, so I called her at home, and we had a long chat. She told me that basically, the answer "none" to the question "how much homework do you have" is NEVER the correct answer. Ashley ALWAYS has homework, whether or not she admits it.

She has been half-finishing her assignments, then using after-lunch time to try and get them all done. Usually, that's NOT enough time! She's SUPPOSED to bring them home to complete them. When the teacher talked to her about her homework, Ashley told the teacher that she's just so "BUSY" with everything going on. Uh, let me think: one half-hour piano lesson a week, and Achievement days every other week. Yeah. Busy. Of course, Ashley could have been referring to her full-time job as a mother to her growing baby kitten. That CERTAINLY takes up a lot of her time! ;)

So, today after school, I took her for an ice-cream, and we had a chat about her new commitment to "responsibility" and turning in her assignments on time. I'm guessing that she'll rise to the occasion and have straight "A"s before long. It just means that she'll be doing HOMEWORK after school. ;)

Tiff, I know you went through this with one of your boys at school, only didn't find out until the stack of unfinished work was an inch thick! (That rotten teacher! just kidding!) It must be an age thing!!! Here's hoping "this too, shall pass."

Clarifying

Tiffany read the "Accident" post, and read a comment from "Marshall" (aka Amy) that said something about us talking on the phone. She said it sounded like I was on my cell phone when the accident occurred. She was going to tease me about it since I had written that I was being a good driver. So, I WAS being a good driver, and NOT on my cell phone. Amy had called me earlier in the afternoon, and I told her that I had to hurry and hang up so that I could run and get Matthew from school...and that's when the accident occurred...on the way to school. I feel compelled to further add, that Amy has told me that I'm the only driver she trusts to drive and talk on a cell phone at the same time--because I'm careful. Hee hee hee! Had to toss that in!

The Little Things

I'm so grateful I get to stay home with my kids. There are just some joys that you can't get anywhere else. Here are a few of my favorites, that I would otherwise miss, during the day when I'm home with Matthew (1/2 day pre-school), Timothy, and Bethany:

I love watching Timothy put on his own clothes. Sometimes he puts a Christmas sweater with backward overalls and mis-matched shoes, but he's always so proud of himself.



I love hearing Bethany squeal (like a sharp, loud, intake of breath) when I walk into a room and surprise her.



I love watching Matthew try and make PB and J sandwiches for himself and "Timuffy".



I love picking Matthew up from school, and watching his face light up EVERY SINGLE TIME like I'm bringing him some priceless gift.



I love hearing Bethany hum when music comes on.



I love asking Timothy "what letter is this" and having him sometimes get it right, but mostly answering "P"...whether it is or not!

Ok, this I don't love, but it just made me laugh! (Thanks for the WASHABLE markers, Tiffany!)



I love watching Timothy try to pick up Bethany even though she probably weighs more than he does!

I love watching Timothy use innovations to get to the uppermost cupboard to get into the chips when he thinks I'm not looking.

I love watching Timothy (my daredevil) jump off of EVERYTHING...then look surprised when he's not hurt!

I love it when Timothy DOES get hurt, and he asks me to kiss it better, stops crying immediately, then without fail says "tank yeew".

I love that Timothy can fall asleep anywhere.



I love hearing Timothy ask if we can go for a ride in "uh se-KOY-uh." (the Sequoia).

I love hearing Timothy yell "I DID it!" when he buckles his own seatbelt.

I love it when Matthew, randomly, comes up to me and says, "Mom, I love you." He also says it about so many things: "I love this book" "I love this drink" "I love these shoes."

I love hearing the kids pray over their lunch...when Matthew prays, Timothy thinks it's his job to repeat everything Matthew says, but usually only gets the last two words of a phrase...and when Timothy prays, if I "feed" him a phrase that's too long, he just says "yeah."



Mostly, I just love being a Mom. I love that my husband wants that from me, and praises me for my work every day. Some women feel it a thankless job, but I'm the one who's thankful.