Random Update

I've been back to work for three weeks. My co-worker will have her baby this week, so I will be back full-time next week no matter what. In the scheme of things, I can't complain, and I won't complain, but I do miss having more time with the kids each day. It is definitely hard to have one on one time with each of them, even for just 15 minutes, on a daily basis. Overall though, things are going well, and we seem to have settled into a routine.

In the morning, we've had to implement a marble system. As much as I feel like kids should just be motivated on their own to get ready for school, this clearly wasn't happening. The entire morning, we were pleading and begging for the kids to "eat your breakfast, get dressed, eat your vitamins, etc." So we dangle a carrot out there, and for each marble they get in the jar for moving along in the morning, they get one minute of computer after school (max 15 minutes.) They definitely need a few minutes of downtime after school regardless. Additionally, we implemented a checklist of everything they need to do in the morning, and they love to check things off as they go.

-Get dressed
-Put pajamas away
-Eat breakfast
-Eat vitamins
-Clear dishes
-Put on socks and shoes
-Check backpack
-lunch
-water
-homework
-ice pack

So, while it is not ideal to manage marbles and checklists, it does help to make our mornings much more enjoyable, and gets us all off to a much better start!

Over Labor Day weekend, we headed to the lake for a few nights to check in on the place and relax. The water lever is SO low, but it did provide some new activities for the kids.

"Mommy, we want to build sand castles!"
"Ok, well, it's not actually sand, but have fun!"