Sleepover Pup Tents

Ever since we moved into our new home, Carter has been begging for a sleep over. And, my brother's family has been getting their home ready to sell all summer. So I got the great idea to help my brother and his wife out by taking their kids away for a few days, accomplishing two goals in one move-Yeah, I multitask like that. :-)

I had one niece and one nephew for two nights and on the last night we had my other brother's kids come stay over. 5 extra kids total, ages ranged from 3-11. Yeah, I'm over ambitious like that. :-)

For the most part it was fun. We saw The Croods at the dollar movie, made our own ice cream in a bag and our own pizzas, and we attempted a hike (that's a whole other story).

Mostly though, I'm excited about the pup tents Nate made for each of the kids to sleep in. We also took them outside too provide some shade the next day. I love that Nate was as  excited about the idea as I was and whipped them out like they were nothing. (PS, we found the pup tent idea on pinterest and it came from here.)

Now we just have to organize the garage so the tents can go there. The garage: our final frontier in our new home.

July 31 to August 3, 2013

Thank you for the awesomeness

Carter one night prayed "thank you for the awesomeness." Nate and I smiled at each other but said nothing. Carter said it again a few days later and I commented about it to a friend that was with us. Now Carter says it in most prayers, and while it's not as cute as it was the first few times, I still love it. And then I found this picture on pinterest and figured out Carter is really saying thank you for my mom, so it's back to being super cute that he thanks Heavenly Father for the awesomeness.

Lawn Swallows Children

Disclaimer: Our home was empty for three years before we bought it this past February. Because of that, our lawn was 'one summer away from needing to be replaced' per the many lawn care professionals who *had* to stop at my door this last spring.

But we've been able to keep our lawn green and bring back the grass in many of the bald, dead-looking spots. We just have not been the best at keeping up with the mowing. But, it's progress right?

Sunday night we were out talking with some neighbors when their kids buried Carter in the very tall weeds. Maybe we should put more attention to mowing the lawn...we might lose a kid out there. :-)

July 28, 2013

Hair Envy

For a girl who was born nearly bald, Avenly sure has some beautiful auburn hair with natural curls-everything I wish my hair was! I love it. :)

Fishing with Dad

Carter has a few charts that we use to help him do what he needs to, as well as rewarding him. This week one of his rewards from his "listen and obey" chart was fishing with Dad, except we all went. :)

While at the Kaysville Pond we fished next to a cute family, Dad and his five kids. And of course, Carter made instant friends with the boy his age, like he always does. Carter was more interested in his new friends then the fishing and was pretty disappointed when they left.

He also didn't have the patience to wait for a fish to bite, nor did he want us to leave until he caught one. Thankfully, Dad snagged a blue gill and let Carter bring it in. Carter really wanted to keep it, but sorry buddy, this momma doesn't like fish so much. :)

August 10, 2013

Practice What I Preach

In June I attended a training session for TF-CBT, a very effective method for treating children who have experienced trauma. Part of the model includes teaching parenting skills when the children begin to act out, but these skills are also useful for children not responding to trauma. The irony in this story is the timing of the trainng in my life...

Long story short(er), the night before the training, Carter and I got into the ultimate battle of wills. He resisted every method we've used in the past, he laughed at my attempts to discipline his refusal to be obedient, and I found myself getting so angry at him that I could have hurt him...and that confession is so scary and very difficult to make. Determined to "win" the battle and protect my son, I sent Carter to bed and boxed up *every.single.item* in his room that wasn't attached to the wall.

Guess what, in the end, he still won the battle. For the next week or more, Carter never showed disappointment for the loss of any of his toys. He had plenty of fun playing with friends and letting his imagination run wild with whatever item he adopted as a toy.

The irony: had I been practicing what I preach to my clients' parents, this battle of wills would never have happened! I felt so awkward at the training the day after our fight as the instructors reminded me of these basic parenting skills. And I decided it was time to put these skills in place at my home, so I could be more effective with my children and in my work.

I started small with active praising and ignoring while I took a few weeks to pull together a behavior chart that worked for our family. It was only a matter of days once I put it all into place that our home life was so much smoother. We only had to use time-out once the entire week! I told my parents "a miracle has happened at our house this week."

In coming posts, I'll write about the specifics that made the miracle because maybe someone else will find this who needs a little reminder of parenting basics as well.

The picture is if my cute boy, so proud of his tower of cups he made while unloading the dishwasher. He did his own hair, gel and all, and dressed himself...all without a fight.

July 22, 2013

If You Give Your Daughter An Apron

One of Avenly's favorite games right now is to go into our pantry and bring something out, then go back into the pantry and bring something else out.

Tonight she brought out her apron. And after I put the apron on her, she wanted to cook with me. And when Carter saw Avenly wearing an apron, he wanted an apron too. After I put an apron on Carter, he wanted to cook with me too. So I put Career to work making dinner, while I made ice cream.

For dinner he made his favorite food in the whole world, toast with jam on it cut into three strips.  But our neighbors started their firework show before he could cut the strips, so tonight it was a toasted jam sandwich. And when there are loud noises and other children outside, Carter has to find out what is going on.

And if Carter goes out side, Avenly wants to go outside too. And if she is outside, Mom or Dad have to be outside too. And since it was a holiday after all, we all ended up outside at the neighbor's, ooo-ing and awe-ing at their awesome fireworks for Pioneer Day.

And that is what happens when you give your daughter an apron.

Do you have a sudden urge to go read
'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie' now?

July 24, 2013

Preschool!

Last night we went to an open house for Carter's preschool. Carter could not wait to meet his teacher. She gave us a count down chain so we can keep track of the days and we are looking forward to all the fun he is going to have. I just hope he will learn to listen when she's talking because he had a lot to say at the open house while she was trying to tell us about all the fun things she had planned. :-)

August 9, 2013

Ta-da!

I love this boy and his happy faces!

August 8, 2013

Bugs and Boys

What is it with bugs and boys! In the last week Carter has

· "saved" a million roly-polies from the ants (only to die in the little plastic container we put them in);
· caught a dragon fly (who died in Carter's hands);
· and captured a grass hopper (that got fried in the jar we accidentally left outside).

I dread the day I find a snake in his pocket!

P.S. We may not be the best choice for taking care of your pets when you go out of town. :-)

Buzz Time

Nate has been wanting to give Carter a buzz cut all summer. And since Carter's hair was sooooo long, I finally gave in. Yikes! He really needed a haircut!

July 28, 2013

Eat Your Veggies

Avenly is very serious about eating her veggies and not so serious about her cookies.

July 27, 2013

Scary Dinosaur Hair

Carter has been awesome about doing his own hair. I love that he makes sure to put the gel in, even if it ends up as one big gob on the side that never gets fully rubbed in.

Today we had a birthday party to go to for two of our favorite friends and Carter wanted me to help him make his hair look like a dinosaur so it would scare his friends. Not sure they were scared, but my little dude is so awesome and creative and excited about his friends, I had to comply... the best I could anyway.

July 25, 2013

Lately

Lately Avenly has been into reading books and stringing out the toilet paper. So much fun!

July 23, 2013

Movies in the Park!

Our little family got to enjoy a summer's night with a picnic in the park and watching the movie Brave under the stars. It makes me really happy!

Avy had a hard time the last 15 minutes of the movie, but she was a few hours passed her bedtime, so she actually did really well.Carter had his moments too, but mostly he was so good even though he said he doesn't like the movie (it was scary for him).

And I love this picture of Carter I took before heading up to the park. He loves to wear that vest for some reason and the conductors hat is full of fun little toys because he doesn't have any pockets in his pjs of course! And his face is so adorable! Love me that Carter!

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Swimmingly

What does swimmingly mean, does anyone know? For today it means "perfect."

We have had a perfect week, with a perfect balance of work (both at home and away), good behaviors from the kids, helping people we love, and enjoying the summer...finally! Even if this is the only week where things are 'just swimmingly' I am grateful that we at least got this one!

Friday, July 19, 2013