Firework Fun!

I refilled our credit box today with some new treats - mostly fireworks!  The kids receive one credit for every perfect piece of school work, or every group of four chores completed.  For every credit they pick a small treat from the credit box.  Inside the box are pencils, erasers, markers, sharpeners, quarters, candies, chocolate eclairs, tiny animals, parts of LEGO men and, most recently, a new selection of fireworks.  Marco traded in most of his credits from the week for fireworks and we had an impromptu show in the yard.  There was one little problem however.  Black Jack, our foster dog, reacts very unusually to fireworks  - more specifically he wants to eat them.  He will settle for tearing up nearby mouthfuls of grass however.  When thwarted he cries like a hoarse baby.  It was hilarious!  We took the opportunity to teach him a jumping trick as he will also jump for a freshly lit match - right over anything standing in his way (including crouching humans, other dogs, buckets - you get the idea)

Haircuts!

Finally I was proved right - I'll try not to say I told you so :)  This morning, while watching a video clip from our last trip when his hair was shorter, Marco out of the blue asked for a haircut!  We have been waiting for this moment for a loooong time.  I maintained the position that forcing him would just cause resentment over something that, let's face it, is really not that important in the grand scheme of things.  I felt that, without pressure, he would come to the conclusion on his own that being mistaken for a girl is not that wonderful :) Not to mention the extra brushing, conditioning and care involved in having long hair.

Madison received a trim and some layering - to the best of my ability :)

Here are the results:

Legomania!

The surprise LEGO advent calendars arrived today!  A little late, but better late than never.  The kids were so excited!

They never had advent calendars that cool when I was a kid :)  I guess these two are a little spoiled but they are so grateful and so good otherwise I cannot think of it as spoiled.  To me a spoiled brat is one who is unappreciative and Madison and Marco are never that.

What Good Kids I Have :)

Between the Chore Chart and journals I was very impressed with my children today.  They leapt out of bed, brushed their teeth and hair and proceeded to exercise for a half hour and jumped in the shower as soon as they were done!  The floors were swept and mopped, laundry washed and folded, dishes washed and put away - all before lunchtime!  They fed and watered the chickens, fed the dogs and wrote in their journals.

Madison wrote for a looooong time and, while she was being so diligent, Marco and I played with the dogs, who had seized the excuse of a little sprinkle to come down below!

We did a little training too :)

Chore Chart :)

We went shopping for journals for the kids this afternoon suited to their individual personalities - we did a quiz :)  Surprise! Surprise! The result for me was that I would enjoy keeping a blog!  Why didn't I know this years ago?  I have tried unsuccessfully to keep a journal so many times I have lost count.  This is the first time I have made more than three consecutive entries!  The kids are pretty excited about theirs.

While we were shopping Madison spotted a "chore chart" notepad, so we picked it up.  We just made all the entries and I have already awarded a credit for completing a group of four chores!

Marco was made a Reading Warrior today so he is keeping his required one hour reading vigil tonight!