Dreams!

Andrew told me about a dream he had last night!  Here's what he told me:

When I was sleeping with my doggie, my dog got toys!  Me: Your dog got toys?! (Side Note: I thought he had been up in the night playing with toys, and he was telling me that his dog did it)  A: Yes!  He got a teddy bear and another dog.  Me: A teddy bear and a dog?!  A: Yes!  And a firetruck, too! 

That's a pretty vivid memory of a dream for a kid under 3.  I was impressed! 

So this year has been a beast so far.  I have worked A LOT, which is great for the bank account - not so great for family life.  I had to do end of year files, tax documents for employees, and we had some unexpected network issues that popped up.  The weekend I had to work on the network, all three of my boys were sick.  Jacob woke up that morning throwing up; Andrew was extremely congested and ended up with a nasty double ear infection; and Brian probably had a combo of the two - I don't remember the details for him. 

Jacob is getting SO big!  I'm finally dealing with the fact that he will start Kindergarten in 6 months.  Okay...we are working on it (as I'm choking up while I type this).  I have completed the first paperwork for Kindergarten.  I filled out a transfer form so that we can get him into a different elementary school in the district.  Other than that, I have no idea what we need to do.  He is also signed up to play soccer again.  Andrew is still too young, but I think he'll be great at it!  Jacob is learning to read, which makes me feel the most proud I've ever felt about him.  How cool is that?!  I get frustrated sometimes, but he is completely kicking ass with the whole thing. 

I read Mary's blog a couple of weeks ago, and I decided it was time to do a chore chart with my kids, too.  We got one for Christmas, and we ordered a second one so that each boy has his own.  They have 7 things to do each day, and they get a smiley face for each item they complete: get dressed, say please and thank you, put away toys, stop whining (this is a constant battle for Andrew, but he's coming around), get ready for bed, set table, and clear the table.  By the end of last week, we thought Andrew might be too young to have so many items, but he is holding his own this week!  Usually Jacob gets 6 smileys, but he's had a couple of 7's this week.  Andrew can get 5-6 without a problem.  We haven't introduced money into the game yet.  For now, the smileys and the competition of who can get the most is enough motivation. 

Hmm...what else?!  Brian and I are doing a Parenting with Love and Logic class right now.  It is every Wednesday for 8 weeks - last night was the 2nd class.  Our pediatrician is teaching the class at a church literally right around the corner from our house.  We have seen an immediate change in the atmosphere of the entire house by making three small changes: 1. Give your child 3 "at-a-boys" for every 1 negative; 2. Remember that you can only control yourself; and 3. If there is no audience, the show closes.  We have had an incredible decrease in time outs and temper tantrums.  It's amazing!  Some of that could be their charts, too.  We started them both at the same time.  But just encouraging the kids more and telling them that we are proud and good job has made the biggest difference.  Really cool! 

Blog update: Yes, I suck at this.  Last week I actually changed the settings on my blog to be private because I never post anything.  I thought, eh, screw it...I'm just going to give up.  Then this morning, Andrew was so cute that I just had to share!  So maybe this will be more of a journal than a collection of pictures.  That's what holds me up - getting the pictures uploaded and formatted and on here is so time consuming!  But I can write a little story in a few minutes (or several in about 20).  I try to put pictures on Facebook because everyone is on there.  And I can do it in just a few seconds with my phone.  so there you go! 

This weekend I'm off on a girls' trip to St. Louis!  I am SO pumped!  Maybe picture will make it for that one.  ha!  Happy Thursday!