VESPA

Well, it’s been a long time coming and it finally came. Desi found his scooter. It’s a Vespa and Desi’s in love. It’s actually really fun to ride and is in excellent shape. We’ll have it for a long time and once it warms up we’ll both be riding it! It’s too cold for me…but Desi is a die hard. Jan, he bought a helmet, so he’s relatively safe out there! He wanted me to post some pictures so here they are. Enjoy.




~Rose

Sun Day!

Last Tuesday it finally warmed up so the kids and I hopped in the van and went to City Park. There was a ton of snow still, but it was pretty warm (note Owen’s shirt). We had a lot of fun and it was just so great to GET OUT!

Too bright to look...

I had to hide Owen's summer clothes. He keeps putting on shorts and sleeveless tops...not the right attire when it's 30 degrees outside!

Cutie Pie!

Free elephant rides in the snow :)

~Rose

Silly Boys

I got all sorts of nice comments from other moms on my previous post (Little Gamers). However, I got all sorts of silly posts from the guys. To answer Josh or Tim, or whoever else was trying to make fun of me....Desi and I came up with more rewards for collecting tickets. The kids pooled their tickets today in order to rent a movie for tonight. Owen has been pumped to do extra jobs or "reading" to earn extra tickets. Here's the list we came up with to trade in tickets. Since we have 4 kids, it's hard for a child to get alone with a parent, so a lot of these involve one on one time with mommy or daddy. Silly boys, eat your heart out. Ladies, perhaps this will be helpful to another family out there!

Turn in 5 tickets for:
Walk alone with mom or dad
Half hour play time alone with mom or dad
Treat or small candy

Turn in 10 tickets for:
McDonald’s movie rental
Play a game alone with mom or dad
Bike ride alone with mom or dad
Trade in for $1

Turn in 15 tickets for:
Library trip alone with mom or dad
Friend spend the night
Donut trip
Ice cream trip
Stay up 30 minutes past bedtime

~Rose

Little Gamers

So, our kids love, I mean LOVE to play games on our computer. It's the first thing Owen does each morning and all three take turns throughout the day. Desi had to get on this morning and it caused such a ruckus with Hope and Owen, that it got us thinking. Do these kids feel entitled to just be able to play whenever they want, and how much time are they really spending on this? We talked about it and came up with a system that may work for other parents in our predicament.

I printed up "Computer Game Tickets" worth 10 minutes each. We told the kids that we'd be awarding tickets for various accomplishments throughout the day that they could save and or turn in for computer play. They each have an envelope on the fridge with their name to store their tickets. They get tickets 3 times a day for brushing teeth after each meal. For each hour of school Hope does (about 2 a day) she gets a ticket. They can do various extra jobs for tickets. Owen and Emma get a ticket for staying dry through the night. Hope can earn tickets by reading aloud to her siblings or us.

Hope used her first ticket right away and boy did those 10 minutes go by fast! She was so upset and felt like that was not any time at all! I talked to her about earning more tickets and the idea of saving till she had 3 or 4 so she could play for 30 or 40 minutes at a time. She liked the idea and currently has 4 tickets in her envelope. Thank God for good ideas!
~Rose

Make a few bucks?

Well, I have been praying about ways to earn a little extra income. You know, some extra dough to buy new books, or a DVD, something for homeschool, ect...
I joined Amazon associates and am in the process of creating a special store just for you, my friends and family to browse through. Be patient as I add books and movies that we recommend...this could take awhile! Check out the link to the right. If you're gonna buy through Amazon, why not buy through me? Thanks for looking!
~Rose

Google Reader

I just signed up for Google Reader and I love it. While adding my friend's blogs I saw that Aaron had just posted. I can finally go to one site and see if any of my fellow bloggers have a new post. It's like an inbox for your favorite websites. Check it out at
www.google.com/reader
sorry I don't know how to add links to my posts yet!
~Rose

Scrape?

I was brushing our large fluffy cat today. Emma came up and asked me if she could "scrape Bedhead" too? How cute. I love the way two year olds talk.
~Rose

My Hero

Our kitchen sink has been clogged since Tuesday night. Desi got liquid drano...didn't work. We have this gun thing that we have used in the past to unclog it...but we couldn't find it till this afternoon. I prayed, took Levi down to the basement and actually found it! Well, it didn't work of course, so we had to take the pipes apart. YUCK. Plummers have got to have one of the dirtest jobs around. Desi crammed himself under the sink and proceeded to pull out all sorts of caked on grime. We used a make-shift snake and got as much of the pipe cleard as possible. Desi put everything back together and viola...we're back in business. What a MAN! I am so blessed :) Desi takes such good care of us.
~Rose