Hunt Family Connection

Sticker chart

So Graham and I had a great little chat about things to work on over dinner Wednesday night, and I showed him a sticker chart that I found online. He was pretty excited to see Iron Man on the chart, and while I thought we could just fill in a few lines of things to work on, he wanted to fill up the whole page :)

We counted 15 stickers that he could possibly earn before Sunday, and decided that if he got at least 10 of them, he could earn an overnight stay at Pa-Paw and Grandma Chery's house on Sunday night.

So this morning I walked into G's room and let him know that it was time to get up...to which he responded with a loud and whiney "noooooo!" I gently reminded him that we were starting the sticker chart this monring and I sure would like to give him stickers for calm voice, following directions, and being independent. I left his room to finish getting myself ready, and when I came back out he was just leaving his room....dressed! He also got his shoes and coat on when asked....and buckled himself into his booster seat. I made a huge deal about the stickers and let him know how happy I was (Mommy is so much happier when the morning routine goes smoothly!)

And so it goes....I know there will be mornings when he just doesn't care about getting the stickers, but here's hoping that it helps with the morning routine and makes things a little more peaceful in our home.

Now, what to do with this little girl that keeps waking up at 5am?!

Tennis Lessons and other thoughts

I didn't have any meetings scheduled this afternoon, so I was able to get away and watch Graham's tennis lesson at ESTC. Pa-Paw signs him up a month at a time and we kind of judge by availability and what's going on to see if he'll participate that month. Pa-Paw does most of the transporting and signs him up for the class, but I'm always excited to pop in when I can and see how he's doing. Since I only go once in awhile, it's easier for me to see big improvements and changes over time.

He seemed to do a great job following directions and running through all of the drills as directed, even helping everyone pick up balls (this has been a struggle in the past!). I was happy to see things going well, 'cause for the past couple of days he's been throwing some giant-sized fits in the mornings.

Graham's had a lot of trouble following directions (not really new), but lately he seems a little more stubborn and a lot more dramatic in his displays of displeasure. On Tuesday morning we had a giant meltdown because he couldn't take his goggles to daycare (long story...trust me, it shouldn't have been a big deal) and on Wednesday the drama was about wanting help getting dressed. He seems to want help doing MANY things that he is able to do indpendently and was doing without any problems before.

I know that a large part of this is about being 4, but I want to make sure Graham knows what my expectations are, and knows that he will be held accountable for bad behavior. I knew he would want to spend the night with Pa-Paw tonight, but I wanted him to come home with me so we could stay consistent and keep working through this. I asked Pa-Paw and Grandma Chery to take Ellie for dinner so that Graham and I could spend some time together shopping a little bit, and then talking about some things I'd like him to work on. More info on our plan another day....here's hoping things go a little smoother in the morning :)

Preschool Changes

Today was the first time I had dropped Graham off at school this year...usually I do pick-up. There's a new routine in the classroom....

The parents always sign the kids in and out of the classroom, but now there is a sign up sheet at the entry for the kids to put their own names on as well!

Graham has been able to write his name for awhile, but it was pretty awesome to see him doing it as part of the classroom routine. Constantly reminded that I have a big boy on my hands now :)

Leftovers

Leftovers from our Sunday night steak dinner made for an awesome breakfast of steak and eggs - a pretty awesome way to start a Monday!

The day at work was definitely productive - here's hoping the rest of the week goes just as well.

RV-palooza and more

Got a few more things done around the house this morning, then headed out to the fairgrounds with Kenny. We went to look around at "RV-palooza", but got sidetracked by the flea market that was also going on out there.

At least two different people mentioned to us as we were approaching that they had left lots of great treasures in there for us :) It was so fun to walk around to all the different tables (it was much bigger than I thought it would be!) and look over all the treasures.

For some reason I was drawn to this collection of belt buckles....

We each ended up taking something home - this is what I found....

....a new airplane night light for G's bedroom. I thought it looked cute soaring over our Lego house :)

We finally made our way over to RV-palooza and had fun walking through a few of the incredibly large motor homes.

I think that the most expensive one we walked through was $650,000. I've never even considered living in a house that is that expensive!

I got my grocery shopping done, hard boiled a dozen eggs, finished a book I've been reading (highly recommend the Hunger Games series!), and even found time for a little nap! Kenny and I went to Bates Steakhouse tonight to use a Living Social coupon I got - the food was YUMMY, but the atmostphere was pretty "country".

It's been a great weekend - balanced with things that I had to do and things I wanted to do. Time to get rested up for the busy work week ahead!

Sherlock Holmes

After a very productive day getting things done around the house, I went with Kenny and Faith to see Sherlock Holmes. I loved the first one and have been looking forward to seeing this, but just haven't had the opportunity yet....

The movie was great - I highly recommend. And if you're looking for someone to see it with, I'd love to see it again :)

Good friend and wise words

I called Leila earlier this week and asked her what she was doing after work on Friday....she said she was going to be hanging out with me :)

No kids...just me and her catching up over a glass of wine, take-out Chinese, and a fire in the fireplace. Definitely a great way to end this week.

I really loved what my fortune cookie had to say....

Hoping to get a post about our trip to Wisconsin up over the weekend...lots of fun stories to tell and pictures to share :)

Our first Lego Creation

Graham got the "big kid" Legos for Christmas. He decided to open them up for the first time on Wednesday night and we started building a house that had 20 steps of directions.

We got about halfway through the directions before bedtime, and then finished up tonight. We worked together - Graham would point out what sections were new in each picture direction and then I would find the pieces for him to place. He's pretty observant and caught a couple things that I missed :)

And there ya have it! Our very first Lego creation. I LOVE Legos and am so excited that Graham is starting to show more interest in them. Looking forward to seeing what he creates!

Back at work....

Yesterday was professional development and 2 hours of furlough time, so today was technically the first full day back at work and the first day back for kids. I checked in at both of my schools, and then settled into my desk to try and tackle the pile of files that didn't go away while I was on vacation.

You learn something new every day!

The kids are with Wil tonight, so it seemed like a good time to take down the Christmas tree. Kenny helped me and we decided it would be best to take it out through the patio doors. But get this...

I had no idea that BOTH of the doors opened up! I'm not sure that this information would have benefited me at any point up until now....I'm feeling a little bit embarrassed that I didn't know this, but also a little excited to find another exciting feature in my little house :)