Catching Up

I was finally able to finish up a couple of things from my "to-do" list this afternoon. First, both McKay & Hannah got haircuts. I am really not a great barber -- I still feel like a lot of it is hit-and-miss. But I guess the results are acceptable. If the kids ever decide they want more "styled" haircuts, we are going to have to pay someone else to do it! (Either that, or visit Julie/Ashley more often!)

Anyway, McKay was very reluctant to have his hair cut (not sure why), but he finally consented, with a little "incentive" (to look at a bike on-line). I also trimmed Hannah's hair a little, which I haven't done in a while.

She decided she wanted to wear a headband afterward instead of me putting the little usual ponytail back in.

The other project that is finally done (and I've been meaning to do for quite a while now) is to make a new FHE assignment chart that includes Hayley. Here's the finished product:

It's nothing fancy, but it works for us. We've had a wheel like this for a few years (made before Hayley was born) and Hayley always wants to have a job too, so it was way past time for me to update it. I've thought about doing a cute FHE chart with little hooks or whatever (they even did one in RS a while ago), but decided this works just as well. I think if I had hooks that I could just assign at random, they would argue and complain about who got what job when, etc. This way they know they are "stuck" with their current job but it will get around to their favorite before too long. The "Game" assignment is by far the favorite of the kids and they always complain that "Songs" or "Conduct" is boring. The "Scripture" assignment is a new one we added, so we'll see how that works out!

I still have lots more on my "to-do" list, but it always feels good to cross a couple of things off that have been on there for a while!

I have to end with the story of Courtney's bedtime tonight. We have been struggling with her lately in regards to her flat-out ignoring what we ask her to do and just doing whatever she wants. (Of course, all the kids have this problem at times, but Courtney's really had some issues lately.) So we've decided we just need to get stricter with some consequences when she does this.

Tonight at family prayer, Courtney wouldn't settle down -- she kept trying to get over by McKay so she could bug him, etc. (they had all been playing around right before prayer and she just wouldn't quit). Brian told her several times that he wanted her to stay next to him, but she kept moving away. Finally, he told her the consequence if she did it again -- she would go right to bed and not get her drink (something our kids all like at bedtime). Well, she tried to move away, so Brian took her to bed and she started howling. When I stopped by a little later, she was just sobbing that she was SO thirsty and there was absolutely no way she could go to sleep without a drink. I wouldn't let her have a drink either and she was convinced that she would just be awake all night long and then she would have to sleep in the morning so she would miss breakfast and lunch and dinner. She got all worried about how she would eat breakfast, lunch and dinner if she was sleeping in the day. She asked me if I would let her eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at nighttime (she even got a little excited at the thought of me bringing it to her in her bedroom). I told her she would get to eat and it would all be fine. That seemed to settle her down enough and I'm sure she's fast asleep by now.

I'd better get busy with my last "to-do"s tonight, so I can be fast asleep soon too!