I whine, I get chores!

Ben earns chores instead of timeouts when he breaks a rule or is disrespectful. Sam still gets time outs. Here is our conversation just now:

Sam: "I do my trash for a chore!" (as he carrying the trash to empty it).
Me: "Okay, do you want to get paid?"
Sam: "I not get paid." (pause)
Sam: " Oh, yes, I get paid."
Me: " Okay, 25 cents for all three trashes."
Sam: " I whine, I get chores?"
Me: "You want to get chores for whining?"
Sam: "Yes".
Me: "But then you don't get paid. It's better to do chores without whining and get paid instead."
Sam: "No, I whine, I get chores! It's a good plan!"

This is where big brother worship backfires a little.

Sam Highlights

Here are a few of Sam's Proud Moments of the past month...

Sam was awarded "Most Improved" at a First Grade Assembly at his school in December. His teacher has recently said that he is reading right on grade level which is a huge leap from where he started the year.

He also brought home this math test this week. He gets 36 seconds to complete the test and when he started a couple of months ago he was answering one or two and maybe getting one right. Writing speed is a big hurdle for him, so this test represents great progress!!

Christmas 2011

Our family was blessed to be completely together on Christmas this year. Here are a few pictures from Christmas morning. We had a great week together. Not caught on camera were movies, swimming, cousin time, Christmas Dinner with the family.

Sam's Recent Artwork

Several times lately I've been REALLY impressed by Sam's artwork. Here are two favorites...

This is a snowman from school. They were supposed to decorate it however they wanted. Sam's is a Lego Ninjago guy. If you have boys, you know what that is. He even colored, cut out, and glued on a sword. What's a ninja without his sword?

This is a shark he made in art class. Bloody mouth and all. I think it's amazing!

My Job

I remember posting a picture over three years ago of my dining room table covered in engineering papers, plans and textbooks as I tried to get my brain to kick back into gear. I'd just started my first project for VSM Engineering after 6 years of uninterrupted mothering.

Three years later, this opportunity has proven to be a great blessing to me and clearly part of the Lord's plan for softening the blow of some of my life's surprises. Valerie is wonderful to work with and for. She and I are not just boss and employee, but friends as well.

My sister-in-law Jenika took these awesome pictures. More of her work here: http://jenikaslensblog.com/

Ben's Birthday Party

Ben's 9th Birthday Party!

Celebrated with Gabe, Grant, JJ, and Ethan at Coco Key Water Park.

Happy Birthday Ben!