Looks Like Just a Big Kitty to Me!!!

This white tiger at the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo is by far one of my favorite animals. Watching it lick itself was just absolutely amazing!!

Get Chores Done Without Nagging!!!

I was searching for chore charts for my boys the other day and found the most amazing reward chart program ever!!! The program is called My Reward Board. You enter your children's names and how many points they can earn per week. There are individual charts for each child with pictures for those that can not read yet. There are chores cleaning rooms, feeding pets, just about anything a child might have to do around the house. There are also health related chores such as brushing teeth and taking a bath. There are behavior "chores" such as no back talking and no fighting. Each child gets their own "room" that has all kinds of activities as well as their chart, scoreboard, and even a dresser to keep their reward coupons and certificates of achievement. The chart is so much fun that even my 13 year old runs downstairs every night to get his points in. There are four different animated "stickers" that whoop and cheer when the child puts them on the board. This is especially entertaining to my four year old. My seven year old absolutely loves the point system and that you get a special reward for a perfect day when you do all your chores.

Here is a picture of the chart below:


There is an additional chart that is for goal setting for things such as potty training or grades. This program has so many features and activities that I haven't even had a chance to play with them all. There is an allowance piggy bank feature that I haven't even had a chance to fully investigate yet. At the end of the week they get to "cash" in all their points and there is even a feature to remove undeserved "smileys" and another to give demerits or take away points. There is a treasure box in each child's room, when they click on the treasure box the reward coupons move across the screen and play fun music that pumps up your child's adrenaline. These coupons are already set up for you, however, you can add your own special coupons, delete existing coupons and you can change the point requirements on the default coupons. I am absolutely in love with this program and my middle child who used to whine about doing chores, now whines if he has trouble getting them all done so he can have a "perfect" day!! What a change from over a week ago when I couldn't get him to even pick up his dirty clothing. Their rooms are cleaned, they complete all their daily grooming without being asked, and I have not had to yell at them once to get them done!!

You get a free 15 day trial to the program and I recommend every one of my readers try this program. You will not regret it and for only $19.99 after the trial it is pennies to relieve me of the stress of nagging and grounding for chores not done!! Thanks My Reward Board!! Click on the logo below so you too can start your children on this amazing reward program!!

You Know You Want One of These!!!!

PB&J Creations one of my favorite designers is featuring a giveaway by Priddy Creations. The winner will get a free camera strap!! Her items are amazing and so gorgeous! Any photographer would love one of these!
Find out all the Details Here!!!

A Miracle From God That Still Amazes Me!!

Two years ago we had the most amazing thing happen at our house. The boys went outside to play and all of the sudden Jonathan came running in and told me that there was a baby cardinal in the yard to come see it. I went outside and saw this red bird on the lawn. I laughed and told him that it was the plastic bird from the solarium silly boy. He insisted that it was a "real" bird to come see. Sure enough just as I got near to him he moved a bit. I think he must have just been stunned or cold or something because he didn't look seriously injured or anything. The boys sat by him for a very long time and just oohed and awed over him. He barely moved. Jonathan told me that before I came out that Josiah actually had held him for a second. This bird was so beautiful and so peaceful, it was absolutely amazing. He finally must have warmed up sitting between the two boys as he eventually hopped away, flew to the mulberry tree and then after sitting there for awhile flew away. It was if God sent a special little angel to visit us for awhile. God is so amazing!! His creation is so amazing!! This is a memory that the boys and I will cherish forever!!

Boys & Basketball

Brandon is playing middle school basketball this year. It's so fun to watch these fresh sports faces awkwardly moving across the court. I love watching them mimic the professionals only to have their ball fly off the backboard or wall!! I know, terrible momma!! What I also noticed is how awkward and kind of goofy looking boys are at that age. I thought man...when I was that age I thought boys were amazing!! I thought if just one of the boys talked to me, I was in heaven!! Then I grew up and became of mom of three boys...one of which is now an awkward 7th grader who could care less about girls!! Shows you what I knew!! Hopefully next week I will have pictures of him playing basketball!!

Math In the Kitchen

One of my favorite activities with the boys is to let them help me bake in the kitchen. They love to get out the bowls and the measuring cups and often fight over who is going to do what. Like most homeschooling mommies, I try to make everything an educational lesson when I can. Cooking is such an excellent way to teach kiddos about fractions. Jonathan was having a hard time understanding what the numbers meant so I pulled out a 1/8, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 and 1 Cup. I then asked him how many of the 1/8 cups it would take to fill the Cup..he wasn't sure, so I told him to fill the 1/8 cup with water, dump it into the 1 Cup and see how many it took. He was fascinated that it took EIGHT cups to do that so we said that this cup equals 1/8 of a full cup. We repeated this exercise with the remaining cups and when it came time to measure 3/4 of milk for the biscuits for the pigs in the blanket, he was ready to go and knew what the numbers meant!! I also use our cooking time to teach vocabulary, reading and of course home economics!! Yes...I mean..we had a lot of fun baking boys...now we need to clean it all up!! Have a Blessed Day!!

Evolution of a Repentant Sinner

EVOLUTION OF A REPENTANT SINNER

SINNER
Hated, Slandered, Shunned
Mocked, Scorned, Repentant
JESUS
Salvation, Loved, Cleansed
Restored, Healed, Renewed
FORGIVEN

by Sherlyn Edwards 2009

I love this video that I found several months ago

and kind of thought it went with this poem!