Wild Animal Park

Camping trip--Doheny State Beach

"We're happy we have a swing in the house, Mommy!"

That's is what Julianna keeps telling me, now that the swing is fixed again (this time for good!) Tonight she even told me to take a picture of her while she was swinging. (Blake is mad that he can't swing by himself like Julianna.)




Here she is before getting on the bus on the last day of ESY (Extended School Year). In 4 short weeks she will be in first grade, going to school ALL DAY! What will I do?

Fourth of July Video

We just downloaded PhotoStory and decided to use it to make a video of our 4th of July weekend. I hope you like it!

(Song in background: "Bike" by Pink Floyd)

The Well-Behaved Child

Well, I just finished reading "The Well-Behaved Child" by John Rosemond and let me just say, WOW! Talk about an eye-opening book! I was blown away by his philosophies, and found myself saying, "Hmm!" out loud on every page (He doesn't believe in rewards, he thinks parents are too influenced by psychologists rather than seeking help from their own parents--the list goes on and on!). Today was my first day trying one of his techniques (he has many, based on age) called Tickets. It's simple and makes a lot of sense, and I've already seen progress today. Here's what you do:

1. Choose 1 to 3 target misbehaviors you want your child to overcome (examples: Refusing to obey, Yelling when we say no, jumping on furniture, etc). Post on the refrigerator, either using words or pictures, along with 5 tickets.
2. When child displays one of the target misbehaviors, take child to fridge and tell them what they did wrong, take away a ticket, and put on top of fridge.
3. Optional time-out after each offense. If they don't sit in time-out, tell them they lose another ticket.
4. When last ticket is taken, they have a big consequence. He recommends putting child in room for rest of day (besides meals, bathroom, chores, etc.) and going to bed an hour early. Their room must be significantly reduced of "play value."

As their behavior improves, the daily tickets can reduce, or you can add one misbehavior at a time until they no longer do them (one or the other, not both). He says "full rehab" takes 6 to 12 weeks. The goal is to have perfectly behaved children--imagine that! No more nagging and stress! No more feeling like you aren't in control!

So I tried this today. Blake and Julianna both had one same misbehavior: Whining/yelling when we say no or tell you something to do. Julianna had another one (over the age of 5 you can do more than one at a time): Biting hands instead of bracelet. So here's how the first day went. They woke up around 7, Julianna had to be on the bus by 7:23. During that time she lost 2 tickets (no joke) and by noon, Blake had lost all 5. (I figured today would be hardest of all). So just like Rosemond recommends, I put Blake in his room, for the rest of the day, and it was not fun, AT ALL! He was successful in breaking out of his room twice, until I figured out how to lock his door from the outside by hanging a wooden chair over his doorknob. I tried to stay calm and let him come out for snacks, meals, bathroom, and FHE. Julianna got home around 12:30, she lasted until 4:15 with her tickets. They both went to bed at 6:30. I think tomorrow might be better--I have a feeling they won't use their tickets up as quickly.

Anyway, when I find out good ideas, I like to share them, because I'm guessing some of you struggle with discipline. Here's an excerpt from his book if you want to read. Wish me luck!

http://books.google.com/books?id=IvXEhtvFBrkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Well-Behaved+Child&source=bl&ots=AhJEfttAFk&sig=CwIVpy1VvbTn6Q2FvuxXRcboZHY&hl=en&ei=FGcpTO_NBsSLnQeu5ZinAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDEQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false

200th post

I just noticed this is my 200th post. So in celebration of this momentous occasion, I have decided to write about....well, nothing. If I had something amazing to write about, I would, I promise. Julianna is in ESY (Extended school year) for 4 weeks (except Fridays), so she's gone in the morning. I am trying to do handwriting workbooks with Blake every day, all the while he is complaining and saying he just wants to play. I didn't get to run my 1st 5K last Saturday because after we got there we found out someone passed away right after they did the swimming portion (it was a tinman) so we just went home--very sad. I'm still running, though, and still am amazed that I went from HATING running to actually liking it (I don't love it yet--I hope I will soon) and doing as much as 4 miles at one time. I changed our blog--blogger has a new design tool--you should check it out! Tons of fun backgrounds, layouts, templates, etc. A book background was an easy choice--without books around here, Julianna would have no happiness in life. Speaking of books, I'm going to read "The Well-Behaved Child" by John Rosemond. It's supposed to be a great book on disciplining children. Anyone else have problems with this? Well, I do and I need to do something. He even talks about potty training so I'm excited to try some of his techniques. Anyway, that's my 200th post! Hope you are all having great summers so far.

And I should have put this in earlier--oops! A big congratulations to my sister Callie and her husband Craig on their baby girl August yesterday!

Kindergarten graduation!

Crying because she wouldn't take a picture with her teacher, so she took one with me instead!

Holding her rose from her best friend Drennen.

Standing on the stage after her name was announced.

With most of her class

We no longer have a kindergartner. Julianna graduated on Friday! Her teacher announced the class in alphabetical order, which means Julianna was last, of course! Each child got a nice diploma with a graduation picture, a certificate, and a picture and poem. Julianna's little "When I grow up" answer was, "I want to be a writer because I like books!" I loved it! We are so proud of her! On to REGULAR 1st grade (no more special day class/SDC). How did we get old enough to have a 1st grader?