The Weekend is Here!

I am so glad Friday is finally here and the beginning of a three day weekend (at least for Ryan). I would probably be a little more excited if I had finished my work yesterday, since now I have double to get done today.

We had an enjoyable trip down to Orem to visit Marianne & her kids Wednesday. It was really a nice break for me to be able to relax and visit for a couple hours. The kids had a lot of fun and Mary appreciated having them there to entertain her kids for awhile too. We have two more weeks off track, so we will probably make another trip down next Friday.

In an effort to keep the kids occupied, and get the house cleaned as well, I finally made a rotating job chart that we turn daily. The kids are each in charge of a room in the house to clean up before they can play with friends, or play on the computer, etc.. Also, as an additional incentive, they can earn "Happy Tickets" for doing these jobs. They can also earn tickets for other things like cleaning their own rooms, practicing piano, yard work, laundry, and other little extras. When they save up their "Happy Tickets" they can use them to buy treats from my "Happy Store". Right now the treats range in price from 1 to 5 tickets, so they have a few options. I want to add a few prizes that cost more so they can practice saving up a little to earn the higher priced items, but that is still in the planning stages. The idea for the Happy Tickets and Happy Store came from my mom (something she has started recently). It was great motivation for my kids to help out while they were in California visiting my family, just after the baby was born. So far so good, hopefully the enthusiasm will stick around while they are off track.

Thanks for all your comments. I love to hear from you even if it's just a quick note :-)

I guess the kids are ready for lunch so that's all for now. -- Julie