Blueberries

Tonight was one of those nights when I felt like the kids were NOT listening and no matter what I said or did, they kept goofing off.  I finally got all of their attention and we had a family conference right then and there.  I told them that they needed to listen the first time, and do whatever it is that they were asked then, not later.  I said, "I don't want our house to be filled with fighting and yelling, but instead I wanted it to be peaceful and fun"... etc.  Carsten pipes up right in the middle of my rant about the things I didn't want in our house, and says "and no blueberries, right?"  Immediately all the kids burst into laughter and cracked up.

What's funny about this?  Carsten doesn't like blueberries, and I guess for him, having blueberries along with fighting in our house would be the worst of the worst!

Nothing like a kid to bring the seriousness of a situation around to laughter again.  Gotta love 'em.

Carstenisms

Tonight, Josh and I were trying to teach the kids their memory verse for church.  The verse is I Thess 5:17 "...pray without ceasing."  Tyrus and Alexis were saying it over and over trying to get it down pat when out of no where, Carsten pipes up in his little voice "pray without seasoning."  We laughed and laughed and laughed.  What a hoot!

He's getting it!

So Carsten really is getting the whole "potty in the toilet" thing!  I'm amazed!  I decided on Tuesday to take away the Pull-Ups, and wahlah, he's going on the potty!  Wahhhhhhhhh hoooooooo!

Test

Can't Wait...

So there are a few things I'm looking forward to... one of which is Mr. Carsten being toilet trained.  Anyone want to come over and teach the kid for me?  So far, he flatly refuses to go in the potty.  And to be honest??  I'm over buying diapers.  Maybe if he were buying them it would be less annoying to clean him up. 

Sigh... 

On a better note, I'm really looking forward to this coming weekend.  Me and my friend Rebecca (and my kids) are going up to Bay City for an All Day Scrapbooking Day.  The kids are going to hang with Grandpa K and Uncle Ron, while us ladies go over and make fun crafty stuff all day.  Josh has to stay back and do homework, but I'm guessing he's looking forward to having the house to himself, too. 

Kids Say Funny Stuff

Carsten loves to announce "Happy New Year" each day when Josh comes home from work!  It's so funny. He also tells me that things make him "busy" a lot.  I'll ask him to pick up his books or whatever, and he'll say, "momma, when I pick up my books, it makes me busy..."  I think he means tired, but I can't convince him of that!

Alexis announced to me the other night while I was eating a strawberry cheesecake shooter from Applebees, that she wanted some "graham crappers, too!"

Tonight, while I was working with Tyrus on his piano lessons, I say to him "how many beats does a quarter note get?"  His answer?  "Three thousand?"  (then he errupts with uncontrolable laughter...) 

Gah!

Knapp Buck$

We're trying something new around our house... Knapp Buck$.  The idea is, if you do what you're supposed to do, and don't throw a fit or cry or fight with your brother, you can earn some rewards.  (You know, like in real life.)  Tyrus was all hyped about the idea of earning a game night, or lunch with mom... Alexis, however, was quite upset about the whole thing.  You see, you can LOSE buck$ you already earned if you have an attitude or storm off, and since those are her favorite activities, she knows she's in for some big changes.  That very fact may or may not be why we started this whole thing!

After a while the idea had finally sunk in, and she seemed better with it.  She ran upstairs and brushed her teeth (1K$) and turned off the light in a room no one was in (1 extra credit K$), and as we were filling out the chart, she says to me:  "How about coloring?  Is coloring one of the options to earn bucks?"  hee  hee