The "Character Jar"

We started a new thing with Austin, to track good behavior, using what we're calling a "Character Jar." I bought some extra large marbles on Amazon, pulled a jam jar from the closet, and created some reward cards which I printed on cardstock, so there wasn't a whole lot of work or cost involved in getting it ready.

Here's how it works (so far, this is still our first time filling the jar):
-when we see Austin displaying a positive character trait (which is one of our biggest goals in our parenting style), we tell him that he has earned a marble for doing xyz
-he gets to pick a marble from the bag and put it into the jar
-once the jar is full, he will pick from the stack of reward cards (at which point the jar will empty back into the bag)
-he will keep the reward card in his wallet until he's ready to redeem it and will have to hand it over when it is redeemed
And then the process starts over!

Examples of character traits we look for include: Helpful, Cooperative, Kind, Patient, Generous, and Obedient. These sorts of things manifest in all sorts of ways, but so far some of the things he's gotten marbles for are helping Graham put his SuperWhy! costume on without being asked to help him, getting himself completely dressed by himself, cleaning up his bedroom without being harped on, buckling himself into his carseat, not complaining when asked to wait longer than expected, etc. So far we really like it. The best part for me is that it helps me stay focused on the positive behaviors he does rather than staying always focused on the negative ones and being a yelly/mean mom.

What it looks like when full.

Austin's reward cards.

Grandma and Dad Pass Through Dallas

It worked out well in mid-March that my dad was driving my grandma to her house in South Texas (about 12 hours south of me) and we got to see them on one of their pit-stops. They came for dinner, stayed a few hours, and then left Dallas the next morning. They didn't stop on their way back north, so I'm very glad we were available the Tuesday they swung through town!

Dad had barely sat down when Graham brought him this book and crawled into the space next to him to see the pictures. So cute!

Grandpa and his grandsons

We took the opportunity to take a whole bunch of generation pictures. The boys weren't totally into it, so we did the best we could, but I'm still extremely thankful we got these.

Whew! 4 Generations (with a baby in my belly!)..

My Aunt Mary had sent some presents for the boys and the baby, so we took some time after dinner to open presents. They had a blast, of course, because who doesn't love getting gifts!?

A Bible! for the two of them to share...

a hoodie!

Another hoodie! Perfect for next fall.

Grandma misses playing,
so she quickly sat down to our piano and played.

Then the boys got into jammies and had my grandma read them bedtime stories. It was such a sweet moment, I loved it!

Lastly, Grandma asked Seth if he would play a duet with her. They did such a good job! There's nothing quite as sweet as your husband playing a duet with your grandma. Heart. Melting.

Overall, I'm so glad we got to see them for even a little while. It's good for the soul, to see Your People whom you rarely get a chance to see. They came at a time where we were in the midst of going through handmedowns and sorting closets in preparation for the baby, so the house looked like a tornado went through it, but that's the nice thing about it being Your People, they don't care.

Love y'all! Thanks for stopping!

Christ 4 Kids "Open House"; spring 2015

Austin and Graham's school, Christ 4 Kids at Christ United Methodist in Farmers Branch, had their annual Open House and the preschool classes got to sing some songs for us, there was a silent auction, a bake sale, and a family dinner. (Just like last year.) Nonnie and Gramps came again this year and Austin did a great job performing his songs. He loves being on stage--his face just SHINES when he sees us watching him (as evidenced in the next few photos :-).

Here's a video of part of one of the songs.

Cute Pic Post -- February 2015

February was a rockin' month! The IF:Gathering was in February, which is my once-a-year time away from my home duties and dedicated time to spend with God. I did it at a local church in Coppell this year (NW didn't have it) and though IF was good, I wouldn't say that I'd attend that location again. They seemed to want to put on their own conference and use some of the IF material, when all I wanted was to hear all the IF speakers. These ladies are the blogs and books I follow, so missing Jen Hatmaker, Ann Voskamp, Shauna Niequist, Jennie Allen, Christine Caine, etc was a major let-down to me. I'm not sure the lady leading the conference in Coppell even knew some of them because she'd refer to one of these big-name-people-I-adore as "that girl." I'll be looking to do something different next year. Maybe host one for friends at my house? ;-) Given all of that and aside from Seth having to work that weekend and us calling in very-last-minute help from Nonnie & Gramps, it was a smooth weekend of me getting away without really getting away (aka spending any money).

I started off celebrating my birthday with some friends on the 9th at PF Changs. These two gals and I can shut.the.place.down! We meet at 6:30 and at 9:45 a waitress asked if she can get us To Go cups for our waters. ! Alrighty then... we get the hint! lol. We finish paying and then stand outside talking until like 11:30. Seth had joked he wanted me home by midnight, but it nearly came true, I was only home a handful of minutes ahead of his "curfew" for me. Anyways, at some point in the meal, I tell our waiter, Matt, that we're celebrating my birthday and he gives us the biggest slice of chocolate cake I have ever seen. 6 layers, this thing was. So we each ate 2 layers and it was more than enough dessert for the three of us to share. I shudder to think of the calories in that thing!

On my actual birthday, Seth cooked dinner for me (as is our tradition--birthday person picks the meal, the others cook it), and we had a chocolate cake for dessert. Just a box cake in a 9x13, but it was delish! As a part of the Spofford Adult Birthdays tradition, we went out with Kim, Cheryl, and Spencer on the 21st to Seasons 52. (David was sick and unable to join us.) Having mentioned we were celebrating my birthday that night (as if it wasn't obvious given all the presents I was opening), each person got to pick their own free dessert (Seasons 52 does little mini desserts in like a shot glass size)! Then, lastly, we had a date night as a part of our Date Night Swap-ing we do with the van den Dools on the 28th. We used a gift card for Texas Land & Cattle and got another free dessert--a warm brownie with ice cream upon mentioning my birthday. I officially had three birthday steaks and three free birthday desserts over the course of this month. February was good to me! (Except this nasty back and hip pain!)

I also traded in some junk gold and silver jewelry for cash which we then spent on essential oils and a diamond cross necklace for me. (The necklace was at Seth's suggestion! He figured if I'd gotten rid of all this jewelry I didn't want, I should have a timeless piece in place of some of the value.) We both love having the house smell nice and so even if we aren't sold on the actual health benefits of oils, we were interested in diffusing things to make the house smell nice. I do believe in a few now, because we've used them and seen the results, but I'm not making a case for all oils. Just FYI.

In short, the bi-polar weather left us stuck inside for a good many days and even though I had a great time celebrating my 34th all month long, I'm ready for spring! I can handle three of the four following variables: belly, 2 boys, back pain, and rain. I've literally skipped stuff because it's pouring rain and cold and I just cannot get enough energy together to make it happen. Even for this homebody, there's a limit to how much staying home I can handle!

Here are some pictures from our February:

The quote that has stuck with me the most from this year.
Thanks, Word Swag!

PF Changs dessert!

There was a lot of this.
I've started doing Movie Education Mondays.
This is not to be confused with watching educational movies,
but rather I'm schooling them on movies they need to know.
You know, the classics like Annie, Mary Poppins, and Sound of Music.

This was an Outfit Shot, but works also as Belly Shot.
Sorry for the poor lighting.

We fed ducks with friends at Mallon Park one day.
Funny-to-remember: after explaining that we needed to tear pieces off the slices,
Austin and Grace did a great job.
Graham, on the other hand, just tossed in the whole slice. lol

He says "Hello? Thijs!?"
"Thijs" is short for "Matthijs", his best friend.

After a few months of wondering what the heck was up with our electrical problems,
we called a professional. He started with this plug, and it was the culprit!
When he took it out of the wall, sparks were flying!

All smiles and wearing red for his school party.

Heatwave and Chase ready for action!
(Austin IS shorter than Eric,
but he's also not standing up straight here.)

We had so much fun at Matthijs' birthday party!

Picture Day 2015. Matching Outfits.
I'm at such a place of not being able to plan ahead,
I picked these outfits the night before.

We were expecting a house full that evening,
so they took a rare Thursday Afternoon nap.
And I found Austin asleep just like his Daddy--leg up in the air, sound asleep.

He might be 4, but he likes his sleep like his Momma.

On our way to celebrate my birthday with the Spoffords.
I love that I get to grow old with such a good looking man!

What's Who's the best seat in the house? Daddy!

It got cold. It snowed. We movied.

A break in the weather and we headed out for haircuts!

SUCH a ham, this one!

I had $7 haircut coupons,
but Seth thinks even $7 was too much to pay for these cuts.
I think my plan is to do every-other cut myself and use major coupons the other times.
These are what you'd call "Got our money's worth" cuts. 

Taking a stuck-inside-again funny selfie for friends.

Major thanks to Amazon for these boxes!

Here's a video of the box-usage.

After a huge delay, our kit finally came!

And here's an adorable video of Graham driving his car home from the park one day. So cute! I think we might need to work on keeping his eyes on the road ahead of him. lol