One of those days

I have a sick baby.

The older kids are driving me crazy.

My house is a mess.

The laundry is piling up in the laundry room.

I'm hungry and we "have nothing to eat" (that's my pregnancy talking, we have plenty).

I'm emotional and everything is bothering me.

I know that tomorrow will (probably) be better but today I'm just so discouraged. I was up almost all night with Sylas... he had a fever and a terrible rash all over his body. We went to the doctor this morning and found out that it's a viral infection and we'll just have to wait it out. My poor baby is miserable and extra cuddly. The extra cuddly part is great, the miserable part is not so great.

The pictures don't do the rash any justice but you can see it a little! 

Sylas slept with me for the first time ever last night.... he slept across my neck while I awkwardly laid with my head at a weird angle trying not to move so he could get some sleep. It was the only way he could get comfortable apparently. LOL! 

As for the older kids driving me crazy..... telling them to be "quiet" while Sylas naps is the equivalent to telling them to scream in my living room. At least according to them. Asking them to pick up after themselves is definitely a crime. OH, and that jello I made and put in the refrigerator to set? They put their nasty little fingers all over the top of it to "see if it was done" (it wasn't, I could have told them that if they had only asked). Plus, they're arguing... kicking each other out of these great business ventures the other comes up with, which leads to tears from Peyton. Someone stole a string off a handmade boat, which led to more tears from Peyton. SCHOOL STARTS IN EXACTLY ONE WEEK!!! I'm not excited or anything. ;)

Positive Reinforcement

Grounding, taking away privileges, etc. will only get you so far with kids. With my kids, it doesn't seem to work at all. I still do it because if they are misbehaving or being disobedient, I will not allow them to get away with it. However, it isn't very successful in helping them make better choices the next time around.

Because of this, I needed something positive. My kids respond best to positive reinforcement and we didn't have a system in place for this. I created one and it's already working wonders.

It's simple... I just used scrap paper and wrote out points. I made slips of paper worth 1 point, 5 points, and 10 points. Then I used more scrap paper to write out rewards that the kids can "buy" with their points. They simply save their points up and turn them in for a reward. They are mostly very simple rewards, but there are some better rewards for more points.

We just started this morning, and already Nevaeh has earned 5 points! She cleaned the living room and vacuumed without being asked or required to do so. I'll take it! I'm sure she's working her way towards a trip to the movie theater or all-skate. 

And I'm having another one?!

This is my feeling about kids today.

We already have 3, and another coming in October.
It gets soooo hectic around here!!

The kids conned us into having friends spend the night last night.
Nevaeh asked first, and we said yes.
Then Peyton's friend Logan from our neighborhood came over and he wanted to spend the night, too.
How could we say no?

THEN, two of Logan's sisters wanted to spend the night, as well...
and how can we say no when their brother is spending the night?
I let Chris make the final decision on that since I had to get my glucose test done this morning.
He said it was fine. His problem, right?

Well, I babysit two of my nephews during the day so they came over this morning at 7:30.
Chris had to make breakfast for 10 kids. HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Oh how funny.

He sent me a text while I was sitting in the waiting room at the hospital that said,
"only one friend per kid is allowed to spend the night from now on".
Oh he had a good time, I'm sureeee.

Summer Time Adventures

The summer struggle... 

The kids seemed to be getting restless ALREADY and it's only July! 

I was desperate for new things to do with them so I checked out the library that is literally a 3-4 minute walk from our house. It turns out they offer a TON of activities for kids of all ages. Thank God. 

Yesterday we went to a minion party. I took my three kids and my niece and they all had a blast. Sylas couldn't really participate in any of the activities but he had a blast interacting with other kids and watching all of the excitement going on. The other 3 just had a blast in general. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of the actual activities because I had my hands full.

The first activity was making minion bookmarks. It was so easy but required the kids to do a little thinking WHILE being creative. They turned out really cute. The next activity was pin the eyeball on the minion. I DID get pictures of that. I'll post the pictures at the end. The third activity was bowling. Minions were made out of 2-liter soda bottles and the kids used miniature soccer balls to bowl the minions down. After that, they made minions out of toilet paper rolls, construction paper, and eyeballs that were glued on. How creative! Then the kids all went outside, broke up into groups based on age, and played a silly game that I didn't really understand. They got to run around, burn some energy, and have fun with other kids, so it was a success.

Today we went back to the library for a thing called Birds of Prey. A woman came in with a hawk, a bald eagle, an owl, and I believe one other bird. These birds had been injured in the wild and so they were unable to survive in their natural environment. The kids got to see them all and learn all about them. It was really great. Peyton lovedddd this while Nevaeh didn't so much. She bailed half way through to go and choose some books to check out. Win, win. 

I am so relieved that we found these activities. It's good for them to get out of the house and the library is the perfect place. Peyton and Nevaeh aren't big fans of reading so it's usually such a chore to get them to sit down and relax with a book but today they both signed up for summer reading and chose a few books to check out. Peyton chose a book about sharks and a book about snakes. Perfect!! As soon as we got home, they both sat down to read while I made lunch. I sent Chris a picture of them reading and he was literally shocked. I hope they keep it up! I hate forcing them because then how much are they really going to enjoy it? Thank God for the library's huge selection and excellent children's area. 

What have all of you done to keep your kids busy and occupied this summer? I need more suggestions!! :) 

What a surprise!! Peyton ran into his best friend at the minion party!! They are holding the minions made from toilet paper rolls.

Sylas had to get in some nuggle time with his sissy while he ate his snack.