Snow Days and Book Delights

It's a tad bit snowy outside. Well, more like a Kansas-sized blizzard (which means we got more than 8 inches of snow). Believe me, after growing up in Pennsylvania where a blizzard meant you couldn't open the front door, Kansas snow dumps are pathetic. Nevertheless, it is unusual to get this much snow here. My kids are loving it.

No school.

Snow up over their knees = snowmen, snow forts, and snowball fights.

It also means hot cocoa, board games and books, books, books. My middle school daughter is devouring Fablehaven #5 by Brandon Mull, my high schooler is reading a variety of comic books and graphic novels, my munchkin who is down with the flu is making his way through Spirit Animals by Brandon Mull, and my youngest chicky girl is obsessed with a reading website her 1st grade teacher introduced her to - Tumble Books. She loves reading along with the books and animations.

And me? Yes, I'm reading - the final proof of Sweet Confections before it goes to print. Booyah! And hey, the cover reveal is NEXT WEEK! I can't believe it's all coming together. It's absolutely thrilling. But I keep trying to rein in the excitement, look ahead to what's on my to-do list, and enjoying the awesomeness of extra snow days with my munchkins. I hope you're all snuggled up with a book (or some other wonderful delight) on this beautiful winter day.

Family Fun Night

For our weekly family night, we talked about family fun and why it's important.

Together we went through our family photo albums. We talked about playing outside together, going on vacation, silly jokes we tell each other, attending events together, etc. It was fun to look back and retell stories about the kids when they were younger. Then we talked about why all those moments were important. Here's what the kids came up with:

• Having fun together as a family helps us to be good friends.
• Having fun together helps us to later be able to talk to each other about problems we might have.
• The fun moments are important so we can share the memories later with other family members, friends, future generations, and to have happy memories of family or friends who pass away.
• Fun family activities help us love each other more.

After the lesson portion of our family night, we had a family carnival. Each family member created a game to share. I love how creative the kids are! Here are some fun pictures from the evening:

Dad set up the Angry Birds game he built.

 Rob created a spinner game. 

You earned tickets depending on if you landed on an even or odd number.

MJ put together a fairy fashion design contest.

Here are the four judges:

And the contestants:

Our friends Barbie and Sarah took 1st and 2nd place!

Anna created a matching game. She even drew all the cards - with kitty cats & puppies. So cute!

Then Mom set up a bowling game. 

Afterwards, the kids all pretended the pins were light sabers (of course!). 

PRIZES!!!

There were prizes worth 1 or 2 tickets, so everyone had to spend their tickets wisely. 

No carnival is complete without cotton candy. YUM!

What family fun activities do you enjoy?

You Know It's Spring When . . .

1. Your friends start planning spring crafts. This is the craft we just did together.

2. My two youngest kids go out to play in the back yard, then bring back a bucket of worms they dug out of the ground.

3. The first few daffodils bloom! It's so nice to see color outside again!

4. Your neighbors leave their dogs outside all day while they're at work.

5. You search the medicine cabinet for a cure for your headache because the dogs are so excited to be outside with their "friends" that they don't stop barking. All. Day. Long.

6. The neighbor hires someone to install a really cool wooden play set & your kids constantly bug you for one, too. (Which has you reaching for more pain meds!)

7. Someone fires up the grill for the first time and uses WAY too much lighter fluid! (Close the windows - FAST!)

8. Instead of asking to play with Nintendo when homework is done, the kids ask to go outside to play.

9. My hubby forgets it's time to come home from work because it doesn't get dark before 5 pm.

and finally . . . You know it's spring when . . .

10. You start going through the shorts and t-shirts, only to discover your kids have grown another size - and unfortunately, so have you!

What are your "You Know It's Spring When" moments?

All Buttoned Up: A Family Good Works Incentive System

This year, our elementary school rolled out a new "incentive" program, called Brag Bands. Basically, if the kids get caught doing something good, then a teacher or other school worker can reward them with a Brag Band. At the end of each week, students tally up their bands then consult a classroom reward card. Each student gets to choose a reward within the amount of bands he has collected. Each class also had "big prizes" which a student can save their bands up to redeem.

My kids liked this system so much that in February, they devised their own "Brag Band" system for here at home. And let me just say, the work was much harder to earn rewards than my hubby or I would have put together. We told the kids we'd think about it and come up with something that would work better for our family. At the beginning of Spring Break, we unveiled our new plan:

Button Rewards

Yep, buttons. All sorts of pretty buttons.

My hubby and I put together a list of things the kids could do to help out at home. Each item has an assigned number of buttons to go with it. For example:

1    Homework Done without Complaining
1    Clean Room (not on Saturday because that's our family cleaning day)
1    Set the Table
1    Clear the Table
1    Put Dishes Away
1    Load Dishwasher
1    Recycling Out
2    Trash Out
2    Gather Laundry


We've even added a few things that are for a specific child. Our three-year-old is still working on potty training. We decided to add a reward just for her. If she stays dry until lunch time, she earns one button reward. Then if she stays dry until bed time, she can earn another button reward.

My hubby & I also decided that if we found the kids doing something extra nice for one of their siblings, we could reward them with buttons. And the items on the list above are not the only things they can do. Our three-year-old helped me sweep the kitchen one day, so she earned a set of buttons. The list we came up with has items my hubby and I wanted the most help with.

Many of the items listed above can be done by more than one child. Team work is definitely encouraged at our house. If two of our kids work together to set the table, they each earn button rewards.

Handing Out Buttons

There are two different types of buttons in our system - white buttons and colored buttons. When a reward is earned - let's say for putting the dishes away - the child earns 1 white button and 1 colored button.  If the reward is for taking the trash out, then the child would get 2 white buttons and 2 colored buttons. Earned buttons are then put in the child's jar (which are baby food jars we cleaned out & labeled with each child's name).

We started with 100 white buttons and 300 colored buttons. So far, that amount has worked for our four kids. My kids have had fun digging through the button container (which is an easy to open Rubbermaid container), searching for their favorite colors, small buttons, or big buttons. Some colors have gone really fast. The most popular colors have definitely been pink and purple.

Redeeming Awards

You've probably been wondering what's up with the two different types of buttons. My hubby and I decided that we wanted to reward the kids often, but also wanted them to learn how to work for a longer term goal.

So, the white buttons are used for rewards that require fewer buttons. This way, each child should earn at least a weekly reward, but hopefully two or three per week. When someone wants to choose a reward, they count out his buttons with Mom or Dad. Those buttons go back into Mom & Dad's button container. The "Short Term" rewards we came up with are:

Rewards - White Buttons 
5    Wii (30 extra minutes)
5    Computer (30 extra minutes)
5    DS (30 extra minutes)
5    Book Time
10    Call Grandma or Aunt Cheryl
10    Help Make Dinner
10    Dance in the Kitchen
15    Take a Bubble Bath
15    Have a Bowl of Ice Cream
20    Get a Sonic Slush
20    Get a Sundae
20    Rent a Movie
25    Go for a Bike Ride

If the white buttons are for "short term" rewards, then the colored buttons obviously get saved up for the "long term" rewards. We figured these would be redeemed once a month. The "long term" rewards we came up with are:

Big Rewards - Colored Buttons   
60    Visit Julie's House & Jump on her Trampoline
75    Invite a Friend for a Playdate
75    Buy a  Book
100   Invite a Friend for a Sleep-over
125    Go to the Pool
125    Go Roller Skating
125    Go to Monkey Bizness

So far, the button rewards have been working really well. It's been fascinating to see which chores the kids prefer to do. Our five-year-old has cleaned his room every morning before breakfast. Our ten-year-old loves to load & unload the dishwasher. The sink has been dish-free for a longer period of time than I've ever managed! Our eight-year-old has been clearing the table & our three-year-old loves to wipe off the table with a wash cloth after breakfast lunch, and dinner.

It's also been interesting to see who works well together and who doesn't. It's all about personality - who meshes well with each other, or clashes against each other. Kink of like in college when you have roomies. I'm hoping this system may even help the kids prepare for that future part of their lives.

So there you have it. The Ferguson Clan is all buttoned up - and loving it!

The Little Gym - Show Week!

Anna and Rob both got to take classes at The Little Gym of Olathe this past semester - and they absolutely LOVED it! A lot of that had to do with their instructor, Miss Delinda (who is also the owner of the gym). She's incredible! She so much fun, knows how to challenge the kids no matter what their motor skill level is, and encourages them to do their best and to have a great time doing it, too. She's awesome!

At the end of each semester, The Little Gym has a Show Week where the kids get to show off their new skills and receive medals. Here are some details about what Anna and Rob loved and lots of fun pics, too.

Anna

I was amazed at the things Anna was brave enough to do! Walking on the high balance beam, hanging on the uneven bars, flipping on the uneven bars, doing forward rolls on the balance beam . . . the list goes on and on. I'd have to say that Anna's three favorite things about The Little Gym are . . .

1) Forward Rolls. She really gets on a "roll" and does them over and over and over at the gym & at home.

2) Running around the big red mat during warm-ups. That girl can really get her tiny legs moving. She's one fast chick! She must be taking lessons from Isaac!

3) Bubble time at the end of class. Hey - what 1 1/2, almost 2 year old, doesn't love bubbles?

Didn't I say she loves those uneven bars?


I'm a comin' through the tunnel, here I come!

My beautiful brown-eyed girl.

Yoga bubble time!!!

Anna's class and their medals.

Rob

Rob is my four-year-0ld and let's just say that he loves The Little Gym for different reasons than Anna. He loves the tumbling and dare-devil tricks. His favorite three things about The Little Gym are . . .

1) Rolling around the uneven bars, and swinging off in a grand finale!

2) Cart-wheels and more cart-wheels!

3) Jumping, running, and falling onto soft mats. You know, the ones that cushion your tushy when you go BAM!

Seriously though, I was once again impressed with the gymnastic skills Rob demonstrated and caught onto so quickly. Here are some fun photos from Rob's show . . .

Singing hello with Miss Delinda.


Warming up with some monkey jumps!

Having fun with the parachute.

These are pics from Rob's tumbling routine. Rob's backward roll.


Rob's cart-wheel.

Rob's hand-stand.

Rob's balance beam routine was about a butterfly's life cycle.
Here he is the caterpillar, crawling up into his cocoon.
I don't have a picture of it, but Rob actually did crawl up into a ball position on the beam.

Here the caterpillar has come out of the cocoon
and spread his wings nice and wide!
Our camera wasn't taking pics fast enough, but the butterfly
walks down the beam, turns around to show off his new wings,
then "flies" away by jumping off.

Showing off on the uneven bars.
Rob in an unassisted front support hold.

An unassisted bucket hang. My little guy is very impressive!
Rob's favorite way to dismount is to swing back and forth,
then let go & land on his tush on the mat.

Medal time! We rock!


Hey, Mom & Dad . . . check out my awesome medal!

And now, for your viewing pleasure - two videos. One that's quite cute . . . the other is just funny, funny, funny!

I hope you enjoyed our update on our classes at The Little Gym of Olathe!

Singin's and Laughin's

We are a family who likes to sing and laugh . . . sometimes all at the same time!


Here are John, Isaac, Rob, and MJ singing camp songs. I didn't know they were so entertaining. Maybe I should sign up for Cub Scout Day camp.



Anna Banana loves to sing, too. Her favorite song is Five Little Ducks. Her preschool-aged brother taught it to her. This video gets us half way through the song.



And the grand finale - the Daddy Duck!

Ferguson Fashion Show

Our 8 year old daughter asked for dress up clothes for Christmas this year. Do you have any idea how expensive dress up clothes are for older kids? Holy guacamole! Thankfully, my daughter told me her wish list the day before Halloween. So Halloween and the day after, I was out bargain hunting for costumes marked 50-75% off.

Ta-da! Dress up clothes!

I not only found awesome costumes - everything from Hannah Montana to Renaissance dresses - but also some very cool accessories. Glittery microphones, a child's long blond wig, fairy shoes, princess wands, and fuzzy hats, purses, and boas. Heck, I even found Star Wars Light Sabers for all the kids for $1 each! But we'll save that for another post . . .

My daughter was ecstatic! She's been dressing up and putting on fashion shows ever since. And she's not the only one who's gotten into it.

Our oldest son is too macho to dress up, but I guess being the fashion show announcer and using the microphone is pretty cool. Although, I must admit that he sounds more like a circus announcer than a fashion show announcer. Shh! Don't tell him!

Here are some fabulous pictures and an absolutely hilarious video for you to enjoy . . .

Introducing Roberta the Rock Star . . .

Our son sure looks good in a dress, don't you think? He can sing too - check out the video below!







Our oldest son's new Bionicle even got into the fashion show! See how these incredible wings accent his outfit and coloring?


And now introducing our Super Model, MJ . . .



Very well done, everyone. Take a bow!!!

Super Model MJ and her Announcers Isaac and Rob.

Labor Day Weekend Recap & Preschool

My oh my. Labor weekend was fun! I'm posting LOTS and LOTS of pictures so you can enjoy our adventures.

To kick off the weekend, we participated in Isaac's Cub Scout Space Derby:


Check out Isaac's totally awesome rocket! He told me we were making a friendly dragon . . . then he told all his friends it was a dinosaur. :) Isaac did all the work except for the fine details (eyes & claws). The box is an ocean and the dragon is sitting on his island - or at least that what he told me it was!




Well, look at those two cute chickies!


The hard part about the Space Derby is that all the rockets have to be wound up the same amount. After trying to get Isaac's wound up to 100, I lost my grip on the propeller and cut my finger. All the wives got really smart and left the winding to the Dads after that.

During the wait between races, the kids all ran around playing chase and other fun games. Poor Rob. He couldn't keep up with all the kids. So I gave him my camera to go take pictures to his heart's content. Let me tell you, he took about 100. I thought you'd enjoy a few . . .


Anyone missing any body parts?


Hmm . . . that's a little spicy for Rob, don't ya think?


This was actually a pretty good picture of me & Anna Banana.


The kids really enjoyed hamming it up for our little four-year-old photographer.



At some point, the camera changed hands and MJ took a turn:


Ah, yes . . . Mr. Rob sucking on his thumb . . .


Some of the Cub Scouts hangin' out.


This is Isaac's former Wolf den leader. He's now in the Bear den.


Isaac playing the Lego Star Wars game on his Nintendo DS. We thought this would be the best way for him to not get super bored or overwhelmed by all the noise and echoes.


Hmm . . . two Robs sticking their tongues out! Rob above is from our congregation's bishopric (he's perfect for working with the kids, don't you think?) and the Rob below is our family clown.




Look, even Strawberry Shortcake made an appearance!


This is the actual loading dock for the rockets to race.


Anna playing with one of the young women.


Some space derby races . . .












At the end, each of the boys received an award for their rocket. This is Isaac receiving his award from John.

Whew! Didn't I warn you - lots of pictures! And there's still more to come.

We've been experimenting with Anna's hair. Doesn't she look totally cute? This is when she was getting ready for church this past Sunday . . .





Over the weekend, we also worked on my new office area in the kitchen. Here's some pics of John workin' hard . . .


John had to remove some of the supports under the bar to make way for the cabinet that will be installed along the side of the bar.




Here's the cabinet. It still needs to be painted. So far, John has installed a side door so he can access the wires at the back of the computer and a sliding door at the bottom so it's easier to move the computer in and out. There are also two adjustable shelves for the top of the cabinet. And of course, a door to hide it all. :)

And now, to wrap it all up, here are pics of Rob's first day of preschool:


Rob & Mrs. Steinhouser. Rob totally loves having her as his teacher!


The first place Rob goes each day . . . right to the puzzle tables.


Of course, all of his other friends go right to the fun stuff they can dig in . . . today it's macaroni noodles.

Anna and I left Rob to enjoy his morning at preschool. While he was having fun, so were Anna and I. Four of the other preschool moms from last year came over to my house and we all had breakfast to celebrate the start of school. We each brought something yummy to share and enjoyed talking the morning away! Then back to school to pick up our munchkins . . .


Anna Banana likes coming to the preschool, too. She gets to play outside while we wait to pick Rob up. Today, it was really rainy, so she got a bit wet.



I hope you were able to wade through all the pics. We had a great Labor Day weekend and we hope you did, too.