Missing in action

Yes, I know. I've been missing in action. I have had my nose buried in this book, Cutting for Stone, for the past few days, and I'm only halfway through. Every page of this book is filled with such vivid imagery and the characters are so alive to me that I must force myself to put it down every now and then. Even though I want to skip ahead to find out what's going to happen, I'm afraid of missing something of the beautifully drawn characters, so I refuse to rush through this story. A short excerpt from the San Francisco Chronicle:

Not a word is wasted in this larger-than-life saga. ... Verghese expertly weaves the threads of numerous story lines into one cohesive opus. The writing is graceful, the characters compassionate and the story full of nuggets of wisdom.

I waited until this book came out in paperback, which was just recently, before I bought it. I cannot recommend it highly enough if you want a big (667 pages) and absorbing book to read. I'll be back when I'm done!
:-)

Books to Have in Your Collection!

I had a gift card and used it to buy these wonderful relationship books. They have fun quotes, wonderful relationship basics and examples of how to apply them. Its nice to have extra information to keep the love going.
Book 1: "The 100 Simple Secrets of Great Relationships" By David Niven

Book 2: "What Happy Couples Do" By Carol J. Bruess, & Anna D.H. Kudak

Date Night with Daddy

I am so excited for our kids to have date night with their Dad. This will be such a great bonding time for them. I am blessed to have the opportunity to stay at home with our children and have that 1 on 1 with each child. Since my husband works long and hard I wanted him to have the same opportunity.

I love how this date idea box turned out & I know it will help . To figure out the order, it was best to go by what day they were born in the month {Aulina: 1th will go week 1 / Taidan: 5th will go week 2 / Audra: 7th will go week 3 / Auri: 22nd will go week 4}. The dice is for them to roll and what ever number comes up, thats the section they will look in to find the idea (ideas came from -www.coolestdates.com) for their date. After they use that idea they should journal on the back and then put the card to the back of the pile of ideas.


1-I just got a file box, headband and flower(dollar store finds!).

2-After taking apart the flower, I took one of my larger scrapbooking brads and poked it thru the flower and headband.


3-Fold the top of the flower under the headband.


4-Using the blank side of the 3 x 5 cards I cut patterned paper to fit.


5-I used these tabs I found at the office store(they were .30 on clearance!) and labeled them with a permenant marker.


6-All 12 sections labeled. 1: indoor, 2: adventurous, 3: free, 4: outdoor, 5: educational, 6: theme, 7: games, 8: playful, 9: cheap, 10: daddy's choice, 11: sporty, 12: kids choice.


7-In each section I took the blank side and wrote the date idea (I like my handwriting and its a great keepsake) so it frees up the back side with lines. This is where each child can journal in (for their box) their thoughts and feelings from the date.


8-I made a label to attach to the top{ "Name" date night with Dad} to personalize it.

It is so important to have that 1 on 1 with each child so they feel LOVED & that they BELONG to your family.

Silence of the yams

I've been reading Michael Pollan's latest book, Food Rules, when I'm on the bus or sitting quietly at home. It's entirely different from his last two books that I have read, The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. Both of those books are long and involved, with lots of references and places to go for more information. That is not to say I didn't enjoy both of them immensely. This one is based on his seven words about how to choose what to eat:

Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much.

The book is divided into those three parts, with little sayings at the top of each of 64 Food Rules. The title of this blog is from Rule #8:

Avoid food products that make health claims.

He says that really good foods don't need to make health claims, because they are not usually in a package. Only the big food manufacturers have enough money to get FDA-approved health claims for their products. From p. 19 of the book:

The healthiest food in the supermarket -- the fresh produce -- doesn't boast about its healthfulness, because the growers don't have the budget or the packaging. Don't take the silence of the yams as a sign they have nothing valuable to say about your health.

Another thing I like about the book is that he isn't an absolutist, he just asks that you read the book and take at least one thing from each of the three sections. The book takes only a short while to read, but it's a lovely thing to carry around with you to start conversations. Plus it helps to be chuckling at some witty thing Pollan wrote to lighten up your day. Eating well doesn't need to be a grim business!
:-)

Date Night on a Budget

I hosted a poll this month about DATE NIGHTS because, I don't know about you, but I was curious to see how often the average married couple go on weekly date nights. Just curious! I love and cherish date nights with my husband, and we usually never miss doing something once/week. But lately we've not been able to afford to go "out" as often, and I noticed from the poll that many of us are experiencing that same issue, (which is no surprise with the way the economy has been.) I know that (for my marriage) date nights and/or "alone-times" are absolutely necessary for us for a super strong & happy marriage. So if we don't have babysitter and dinner/movie $$ in our budget, it's time to get CREATIVE!!

That's why I am so glad to have found Cher, over at

Cher has tons of awesome, creative date night ideas for those of us on a budget!! I love one of her great posts about dating in marriage, amongst many others. She and Heather think alike with their idea-keeping books!


Also, my friend Jo (young mom/wife) shared with me a great idea that she and her husband do for date nights on a budget (in her words)...
"My husband and I are in a 'co-op' with three other couples. Each couple takes all the kids for one Friday night a month and then we have the other three nights to go out. No one in our group leaves more than two kids (some of us with newborns take our babies) and rarely does it work out that ALL the kids are there due to other conflicts. It might not work out for larger families. But we love it, and the kids love it to. They look forward to it all week."
Thanks for the great inspiration, Jo!

Date Night Polls

February 2010

My man and I go on date nights without the kids:
(142 votes)

Every Week- 48 (33%)
Once/Month- 40 (28%)
Rarely Ever- 54 (38%)


We don't get out alone much because: (66 votes)

No Babysitter- 19 (27%)
Afraid to leave kids w/ a sitter- 10 (15%)
Can't afford it right now!- 27 (40%)
Too busy- 7 (10%)
All of above- 4 (6%)
Are you kidding me?...
We ♥ date night!!- 18 (27%)

Interesting results! Please feel free to share your thoughts and feelings about this poll. We love your honesty in these annonymous polls, and it's so fun/interesting to hear some of the stories behind the votes!! Remember that if you share, please keep it positive and uplifting! ♥

Chinscraper trail

You know I can never resist a picture of a mossy tree, and this one is no exception. (Click any picture to enlarge.) The day was a little rainy and overcast when we started out, and although the forecast was for it to stop raining, I didn't expect any views today. There's a reason this trail we took in the Chuckanuts is called "Chinscraper trail." Fourteen Senior Trailblazers started the hike on an old logging road that winds moderately uphill. I say "moderately," because when we turned off to start the hike up Chinscraper, the uphill got decidedly steeper. We gained 1,800 feet in around three miles, and many places where a switchback would have been welcome, the trail just went straight up. I had to stop several times to catch my breath.

By the time we reached Gates Overlook, there was little to see except the fog that had rolled in, and we were drenched with sweat from having pushed so hard to get up Chinscraper trail to the overlook. Usually you have a great view of Bellingham Bay from here. After a short break and time to add clothing, we decided to hike to Fragrance Lake for lunch, giving us a round trip of a little more than 9 miles by the time we would get back to the trailhead.

Once we reached Fragrance Lake, the sun broke out, and by the time we headed back, there wasn't a cloud in the sky! Although it was a little chilly, we had a nice lunch and some of us played around near the water. Mike always has his umbrella with him on rain days, and this was no exception. We call him "Mikey Poppins" for obvious reasons.

The completely clear skies didn't last long, though, and on the way back a few of us took a quick side trip (just a quarter mile) to a viewpoint that I couldn't resist, since there was a possibility for a picture! This was taken at the viewpoint looking out over Bellingham Bay. You can see the clouds have already started to roll back in.

All in all, it was a very satisfying day, with rain, wind, fog, and even sunshine! To hike with these special friends of mine is always a pleasure, too. I am truly blessed.
:-)

{You + Me} = Date Night

I absolutely LOVE going on dates with my hubby. I love to get all dolled up (wearing white pants even)and feel like a WOMAN and not a MOM for a night. It truely reminds me often why I fell in love with him. Its just us and we can feel/act like teenagers. How FUN is that! To prevent us from getting into a rut of going to "dinner and a movie" I decided to make a Binder of Ideas.



I organized the ideas into categories with some inspiration and more inspiration. To alleviate the burden of one of us always planning every Friday night date I've broken it down week to week.

Week {1} Temple

Week {2} Heather's Choice

Week {3} Temple

Week {4} Guillermo's Choice

Week{5} At Home

The Inside. . .

I just cut some paper to staple over the existing tabs.


The deocrated dividers. Section labels are: Babysitter Information, Fun Ways to Ask, Fun with Couples, Fun ways Romantically, & Fun Indoors & Out.


These are a couple of books I have for added ideas. They are wonderful.

I believe this is {one} of the most important things you can do in your marriage. I always try to remind myself that I want to know him when I'm old & gray.

Good Luck in your Dating Adventures!

Bodies: The Exhibition

Today Smart Guy and I joined 32 others for a Senior Center outing to Seattle and this: Bodies: The Exhibition. I don't know if you know much about it, but these are actual bodies that were prepared using a process called polymer preservation. From a book I bought about the exhibit:

In this process, tissue water is first removed by submersion in acetone. Then the acetone, too, is removed in a vacuum chamber. During this step in the process, known as impregnation, the tissue spaces within the specimen, formerly filled with acetone, become filled instead with liquid silicone rubber. Lastly, during a step called curing, the silicone rubber is treated with a catalyst and hardened. The end product is a rubberized specimen that can be easily examined without any chance of it deteriorating due to the natural decay that otherwise would have rendered it unfit for study or public view.

This is an amazing exhibit. I had heard that the bodies were of Chinese prisoners, so the first question I asked of one of the roaming white-coated staff was where the bodies were obtained. I found that, contrary to the rumors, these bodies had been Chinese citizens whose bodies were unclaimed and had died a natural death. She told me none of them had shown any signs of having died any other way, except for a few that had signs of disease, which we saw: healthy lungs versus a smoker' lungs, cirrhotic livers, breast cancer.

In many cases we saw the entire body preserved as in the picture above, from head to toe, with parts removed in order to see inside. Although it sounds really gross, it wasn't at all; instead, it was beautiful to see how elegant and complex our bodies really are. We first went to the Seattle Cheesecake Factory for lunch (beforehand!) and after seeing the exhibit, we were all picked up outside by our huge bus to head home to Bellingham.

Our wonderful escort from the Senior Center, Bernyce, was a pleasure to have around shepherding us from place to place. In my opinion, this is definitely the way to experience Seattle: no drive, no parking, and zero hassle once we were there. If you get a chance to see this exhibit, or if you already have, I'd love to know what YOU thought of it.
:-)

Let's Play Music!

I've mentioned this program before, but I just have to mention it again because it is one of the COOLEST things I have ever heard of and been involved in!!


This is a program called LET'S PLAY MUSIC. It's a 3 year program for children, teaching them MUSIC through songs and play. They start off learning basic music theory with the Solfeggio syllables and hand signs (do, re, mi, etc.) They learn to play on "bells" at first and learn the music staff and major/minor scales. There is actually SO much they learn in 3 years that I really can't even explain it all!! By the end of 3 years, the children will be composing/playing their own songs on the piano. WOW!!

My little girls are in their first year of this program, and I am EXTREMELY pleased and impressed!! I only wish my boys could have gotten this opportunity as well. It is seriously the NEATEST program ever in my opinion!! We have such a FABULOUS teacher here in Meridian, ID named Tina G. who we go to. There are teachers all over the US, and continuing to grow!

You can check out the Let's Play Music website for more info on the program. Also, if you hurry and stop by their blog TODAY they are doing a GIVEAWAY for a FREE METRONOME!! I entered, of course!

Dinner Time Fun

We had one of the best dinners; not because of what we ate but because we had great conversation! I found these alphabet tater tots at either Walmart or Winco {sorry-can't remember}. So at dinner we each took a turn with one of our "letters" and said something that we loved in general, then something we loved in nature, then we all had to spell something.

We also did our usual question of "Who did you serve today?" {I love this question! It helps them to THINK outside of themselves and DO for others from day to day}

Lovin' A to Z

Last year while my girls were on track break from school we would do this daily activity. Its an A to Z of the things we love.


I just got those $1.00 photo books from Walmart and cut cardstock to fit in each slot. Then they took alphabet stickers, going in order, placed them on the cardstock. We decorated the outside with a vinyl name and some {free} mandalas (they were excited to color these and make it their own). There is even extra space to put some pictures of them doing activities with the letters.

A to Z
Then each day of the alphabet we would take some time to just think and write. Its fun to read what they wrote of what they love at this time in their lives. Since kids' "loves" change often I was thinking of doing it as a yearly tradition.

Bucket list

Well, this is embarrassing. Several of my blogging buddies wrote down a list of things they want to accomplish before they "kick the bucket." This idea was popularized recently with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman starring in a movie by the same name. I haven't seen it yet, but I'll probably put it in my Netflix queue and watch it sometime.

I couldn't think of anything I haven't already done to put on a list of things I want to experience before the Big Sleep. Nothing. Nada. I've slept under the stars without a tent, made love in the surf, kissed in the rain, run a marathon (well, a half marathon anyway), traveled to exotic places (more than once), bicycled across the country, made a few skydives, held a wild hawk in my hands, and found a nice place to retire after having had a satisfying career.

But then, I realized there are LOTS of unaccomplished things in my life, things that I would definitely like to attain before I die: to find a constant peaceful state of mind, to become a master of meditation, to learn how better to deal with the aging process, and finally, to let go of old hurts and grudges so that I will be squeaky clean when I pass over.

I'm sure there are more, but I am also inspired by an excerpt from a poem written by Chief Dan George, a Coast Salish native who became a movie actor at the age of sixty and even got an Academy Award nomination for his part in Little Big Man. He wrote poetry and helped people better understand the First Nations people.

Between the first campfire and the last
of each day I searched for food,
made shelter, clothing and weapons
and always found time for prayer.

Inspiration can always be found by studying the lives of those who came before, so that's my final entry on the list: learn from my ancestors.
:-)

AAA for Husbands

In no particular order, here is what the AAA stands for (as learned in a marriage class by Carleen T):
Admiration
Appreciation
Affection
A good quote about marriage is from Pres. Gordon B. Hinkley... "I am satisfied that a happy marriage is not so much a matter of romance as it is an anxious concern for the comfort and well being of one's companion."

I agree with this quote! We ALL have needs. I know I do, and I feel so blessed and grateful to have a husband who desires to fulfill my needs, and who is truly "concerned for [my] comfort and well being". He is an amazing man!

Husbands have many needs in marriage as well, many of the same and some a little different. In my world, we understand that a man has three main responsibilities as a husband and father, in which I refer to as the THREE P's:
Preside, Provide and Protect.

As a wife and mother I am responsible for nurturing my husband and children. So I like to think of the THREE A's as a way to nurture the THREE P's...

Note: I'm no expert on being the perfect wife, but I sure love to learn ways I can be the best wife for my awesome husband!

1. Husbands need to feel Admired. This, to me, means to honor him and his manhood. To NOT be his "mother" (which, come on ladies, admit it. We've all done that.) We are his "help-meet" (as quoted in Genesis 2:18), which means that we are to lift, sustain and support him as a leader (presider) in our home.

2. Husbands need to feel Appreciated. We need to let him know by our words and actions that we appreciate and respect him in all he does, and NOT criticise him for his weaknesses!!

3. Husbands need Affection. We need to allow ourselves to be protected by him. He needs physical touch. This is sometimes the hardest one for me after being climbed on by kids all day long. But my husband really appreciates a hug and a kiss once in a while to know that I care. Of course, we all know how our husbands need that "physical" part of marriage... Sheesh! (But giving of ourselves in that way is truly a gift to them and will strengthen a marriage like no other... especially if we can find a way to enjoy it too! Just my quick 2-cents. hehe.)

Here is a little something that I started a few years ago on Valentine's day to show my husband how much I love and appreciate him...
I randomly add to it so he always knows how much those little things he does really mean to me. It is not his love language, but it is mine, and my way of expressing little thoughts of appreciation to him. The best part? It really helps me focus on my husband's good qualities and realize why I love him so much.

Alien invasion

Playing around with Picnik (a "free" photo editing software that pulled me in quickly to get the $25/year premier version). I was amused by this picture thinking that these mushrooms really DO look like aliens. Or what I imagine aliens might look like; I'm not sure I've ever seen one.

Humor is not one of my strong points, and every time I read a funny blog I think I'll try it out again. Sorry to say, all my readers are going to be subjected to this every once in a while. I do believe there are aliens out there, a product of my many years of reading science fiction.

What do you think? Are there such things as aliens? And how would we know them anyway, since they would be, um, alien?
:-)

Three wonderful jumps

Yes, three! We arrived at the Drop Zone right around 11:00am, to find Linny already there and organizing the first jump of the day. In this picture, Smart Guy and I are boarding the plane, a sweet little Cessna Caravan that takes us up two miles above the earth, with Puget Sound in one direction, the Olympic Mountains and Mt. Baker in other directions, all of which were clear as a bell on that first jump. It was a bit chilly on the ride up, but heck, it is February after all!

Once we landed, Linny and I went to pack our parachutes quick as we could, so we could make what we thought would be our second and last jump of the day, since Linny had to leave for work by 3:00pm. The jump was so much fun and after we landed and started to pack, Linny came running over to me (it was 1:45pm) asking if I could pack quickly so we might make yet another jump!

I did a quick but thorough pack job and up we went at 2:30pm, landing right at 3:00! We managed to say a few goodbyes and there was Linny, running like crazy at 3:20pm to make it to her job (she's an usher in Seattle for some major venue). Linny is five years younger than me, has more than 3,000 skydives, almost all of them at the Snohomish Drop Zone, and is called the "Queen Mother" -- she has never arrived at the Drop Zone in all these years without having baked a goody that everybody enjoys until it's gone. She organizes skydives,  and she never fails to give the pilot a dollar bill when we get ready to take off. She says she will take it back if the pilot scares her; otherwise it's theirs to keep. There's nobody quite like her, and I love to see my cellphone ring with a call from Linny telling me to get myself and my equipment to the DZ: the weather's great! My day was, well, perfect.
:-)

Going skydiving

Well, the season is coming! Tomorrow I'm heading up to Snohomish to enjoy my first skydive of the decade, unless it's too cold and I chicken out. It should be in the low to middle 50s on the ground, which means it will be (brrrr!) cold at altitude and in the airplane.

This is a picture of Smart Guy and me coming in to land at Harvey Field in Snohomish after a skydive last summer. It was much warmer that day than it will be tomorrow, but I thought I'd like to show you our pretty canopies, both a brand called Stiletto. They used to be state of the art, and nowadays they are considered to be older technology, but they're still hot!

My need and desire to skydive has diminished considerably over the years, but I still get a great deal of enjoyment from the activity, especially when I have friends who smile at me in freefall and, after we land, come over to enjoy the grins and smiles from our activity in the air. There's nothing like it. Now I'm not trying to convince anybody to do this, but if you do get a chance to make a tandem jump, you might get hooked, like I did. After all, I was 47 when I made my first jump, and I'm still at it twenty years later. Not making very many, but after more than 4,000 of them, and 64 hours of accumulated freefall time, I'm definitely not on the first (or second, or third) rush of excitement.

That's not to say I'm not excited and feeling butterflies, thinking of making a jump after five months on the ground. I made my last one at the end of September, and then I crashed and hurt my shin while hiking! I'll let you know how it goes, and how it felt after a layoff. Have a great weekend!
:-)

Dreaming in Technicolor

from Deviant Art

Does everybody dream in Technicolor? I know I do. Last night I had the most vivid dream, and I woke up thinking it had happened in real life. It took me a couple of minutes to put together than I had been dreaming. 

I do wonder if I am normal or not. Not only are my dreams in vivid color, at least parts of them, but it's almost always night in my dreams. Smart Guy says of course, we ALL dream in color, and it's B&W that is not normal, because that's not the way the world looks. But I do wonder, you know?

I used to record my dreams as soon as I woke up. If I did it before I was in a full waking state, I can re-read what I wrote and remember the dream. Here's a long-ago dream from my journal:

I dream I become a fashion designer. There are two women who see me with a mannequin, which I am draping with purple and red material. They tell me I have talent and offer me a job, which I begin immediately. I am told to step into high heels and start answering the phone. I am confused and excited, and call my family to tell them I have started a new career.

I also notice that if I record a dream when I first awaken, it is always in the present tense. Once I've been awake for awhile, I write it down in past tense. Sometimes it makes me wonder if our "real" selves don't exist in the time-space continuum at all but in some other place that we get to visit in our dreams. Just wondering out loud.

:-)

Love Games

Here are some great Love Games to play together with the HEART candy. Our kids have a blast!(we usually have to play the same game a few times before going to the next one)

Game 1{Steal My Heart} Set a bowl of candy hearts on a flat surface within easy reach of the players & hand each person a pair of chopsticks. Set a timer for about 1-2 minutes. At "GO" players start removing hearts from the bowl using only their chopsticks, placing the candies in front of them. When time is up, the player with the most hearts wins!

Game 2{Memory} Try to find matching pairs with the conversation hearts. Then turn them over and take turns trying to find the match. When you find a match you can either eat it right away or wait and count them all up!

Game 3{Calendar Drop}Take a February calendar and place it on the floor. "Tape" a line for everyone to stand behind. Everyone playing needs to pick a different color of the heart candy. Taking turns for about 5 minutes, players need to throw their colored candy onto the calendar. What ever day it lands on it your score for that turn. When time is up whoever has the highest score wins. (You could laminate the calendar for year to year use and it could also be used as a placemat)
Game 4{Tell A Story}Give each player a certain amount of candy hearts. Give some time to make up a story. When everyone is ready, then share the stories.
Game 5{Tower of Hearts}Each player needs to have a handful of conversation hearts. The object is to stack the tallest tower of candy hearts in 30 seconds. When the time is up count how many hearts you have in your tower. The one with the most wins.

Have FUN!

Mt. Erie and Sugarloaf

Today, eighteen Trailblazers set out from Heart Lake in Skagit County (south of Bellingham) to hike under eight miles but up (and down) 2,500 feet to the top of Mt. Erie and Sugarloaf Mountain. The hike is lovely, along leaf-strewn and ferny trails in the Anacortes Community Forest Land. Last year when we did the same hike, it was overcast and dreary in Bellingham, and although we hiked up above the clouds, we stayed cold all day long, even in the sun.

Not today. it was sunny and calm all day, with the temperature somewhere near 60 (15 C), even at the summit (1,263 feet). The only disconcerting part is hiking all that way and then coming to a paved road, which goes the entire way to the top. Of course we didn't care about that, we wanted the hiking experience. Here's a picture of our lunch spot, with the hikers all scattered around, commenting on how it wasn't even necessary to put on our jackets when we reached the summit, because it was so toasty warm in the sunshine.

 The views at the top were new to me, because last year we didn't see much other than a few features hovering through the fog when it would lift now and then. I have never seen Glacier Peak look so beautiful before. It's not easily seen on any of our other hikes, but here it is in all its glory. This is what I missed last year!

And Linda, one of our hikers from the Ferndale contingent, pointed out this fungus to me on the way up, which I chose to capture on the way back down. (I would have had to hike back down to take it earlier.) It's really quite lovely, isn't it? (You can click any picture to enlarge.) All in all, we had a great day, I'll sleep well tonight, and I'm even feeling a little sunburned!

:-)

A mixed bag

First of all, I'd like to share a picture that Smart Guy sent me yesterday, showing some REAL snow. I'm not sure where it was taken, but I think it's a little more than the East Coast has right now. I know it's "somewhere in Switzerland." That's one strong roof!

And guess who's coming to dinner at my place? This Cooper's Hawk. I have gotten a little bit used to the fact that he sees my bird feeders as HIS dinner, and he's right: he's a hawk, a raptor after all, and his dinner is usually one of my well-fed bird treats. It's the way the system works. I took this picture after he swooped in and missed. He hung around for awhile longer before flying off, but I have seen him before able to catch one on the wing. Amazing how much he blends into the tree, isn't it? (Click to enlarge)

Finally, I just read two rather distressing posts by some people I follow regularly. The first was from Tiff over at Still Seeking Sanity. She's got four young kids and went to Chuck E. Cheese and wrote this post about her experience there. It makes me totally and completely scared about the future of our next generation. She wrote that some parents just stood by and let their children rifle through other people's things and actually watched them try to hurt other kids, without a word to them. This is wrong.

And Jeff over at My Life... Lived My Way, who is a teacher and wrote a post called "Tired" relates how discouraged he is about the way people are not standing up to, well, anything. (Warning: he uses the F word in this post.) I never thought I would say this and really mean it, but I truly am wondering "what is the world coming to?" And especially, what is OUR world coming to?

Dialogue Books, "Talk Time" Tradition, and A Gift For YOU!!!

Dialogue Books
I have a friend (with the same first and last name as me, go figure, but she goes by Angie) that used to have a business called "Sweeter Homes". She is one of those moms I admire, and has given me lots of great family management inspiration! (She was also the inspiration for my punch cards. I used to use hers, but had to make my own when I ran out.)

Another thing I loved that she does with her kids is an "Exchange Journal", which I call "Dialogue Books". This is a lot like Heather's Love Notes book (below). It was a couple years ago that Angie gave me an Exchange Journal to try with my oldest child, and this is how she explains the book...



I'm not as good about keeping up with this one, but we do try. I have my boys (age 10 and 8) keep their little notebooks with their scriptures. I am trying to teach them to listen at church and write down notes and inspiration there as well in the notebooks. I also use these little notebooks for our written dialogue back and forth. My older son does better with it than my 8 year old. I decided to give these notebooks to them at age 8, but I think 10 might be a better age to start, at least for a boy (or maybe just for MY boys). :) It's been a neat thing to have and do, even though we are kind of sporatic with it.
'
"Talk Time"

TALK TIME is a special bed-time ritual in our home and one of my kids' most favorite traditions!! I got this idea from the parenting class that I've been attending on/off for the last 8 years. Each night of the week (Mon. thru Thurs. for us since I have 4 children) is one of the kids' "Talk Time". This means that at bed-time when tucking kids into bed, I spend extra time with one child just talking with them. I either kneel next to or lay down next to them and we just talk. I ask them about their day, their week, things that made them happy and/or sad, let them ask me questions, etc. My kids each know which night of the week is their turn, and they look forward to it and never hesitate to remind me!!

*One cool perk about this too, is that it helps get the kids in bed quicker. I tell everyone that we need to hustle to get to bed so it doesn't cut into so-n-so's Talk Time. (And usually that child will help encourage the others as well.)

Talk Time Tip: "Talk Time" is NEVER "Lecture Time"!! No lecturing allowed during Talk Time! Just listening, asking, answering, encouraging, building and bonding. (You get the picture.)

Punch Cards
(updated since some wanted to know)

Again, this idea came from my friend, Angie, who used to sell them as part of her business called "Sweeter Homes". She no longer runs that business, so I had to create my own punch cards since they worked so well for my family.

Punch cards are a great way to motivate the kids to do their jobs, go the extra mile, do an extra job, obey the first time, etc. I put my kids' name on their card, and hang them on the fridge with a clip. I have a star puncher that I keep nearby to punch them with. (They also love to punch their own cards, with my permission.)

Once they have all 16 spots punched out, they get to choose something from the "prize box"
and their card goes up by my calendar to schedule their real reward... Each card (for us) is worth ONE HOUR ALONE with either Mom or Dad, to do an activity of their choice. They love this!! And I love it cuz it works! (Note: These can be redeemable for anything you decide. We used to let them be worth a new, inexpensive toy from the store, but we have found that what our kids really cherish most is our TIME and one-on-one attention.) *What influenced this decision even more was this talk, given by Elder Dallin H. Oaks.


Click HERE if you would like a copy of my punch cards! This is my gift to you for reading this post. Print them out on cardstock and cut. There are 10 cards to a sheet!