The Jewel Jar

We never had to deal with the "terrible twos" in this house.  In fact, until about four or five months ago, we thought we had gotten off pretty easy.  Don't get me wrong, Emerson is the sweetest little girl in the world, she's happy, agreeable, cooperative, helpful, cuddly, rarely cries, rarely talks back, and rarely objects (of course I am completely biased).  But even the most perfect of children have their moments.  We started having THOSE moments a few months ago and we knew we had hit the "terrible threes".  Granted they haven't been as bad as what some of our friends have gone through, but when you're the parents going through it, it seems like there's no end in sight.  

A few of our friends use a different approach to getting through those tough, not listening, talking back, throwing-themselves-on-the-floor, screaming, crying, time-outs-aren't-working times.  My friend and colleague, Erika, was the first to tell me about her "Marble Jar".  She has two boys, and as she says, "they are a handful".  One day when I was on the phone with her, she threatened to take away four marbles when one of the boys wasn't cooperating.  She peaked my interest and went on to tell me how the system works.  It's pretty simple, really.  Each boy has his own small jar and there is a large bowl/jar that houses the general marbles.  When the boys do something good, they get marbles; when they do something bad, have bad days, don't listen, etc., that get marbles taken away.  Each boy has to count out their own marbles and put them into their jar or take them out.  Once the boy's jars are filled or they have the amount agreed upon, they take a trip to Target (or some other store) and pick out a gift up to $20.00.  

Emerson's friend, Kayla, and her family also use this "marble system".  Denise, Kayla's mom, has taken  a slightly different approach by assigning a monetary value to each jewel (they use jewels and not marbles).  Once the girls have reached a certain amount, they can go to a store and spend that amount or save it and add to it with the next jewel accumulation.   

So since I heard two sets of parents using the system and since Danny and I needed another way to discipline (time-outs just weren't getting through), we decided to start our own "Jewel Jar".  Last Sunday, June 26th, while Danny was playing golf, Emerson and I took a trip to JoAnne's Fabrics to look for some fabric and get the jewels and jewel jars.  Emerson was very excited to pick out her pink and clear jewels and the two jars to house them.  Of course you know when we got home, I had to "Brooke-Up" the jars.  I painted "jewels" on one jar (the jewels for Emerson to earn) and "emerson" on the other (the jewels she has earned) and then added a few crystals.  

So far, the Jewel Jar is working great.  We've seen a huge decline on some of the bad behavior and an increase in good behavior.  We try to liberally reward for positive behavior sending the message of positive reinforcement instead of taking away for bad behavior, but we've had to take a few away here and there.  We decided not to assign an amount to the jewels but we do have two different sized jewels.  Big jewels are given for super cooperation or a great day; smaller jewels are given for chores and asking politely.  The same holds true for taking them away, small jewels for lesser offenses, big jewels for greater offenses.  Hopefully this is really working or maybe it's just that we are days away from hitting Emerson's fourth birthday and all those terrible threes are leaving her system....we can only hope!!

Positive Behavior we've rewarded: 

Getting ready in the morning without whining or delay

Asking politely

Saying please and thank you without being told 

Feeding Hogan

Good listening

Helping clean up around the house 

Snake Tales

For the past two summers the Herman and Dever households have had a pesky snake problem.  In 2009, Amy documented it here on her blog; this snake slithered it's way onto their play set.  Later that summer I took a picture of the/a snake on their driveway, but I think I was too grossed out and deleted it....I can't find it anywhere.  In 2010, Amy documented the black snake here on her blog; this snake was a little too close  for comfort.  It was trying to get to a bird's nest that was perched way above a column on their porch.  I also caught a snake (probably the same one) climbing their front door one day.  And at one point, I actually saw two snakes on their porch at the same time....both trying to get to that bird's nest.  I captured these pictures of a snake one day just basking on their porch...Ugh!!!  So really, maybe it was just the Hermans who had the snake problem, Ha!!  Actually Danny did behead one snake in 2009 and Jasper actually picked one up and carried it away to the woods.  So needless-to-say, we've grown to accept that a black snake (or two) is going to make an appearance each summer.

You can imagine my concern when we discovered we had a bird's nest in our geraniums this summer.  I was quite worried one of those pesky little black snakes would reappear trying to get to the nest, eggs and eventually the baby birds.  I literally peeked out the window every time I took Hogan out and feared I would see a snake.  Last month, Emerson, Danny and I went to Charlotte for the night and my parents came over to stay with Hogan.  My mom knows I check my email on my phone quite often.  Around 9:30 on Saturday night I received an email titled, "Poor Birdie and Eggs" with the attached photo.  A few minutes later, I received another email titled, "UNREAL" with the attached picture.  

Poor Birdie and Eggs

UNREAL!!!

I showed the picture to Danny and our friend, Adam.  Granted we were looking at the pictures on a phone, but they both said, "That's no black snake!!".  Adam even interjected with, "That looks like a corn snake."  I immediately called my mom.  The conversation went like this.....ring, ring, ring....

Me: Mom, I told you a snake would get those eggs.  

Mom: I know, we opened the door to take Hogan out and he was right there.  

Me: What can you do, I don't want him to eat the eggs.  You've got to save those birds.  (Just for the record, Emerson got pretty attached to those eggs and I really wanted her to see them hatch)

Mom: I'm not sure what we can do.  Do you have a shovel?

Me: Yes, tell Dad to go in my garage and get it.  

Mom: Okay

Me: Awww, poor birds!

Mom: Brooke, it's not real!

Me: What?

Mom: It's a plastic snake!! (Laughing hysterically!!)

Me: OH. MY. GOD....alright, you got me!! (relieved my birdies were safe)

Probably the best joke my parents have played on me.  I must admit, they got me good.  I was so worried about the baby birds and how I would explain their disappearance to Emerson.  Good news, we've seen no snakes this summer (except a snake skin the other night, again on the Herman play set) and the birds lived and have left the nest.  I am sure this will be a story we tell for a long time!!!

Wordless Wednesday: How many more Nite-Nites??

Have Yourself a Shutterfly Christmas!!

Do you use Shutterfly?  I do.  I don't use it as much as my dear friend, Amy, over at Herman Nation, but I want to!!  She's so good about creating books, calendars, etc. with all her pictures.  I do, however, use Shutterfly for all my holiday cards.  You may remember last year's holiday card.

So, when Amy told me about this great deal Shutterfly was offering, I had to take advantage of it.  All you have to do is blog about Shutterfly and you can get fifty (50) free holiday cards.  Easy, right??  I can do that.  I blog, and I have to order cards for the holidays, so why not do both and get fifty (50) free ones, NO BRAINER!!  But, I will say, it isn't hard to write about all the great things Shutterfly has to offer.

I love the idea of doing a book for each birthday and major holiday, like Christmas and Halloween.  I've got a lot to catch up on.

I also love some of the photo gifts that Shutterfly offers.  I need to start utilizing this more when gift giving.

But as originally stated, Holiday/Christmas cards are my ultimate use for Shutterfly.  I'm a sucker for their folded cards.  I love to include a "year-in-review" collage on the inside and a current picture on the outside.  I've already picked out this year's card (most of you will find out soon enough), but here were some of my favorites that didn't make the cut.  How cute is this card with all the colors?  And, you know if there is a picture of Emerson on the card, then I was probably looking at something pink like this card.  I also love brown on a Christmas card, as evident by last year's card, and here are two of my favorite brown cards: this one and this one.

See how awesome Shutterfly is!!!  So, if you blog and love Shutterfly, you might want to head on over to this link, sign up, blog about Shutterfly's coolness, and get your 50 free cards.  But hurry, the offer ends next week.  Go ahead, join in the Shutterfly fun and have yourself a Shutterfly Christmas!!  Off to finish my card and get it ordered....

A Bowl of Cereal

It's hard to believe, but Emerson has never had a bowl of cereal.  NEVER!  Sure, she's had cereal when she was a baby and it was watered down with milk, and she's had dry cereal for snacks and sometimes for breakfast.  But an actual bowl of cereal, with a spoon and milk had never been attempted in our house.  I think it probably has something to do with the mess I assumed would be left for me to clean up afterwards.  I've seen those pictures of kids with cereal in their hair, on the floor, even with the milk spilled everywhere.  Yeah, I am pretty sure that is the sole reason my child has never had a bowl of cereal.  But this morning when I asked Emerson what she would like for breakfast, and she replied, "Cereal!", I retorted, "With a spoon and milk?"  She looked confused and then said, "Yes!!"  Maybe it was the extra hour we have to kill on preschool mornings that gave me the wild hair I got, or maybe it was because I thought three was the magical age that she could now "handle her cereal", but I gave in (it was my suggestion after all) and gave Emerson her VERY.FIRST.BOWL.OF.CEREAL. She loved it!!  She thought it was so cool that the milk was on the cereal.  And much to my chagrin, there was hardly a mess to clean up.  So, score one for cereal as a new addition to our breakfast repertoire, especially on preschool mornings!!  Emerson, I am sorry I have deprived you of this for so long!

It's The Little Things....

It's the little things in life that sometimes make you stop, take a breath, and appreciate everything around you.  On Friday, I was on my way to pick Emerson up from school.  I was about an hour earlier than my normal time because we were headed to an ice cream date with Aunt Di and Uncle Ed (more on that later).   About a quarter mile from Emerson's school there's a small lake on one side of the road and a small pond on the other side of the road.  Occasionally, in the mornings, we see deer hop across the road but I have never seen them in the afternoon, until last week when I was driving to school.  Well, on Friday, I saw the same two babies and (I am assuming) their mommy.  I was driving down the road and they just happened to be standing on the side, near the pond.  I quickly pulled my car over, and since I was headed to a photo opportunity with Emerson and ice cream, I had my camera with me.  I grabbed my camera and snuck up to the small deck on the edge of the pond to take a few shots.  How's the saying go, "Take time to stop and smell the roses!"  I'm sure glad I took the five extra minutes to catch this sweet moment with a Mommy and her two fawns!!

Mommy's New Car!!

This past Saturday when I dropped my car off for a service appointment (oil change, tire rotation, recall maintenance), I never thought I would walk away with a new car.  I certainly didn't need a new car, my current car was only 3 years old.  But, when I made my appointment online the Wednesday before, I started receiving emails from salesmen saying they would like to buy my car.  Apparently there is a shortage of pre-owned Acadias in the area and they needed cars to put on their lots.  So, I took the bait and told them they could evaluate my car when it was there Saturday and then let us know if they could work a deal, fully expecting them to come back with something Danny and I wouldn't agree with.  We dropped the car off on Saturday morning for it's scheduled maintenance and headed to dance class.  During dance class Danny kept getting emails from the salesman stating they wanted to buy the car and they could make it work and we wouldn't have to put any money down and our payment would actually be less?!?  What?  Too good to be true, right?  Well, after lunch, the entire family headed over to find out if this was actually going to work and if it wasn't, at least we could pick up my car. We looked around a bit while Danny talked to the salesman and then Danny came out and said, you can basically pick any Acadia on the lot that you want.  Based on the current features of my car, I narrowed it down to a 2010 Pearl White or a 2011 Black....if you know me, you know there was no contest; I went with the black!!!

Emerson checking out the new car!!!

After we decided on the black, Danny had to go in and work the numbers and "wheel and deal" for that specific car.  By this point, it was past nap time, but Emerson was hanging on (by a very short string).  We walked around the lot, played with her new LeapFrog toy, made silly faces, and went to the waiting room play area to keep ourselves (ahem, her) occupied.  But, as good as she was, Mommy was quite sure she needed a nap since there hadn't been one at school the past week.  So, Emerson and I eventually got in Danny's car and headed home, knowing the ride home would put her in a deep sleep.  We left Danny there to make deals, with hopes he would come home with the new car.  

As I predicted, Emerson fell fast asleep on the ride home and I successfully transferred her from the car to her bed (although she is usually pretty good about that).  Emerson took a great 2 hour nap and when she woke up, Danny still wasn't home but had just called and said he was on his way home with the NEW CAR!!  The salesman was right; no money down, and our payment will be $3 less per month for the exact same car that's three years newer!!  That's what I call a NO BRAINER!!!  The bad thing was we actually had to go back to the dealership since the car was going to be in my name.  UGH!!  I got Emerson ready and we jumped right back in the car, grabbed a quick (turned out to be a long) dinner, and then headed to the dealership so I could sign the papers.  I also secretly had to check behind Danny and make sure he got everything out of my old car, not that I don't trust him, I am just that OCD.  When we pulled up, my old car was sitting right there....Emerson insisted that she get out of the car and say goodbye to the old car.  So, she got out and ran through the car saying, "Bye-Bye old car", while I checked to make sure all of my personal belongings were out.  I ran inside to sign the papers and that was that.  As we pulled out of the parking lot, Emerson said "Mommy, I am really going to miss my old car!"  But as you will see from the picture below, it took all of about 5 minutes for her to get acquainted with the new car!!  Welcome to the family CADIE (pronounced Katie)!!!