First Family Bowling Outing

We are going a bit stir crazy, with spring break out for a whole week this week (truthfully, it's nearly a week and a half. Help!).

Yesterday, we took Sally bowling for the first time, and it was a hoot. Simply hilarious. Even Syd had a good time flirting with the other folks there. She is quite the charmer.

Sally bowled pretty well -- only a few gutter balls, and Mommy kicked butt and beat daddy (probably only because his hand is not fully healed though...remember that sledding incident?)

If we get a break in the action any time soon, we'll post new pix on the girls' websites...

Nice and Easy

We had a nice and easy weekend -- dinner with some friends at their home, and we are rapidly building our list of responsible babysitters. Woo-hoo!

Sydney is doing GREAT at MyGym -- she is on the verge of walking any day now (better late than never!)

Mommy had a banner day -- she published a chapter in Joe Vitale's new book called Inspired Marketing. The book rose to #2 on the Amazon bestseller list. Yee-hah! And Amy also has a chapter that will appear in the new Jack Canfield Chicken Soup for the Soul book (due out soon).

Gearing up for Spring Break

Today is Sally's last day of school until March 31st, so we are busy making plans and preparing for such a long break.

Did I mention that she is switching schools next year?

Her teacher is leaving Sally's current school and has accepted a position at a very nice preschool that's much closer to our house. It's Montessori based, but not strict-Montessori. And it's less than 5 minutes from our front door -- yee-hah! Plus, it's surprisingly more affordable than her current school. In fact, I was pretty shocked by that.

This school goes up through kindergarten, but we're not yet sure whether we'll move her over to the county Montessori charter school for kindergarten. Plenty of time to work that out (the school's lottery starts accepting applications in July for the FOLLOWING school year). The charter school is free to local residents (starting with 1st grade) and THAT Montessori school continues up through 6th grade.

At any rate, I am definitely NOT thrilled about a week and a half off of school! But I'm sure we'll find plenty to do. Setting up next week's play dates is on my to-do list for today. And hopefully the weather will be perfect (fingers crossed).

This weekend is Easter (why the heck so early? Passover isn't even until next month!) and we've got some fun things planned for this weekend, including a trip to the Rec center to go swimming, and to the movies to see "Horton Hears a Who" with the kids.

Saturday there is another Easter Egg Hunt here in town, and then Saturday night we have a dinner/play date at Robin's house.

And Sunday is Easter! Wonder what the Bunny has planned this year? We'll keep you posted...

Gorgeous Weekend

The weather is chilly, but still beautiful. Did quite a bit of geocaching this weekend, including placing a new cache.

Yesterday, we went to teh neighborhood Easter egg hunt -- the weather was darn near perfect! Sunny and cool, not too cold and not too windy.

Somehow, Sydney got more eggs than Sally (the hunt was sectioned off by age). Interesting. I think there was less competition in Sydney's age bracket.

At any rate, they had a great time and we let Sally chew gum for the first time ever. (We've been holding out as long as possible!)

The Forgotten Anniversary

No, neither of us forgot our OWN anniversary, but this is the first year we didn't get a card or a phone call from ANY of our family members to wish us a happy anniversary.

I guess that's what happens after 12 years of marriage!

Truthfully, many of our old friends are no longer married, and it feels strangely rewarding to have "outlasted" so many.

Andy brought me breakfast in bed and then we all got dressed and spent some family time together, out and about. We managed to find a sitter (no small feat) AND a Castle Rock restaurant that was actually open on a Sunday night (Siena) and had a wonderful dinner and a bottle of wine.

All in all, it was a very nice anniversary. Even if no one remembered except for us! :-)

Sally's Reward Board

We decided to continue on the positive reinforcement route by creating a "good girl reward board" for Miss Sally.

Every time we catch her being good, she gets a star sticker for the day. If she gets sassy or is naughty, we take away a star. Every day she gets 5 stars, she gets a reward (watch a kid movie, watch the Electric Company or Sprout, get a lolly, play her learning video game, etc.)

When she accumulates 5 daily rewards, she gets a BIG reward (going out to the movie of her choice, getting a new toy/game/craft, a Sally outing, Chuck E Cheese reward trip, etc.)

She is quite excited about it, and we are as well. Today she set the table for dinner and took her nap with no protest.

There are some specific areas where we've had trouble getting her to cooperate, and these are the areas we're looking for imrpovement, including:

- straightening up her room
- dressing herself & getting ready for school (currently, this is easily a half-hour ordeal as she is typically quite resistent for some reason, even when she chooses her own clothes)
- going to bed at night
- practicing writing her letters

We have plenty of games to help her with her math skills, but writing is not her favorite thing -- and if anyone knows of a good game to help kids learn to write their letters, please let me know!

As with everything, we'll keep you posted....