the beds are made

That's right. ALL the beds in my house are made and I only made one...my own. Not only are they made they were that way BEFORE my kids went to school. Let me back up. Chris and I have gone back and forth about getting the kids to do their jobs without all the drama that goes along with cleaning. Homework, piano, clarinet...you get the picture. We have gone back and forth about rewards and points and money, but have never found something that we liked or was easy on us. I am not going to lie sometimes it is hard to keep track of 5 kids and what has been done and who has done what and who needs to do what. I wanted to find something that was not only easy for them, but easy for me. I didn't want to have to keep track of one more thing. Here comes the best part....I have found it!! I was online the other night and happened upon www.myjobchart.com
It was just what I was looking for. I went in and created accounts for all the kids. I assigned them their jobs for the week, I put points next to them and filled out the rewards. They are each responsible to log in and keep track of what they have done. Everything now is worth points in our house. Xbox time, DSi time, computer time (other than homework), play dates, special treats, new toys. There are special ones like Brusters, dates with mom or dad, itunes downloads. You name it. I have never seen them so motivated to get their jobs done. I also know that it is new and their enthusiasm for work will not last, but for the few days that we have been doing it it has been great. Wish us luck!!

Move over Michael

T had his first swim meet on Friday. We were very excited to see him.

His first race was the medley relay. He was the last swimmer and swam the free. He had a little technical difficulty. When he dove in he lost his goggles and one of his plugs (not good for a kid with tubes) He was able to finish the race and found what he had lost. I can't remember, but I think his team came in 3rd.

This is where the story gets exciting. His second race was the individual 50 breast.

There are only a handful of kids who know how to start dive.
He is one of them.

(thank you Libby)

He started out strong...

and stayed strong. He came in FIRST!!!

The kid who came in 2nd was a good 4 seconds behind him.

Here he is looking at his time. It was 49.14

His last race was another medley.

His team came in 4th.
We are so proud of him and can't wait to go to all the meets. One of his best friends is also on the swim team and came in first in the 50 butterfly. Very exciting.

Now it is time for my Academy Award Speech
I would like to thank the Academy (aka Deborah) for taking all these pictures (except the first one) so I could do video. Thank you to the Academy (aka the Pulleys) for sharing your pool every day of the summer for lessons and fun. It is so exciting to me that my kids...all of them are swimmers.

hair cut

E has been asking for awhile for a hair cut. I told her we would do it over the break, but we never did. Her hair is long, thick, and curly. Those three things together spell disaster. Believe me I know. I used to have all three, but then I had kids.

Please don't look at the barbie mess behind her. They are still trying to clean it...2 hours later. UGH!

the back view

I took her to Sweet and Sassy. I thought she would be more excited, but she was just so so. I forget she isn't a girly girl. Doesn't care for pink, princesses or glitter in her hair (which they offered her, but she said no thank you"

here is the back after she cut about 3 or so inches off and layered it.

Isn't it cute. I think I may have to invest in a nicer flat iron. She was so excited that she wanted to call her best friends as soon as she got home. She loves it.

Heaven

These next 4 words are no longer scary to me

Lake Effect Snow Warning

Bring it on baby!!