There's Nothing Like a Good Compliment!

Elyana had a homework assignment: pay one compliment to a family member.  After explaining to her what a compliment was, I asked her to give her sister a compliment. 

"Mikayla, you have a nice mom," said Elyana flatly.

She is sharp as a tack, that's for sure.

Free Bowling

We are trying out an incentive program for Mikayla for good behavior. After having had too much of preteen drama, we sat her down for a good talk. We discussed what we feel is disrespectful, what aggravates us, and what we expect.  It really helped having that discussion because there were some incidents where she wasn't aware that her behavior was disrespectful. Since then, we have placed a behavior chart up on the wall. She receives a sticker if we didn't have any incidents for that day. A whole week of stickers entitles her to doing something fun on the weekend with mom, dad, both, or all four of us. We are in our third week of enjoying each others company again while enjoying good behavior. We surprised Mikayla for her first weekly reward by going family bowling.  We didn't tell her where we were going and had her guessing the whole way to the bowling alley.

There is a great deal going on in local cities that enables kids to bowl for free all summer (May1-Aug 31). Go to www.kidsbowlfree.com. The only cost is shoe rental. An adult is required to come with them, so there would be that cost unless you signed up 4 adults for the summer for $25.  We plan on bowling a lot this summer. Great idea on days where it is rainy or too humid to be outside. May 1st, we began our summer of free bowling.

Mikayla's First Time on a Horse!

Thursday evenings in May, Mikayla is taking horse riding lessons through a community education program. I love all of the community education programs Rochester offers. It gives the girls a chance to try so many different things. She was a bit nervous on our way to the stable, but once we were there, she couldn't wait to just climb on. I was a little disappointed with the instructor/owner. There were no introductions of the instructor, horses, or assistants. It was just, let's help you up on a horse. Walk your horse around the arena while we get everyone else on.  Mikayla caught on immediately how to control her horse and was a natural!  Elyana was so proud of her big sister that she wanted photos of Mikayla printed out to show her class the next day.

More Jewelry Making!

I'm really enjoying making jewelry these days. Mikayla has been getting into it also. The first photo is of bracelets Mikayla and I have made together. One of them is a stretchy bracelet. The next photos are some of the necklaces I've made.   The last photo is a cute stretchy band ring that Mikayla made. She wants to make a bunch this summer to sell at a Lemonade stand.

Spring Break

 On Spring Break, the girls and I went to Madison to visit my mom. She had picked up my niece Sophia from Appleton so the girls could spend some time together. Mom ended up getting sick, but despite it all, she managed to help the girls do a few science experiments before we headed home. Their favorite was placing Mentos in a Litter of Soda.  : )

 

Kisses From Katie

This is a book that some of my friends were reading recently. Even though I'm busy right now, I felt moved to check it out from the library. It is a quick read, at least for me. I highly recommend this book so much that I've placed a few holds on it at the Christian bookstore so I can just pass a copy along to people I know. This is a story of a modern day "Mother Teresa" who was only 18 at the time the book takes place. At the age of 21 she has adopted 14 girls and lives in Uganda serving the community, feeding the hungry, educating the children, providing health care, and the list goes on. Some of the things she has encountered on her journey so far are simply amazing and inspirational. It gives you a different perspective of how incredibly blessed we are here in America.



There is a blog site with some fascinating videos if you aren't the reading type...I encourage you to read it.http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/2012/02/healer-god.html

Recreation Center Day

Once a year the girls' elementary school has a field trip to our recreation center which is just down the road from us. They get to choose swimming, ice skating, or playing basketball in the gym area. This year Mikayla wanted to ice skate. I had a meeting with my boss rescheduled so I surprised Mikayla there and was able to snap a photo of her with her best 3rd grade friends. I'm so blessed that I work part time so I can be involved with the girls and their school still. Mikayla and I are getting better at ice skating. I'll have to remember to take the girls there this summer on a rainy day.