RockinRRanch

Smiling for the camera.



Well, here is a picture of "the gate". When Adam is doing some unwanted behavior (like hitting his brother) he gets a warning, that if he does it again were going to use "the gate". If he does the unwanted behavior again, after the warning, I take him and set him behind the gate (he would be in the hallway). Me, what he usually wants most of all, on the other side of the gate. Sometimes he cries right away and other times we have to wait, but he alway does complains. When he starts to complain I wait 15 seconds and then go get him. I'll take down the gate and tell him, "if you hit Jacob again (for example), I'm going to use the gate". Typically all he needs now is a warning. When he hear "the gate" he usally falls to the floor. He doesn't cry but just acts disapointed.

Hope this pictures ok, I have a hard time not putting a cute face in my photos.

Jacob and his chart. His favorte velcro sticker is the "Super Bulldozer". Each day we count and if he's done all six "chores" then he get to put the bulldozer on his chart. If he fills in the six bulldozer squares by the end of the week we get to do something special, like go to the playground, play on the big sandhill, or ride on the tractor for examples.

Adam and his chart.



Jacob crawled into our bed around 7:30am. We got up at 8am to watch Curious George. Adam was up around 8:30. We went to Tim Horton’s and Dunken Donuts. Usually Jacob wants to go in with Daddy but this morning he wanted to wait in the car with Adam and I. He wanted to stay in so we could “lock Daddy out”. He wiggled excitedly and said, “I’m so excited!” We walked around Salvation army and Goodwill. Then we went to meijer for a few things. Got home around lunchtime. I found a nice Parents instrument set at Goodwill and we had fun playing with them while listening to some music. We also found a brand new in the box Britax Marathon car seat at Goodwill. We will most likely sell it on ebay again. Or maybe we’ll keep if for our next child. Jared mowed the lawn. I had the music playing and Adam wanted to dance holding my hands. Jacob saw us dancing and wanted to join in. We had fun dancing together. Both the boys took naps today. Jacob slept from 3-4pm and Adam slept from 3- 5pm. We went outside to work on clearing the trees/bushes. Jared is sawing things down and then I cut the missed small trees, pull everything out, and put them into piles. The goats and sheep love to eat the leaves of the piles in their paddock. The area in front of the goats paddock had a lot of thorns and pickers. I was glad to get thru that stuff. Next I started working on the "jungle". All the vines wrapped around the trees and fence made me wish I was working with the thorns and pickers. Jared is way far ahead of me. I don’t know how he has cut thru all this stuff. It’s really a lot of fun. I love working outside with the weather so nice. When Jacob woke up I went inside to get him. We got some ice-cold water to take out for Daddy. Jacob had fun playing with the sticks and walking on the down fence. When Adam woke up we all went in. When Adam folded his hands as Daddy prayed for dinner Jacob said, “I taught him dat”. This evening we headed to McDonalds to use some free ice cream coupons the boys got from the camp host when we were in Copper Harbor. In the car Jacob said, “Mommy, I love you. I know the how to say the best things, I love you”. The boys got ice cream cones and Jared and I got McFlurry’s. Jacob kept sticking his nose in his ice cream (Daddy taught him that) to make us laugh. Adam stuck out his tongue for some laughs. The boys had fun playing in the kids play area. Jacob found a couple little boys to play tag with. They ran around almost the entire time. I’d heard Jacob running and saying, “tag, your it” or “I’m safe” but I don’t really think he understood how the game is played. The other little boys didn’t mind and they all had fun together. Adam loved hanging on the slide and playing with the highchairs. He also liked climbing up on the chairs and booth seats. Adam climbed up on the chair next to me and rubbed his head with a pout face. I asked him if he hurt his head and he nodded yes. Of course I gave him some sympathy and kissed his head. He got down for several seconds and then climbed back up on the chair rubbing his head again. I gave him the sympathy he wanted, but then watched him as he climbed back down. I watched him bend over and bumped his head on the floor. He climbed back on the chair, rubbed his head and pouted. I had to laugh. We got home around 9:30. We all walked out to the coop to lock up the chickens. Adam asked Daddy to get him an apple. Jacob caught a big toad and Daddy caught a frog. Adam made sure to toss the apple over the fence before going inside.