A More Restful Week

This week I put into practice my plan to take back control of our family calendar.  My plan is to block off every other week as a "no appointment" week.  Aside from the routine stuff (church, karate, piano, etc.) I'm not booking any doctor or dentist appts, unless it's an emergency of course.  So this week was blissful (almost) since I didn't have to run anyone anywhere for anything.  In fact, aside from taking Slava to OT on Monday, and running the kids to karate on Thursday, I never left the house!  I even had our groceries delivered.  It helped that Sierra was away for the week because I didn't have to run her to work or piano and due to a snow storm Slava's PT was cancelled.  It felt so good to have a respite from the running.  This week I'm taking my mom to a doctor appt, and Slava has a doctor and dentist appointment too.  But I have the following week to look forward to which has no appointments scheduled.  I'm thrilled with this plan!

Where'd the snow go?

 We've had this little snowmobile since Sierra was little.  Wheels can be added for when there's not enough snow.  Slava loves it!  I think we have a future racer on our hands!

Paint the Box

 On Monday Andrii & Anna joined the youth group for a day of snow boarding.  This left me home alone with Slava & Jordan.  While trying to keep Slava out of trouble while doing school with Jordan, I busted out the paints so he could paint the big box.  Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures!  Of course Jordan was more interested in painting then phonics!

"40-80 Inches"

 Structured, hands-on activities are the best for keeping little Slava's out of trouble.  His OT therapist suggested the game "Letter School" to work on fine motor skills and letter/number writing practice.  I down-loaded it on my I-Pad.  Slava loves it...probably because it's interactive and the letters blow up like fireworks if he forms them correctly.  Works for me!

 More hands-on fun with Bend-a-roos!

 Slava loves to play with these waxy, bendy sticks when we're at the social worker's office.  They're actually pretty inexpensive, so I ordered a bunch online.

Snow Day!

 By now we're all pretty much done with winter, but we got more snow this week anyway.  At least it sent the little boys out to play on Friday.  I looked out the window and discovered Jordan on our little car with a snow shovel.  He'd climbed up there with a stool from Daddy's garage.  He cleaned the whole thing off for me.

Bend-a-roo creations!

 Behavior Chart Buddies

We've been really struggling with the little boys' behavior.  Jordan has turned into this loud little boy who seems to yell all the time.  He also needs work on obedience, chores, cooperation, and overall attitude.  Slava has been especially frustrating lately with his words.  He keeps saying works like "stupid" "you guys are mean" "you guys are jerks" "be quiet" "shut up" etc.  The more I correct him, the more he says them.  He also has a hard time with impulse control (just ask our dog) and obedience.  I've been thinking about doing some kind of behavior chart and Wayne said to do it.  We started on Friday.  I designed my own reproducible chart and filled in the chores and behaviors they need to work on.  They earn stickers daily for success and x's for wrong behavior.  Three x's in an area means no sticker for that box.  At bedtime we review their chart and if they earned enough little stickers throughout the day, they then get a gold star for the day.  If they get 7 gold starts for the week they get the reward they were working towards.  At the beginning of the week they get to choose their reward to work towards.  This week Jordan wants a step ladder that Daddy has out in the garage and Slava wants a dust-buster little vacuum.  Weird kids, I know!  But if the behavior improves, which it did the very first day, it's worth it!  

Snow People!

Hopefully this was our last "hurrah"in the snow.  At least the kids like it.  Here Anna (right) and her best friend Mary show off their snow creations.  

Shore Show Off

 While we were all suffering in the snowy northeast, Sierra was basking on the beach in SC.  She was gone a full week, but we saw her everyday on Face Time.  As I type this she just arrived home about an hour ago.  At least her trip has inspired the rest of us snowbirds.  We're considering a family trip to the ocean.  Our Ukrainian kids have never been to the ocean.  I've talked about going the past couple years but we've never done it.  This morning Wayne & I looked on a map because any trip we take he'd like to combine with a trip to the Creation Museum which is on the boarder of Ohio and Kentucky.  No ocean near there but drive due east and we could run right into Virginia Beach (after crossing West Virginia and Virginia)!  It's become a family discussion so we might just take the plunge sometime in June when Curtis and Wayne & Kerri will be finished with school.

My Baby Girl

It just dawned on me that in September, Sierra will begin her senior year of high school.  She's been homeschooled her whole life and this year has been doing college courses online with Liberty University.  By the time she graduates from high school she will have earned an Associates of Arts in Psychology degree.  It amazes me...and I'm still not ready for it.  Associates degree or not, I might just hold her back this year.  I'm not ready to let her go!  Sweet-bitter-sweet.