Official!

Chuck is officially taking over Jim Thomspon's American Family agency where he has been working since summer. We were excited to see the change of the sign outside of the office yesterday. Jim's last day is Friday. There have been a lot of details to sort through in the transition, and he will be glad when those are behind him! :-)

2nd Winter Experiment

I waited to write about this for several weeks, wanting to make sure that the results I was seeing were real! A few years ago we had given the boys allowances, but had gotten away from it. They had been asking us to re-instate it, and we promised we would talk about it before the New Year. We had mixed feelings about whether to automatically give them an allowance for the experience of managing money, or to make it tied into chores and/or behavior. So, we did a combo of these. We made a list of all the things they could earn a point for in a day and made a checklist. Then, we chose a minimum number that we expected for them to earn their basic allowance. And, they we also sent a point level in which they could earn a bonus. I was finding that little daily things were not being done without my constant checking and reminding, and so I included very easy, daily things that I wanted them to do but that sometimes were battles. (brushing teeth, taking a shower (Conrad), practicing piano, and things related to schoolwork, chores, and behavior). I wasn't sure if it would work, and we told them we might have to modify along the way. Here are some of the results. Then, we made three containers for each of them. For this and the money Conrad earns from his horseriding teacher, they put 25% in at church, 25% in the bank, and can keep 50%.

The first morning, Caden hopped out of bed at 5:30am and immediately set to work on whatever he could do to earn points. Then, he woke up Conrad and said, "Conrad, you better get up and get started on your jobs". I was amazed at how excited and eager they were about the system, and I saw an immediate and huge change. I was telling Chuck about it as we went through the first week, but much of it happened in the daytime, so he was just hearing me talk about it. Then, on Thursday night of that week, we were eating dinner. At the end, I said, "Now, who wants to clear the table?" They both raised their hands and said, "Me! Me!" and I will never forget the look of total disbelief on Chuck's face. They finally did "Rock, Paper, Scissors" (how they usually solve things) to see who GOT to do it!

One that I knew would be a struggle for Caden, but would be easy for Conrad, would be to have at least two fruits a day and at least four vegetables a day. But, Caden has done great---much better than before. One day last week, about 7:00, Caden was looking at his points notebook and said, "Mom, I need two more vegetables today!" I said, "OK!" and I brought him a plate of broccoli and corn! (yes, really!)

They have earned the basic allowance both weeks, but not the bonus yet. We are convinced that this is a system we are keeping!!! I snapped this picture of them with their points notebooks!

Our Winter Experiment

I received our electricity bill in December and it was the highest it has EVER been. Our rates went up, and it was also a cold month, plus we had Christmas lights and lots of holiday baking. I immediately turned our thermostat down three degrees. Three degrees does not seem like very much, but it made a HUGE difference in the temperature in our house. I told the boys that if they would help me really conserve energy all month, and that substantially lowered our bill next month, I would give them each $5 of what we saved. We have all been doing what we can, and if we are in the front room, we have on a blanket (and usually more than one!). And, yet, I know we are so spoiled as I think of those pioneers who would have water freeze in their bedrooms and would not have heat until someone got up to make the fire!

We are anxious to see the next bill--Chuck and I already decided that if it didn't make a substantial difference in $$, the thermostat was going back up! :-) I have several friends who are wanting to hear the outcome of our experiment so that they will know how much difference it makes without their having to do it themselves!

My brother, sister-in-law and niece from Houston are supposed to come the last week-end of the month. My sister in law and niece would freeze to death in our house, so not only are we anxious to see them, but we know that we will have to turn up the thermostat that week-end!

:-) We can't wait!

Influential Adults

At the end of 2008, as I reflected on our year, I was thankful for the adults who have been influential in the lives of my kids. There are adults who have really invested their time or made a special connection with them, and Chuck and I appreciate that so much. There are family members and church family who come to mind when I think of those who have really invested in them. This year, we also had some who were strangers to us in 2007 who became very important to them in 2008. For Conrad, there were two. The first was Gary, a man who started coming to church with us and was a cowboy from Arizona. Conrad loved his stories and his kindness. Unfortunately, just as they were really creating a special bond, Gary taught him some other tough life lessons. In a matter of two or three months, Gary was diagnosed with liver cancer, moved back to Arizona, and passed away. It was very painful for Conrad, but he is better for having known him and experienced all of it. The second person for Conrad was his horseriding teacher, Sharon. She had been recommended as a teacher, but she became much more than that to him and has meant so much to him. She saw his love for horses and allowed him to go with her for a vet visit to see what they did, and then offered him a job with the horses that he dearly loves.
For Caden, it was Kathy. She makes quilts, etc. and we met her through craft shows we did together. The boys loved helping her carry things in, and talking to her. By the end of this season, Caden would spend the entire show in her booth helping her instead of staying in mine. She gave him a football quilt that he cherishes. After Christmas, he decided he wanted to meet her for lunch, so last week we met her at Schlotsky's for lunch. This time, she brought Conrad a baseball quilt to be sure he hadn't felt left out.
Thank you to all of the adults who made such a powerful difference in their lives in 2008.

Mom and Dad

Mom and Dad were coming to celebrate the holidays with us on their way to Cancun for the winter. They were supposed to come a couple weeks ago, but the stand-by flights ended up not having any seats, so they finally were able to come on the 28th and flew on to Houston on New Year's Day. They were here long enough to play a few games, like Rummy Cube, which the boys love!

Finally!

We were able to go to York, NE and see my grandparents on the day after Christmas. I believe that it was the longest stretch I have ever gone without seeing them in my life! I had gone from Thanksgiving last year until Dec 26th this year. They had left for South Padre in Dec. last year and came back in March. I had planned for us to go in the summer, but then at the end of May, while in TX, Grandma was diagnosed with bladder cancer and had extensive surgery. By the time she had recovered enough for me to think she might be up for all of us to see her, she had started chemo, and it caused her white count to go way down and all germs could be quite serious. So, we waited!!

Thankfully, she has now finished with chemo, and her scan showed no sign of cancer. We are thankful for this and for all the prayers on her behalf.

We were going to go two weeks ago right after she had finished chemo when Chuck had a meeting in Omaha. But, we had bad ice the day before, and he ended up not going to the meeting and we had to postpone. Grandma was so disappointed when I told her on the phone, and so was I.

This visit was just like old times, and it did me good! Her light-up Santa was out for me, and we had lunch there, and went to Blue Valley (the thrift shop where she volunteered that we would always go to over Thanksgiving and get great bargains. I got the cutest shoes this time!), and then played Rummy. She took me back to the 'blue room' where she keeps things that she has to give to certain people, and she had things to ask me if I could use them. It made me smile because it was just like always. I know Grandma was tired, but she hid it well, and I thought she seemed really good, and just like herself. On the way home, the boys said, "You can't even tell that she had surgery," and I thought that was also a good measure of how well she seemed. I included a picture of them on their way to South Padre--the left the Monday after Christmas and arrived safely. When I talked to her today, it was 80 degrees!

Morris Christmas

On Dec 20th, we all went to Clark and Stephanie's to celebrate Christmas. Traditionally, the Morris' have celebrated together on Christmas Eve, but Clark and Stephanie left to go to Texas with her parents, so we moved up the date a bit. We also celebrated Vern's birthday, and Caden has pictures of that on his blog.

Stephanie made cornish hens, and of course, had a beautiful table. The day was good, and we enjoyed being with everyone.

In the pictures, Chuck is helping stuff the cornish hens with cornbread dressing and Sara is helping with a topping that went on the hens! Both were messy jobs!

6th Annual Crazy Cousin Sleepover

We started the tradition in 2004 of having all the cousins come over for a Christmas sleep-over. When we started, Austin was 2, Eli was 3, Caden was 4, Jake was 6, Conrad was 7, and Michaela was 10. We have had so much fun over the years, sledding, reading Christmas stories, doing little gift exchange games, watching Christmas movies, making Christmas cookies, etc. We would love some year, for all of our cousins (in TX and Ohio, too) to be able to come for the sleep-over! Every year, including this one and when they were toddlers, Chuck is always the first one asleep!! (usually by 8:30)