Update on "Managing God's Money"

Update from earlier this morning - Benjamin wants ALL the money in HIS bank and will throw SCREAMING fits because he wants to keep it all himself. That just proves to me that teaching him how to manage God's money is EXACTLY what we need to be doing right now!

Also, our household (a.k.a. Benjamin) is learning the fruit of the spirit, kindness, this week. So far he's displayed kindness by actually sharing his sucker with Savannah. I was shocked at that one because he did that one all by himself. Secondly, he's been asking for things very sweetly with lots of please and thank you's. Normally we have to remind him to say "please" and "thank you". But knowing he's going to get some pennies in his bank has changed his tune. All I have to say is, Tina, you're brilliant! (Tina is the one who came up with this idea).

P.S. As I'm sitting here watching Jimmy Neutron with Benjamin right before he's off to bed for prayers, singing, and talking about our day tomorrow, I just wanted to make a note for David and me later....he's OBSESSED with robots, the Robot Backyardigans, and Jimmy Neutron at this stage. He's definitely a guy!

Managing God's Money

We had a playdate with some friends and the purpose of it was to teach the kids about God and money. Each kid got 3 ceramic piggy banks and they painted each one. I guess we're starting him early on money management but why not? Benjamin now knows that for each "fruit of the spirit" he displays or any chore he completes he'll get a little bit of money. The first 10% goes into his "God" (tithe) piggy bank, the next 10% goes to his "Savings" piggy bank, and the rest goes to him - his "Benjamin" piggy bank. His reward is going to Target to pick something out in the dollar section. He loves the dollar section....ME TOO! :)

The group painting the piggy banks.













Benjamin painting his pigs.













Savannah painting her pig.













The final result. 1st piggy is God's, 2nd piggy is Savings, 3rd piggy is Benjamin's. Oh and the 4th the piggy is Savannah's little pig just for the fun of it.

Rash.....Sunday, Day FOUR!

Rash oh rash, please go away,
and don't come back some other day.

Each morning I wake the new patches appear
which is why mornings I've come to honestly fear.

I'm miserable with the itch and the burn
but scratching them just makes them worse so I've learned.

Benadryl and steroids, why won't you fix me?
I'm ready to be over this misery, can't you see?

The allergy that creates you we have yet to find,
which keeps this rash always on my mind.

Rash oh rash, please go away
and don't come back some other day.

Ho hum.

Emergency Rooms, Shots, and Allergies, OH MY!

In the last 2 weeks, between Benjamin and me, we've made 2 trips to the emergency room, received a combine total of 4 shots, had blood drawn and dealt with 2 allergic reactions. (Having the blood drawn from a 3 year old is something I wouldn't wish on anyone. Poor guy. He was a trooper though...well, afterwards). We got his results back from his allergy test yesterday and now know that Benjamin is allergic to walnuts and cashews, not peanuts though.

And for me, I drove myself to the emergency room last night at 12:30am because of a rash that got so bad my entire body was covered in red, itchy, fire-burning welps. There was hardly a spot on my body that you could see my true color. As soon as I walked in the ER the nurse said "holy cow, you look like a lobster". Yeah, ok, funny nurse. I seriously wasn't in the mood to be comical at that point. Especially after I had to wait an HOUR in the examining room for the doctor to see me. So what do they call emergency with that? It's amazing how it took less than 5 minutes for the shots to kick in. At that point, I was ELATED! Ahhh....relief. We still don't know what caused the rash. A new detergent, a new shampoo I used, or something I ate. Just glad to be back to (I say this lightly) "normal".

Nori's VERY PLEASANT Birthday Party

We've been to a barrage of 3 year old birthday parties in the last 3 months and if you've noticed I haven't taken any pictures. Due to all the activity when it comes to those parties and also taming a 1 year old it makes it almost impossible to capture some pictures. Well, finally, the other day when we were at a birthday party I realized I had our smaller camera in my purse. Benjamin and Savannah were so good at this party. I couldn't believe it. Let me just say, even I had fun. Anyway, so I got to capture a picture of them actually enjoying a ride together. Surprisingly (and quite proudly) I never once heard him say the word "MINE" the whole time. If you happen to be a fly on the wall at our house, the word "MINE" is spoken from our little 3 year old about 50 times a day.

My little dude flashing us his "peace" sign.

Time-Out Hurts my Feelings

The other day as Benjamin was getting out of time-out I asked him to sit down because I wanted to talk to him about something. I told him "Benjamin, you can't push people. Pushing is bad and it hurts people. You don't like it when people push you so you shouldn't do it to others". He agreed. As we were getting up he decided to turn it around on me and said "Momma, sit down because I want to talk to you about something". I'm thinking, ok, here goes, this should be good. So we both sat down and he looked down at the ground and said "Momma, don't put me in time-out anymore. Don't put me in time-out anymore because it hurts my feelings". He's working me, right?

Miss Prissy Pants

She loves jewelry and dress up. Two things that I'm not good at....but wow, she wears those sunglasses well, doesn't she? Work it girlfriend!

Learning the Hard Way

We started off today knowing for sure I was pregnant. Then we found out after a trip to the emergency room, an epipen shot, and steroids that Benjamin is allergic to walnuts. Poor guy. He keeps telling me, "Momma, I can't eat peanuts (he means walnuts) because peanuts make me sick". He ate one little piece of a walnut, immediately threw it up, his face started breaking out and he wouldn't respond to us (he was awake and breathing, he just wouldn't answer us when we were asking him if he's okay). Looks like the reason he wouldn't answer us is because his throat was bothering him so bad. Turns out I'm not pregnant and now Benjamin is doing much better. Can I just say it's been one emotional roller coaster of a day?

The Indigo Girls

A couple of weeks ago we traveled to Virginia to see the Indigo Girls in concert. (Could you say I'm just a little bit of a fan?) Anyway, we also had tickets to a meet and greet with them (there were only 25 tickets available to the meet and greet). It included a private show with just the few of us, autographed CD, and pictures taken with the girls. The girls were so generous. Even signed a painting given to us by our artist friend, Richard. We told them about how Benjamin calls them the "Indian Kids" and they even signed the CD "To Ben, Love the Indian Kids". David and I had the BEST time! One of the pictures below is right when we gave Benjamin the signed CD. Could you say he's just a LITTLE HAPPY? Sweet guy.

Us with the Indigo Girls and my signed painting!












A very happy Benjamin!