Family update

Wow, is it really August already?  This year is flying by so quickly.

Jakey took his first semi-crawl while hanging out at his Godmommy's house this past week.  He's movin' and scootin' all over the place now - nothing is safe if it's under 24" off the ground!  It's funny how you forget these times.  Soon enough he'll be a full-fledge crawler and we'll be running around trying to keep things out of his tiny hands!


We began a new weekly star program with Alex.  Each day he has 5 tasks that he can earn a star for:

1. Brushing his teeth;
2. Sleeping the night in his own bed;
3. Not whining;
4. Cleaning his toys; &
5. No accidents.

You think #5 would be easy for him - he's been fully potty trained since he was 2yrs, 3 mos. old.  That's not the issue - the issue is laziness! Sometimes he won't put both the lid AND the seat up and tinkles on the seat.  Since we began the star chart, none of these "accidents" have occurred.  Yeah! He had to earn 20 stars this first week to earn a special prize of his choice.  It could be a physical thing (toy, stickers, new shoes, etc) or something to do (Chuck E. Cheese, mini-golf, etc.).  For the first week, he chose to work toward a new toy, specifically "sticky guys".  You know, those men with gooey hands and feet that get thrown on the wall then "crawl" down.  Yep, those buggers.  Today he traded in his star chart for his sticky guys.  We're so proud. :)

Next week he chose to work toward a day at a water park.  He must earn 23 stars.  I think this will be easy for him too.  We're slowly upping the ante each week until he hits 30 stars.  That's when it will be challenging.  And if we see he has completely mastered something, we can always switch out a task.  Right now, he really enjoys earning his stars, and we really enjoy watching him do it.

I took my first Kettle ball class last week with my dear friend AH.  Besides feeling silly, I didn't feel any muscles being worked.  That is, until I tried to walk a few stairs to get my shoes.  Ouch!  I was sore for a good 2 or 3 days!  We're working in some KB classes in with the Zumba.  So far, so good.  I'm down 10lbs and would like to keep going!  Of course, that Key Lime pie I bought at Meijer today won't be helping me towards that.  MMmmm... truth be told, screw dieting!  I like my food (dessert included!) and that won't change a bit, I'm sure. :)

Speaking of Meijer, we couponed this last grocery trip and between Walgreens and Meijer and saved nearly $40.  That's a pretty hefty amount in my book.  My favorite deal was getting an $8 catalina for buying an $8 bottle of contact solution with a $1 off coupon... net gain, $1!  I don't go nutty or anything for coupons, but today was a day worth it.  We only bought stuff we will use and need for our household.  No, we didn't bring a $600 bill down to $20, but we did get a cart full of food for a reasonable price!  

My partner in crime for grocery shopping, raising kids and everything else is my DH.  He is working on a project for an unnamed client.  He was approached this past week for three other consulting jobs - all of which are out of state (MI, MA, FL).  We shall see if any of them pan out.  One looks interesting, but more details are needed.  He's enjoying this career.  So far, so good!  And we're enjoying having him around more.

So that's what's up this past week, for the most part.  Now we're onto another week, another month, another set of adventures!