Allowance

So I need your opinion. We are considering starting allowance with Micah. I have heard two camps on this topic.

#1 Assign chores and give $$ for said chores

#2 Give a set allowance each week or month not tied to chores. Chores are part of living with the family and being in the household. We all work together. The allowance is away for the kids to learn about money managment.


I understand the logic of both camps. When someone is passionate about either style I nod my head in unison and agree with whatever it is they say. Then when someone of the opposite camp gives their opinion I do the same thing. My problem is when I start something like this I feel like it needs to work forever the same exact way. I'm learning to tell myself that things like this change, especially as our kids grow and mature. Just because we start off doing it one way doesn't mean when they are 15 we have to do it the same way.

Thoughts? Is there a 3rd camp that I'm unaware of?

Shower for Baby

This weekend, some friends hosted a shower for Baby. Its such a blessing to be able to welcome baby #3 with friends. An extra blessing is that everyone brought us a pack of diapers!

They made all the yummy scones, tea sandwiches and treats. Doesn't the spread look so beautiful?

My sweet friends who hosted, Sarah, Ruth and Traci.

"Carving" Pumpkins

This year we found "Mr. Potato Head" pieces for our pumpkins. Micah made a Pirate.
And Joel made a clown. They are both very proud of their creations.

Notice the look on Joel's face? That is such a "Joel" face. He does this when we pray too. He folds his hands and bows his head. But he then knits his eyebrows and looks up and around at everyone to see if he is doing everything right. We need to get a picture of this.

Death in the Family ***updated***

Yesterday our first family pet passed away to fish heaven. Sota was a beta and lived a long beta life. Three years! I think most betas live only 1 year. We bought him when Micah was about 2 years old.

I was expecting some sad tears when Aaron told Micah, "Micah I have some sad news. Sota our fish has died."

"Dad, we should have ate him before he died!"

Hmmmm...

A few minutes later we hear from Micah, " Joel, I have some sad news...."

So we had a little fish funeral in the bathroom. Daddy read the story of Jonah and the whale. Then Micah said a little prayer. Micah did the honors. Mommy had a tear in her eye.

Joel said "Sota died, we flushed him in the potty."

Yup, pretty much sums it up.

***
Okay, lest you think that my boys have no compassion and were not attached to their fish... Micah did have a few sad moments throughout the day.

A New Toy

We have a new toy here and I hope it doesn't lose interest very quickly. It wasn't a birthday toy, in fact it was sitting in the closet all along.

A Dust Buster. I didn't think a 4 year old could find so much fun from a cleaning tool AND be effective at the clean up. I was getting ready yesterday and I heard the whirl of the dust buster. Coming downstairs I saw him busily cleaning up after himself. He was playing with play-do and while putting it away noticed some "crumbs". I didn't even know he *could* notice any crumbs. Then later after eating a bagel I heard the sound again. Wow.

He even knows how to plug it into the charger.

Happy Birthday, Joel!

Joel's 2nd birthday was September 23rd. We had a baseball-themed party on the 23rd at the park. It was a gamble to plan an outside party in late September, but decided to chance-it. Clean up is so much easier! (That's suppose to be a baseball cake!)

As you can see the weather cleared and we had a sunny afternoon at the park.

This is a partial picture of the Snack Bar. The kids played a T-Ball game and a bean bag game to win tickets. They got to spend the tickets at the snack bar to buy candy, peanuts, popcorn and Cracker Jacks. The fruit was free. Unfortunately not many kids fell for the "free" fruit.

This is the baseball bean bag game.

Yummy Red Vines!!

Joel's new scooter. He calls it "My Thomas bicycle."

New dump truck from Great Grandma Exie

Couldn't resist this one!

Happy Birthday to our big boy!!