All's quiet on the Western Front...

We haven't been up to much lately - and that's just fine with me. I enjoy having down time in between crazy everyday life. The kids have been working hard earning benjies (reward mechanism with raffle tickets - they earn them for toys, etc). We introduced McKell to benjies last week (the boys have been doing it for years). She has bright pink ones - typical of her girlish moods lately. We reward them liberally when they behave, share, do their chores, etc. One of the ways to earn benjies is by staying in your room all night (we have a problem in this arena with all of them). The other day, I pulled out ten benjies for McKell for sleeping in her bed all night long. I was trying to encourage and excite her by channeling my inner actress and over dramatizing everything. She looks at me and says, "Mom, you silly. I not want benjies. I sleep in mommy's room, okay?" I told her that she earned them for sleeping in her room and proceeded to put them in the jar. She then said in a very demanding I-am-the-boss tone, "I NOT want them" and ripped them out of the benjie jar. Okay, McKell...

Anyway, the boys decided last night what they are earning benjies for. Austin wants a watch (he's so cute and only wants simple things), Tyler wants all of the Prince Caspian toys and three tickets (tickets for him, not others) to Prince Caspian (the new Chronicles of Narnia movie coming out in May). He's a bit obsessed. As for McKell, I don't think she quite understands the concept and even if she did, would demand her prize right away.

Tyler is infatuated with Narnia. The other day we were driving back from errands as a family and it was really quiet in the back seat. We looked back and saw Austin with his mouth open, eyes shut and snoring and Tyler just looking out the window. I asked Tyler what he was thinking about. He said with a big sigh, dreamily, "I was just thinking about Narnia". He tells me he does the same thing when he's supposed to be sleeping during nap time at preschool. He's so cute.

Not much else happening. We're gearing up for Spring Break - we aren't going anywhere but it will be fun to just hang around and play instead playing the hurry up game and carpooling.

Soccer starts in a few weeks, so we'll be busy during the week nights again. I hope Tyler has a renewed energy for soccer this spring. Last fall, well... let's just say he was more interested in pretending he was shot and rolling around all over the field. His games were painful at best to watch. You had Tyler rolling all over the field saying, "You shot me", the coaches son refusing to play, sat on the sidelines and fell asleep - every game, another boy who wanted to go play on the school playground instead and cried, and a coach who I'm pretty sure has never coached four and five year-olds before (and probably never will again) and didn't understand that 'goal tending' isn't allowed and doesn't really make a difference that age, and trying to teach real soccer skills to them is like herding cats - the kids just want to run around after the ball. It was comical at best. I laughed a lot while I sat there drinking my soda in my lawn chair.

McKell's independent, firey little self is evident in the following example. This morning I was getting breakfast for all the kids. Austin and Tyler come to the table and I have caramel rolls and grapes for them. They are excited for breakfast every morning and say things like, "Thank you for this wonderful breakfast" or "You are the best cook ever, mom". They are very agreeable and appreciative for breakfast - they'll eat anything I put out. McKell on the other hand, emerges from her room with a rats nest for hair and after looking at the breakfast options decides she doesn't want it. I asked her what she wants, she says, "Apple pies and Coke" (I think that's an indication of going to McDonald's with me too much). I said no. She was upset with every other option I put out there. She ended up with a bag of Cheetos, a chocolate chip cookie and orange juice.