It's summer....I've been re-reading some of posts from previous summers. Wow. This summer has been OK so far. We've been trying something new and it seems to be working. What is this, you may ask. Here it is...








These are our marble jars. Each child has one...well not Liam :) The five talking children have one. They can earn marble for doing various jobs or for good behavior. However, bad behavior costs them marbles. Their incentive is, once their jar is full of marbles, they can exchange it for one of three things : A date night with mom and dad (their choice of where we go), $20 cash, or a slumber party. It may seem silly but this has REALLY cut down on the tattling, hitting, and general annoyance things that seems to make the summer seem SOOO long! My older kids are really motivated to fill their jars so my house has been clean and the van cleaned out without any fuss. Somethings are still just expected of them and they don't earn marbles for those things, ie. the dishes and cleaning their rooms. But I am really liking this system. We've still had moments, don't get me wrong. But even a little less drama is helpful!!!

Next week we are headed to Lake Michigan for the week as it's Matt's vacation and we couldn't be more excited! Camping here we come!!

Numbers

Our Friday night numbers

4 children that just got off the bus
1 child sleeping (my Liam)
2 couches that are finding new homes tonight
0 places to sit in the living room right now
3 children attempting to talk to me while I write this
1 conversation at a time is all this Mama can handle right now
2 wasp stings that needed kissing when Sydney came in
1 daddy working on his van
1 three year old boy "helping"
3 large pizzas ordered for dinner
4 kinds of pop to be consumed with said pizza
1,000,000 calories in the aforementioned pizza
7 hours that Liam is sleeping each night
7 more days until my quiet days are filled with children 24/7
4 bags of clothes to take to Goodwill
8 loads of laundry to do
3 single baby socks that I cannot find pairs to
2 nervous dogs who are hating the storm
1 paranoid Mama who is walking around sniffing for smoke during the storm
3 girls giggling while playing Wii
1 mostly happy family gearing up for pizza and movie night!

What a day.....

I was up and moving early as I had to be at my mom's house by 7:45 this morning. The kids get on the bus at 7:40 so I was headed out at the same time as them. A HUGE lightning clap hit somewhere VERY close to our house and we all screamed and jumped. I've never heard anything like that! Then we started running late...Emma couldn't find socks, Jonah couldn't find his backpack...so I am hurrying everyone along and telling the kids to jump in the van and I would let them wait in the van at the end of the driveway as it was now raining. As I re-entered the kitchen, Molli said, " Mom, I smell smoke." I quickly told her it was nothing. I bent over to pick up Liam's carseat and saw smoke rising from the floor. I ran down to the basement and saw flames coming out of the dryer hose. I screamed for the kids to bring me water. Jonah remembered that there was an old fire extinguisher upstairs in the girl's closet so he ran to get it. He handed it to me and I couldn't get the pin out. So I yelled for more water. The water wasn't helping so I panicked thinking I should get the kids out and call 911. But then I thought, by the time they get here, the whole house would be on fire. I tried one more time to get the pin out and it came out! I quickly used it to put the growing fire out. Then I climbed up the stairs and crushed all the kids to me. This was a miracle day...

1. If we had been on time, I would have been out of the house before we smelled the smoke. I was planning on being gone all day so we would have lost the house.

2. We didn't buy that fire extinguisher. It was here when we moved in. And I didn't even remember it was there...Jonah did.

3. The kids and I were calm. And knowing some of my children, this is indeed miraculous!

God's hand was all over this today. His mercy and protection flowed here. I know He was here this morning, providing peace and wisdom. He is great and worthy to be praised!!!