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!!