Too much TV!

One day last week I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. The kids had really been acting up all day and were acting extremely spoiled. When Billy got home at the end of the day I was exhausted from breaking up fights, and arguing with the kids. I felt like I needed to make some changes in my parenting. After talking to Billy about it, we decided that part of the problem was that the kids watch too much TV and computer and they don't have enough responsibilities. They come home from school, do homework and then sit in front of the TV. So, we decided they need to start earning their TV time. Billy suggested we make a chart with pockets and when they complete a "job" they get to put a popsicle stick in the pocket. Once they've earned 2 points they get to watch 30 minutes of TV or computer time. Some examples of their "jobs" are: Read a chapter in a book, vacuum, do dishes, help make dinner, read the BOM, do a page in a workbook, paint a picture. The kids were really excited about the charts and since I implemented them my life has been so much easier. Now when they get home from school they color a picture, read a book, or do one of their other jobs so they can earn popsicle sticks to watch TV. By the time they are done, they only have about a half hour before dinner time, bath time and bed time. So far I am liking this new system!!

Disneyland!

We ended our 2 week Christmas vacation with a mini trip to Disneyland. We went with some of our best friends, Kassidi and Nathen and their 2 kids. It was so much fun to be able to take Dawson and Kylie on some of the bigger rides. And Kale was able to go on most of the other rides.

Utah

After a week in Vegas we braced ourselves for the cold, bundled up and headed for Utah to visit my family. It had been 8 months since I had been to Utah. My parents have been to San Diego a couple times to visit me, but I hadn't seen my sister since April, so it was long overdue. Dawson was so excited to play with Donovan (my sister's little boy.) Dawson and Donovan are 2 weeks apart, and the best of friends, except when they are fighting over a toy. Kylie doesn't have any cousins her age, but she was happy to hang out with her best friend from Utah, Jaidyn. And we made an exception to our no sleepover rule because they only get to see each other twice a year. The rest of the week was really relaxed. We went out with a few of our best friends and I went out to lunch with 2 of my best friends from high school, and we hung out a lot with my parents. I really skimped on the picture taking in Utah, but here are a couple of Dawson and Donovan, and Kylie and Jaidyn.

Christmas morning

After Billy finished his finals and Kylie got out of school for winter break we headed to Vegas to spend Christmas with Billy's family. Christmas is always amazing at the Palmers house. The house is decorated to the max with the cutest Christmas decorations. We had a yummy Christmas eve dinner and then read Christmas stories, put on our matching Christmas PJs and sent the kids to bed where they anxiously awaited santa's arrival. In the morning we all opened up our gifts (one by one of coarse), ate Christmas breakfast, and went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was a really great Christmas!

The most wonderful time of the year!

I love Christmas time!!! December has been such a busy and fun month! Billy had finals the first part of the month, so he was busy studying away and missed out on a few of our activities. The kids and I flew to Las Vegas for Billy's little brother, Shane's mission homecoming. While there, we took the kids to the mall to see Santa. I thought that since Dawson is a big 4 year old now that he wouldn't be scared of Santa. It turns out I was wrong. He was just as scared as Kale, as you can tell from the picture above. The rest of the month was filled with baking my traditional christmas sugar cookies, shopping, wrapping, Christmas parties, going to Christmas card lane, and a white elephant gift exchange with friends.

Happy Turkey Day '09

Billy only had two days off school for Thanksgiving, so we didn't have time to travel to Utah where both of our families were for Thanksgiving, but it was still a really great day!!! We invited a bunch of couples from our ward who weren't going home for the holiday. Billy cooked two turkeys and everyone else brought a side or dessert. Everything turned out sooo yummy!!! I was concerned that we wouldn't have enough room for everyone (21 people including kids), but it actually turned out fine. The kids ate first, and then they all played while the adults binged, i mean ate. Afterward, we played games and chit chatted into the evening. We are so lucky to have found such great friends here in San Diego!!

Dawsons 4th birthday/Legoland!!

Yesterday was Dawsons birthday! I cannot believe he's 4 years old!! Kids grow up too fast. I decided to take the kids to Legoland for his birthday because we had free passes from the radio station and a friend of mine was already taking her kids, so we met up with them and they had such a great time. Legoland is the perfect amusement park for Dawson's age. There are so many cute rides for younger kids. After Legoland we went home and had a few friends over for batman cake and icecream. Dawson had a really great day!