Family Time During Deployment

It has always been hard for us to figure out how to keep Chris and the kiddos connected. None of them have been old enough to really write him letters or talk to him on instant messenger the way that I can. They could wave and on the rare occasion they were awake when he called they could say hello. Other than that it was just them drawing him pictures and seeing him on the webcam. This deployment we did all the same for the first half. Once in a while Dylan would sit down and IM daddy since he can spell most of what he would need to say. That was, until today. We have created a new Saturday morning routine. Normally, I would bounce between the computer and the kids but today we decided (that since video chat worked so well the day before) to have some family time via video chat! Daddy told the kids stories, and played music for them, he even ate "breakfast" with us... really he had flamin hot cheetos while we had biscuits and gravy. It was absolutely as close to perfect as I could ask for. It was like having him home. Those few hours were the best of my whole week!

Dylan's Homework

So I am sitting here wondering when exactly second grade home work started requiring so much thought. Dylan's spelling homework for the evening was to write a song that included all 15 of his spelling words. Now when I was in second grade that would have been simple, our words were always relative to one another. Dylan's list however is not that way. His words this week are as follows:
Boat
Snow
Coat
Grow
Float
Own
Low
Soak
Bowl
Yellow
Snowflake
Sailboat
Carload
Window
Load


I personally was stumped...I must be getting really old because I just don't have the imagination to come up with a song like he did, but my little smarty arty came up with this:

One day I woke up
I went to my window
where I saw a snowflake
fall from the sky

I put on some warm clothes
ran out of my bed room
picked up my yellow coat
and then ran outside


I Love a Snowday
a stay home from School Day
No Carload of Friends
to ride with today
No, We'll All be outside
building snowmen and snow forts
we could even go sledding
and have snow ballfights

summertime's just fine
I soak in the sun
take the boat and go fishin
sure that is fun

i like to wave at the sailboats
as they float by
but sowndays are better
i'll tell you why



I Love a Snowday
a stay home from School Day
No Carload of Friends
to ride with today
No, We'll All be outside
building snowmen and snow forts
we could even go sledding
and have snow ballfights


Mom gives me tomato soup
in my own special bowl
it warms up my tummy
and helps me to grow


when it's a snow day
we have loads of fun
playing all day long
cuz our homework's been done



I Love a Snowday
a stay home from School Day
No Carload of Friends
to ride with today
No, We'll All be outside
building snowmen and snow forts
we could even go sledding
and have snow ball fights


Of Course mom helped him with the format and piecing lines together to make it flow,
but the entire concept was HIS!! I am so so so PROUD!!!! I would love to have an accompaniment written so that he could take it in and sing it for his class. I think that would be NEAT!!!

General Mom Declares WAR!

I HAVE HAD IT!!! I know that Discipline is NEVER easy... and heaven knows Teaching 5 children 7 and under to be responsible, is a nearly impossible job! Especially since until the oldest was already in school, I didn't feel the need to even start. I have tried method after method to get things to sink in and stick when it comes to chores, and respectful behaviors but nothing seems to work, the kids never seem to want to bother. A lot of this I know comes from example, I rarely managed to keep my room clean, or the laundry caught up, and even more seldom do the kid's actually SEE me do anything consistently. I often lashed out in angry out bursts which would result in tears from both Mom and Child. Part of this I have recently found out is due to Attention Deficit Disorder, in conjunction with depression, and social anxiety disorder. None of these are excuses, each one is treatable, and while very difficult to do each one can be over come with a certain amount of persistence, which I did not have. Now however I am being treated, and am feeling better than ever. I have more patience than I thought was possible for me to ever achieve. I am finding it much easier to focus on simple tasks like folding laundry or carrying on a conversation with out changing the subject 20 times before returning to the original topic only to find out that "I had already said that." That being said, I think I have finally found a method that works with them. We (the kid's and I) have developed a kind of point system. We sat down one night and assigned a points value to different household duties that they are asked to help with (ie: keeping their bedrooms/bathroom picked up, running the vacuum or clearing the table)and certain good behaviors (ie: checking for unused lights that are on and turning them out and behaving in mass), as well as a value to different privileges they frequently ask to have(ie: playing a video game, going down to their friend's to play,or having control of the remote). The concept is simple. In order earn these privileges, they have to 1) Have all homework and "regular" chores completed (ie: room picked up, making their beds and putting their back packs and shoes in the proper place) 2.) They have to have a sufficient number of points to cover that privilege.For two weeks starting out this method worked. We had clean bedrooms, and helpful children, however recently the children have decided to push... They are not wanting to earn points, or be helpful. I have had it to my eye balls with being ignored and looking at messy rooms, but with my history they just don't take me seriously any more. So now it is time to crack the whip. It isn't easy to see them upset or mad at me, and I know they probably aren't sure why all of a sudden mom has just had enough, but I know I have to crack down, or they are going to continue to walk all over me. It isn't going to be easy but I am certain it will just going to take a few solid moments of follow through to get them to realize that I am not going to bend any longer. Wish Me Luck Ya'll I am Launching a full out WAR on Bad Behavior...

Meet the Bouchers: Christopher and Lura with our 5 Children (left to Right) Dylan, Ronan, Warren, Katlyn, and Rebecca. This is the story of our Journey...all the ups downs, twists and turns along the way.