Marble Jar Reward

A couple of months ago we started a marble jar for Serif. We have been trying to encourage him to do things on his own without our constant direction. It works like this.

He starts with an empty jar. Every time he does something without us telling him, he gets a marble in the jar. For example: brushes his teeth, takes his plate from the table to counter when done with a meal, says grace before meals, washes his hands after using the bathroom, etc). On the flip side, if we have to repeated tell him to do something or he disobeys, back talks, etc., he loses a marble. Once the jar fills up, he gets a prize.

Today was the day he hit the fill line of his jar. This has been his second fill since starting it. I keep a stash of toys and costumes in our closet from consignment sales for this very reason. I love being able to just walk in there for a prize and not have to go out or spend any more money. There's also no store drama on what to get. Today, he got this cool batman costume. He was ecstatic!

This marble jar is the best incentive for him. It reminds him of his choices and gives him something to work towards. It also puts more responsibility on him and he can't blame us for how many marbles he does or doesn't have. We do set the rules but these are his choices. The rewards can be anything, even a trip to the adventure science center or something special like that. It does not have to be a toy or anything material.

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He ate the whole thing!

While Jeff was in Spain last week, Serif and I had a date night at 5-Points Pizza. Serif always likes getting their single slice of cheese pizza. This thing was literally as large as his chest (like from his belly button to neck) and he ate the entire thing! Unbelievable.


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Quote of the day

"A skeleton died in the kitchen. He was in a forest and he was shot by Uncle Don."

(This was actually from November 8. I forgot to post it!)

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Homemade Fudge with Grandaddy

Serif had the privilege of helping Granddaddy make his classic fudge yesterday. It's my personal favorite and has always been since I was Serif's age (or earlier). That use to be me standing there with him.


Serif enjoyed learning about the candy thermometer and dad was really good to break down the measurements for him and teaching him how to measure.


It has to be stirred constantly until it comes to a rolling boil then you slow down a bit and look for the soft ball stage. Then it's ready to pour!


So much fun and so good! I think this may very well be Serif's favorite fudge too. The only bad part about it is it's gone way too quickly.


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Bad mom?

Serif wanted to go out and play in what snow was left this afternoon. I told him to go ahead and go out and I'd be out after I vacuumed. He got geared up, went out and tinkered around a few minutes then came back in to check on me. I told him I still had a little to do so he went on back out. As I made my way to the living room rug, I spotted him out the window. He had pulled his rocking chair over to look off the deck at the birds and squirrels. It was such a bitter sweet moment. It was sweet that he could actually slow down to enjoy nature but I felt a bit like I was letting him down. He really has little interest in playing out there by himself.


After I finished the rug and was about ready to put the vacuum away, I saw him get up from the chair, move to the stair rail and start kicking slush off the deck. He was obviously so bored but trying to be patient with me. He is growing up so fast.

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Snow Day

We started the morning baking bread. It always takes a while so I thought we could put it together before going out and it would be ready later when we came in. Serif loved helping to make it and was mesmerized at the process.


Once we got outside, we realized very quickly that the snow was very dry and powdery; Not very conducive to making snowballs or snowmen. We were determined to get something so after a while we came up with this little guy; small but he counts!





I always like getting one of us. I can't resist.


He got out Jeff's old diggers and decided to play with them for a while. A couple were frozen and wouldn't work but these were just fine.


After a while of diggers, I turned around to see him making a snow angel in the snow. It to turned out pretty well.





He asked me to make one too, so I laid down and started making one. I looked over and saw him laying in the snow just looking up at the birds and the sky. We had just put more seed in the bird feeder and were waiting for them to come and eat.





After I snapped his picture he crawled over to me to lay next to me. It was pretty sweet. Of course I had to snap that shot too.


Here's our snow angels. He wouldn't take my picture making one, so here's the best I have of proof that I did it.


Our toes started to freeze so we finally came back in. The smell of the bread baking was amazing and it had just finished! He was SO ready for a slice . . . or three. We both were!


After lunch and a movie, we went back out. A lot of the snow had melted (where the sun was strongest) but there was still a bit left. He wanted to make another snowman. Now that the snow had melted slightly it packed much better. We put this one together and decorated it. He was a little inspired by the snowman in Frozen but this guy has "laser eyes." Oh, and the flag is his hair.


It was a very fun day just playing outside and hanging out around the house. We'll see if anything is left for tomorrow.

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A gorgeous day

To go to the park . . . and fly a kite!





















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