"CTR Cash" & White Chocolate Covered Pretzels!!

So we started our CTR Cash on Monday evening. I did a Family Home Evening on "obedience" where I explained that when we obey we get blessings. I had Hannah find her favorite scripture story about obedience and asked her to share it with the family. She chose "Joseph Smith's First Vision" and the rest of the story leading up to the printing of the Book of Mormon. I asked her questions about what could have happened if Joseph Smith chose not to obey Jesus and the angel Moroni. She seemed very moved by the lesson and opted to promise to obey her parents "from now on". At the end I explained to Hannah what the new chore/incentive program would be. I told her that she could earn CTR cash for being obedient to her parents. The program is very simple, there are "basic chores", "daily chores", and "extra chores". The basic chores include the things like making bed, brushing teeth, saying prayers, reading scriptures, etc. There are "morning" and "before bedtime" basic chores. These chores when completed AS A WHOLE (abt 5 items each) will earn Hannah 5 CTR cents. Which means she can earn 10 CTR cents by just doing the basics (which may change because I'm not too fond of the idea of paying Hannah for the stuff she has to do anyway, but that's why it's only 5 CTR cents each). Then there are "daily" chores, which is a chore that is expected to be completed on a specific day, (i.e) Monday: clean your bathroom Tuesday: clean kitchen table and counters, etc. These chores earn her 10 CTR cents. Then if she has completed her "basic" and "daily" chores, she has the chance to do an "extra" chore. These can earn her an extra 15-25 CTR cents each day. She also can earn CTR cash for good behavior especially "obeying with exactness" (Stripling warrior story! Got to love it!!) which she would get an extra 50 CTR cents. Now, of course, she can lose CTR Cash for bad behavior such as throwing a fit, whining, getting out of bed once she's been put to bed (that's a bad one!!). The ways in which she is able to spend her CTR cash are for TV time & computer time which is 10 CTR cents for 30 min. and there's always good old "Miller's Market" which is a tub full of toys, movies, etc that she wants, which she can purchase with her CTR cash for the priced marked!!! She's very excited about Miller's Market and today at the store she kept showing me things that she would like me to put in there!!! She has opted to not watch any TV today because she's saving up to purchase the "other toothfairy" ( a stuffed fairy with pink wings & dress) which is going to be a friend to her current "toothfairy". I have to say that I am excited that she's excited about it!!! If she wasn't, it wouldn't do any good!!! So I will keep you posted on how things progress in that area!! But as for now, SO FAR SO GOOD!!!!

So on Sunday night I had a MAJOR craving for, of course, White Chocolate Covered Pretzels!!!! And I had gone to the store the night before and didn't grab any!!! What was I thinking!?!?!? And I think it may have been me putting my ox in the meyer (spelling) if I went to the store and purchased some. Anyway, I began rummaging through the cupboards looking for something to take their place but it wasn't happening!!! Then out of no-where an "angel" appeared and told me where I could find some "mickey mouse white chocolate covered pretzels"!!! Ok, for those of you who haven't tasted those, they are the BEST!!!! I had to pinch myself a few times to make sure I understood what the "angel" way trying to tell me. Could it be that she knew where to find them?!? I inquired futher and she told me that they were out in her "angel car". I was speechless!!! So then the "angel" floated out to her "angel car" and came back in with an almost empty, slightly melted bag of Mickey Mouse Choc. covered pretzels!!! I have never been so happy in my life!!! So, I'm sure you've guessed that the angel was my mom and she had purchased some the day before we left Disney World and still hadn't finished them. Which I do believe is almost humanly-impossible!!!!

So first thing Monday morning I was off to purchase some more choc. pretzels. You are not going to believe what I found!!!!! They had them on sale at Smiths (our local grocery store in Utah) for, are you ready for this??!!??..................10 bags for $10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I totally purchased 10 bags and I am seriously contemplating going back for another 10!!! That's just a crazy price!!! I could seriously get some for my food storage, right?!? I couldn't imagine going through a disaster without my pretzels!!! So, for the time being I am supplied with the necessities of life!!

Somehow I Survived the Flight Home!!!

Ok, so I made it back from Houston in one piece!! Can you say COMPLETE CHAOS!?! (is that how you spell it?) No, I'm just kidding, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I just kept telling myself, "You can make it! You can do it!!" And I made sure to break it up into small segments of time, kind of like, "Ok, you can make it to the gate without dropping the car seat (which was carefully balanced on the top of my little umbrella stroller)." or "Ok, you can do this!! You can get these 3 carry-on bags onto the plane along with your two kids and a car seat, while leaving the stroller at the bottom of the ramp so that is can get checked!! I THINK I CAN!!!" Anyway, I hope you get what I mean. I just took it a step at a time. And I do have to say that for the most part, there were several people willing to help me when I found myself in a bind. I was very grateful for their willingness to go the extra mile.

Now in saying that, I have to tell you about the "not-so-nice" people who WOULDN'T help me, which really made me mad!!! I had finally made it to the Salt Lake airport and I had already stacked all my luggage onto the now-it-seemed very small cart that I had rented. I could hardly see over everything that was stacked on it!! I'm sure I looked totally pathetic!! I had Hannah pushing Gabe in the stroller and we headed outside to find a shuttle. I came out the doors and I tried to turn my over-loaded cart towards the spot on the walkway where we needed to catch our shuttle. Well let's just say that the cart had a mind of it's own because instead of turning, it decided to roll down the ramp that connected with the street!! I tried with all my might to stop it from rolling and I finally did, but it's wheels resisted the thought of me being in charge and chose to get themselves stuck in a hole where the ramp connected with the rest of the sidewalk!! So now I couldn't push and I couldn't turn the stubborn cart!!! I made a few attempts, while yelling at Hannah to wait for me, but it wouldn't budge. I quickly glanced around to see where Hannah was at, and I caught several people looking at me and as soon as our eyes met, they each looked away!! HELLO!?!? Can you not see that I need help!?!? My first instinct was to be embarrassed but that quickly changed to mad, especially when I looked around again and the same thing happened!! I was so upset that I was back in the "Mormon" state and no one was willing to help me!! So then my mind began wondering if any of them were LDS, which then made me search for certain clothing lines that might say if they were members or not. I told myself that if I found someone who fit the mold I was going to let them know what I thought of their unwillingness to serve those around them. But I'm happy to say that no line-age was spotted!! So, anyway, this all happened within a matter of seconds (it's weird how fast our mind can think things through) but to me it seemed like an eternity. Well, somehow I was able to maneuver the cart where I wanted it to go and as I walked past those unwilling bystanders, I gave them a not-so-pleasant look! I'm sure they could've cared less but it made me feel better about the whole situation!!

So, I'm now trying to get back into a normal routine which I have to admit, is harder than I thought it would be. I will have to keep you posted on that, along with the new "CTR Cash" incentive I will be starting tomorrow, in my home. Hopefully it will help motivate Hannah to obey her mother and father!! That's a big issue at 6 years old!!!

Anyway, my husband is hovering over my sholder because he'd like to take us for a Sunday ride. I will have to expand more on those things in the above paragraph, on my next post!!

The party may begin cuz the McMillers have arrived :)

My really cool friend Karie has somehow convinced me to enter the land of the Blogs!!!! I must admit that I was not too fond of the idea! Who knows how to do that kind of stuff anyway!?! Right? Well it turns out that it isn't as hard as I had assumed it to be and Karie made it her life's mission to get me up and running, so here I am!! Blogging for the first time and not even sure what I am suppose to be "blogging" about.

I suppose I can say that when I left my home, a month ago tomorrow, I was a very simple stay-at-home mom with a very simple life and now that I have spent the last month with Karie, I am a Playmobil loving, white chocolate covered pretzel eating, Webkin purchasing, Cities & Knights playing, blogging fool! What can I say, Karie has that way about her. She could talk an eskimo into buying a refrigerator!! So I will be leaving tomorrow a new person, which makes me wonder if anyone back home will recognize me with the 100lbs I've gained by eating all those white chocolate covered pretzels!!! Seriously, we have probably gone through about 20 bags of pretzels in the past 3 weeks....Exhibit A

This is what we gathered to eat during our back-to-back "Settlers" fests that happened nightly. Totally Out-Of-Hand!!!! But what can I say, I was on vacation. That made it totally legal to eat foods that weren't "figure-friendly" :)

(L-R: Jenny, Daria, Karie, and Me)

Here we are playing our new obsession, The Settlers of Catan with the Cities & Knights expansion. Lots of wholesome fun...WHATEVER!!!....it's more like "lots of sabataging, cut-throat, cheap-shot" fun!! If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it!

So tomorrows the big day! Heading home after a 4 week break. I wonder if my cats will even know who I am!?! I am not looking forward to the flight home. But I am happy to say that I convinced Greg to purchase Gabe his very own ticket, so now I won't have a squirming 14 months old on my lap!! That makes me soooooo happy! Now the thought of lugging 2 suitcases, 2 carseats, 2 carry-on bags, 2 actual boxes with stuff I have collected while here at Karie's, a 6 yr old, and a 1 yr old in a stroller around two airports, getting it all onto a shuttle and then off again, and making it to the vehicle while hopefully still in one piece, doesn't necessarily make me jump for joy!!! But hey, if the pioneers can walk clear across the country, I can surely pull this off!! I'll let you know how it goes, if I'm still alive to blog about it.