The new year has gotten off to a pretty good start. My word for the year is intentional. One of my goals is to take one boy out each weekend. I thought through why I have never been consistent with this in the past (yes, I have tried) and it is because of several things. Yes, our weekends get busy, but it was mainly because when the weekend rolled around I could not always come up with things to do (seems like we can always think of things that cost money though) and often times the cash had dried up and no money to spend even if I wanted to. So this year for Christmas I made up 17 coupons for each boy. Then I determined a dollar value for each one and went to the bank and got money for each coupon and stapled the money right to the coupon. 95% of the coupons were 2 or 3 dollars, so it only cost me $158 for an entire year of dates with the boys. The coupons are things like a trip to Costco to look at toys and get some ice cream, a trip to Barnes and Noble and a soda at the gas station or a trip to the library and a Gatorade from the store. The emphasis is more on the doing. Fortunately my boys love 'window' shopping and can spend a great deal of time wandering the toy aisle. Any little treat is exciting for them! So, they each have a stack of coupons with money attached. Plus the coupons are tangible, so the boys don't forget. I printed up a spreadsheet to keep track of who goes what weekend (another downfall was when we would skip a few weeks and then I forgot who I last took out.

On Saturday B picked the only high dollar coupon there was (I figured he would). It was for a meal at IHOP and a trip to the local sporting goods store. We were gone about 3 hours and had a lot of fun. Our last stop was Home Depot. I am trying to think through some projects around the house so we went to look for ideas and colors, as well as try to price some things. We got lost dreaming in the appliance section. He had to open all the refridgerators. I think this was his favorite non-food stop. We did go to the sporting good store and also bought him some new snow boots (something he desperately needed. While at the sporting goods store, I took the opportunity, yet again, to point out to him poor customer service (remember the pizza restaurant...). We were in the shoe department about 20 minutes and were never approached by an employee - although there were 2 college age employees within ear shot of us. All they did was converse with themselves. I asked for a manager as we left the store. B listened to the conversation and as we walked out, I told him how important a good work ethic is. (I just wish we would have a really good experience sometime so I could teach him about praising people for a job well done!)

B has another appointment this week with the orthodontist. His appliance fell out over the weekend, so I am glad we had this one scheduled. JB has received praise from all those at school and his therapists. Seems the break has been really good for him and they have seen a lot more fluidity and ease with his words! Jbird went out hunting with JR over the weekend. They were able to track a fox! Pictures to come!

We have a quiet week, as I think our weeks are going to become more quieter, or maybe I should say calmer. I have decided to start clearing my plate with a lot of things. I feel that God is preparing me for a quiet season of my life and time to really focus on the most important things.