"Bean" Good

This month we have been trying hard to be good. It all started with a surprise on our doorstep with a jar of jelly beans. The kids were supposed to earn jelly beans for doing good deeds like eating their meals, picking up their toys, being helpful etc. They would get black beans for bad behavior. They had to work extra hard to have their black beans removed. At the end we celebrated our earnings with a party and Easter egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Snow's. The party was mid April but I decided to keep the beans going so the kids could earn something else. They are really making an effort to be good and keep on earning their beans.Jesse is a champ when it comes to picking up toys. He's earned lots of beans and is sometimes a little reluctant to let Maren help him clean up. He was also a happy boy on his big day. Maren has also been a good helper with Miles. She's been doing better about eating her food and trying new things.

She also surprised me with this little message. I was doing dishes while the kids were coloring and she said "Mom, how do I write 'I am very good'"? I told her to sound it out and i continued on with my work not paying much attention. A few minutes later I heard her making some letter sounds and I walked over to see what she had written. Wow! I think she's ready for Kindergarten! (I'm not quite sure what the dots are on the kids faces).

Miles was a good sport when all his nieces stuck balloons to his head at the "bean" good party. I'm surprised that what little hair he has can conduct static electricity. He's also making some strides at eating solid foods. Seriously, feeding him solids is more like torturing the poor kid. The first few weeks were a combination of gagging, convulsing, and vomiting. However, last night I got him to eat a few tastes of broccoli soup and about 20 tiny bites of my homemade rolls (can't blame him, they're hard to resist). That's progress!

The kids were also good at coloring eggs:

finding eggs:

and posing for Easter pictures:

Miles was unhappy because the sun must have been burning his albino skin.

Getting a good picture of all three of them is almost impossible. Funny though the ones you get. Maren the mommy, Miles the crybaby, and Jesse the magician?Overall the kids have had a good month. Still a few episodes of crazy tantrums were Kirk and I are beside ourselves, one incident where mommy had to do the baby Heimlich when Jesse put a penny in Miles' mouth, and sometimes still wondering where to find the official handbook of parenting, but we manage and try to be a little better each day. As for now, we'll focus on "bean" good.