Little Blessings

I'm blessed to have a pretty remarkable kid. Don't get me wrong, he can be a booger at times, but overall he's a really great child.  It's been a rough year at school and home with learning to listen and obey.  We've tried many different things trying to see what works for him and have found that clear, specific goals with a specific reward seems to work the best.

Last week was really rough, so we wanted to start this one off on a better foot so Andrew has been working towards a new video game for the Wii. In order to receive it he had to go the whole week without being sent to a chair at school (he's sent there when he is a distraction or doesn't listen to the teacher or parent helper),  as well as be a calm, helpful teammate at his game Saturday instead of being wild and distracting the team and coaches.

I received daily updates from Andrew that he hadn't been sent to a chair, but this morning I received an update from his teacher that knocked my socks off.

We arrived to school early today in order to promote The Human Race SC (great fundraiser and if you want to donate to Andrew/his school, click here) which left time for Andrew to play with other kids in the courtyard, something he doesn't normally get to do.  I was impressed when the bell rang because Andrew immediately ran to his classroom without being told (something we've been concerned about if he were to be just dropped off).  Being a mom, I still wanted to check to ensure he made it to class, so about 5 minutes later I walked to his room and went inside to make sure he was in there at which point his teacher stopped me.  Apparently a few days ago his teacher had to step outside the classroom to speak with another adult which left the class by themselves and they were given the instructions to stay quiet. At some point they started getting loud as kids unattended tend to do. Mr. A reported to me that when he came back in, Andrew was standing at the front of the classroom leading them in song to calm down and it worked!  That's right, ANDREW was the one calming the other kids down through a song the teacher gets them to sing in order to gain their attention.  I am so proud of the changes Andrew has been making in order to grow in his listening as well as obeying and it was such an amazing blessing to start my morning with that great news.

Pinned it and Made it

One of my favorite time wasting sites is Pinterest, it's a great place to find ideas for everything from recipes to crafts. While searching the kid category, I came across a great picture that seemed like the essence of a little boy.  Check out the inspiration and my version:

It came out pretty cute if I say so myself! I didn't process the image as much as the original poster did, but I'm definitely okay with that. The plan is to get a couple cute Valentine's frames (Target has them on sale right now) and then give them as gifts to the grandparents.

#febphotoaday
Hands

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febphotoaday Words

My view today
#febphotoaday

I, along with 90% of social media, am participating in the February 2012 Photo A Day Challenge. You should try too!

2012 One Word Goal

I guess I missed the boat on doing a big 2011 year in review and what I learned, blah blah blah. I found the idea for "2012 One Word Goal" here.  I love the idea of picking one word that encompasses your goals for the new year. The blogger describes the goal as:

"not with things that we’ll end up forgetting.
But real things. That you can really accomplish.
And I promise you’ll feel amazingly inspired by it!"

                                            

The word I picked is

Nourish encompasses everything I want to accomplish in 2012:


Nourish my body:
We have a tendency to eat out a lot and that obviously isn't the best fuel for any of our bodies. I've committed to cooking 6 out of 7 nights of the week in order to nourish my family's bodies with healthy food. Also trying to be healthy by working out consistently.


Nourish relationships:
I learned the hard way the effects of quantity versus quality with a few relationships last year. This year I'm making it a priority to nourish the quality relationships that I have been blessed with and see people through my own lenses versus letting others tint how I view people.


Nourish my spiritual life:
Spiritually my life has been dry in the past few months, I'm trying to reignite the flame by reading the bible daily. It's something I have always want to do, but have never made the effort until now.


Nourish my mind: 
I've toyed with the idea of going back to school for a few years and finally took the first steps this week by applying to the local community college. I'm not sure where I want to end up, but for now want to get my general ed completed. I'm excited at the future with this.


I really like the idea of picking one word vs many goals that end up becoming frustrating and thrown aside which in turn makes us feel like failures. Although it's 31 days in, I'm looking forward to what 2012 brings.