This was taken first thing when I got the kids up yesterday morning. They, as long as they’ve been home, would not get out of their beds until someone came and got them up. Even when their cousins visited, they’d sit up in their beds and watch their cousins get up and leave the room or run around the room and play, while they sat there. I’ve been begging them for months to get up on their own. At first it was nice and felt safe that they’d stay in their beds. But, I didn’t like the idea of them laying in bed, awake, waiting for me. And Lena is typically VERY LOUD and awake first. We talked a ton about getting up and getting a book to read, or playing in their room. We acted it out. But, they wouldn’t do it. Finally, the other day, I talked to Reed one-on-one about it and the next morning, I came up to find them each with a book in their bed. Perfect!

Today we broke out the Christmas playdough that, I think, Aunt Nicole made. It looked and smelled like a candy cane… yum!

This entertained them for TWO HOURS. It was really fantastic for all parties until we shared a meltdown over the little star cookie cutter. One kid grabbed it and cried when she had to give it back. One kid lied about it and refused to share. And one mom was just really exhausted by that point!