Hot and Cold

When it comes to blogging lately I'm either hot or cold.  I haven't taken a single picture in 10 days so I just decided to talk about some of our daily routines.  It's funny how routines seem to change quite a bit as the years roll by. They are such a big part of life but we never seem to record the mundane every day things.

I try and wake Britton and Jenna up by 7:40 a.m. at the latest and although that gives them a good 40 minutes to get ready for school, they have become especially adept at wasting at least 30 minutes every morning. Last year we literally had to beg Britton to wait until 8:10 to leave for the bus. This year we can't get him out of the house before 8:20 a.m.  He loves to lay in front of the fireplace in the family room when it's cold in the morning.  Unfortunately he chooses to do this before getting dressed, eating breakfast and doing his hair.  I still can't figure out exactly how Jenna spends her time in the morning, but I do know that I wouldn't use the word "efficient" to describe it. 

Korinne has preschool 4 afternoons a week.  She asks every morning if she has school that day because there is a 1 in 5 chance I'll say no and she wants to be prepared so she isn't too disappointed later. She is still sleeping on the floor.  One day I'll be able to write that she has started sleeping in her bed. . . one day.  We rearranged her room last week and she told me that she was going to start sleeping in her bed since it was in a new location.  That night she lasted a full 5 minutes before she grabbed her pillow and a blanket and went back to the floor. Seriously, I don't get it.  We're going on 3 full years of floor sleeping.

I always do my exercising after the kids leave for school and Korinne is my exercise buddy.  She says she is exercising with me, but that usually means she sits and watches me exercise.  We do our exercise on the treadmill while watching recorded episodes of House Hunters and House Hunters International.  I'm kind of dorky, but they really are the most entertaining shows to watch while on the treadmill, and they are very Korinne friendly.

Korinne is always laughing about something and she says the phrase, "Don't 'cha know?" a lot.  I don't know where she got it because it isn't something any of us have ever said, but we hear it several times a day. 

"I can do this by myself, Mom, don't 'cha know?"
"Don't 'cha know, Dad, I played with that yesterday?"

No, I didn't know, but thanks for telling me.

She likes to cook with me and I've decided to make her my sous chef.  She is actually getting old enough to be somewhat helpful. This last week she put drop biscuits on a pan for me and snapped my fresh green beans. She's hired. Jenna has never taken an interest in cooking (or eating for that matter) but Korinne seems to pop up whenever I start making anything in the kitchen.

I have learned that if I want Britton to listen to anything I ask him to do I have to stop and look at him in the eyes.  If I don't look at him in the eyes before I ask him to unload the dishwasher or pick up his jacket he will not absorb the information no matter how I say it.  He doesn't mean to be disobedient, he just doesn't pay attention.  He is kind of like an absent minded professor that way. He is a brilliant kid, he just doesn't listen when you talk to him.  Another technique I've used with him is to give him a direction followed by a "please repeat".

"Britton, please go brush your teeth. Please repeat"
After a friendly eye-roll and a small laugh he will jokingly say, "Britton, please go brush your teeth. please repeat" But, he's got it, and that is exactly what I need to know.  If I leave the "please repeat" off then in 20 minutes when I ask him if he brushed his teeth he'll say, "oh, I didn't hear you tell me to brush my teeth" even if I said it 3 or 4 times.

When it comes to school Britton and Jenna are so alike, and yet so different.  They are both at the top of their classes and their test scores are virtually identical but their styles are so different.  Where Britton is always the first one done and the fastest in the class, Jenna is very particular and takes her time on each and every assignment to ensure perfection. Britton is the kid in the class that answers all the questions, Jenna is more reserved and keeps her correct answers to herself.  I think being only a grade apart is good for them because they keep each other on their toes.  When Jenna comes home with harder spelling words than Britton he marches back to school and demands harder spelling words from his teacher.  He is not about to be outdone by his little sister.  So now Britton has 5 challenge words each week above and beyond what his classmates have.  Sometimes a little competition isn't a bad thing.