screen time tickets

last friday i posted on facebook that i had just implemented "screen time tickets" with my boys and that noah only had 1 left. for the entire week.

goodness.
i honestly anticipated more tantrums and frustration {on all our parts!} but as i type this {on wednesday} we've all been doing really well!
there will be a few new changes and alterations for our second week with screen time tickets.

as you can see each ticket is worth 30 minutes and can be used for tv, movies, daddy's iPad {one of the major sources of arguments before the tickets!} or computer.

how it works is that if the boys request to use the iPad or watch something i tell them to bring me a ticket and then choose what they would like to do. then i set the alarm on my phone and tell them when the alarm goes off, their time is done {or when a movie is done, etc. and they give the appropriate amount of tickets}.

each boy received 5 tickets last friday.
i am now planning on upping that to 6 tickets and will ration them out during the week; 3 on friday and 3 on monday. i may go back to giving them all their tickets on friday, but we'll see how the rationing goes if it seems to work for everyone.

jamie and i also discussed giving them an hour of saturday morning cartoons - as a treat for both kids and parents.
they also get one freebie of a family movie night which does not need any tickets.
noah also got a freebie ticket this week from daddy for obeying right away and with a really good attitude.

someone on facebook asked what happens if one child pays for a movie with their tickets and then the other child wants to sit in and watch. i commented that this is perfectly fine. the second child just doesn't have a say in what movie or show is being watched if they didn't contribute any tickets. over time this will hopefully lead to the boys working together to maximize their tickets and if they both want a say in the movie/show then they both need to contribute tickets.

right now both their envelopes are empty. they will stay empty until friday morning when i replenish them. we'll see how quickly they go through their initial three tickets or if they'll have learned to ration them for themselves.

overall their behaviour has been a bit better, they've played better together and have also self-initiated a lot more independent play time. hooray! oh we still have many fights every.single.day. {they are boys, after all!} but it's nice to see them being more creative and content with less screen time. kids will rise to the occasion and once again they have proven me right!

so all you need is to print off some tickets {i found mine here but there are other options for shorter amounts of time like 15 or 20 minutes or longer like 60 minutes}. i also chose to use colourful paper and then since i have no idea where i would laminate them, i used clear tape on both sides so we could re-use them.

this has been {so far} a good solution for our over-use of the tv and iPad. if you try it, let me know how it works for your family! i'll continue to update over the next few months as it's still a work in progress - and especially with the introduction of a new baby to our family soon!

just for fun

so the other night a few of the girls and i were watching a friends episode on dvd and it was the one where {among other things} chandler makes up a game where you have to write down all 50 US states in 6 minutes.
we weren't even finished the episode before hannah and i had grabbed a sheet of paper and were trying our hand at naming all 50 states.
by the time the episode was over, kelley and angela had joined in and we all sat quietly trying to complete the task.
none of us did it, but with 39 states i was pretty proud of myself - mommy brain and all!
can you name all 50 states?
if you're american, can you name all 10 provinces and 3 territories of canada?
bet you can't.
ready, set, GO!

{leave a comment with how many you honestly got before giving up.}

friday night fun

it all started with some life ministry staff {stephen & grace} dropping in on thursday afternoon. they mentioned they would come by on friday and make matoke. and bring their kids. their 5 kids. 

love this ugandan culture.

so we didn't really know what to expect. 

but more people kept getting invited and at final tally i think we had about 18 people over last night for a dinner and impromptu birthday party for little junior {the fifth child of stephen and grace}.

so we sent nick off to the market to pick up some drinks and a birthday cake and grace and stephen and i prepared food in the kitchen.

they showed me how to make matoke, ground nut sauce and chapati and i introduced them to the glorious food that is quinoa {although in the end we all agreed that it was useless for me to show them how to make it as you can't buy it here in kampala}.

we all snacked on roasted ground nuts {exactly like peanuts} and popcorn while we waited for the matoke to finish cooking.

the kids watched some cartoons on jamie's computer as the power was out.

kids are the same no matter where you are. they all like cartoons.

once dinner was here and everyone had arrived we all enjoyed a delicious dinner of matoke, chapatti, quinoa and fresh pineapple {you have not eaten pineapple until you've eaten fresh, tropical pineapple} and bananas. 

it was a fun and relaxed night and it felt good to have a full and happy house. 

imagination

there's something special about the beauty of pretend play.

*vowing to keep the television off as much as possible and engage the boys in more play involving imagination. for all our sakes.

and now for something a little lighter...

Jamie and I have picked up a new show to watch. Community. If you have not seen this gem of a show, you MUST WATCH IT NOW.
I laugh so hard during EVERY episode.
Like last night, for instance, we watched an episode and I couldn't stop laughing {I still can't!} at this clip:



Am I the ONLY one out there who says it like Britta? Anyone? {For the record, Jamie has always made fun of me for saying it this way AND my family makes fun of me as well, so I'm not sure where I got it from, but somehow I got lucky enough to say it the RIGHT way.}

Or what about this {I cried just now watching I was laughing so hard.}:



My absolute favourite character is Abed. Jamie likes Pierce {of course. He can't resist Chevy Chase.} the best.

I think it's the hilarious, quick banter that gets me. And the lack of filter. And the lack of PCness. And the complete stereotyping that they knowingly do. Okay and it's totally quirky at times. I love me some quirkiness.
This is a series I would watch over and over again.
Just search "Troy & Abed" and you'll find tons of hilarious videos on YouTube of Troy & Abed's antics.

Here's a classic and one to put you in the Christmasey mood:



I think this was what sealed the deal for me:



Word.

Gettin' LOST

I'm watching the LOST series finale tonight.

I'm really excited.

Kinda sad.

It's bittersweet, really.

And I can't wait!

What I love: Commercials

I know I've posted about this in the past, but I really love good commercials.

Here are a couple I've come across lately and have REALLY loved.

This one is not a new one, but having 2 boys myself and already seeing the sway that they have with each other, this commercial gets me. Or is it that I get it? Either way, super cute.

And I just saw this while watching American Idol and I LOVED it. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

It is beautiful. It is magical. It is spontaneous and it's good. And the music is good too.

Okay, enough with me. Just watch it!

So good, eh?

the office

Oh The Office...how do I love thee?
Let me count the ways...

1. I love the relationship between Jim and Pam aka Jam.

They're so fun and funny and today's episode actually had me cracking up (usually I watch it and then laugh when I think about it later).

Oh it was good times.

2. I love Dwight. So serious. So lame. It's hilarious.

3. I love the consistent pranking that Jim and Pam do on Dwight. So good.

I just want Jim and Pam to get together. It's inevitable. Valentine's day is coming up so there must be some kind of scheming going on there...

carnal

Bah! I tried to tape LOST last night and for some reason every time I try and tape programs on tv (and I do exactly the same thing Jamie does and it works for HIM) it doesn't tape!!!! Why!?!? I was anticipating watching LOST tonight with a nice hot mug of something nice, cuddling up in my beautiful bowl chair. But nope. Instead, I'm venting about it on blogger today.
Today has not been a very spirit-filled day for me. I have lived carnally and felt like cuddling up in bed and not getting out.
Do you ever have those kinds of days?
In the meantime, I dream of one day owning a PVR - which is like a Tivo. Which basically tapes all your programs without the hassle of tapes and silly buttons. But I am sure there are other hassles/electronic frustrations.

commercials

I like commercials.
Well, good commercials.
Commercials make me laugh, chuckle and even sometimes cry.
One commercial recently brought me to tears. It's for the Sick Kids Hospital and it's different shots of kids in the hospital (with broken arms, getting an MRI, etc.) singing "Lean on me".
I bawled.
And then just now a commercial for tostitos came on. It was a group of people sitting in an airport lounge and upon hearing their flight is delayed they all start talking and sharing tostitos and salsa. Who just happens to carry around not only a large bag of tostitos, but also a jar of salsa?
Sometimes I just don't get commercials - or at least the people that write them.