My how time flies!

I could've sworn I just posted here, yet it says it's been almost a month!

Well, we've passed midterms and things are looking good! Dad has the grades he needs in all his classes and we are feeling very confident about graduation in ONE MONTH!!!! Well, I'm feeling very confident, anyways. He keeps telling himself he's gonna get a D in all his classes to self-motivate. He's not getting a D, but he says if he keeps telling himself that, it helps to push him to complete all his assignments no matter how tired he is.

I've mostly been working on getting sleeping schedules for Rachel and Robin. Things are finally looking better in that sector now that Robin is sleeping for 6+ hours each night. I've been tweaking menus and chore lists the past few weeks, too. I've been relying more on Rose and Rebekah to help around the house (they help me with the general cleaning so that I have more time to detail clean) and have been working on teaching them to cook by having one of them cook with me every night.

We've also been testing a new discipline system for the girls that seems to have promise. Spankings, yelling, time-outs, pleading, bribing and loss of privileges/toys haven't been working. They just get angry and more difficult. Dad was struck with inspiration one night when Rose hit Rebekah and made Rose sit down and write five pages of why she shouldn't hit her sister. Worked great! So we've tweaked that system a little bit to be more personal and are working on three problem areas at a time. Currently, we're working on not completing chores, disobedience/backtalk and fighting/yelling. The girls have to finish lines they have earned by breaking rules after they do chores and homework, before they can do anything else. I like this system better because it's so much quieter then arguing with them to stay in time-out, etc.!

Since I last wrote we also had Rachel's 2nd birthday party. It was still too cold to do something outside and our apartment is too small for a party. So we invited her little friends from nursery and their parents to a place where they have giant inflatables for the kids to jump on indoors. Loads of fun. Here are some pics:




Robin is growing so fast. She is just full of smiles and coos. She sits with support and sometimes will sit without for a short time. She's also discovered the joy of grabbing things and putting them into her mouth. Her sisters all adore her and she is a bright spot of joy in our home.