Christmas in Sierra Vista, Arizona

We arrived in Sierra Vista on Christmas Eve to be with Ruth Ann's parents. Since dad had open heart surgery two months ago, we decided to stay in a hotel. We ended up staying at a cheap Motel 6. The reviews online were negative, but the price was right, so Tim and I decided to try it out. We brought our own space heater since the reviews said the heaters didn't work very well in the wintertime. :) The motel was cheap, but also clean and we were happy with our room. Normally we are used to staying in nice hotels with a continental breakfast, but we figured Motel 6 would be fine. Funny story--Tim went to go get coffee from the lobby (no coffee pots in the room). He said, "I'm going to get my free coffee." Tirzah said, "Hey daddy, while you're getting your free coffee, can you get my free bacon?" I still don't think she understood why she wasn't getting bacon after Tim explained to her we were staying at a cheap hotel. We realized at that moment that for our kids' sake, we should stay in cheap hotels every now and then so our kids could experience what we had to experience when we were kids.

At Grandma and "Boompa's" house. The kids were all smiles Christmas morning.

 

Dad and Mom by the tree. Dad is recovering well from his surgery.

 

Ruth Ann's brothers Stephen and Jonathan. Stephen lives in Tempe and came to be with the family for the week.

 

Tim and Selah--Selah looks so much like Tim!

 

Tirzah and Hardy enjoying their new scooters in 60 degree, sunny Sierra Vista.

 

 

Extra surprise-- I got to meet up with my friend Natalie, who lives in Lubbock, TX. We have been close friends for 20 years and didn't know until Christmas Eve that our paths were going to cross. It was wonderful meeting her daughter, Aleah, for the first time.

We had a fun Christmas spending time with our family and friends. We hope you all have a very Happy New Year!

'Twas the Sunday Before Christmas...

 Since we were running early Sunday morning for church (a minor miracle), I thought I'd snap some pictures of the kids under the tree. The girls looked adorable in their Christmas dresses.

Hardy on guard duty by the presents! He also has a super cool train that goes around the track (if it's not derailed by one of the kids) and loves to fix it. Tim used to enjoy fixing it, but happily turned the mechanics job over to Hardy.

 Selah with her friend Katelyn, who played an angel in our Christmas play. (By the way, Selah is doing fantastic with her helmet. She is in it for 23 hours a day and doesn't mind it a bit.)

On Sunday night, we had a Christmas program at our church (Faith Baptist Church). We had a play with five children in it and, with the help of friends, it turned out great. Tim was the handsome narrator, I played the piano, Naomi and Suzannah helped direct the kids, Tirzah played Mary, Hardy was Joseph, Katelyn was the angel, Acarith was a shepherdess, and Ruthanne (Acarith's two year old friend) was a lamb. It was simple but sweet.

From our family to yours, we hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!
Click on the link below if you would like to see the Christmas program on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF9fS__5MQQ

These pictures were taken with a tree from our backyard on Thanksgiving Day. Tirzah is seven, Hardy is five, Acarith is two-and-a-half, and Selah is eight months. We also got family pictures and other varieties, but I don’t want to post them because they will be on our Christmas card.

An update on Selah: As soon as she started wearing the helmet, she became cranky. We weren’t sure if the helmet was too tight or what, but then on Sunday when she started getting a high temperature, we discovered she was getting her first tooth! (And I’m hoping another one pops up; why waste all that crankiness for just one tooth? J) Today was her first day of no temperature, and she wore the helmet all day long, except for one hour, and was not cranky one bit. I am so thankful she has adjusted just fine to the helmet.

Selah has her helmet!

Selah received her helmet yesterday! We are so thankful that we can start the process. She is not very fond of it--and I must admit Tim and I aren't either--but hopefully she'll (we'll!) get used to it soon. The first day she wears the helmet (which is today), she wears it for an hour and then off an hour; the second day she wears it for two hours and then off an hour...and so on until Day 5. Then she will be wearing it for 23 hours a day, having an hour off to wash her hair, helmet, and letting the helmet air out.
When I first saw the helmet on her my first thought was, "Oh, they made it kind of crooked." But actually it's made like that to show you how far you need to go to get the head straightened out. It amazed me to visually see how much her skull has shifted compared to what it normally should be. I am asking you to please pray the helmet will do its job and that it won't take too long to correct.

Getting the Casting for the Helmet

We are getting Selah ready for the casting of her head for her helmet. What the doctor did is he wrapped her arms up, put a cap on her head, then dipped pieces of plaster into water and formed them around her head, creating a mold of her head. It all went perfect. Selah did GREAT the whole time; she only cried at the very end when I had to wash the plaster of her face! Tim was very helpful; he held her on the lap throughout the whole process and did his best to keep her from eating the plaster. :) We are hoping to get the helmet next week to begin the process.

She thought the whole ordeal was fun!

...maybe not fun the whole time...

 What a trooper! :)

 

Happy Thanksgiving from the Larkly family to yours!

How to Have Your Children Earn Their Own Money for Christmas Presents- Part 2

Your child now has money in three groups: give, spend, and save. What's in the give envelope goes to church, what's in the spend envelope can be used to spend for presents, and what's in the save envelope in our house is used for two purposes: saving and also re-investing. This is where it gets tricky. After each child accumulates a certain amount in their savings, we put it aside. With the rest of the save money, we re-invest it to gain money. For example, at a yard sale Hardy may decide to buy something with mom or dad's approval to try to re-sell with dad on Cragislist or ebay. Each of the kids take their save envelopes garage saling and it is fun to watch them learning about buying good bargains. One time one of the kids made a ten dollar profit on something bought from a yard sale! Then we just take that money and divide it up again. This helps multiply their money faster and helps them get some real money to deal with. (Once the money gets rolling, it's best to open up an account for each child or keep track of their savings in a separate envelope.)
Giving your child, or grandchild, an awareness of money can be a valuable gift you give him. Though Hardy is only in kindergarten, he is fully aware of the value of a dollar. He knows that four quarters equal one dollar, and also knows the time it takes him to earn that one quarter. By the way, Hardy already told me he is going to the dollar store to buy everyone their Christmas presents! I congratulated him on his smart thinking and definitely approved his choice of store. Dollar store, here we come!
 

How to Have Your Children Earn Their Own Money to Buy Others Christmas Presents

My kids this year are buying everybody presents with their own money. You may wonder how they will get the money that they need. They will have to work for it. I have posted a picture of our "Commission Worksheet" that we use on a weekly basis. (Note: a commission is different from an allowance in that the child only gets paid for what he does; if he does nothing then he simply gets nothing in return.) With just a simple handwritten paper, my system is simple for anyone to use.
          Before we get started, you may believe your child should work without having to be paid. I agree with you, but I also believe children need to learn how to manage money early, and what better way than to earn their own money? If you will notice the chart, each child has four blank spaces blank under their name, meaning they only get paid for the four chores they have for that week (plus a bonus which I'll talk about later). Other jobs they do they will not get paid for because they are family members and should be expected to contribute to their family.
          How it works: Saturday night we go over the chores they are expected to do for the following week. When each child does the chore, they get to put a check mark in their box. For each check mark, they earn 10 cents. If they want to earn more money for the week, you can assign a bonus to them and I give mine anywhere from two to five check marks (meaning twenty to fifty cents for the job). I also do fun things like "double chore day," (this is when they get paid double whatever they do) and that is fun to watch them work. Then on Saturday night, they get paid!
          They take their money and we help them divide it into three piles: a give, save, and spend. For the give envelope, they learn to give the Lord a tithe plus a junior church offering for the missionaries; this money goes in a zippered envelope you can find in most school supply section of any store. They take their envelope to church the next day. (Tip: if you're really wanting the envelope to make it to church, have the child put it in the car the night before!) For example, let's say Tirzah earns $2.50 (this is about what she makes every week). In the give envelope goes a quarter, plus something for junior church. Now she has about two dollars and ten cents left. A dollar goes in the save envelope and then the rest goes in her spend. You may wonder what happens to the money in the save envelope. I will discuss that in part 2. Hopefully this will get you started if you have no system. My system may not work for you, but I hope it may have given you some ideas.

Selah's First Word

Selah said her first real word--Dada! Of course, Tim is proud that he is the object of her first word. Selah loves to "talk," and even cooperated for me tonight by saying Dada for the camera!. At seven months old, she is such a sweet baby. We are all enjoying her so much. When she was one month old, Hardy said, "God really gave us a great baby," and we all agreed.
Selah's favorite activities are: eating, playing in her walker, and sleeping. Selah loves, absolutely loves, to eat vegetables. Sometimes Tim will try to skip giving her vegetables and just give her fruit with her rice cereal, but she won't eat it--until she first has her veggies! She loves to play in her walker outside our house by the kids' tree house in our beautiful fall weather, which has been in the 70's. Her sleep is also great; she sleeps 11 hours at night and then takes two naps that are about two hours long each. I put her on a baby schedule called Babywise when she was born and she has done so well with her routine.
An update on Selah's head. Due to another appointment for the casting of the helmet (which is 2 weeks away), plus having to wait about another two weeks to get the helmet, it looks like in about a month we will start (sigh). Honestly, the waiting part is the hardest for me. I've accepted the fact she has to wear a helmet, but it's hard to accept that we can't get going on this now. One thing I am trying to learn is that since this whole situation is out of my hands, I had better leave it in God's hand. Thank you for your prayers; we are so thankful to have wonderful friends and family be so encouraging to us. 



I have a blog!

Hello from Ruth Ann! As you can see, I have started a family blog. Tim and I have been happily married for 8 years and we now have four kids: Tirzah (7), Hardy (5), Acarith (2 1/2), and Selah (7 mo.). We live in Cottonwood, Arizona (by Sedona) and are enjoying our beautiful fall weather. Tim pastors Faith Baptist Church and I am a stay-at-home mother. I am homeschooling Tirzah and Hardy, and Acarith loves to do "school" too! Selah Joy is truly a joy and life is never dull here at the Larkly household! We look forward to sharing with you how the Lord truly does great things for us. 

Selah Joy Larkly



Tirzah, Hardy, and Acarith - a cute picture of them dressed up for our Ladies' Tea