The Bugoci Boys- Lakewood Family Photographer

We barely fit this session in.  It was pouring rain with huge gusts of wind about 45 minutes before we took these pictures.  So we postponed the pictures a bit and waited for the sun to come out (cue the song from Annie).  Last time I met with these boys it was FREEZING and we barely got any pictures before they were too cold to continue.  So I was so happy when it all worked out this time.

These boys were a pure delight to work with!  That is amazing considering one is 18 months (the toughest age to photograph in my opinion) and the 3 year old didn't take a nap that day.  But none of those things mattered.

These boys wandered around, smiled, played and smelled the flowers.

All of the rain has made everything so green and beautiful!

Seriously, I don't know that I have ever gotten so many great, smiley pictures from kids this age.  They were so happy and loved smiling for the camera.

Those big brown eyes and eyelashes make me swoon.  

Such a sweet boy.  So helpful, good big brother and a great listener!  He just has a little sparkle in his eyes.

Darlene even got in on the action and was smelling the flowers.  Or more accurately having flowers shoved in her face.  

Must be a pattern.  Everyone got flowers shoved in their face.

This session made me so happy!

At the end of the session we found a little puddle and Darlene was game for letting them jump in the puddle.  They didn't really jump but ran through it instead.  They were pretty wet in the end, but the pictures are purely delightful! 

Doesn't it just make you want to go jump in a puddle?

Happy Spring Everyone!

For more pictures visit my Instagram, Facebook page or www.photolilo.com.

Carter- One Year Pictures

Can you say eyelashes?  I can say Jealous!

This little guy has the longest and cutest eyelashes I have ever seen.  

He always looks so deep in thought.  

I wonder what is going on in his little head.

Carter turned one a few months ago but their household was 

riddled with sickness so we had to postpone his session.

He was a little tired at his session and didn't want to give me

 the big smiles but I still caught a few smiles.

And the serious black and whites are my favorite anyway! 

Then it was time for his cake smash.

I love to watch their little fingers explore the frosting.

It ALWAYS ends like this.  Every single time.

And then there is the aftermath.

Happy belated 1st birthday Carter.

For more pictures visit my website or my Facebook Page.

The Chore Monster

Do you ever feel like the chore monster?  Nagging your children until they

 no longer hear your voice but simply hear an easily ignored buzzing sound??  

Me too.  I have tried almost everything to get my boys to do chores. 

 It works for about a day and then it is back to me being the 

nagging Chore Monster. 

But I just might have found something that works.  

At least it has worked this week.

Money Talks.  Whether you are 7 or 77 money 

tends to get your attention.

I have three boys.  Boys are different from girls.  In a LOT of different ways.  

Chores are no different.  Not many kids love chores but there is something

 ingrained in little girls that they want to "help".  Boys are ingrained to

 "hinder" or "break".  This is a stereotype.  I am sure there are plenty of little 

girls who are extremely unhelpful and I am sure there are some saintly 

little boys who love to play house and help their mommies.  

My boys can even have saintly helpful days minutes as well.  I think it is my job, 

as a mother of boys to teach them how to be helpful around the house. 

Who says that women have to do all of the housework?  My saintly husband

 does the laundry at our house and seriously, it is a LIFESAVER!!!!

My niece could (and wanted to) put away her own laundry at 18 months.  

I still struggle with trying to get my 7 and 10 year olds to put their laundry

 away correctly (meaning without taking the folded clothes and just jamming 

them into the drawer, thus becoming unfolded, wrinkled and no

 longer able to close the drawer).

I have tried all sorts of different chore rituals in hopes that the boys 

will be motivated and excited to help.  I have tried charts, rewards, punishments, 

apps, lists....etc.  My new "system" seems to work for a day or two and then they

 lose interest and they don't really care about the reward any longer.  

Even if it is money.  They don't care if next to their name it says IOU $5.

So this time I went with the real motivator.  Money.  Not just IOU money.  

Nope, cold hard cash and INSTANT GRATIFICATION.  I am happy to tell

 you that it is working.  Just this morning (7+ days into this trial) they were

 looking at the money to see what they could earn quickly before school.  Hallelujah!

We are getting ready to go on vacation and the boys have to earn their

 spending money.  So I always try to kick it up a notch and get them to do

 more chores around vacation time.  They usually lose interest right away,

 but seeing that money on the wall every day has caused them to 

work hard and earn some good money.  

Most of the jobs are fairly easy and don't take too long.  My house has 

remained pretty clean in the last week and I have had odd jobs completed

 like disinfecting the door nobs, light switches and hand rails and wiping down

 all of the baseboards in the house.  Who has time for that???  I don't.  But my cute

 little minions do.  All for the bargain price of $2-3.  They love completing the job,

 having me inspect the job to make sure it is finished (yes I am a control freak)

 and done well, and then grabbing the money from the chore wall 

and putting in their piggy bank to save for vacation.

I didn't spend a lot of time on this project.  I just cut some index cards 

in half and wrote the chore in Sharpie.  Then I clipped the money and

 the chore to my picture frame.  I have added a few here and there as the other

 ones have been completed or if I see something that needs attention around the house.

  This frame from Hobby Lobby and wire and clips from IKEA are so handy!

Usually the frame holds family snapshots or 

holiday decor.  But this month it is the money maker!   

February was the month of LOVE and March is Money Madness!

If you are having trouble getting your kids to do chores, this just might do the trick.

  I also included some school things like writing a story (to practice writing and

 penmanship) or reading extra time.  You could even have one for going to bed

 without whining or eating all of your dinner.  Everyone needs a little motivation

 once in a while.  I know I do. 

I am off to clean the microwave.... and take the money from the board.

  Hey, I need some spending money too!  

What motivates your kids to do chores?

The Circle- My New Best Friend

As a parent there is a fine line between "I have to get some stuff done so it is okay that their faces are in a screen for a bit" and "GET OFF OF YOUR iPOD RIGHT NOW".

Often times I don't even realize that my kids have been in front of a screen for hours at a time.  They are quiet and docile and I need to get something done.  However, the older they get, the less creative they are and the more they stay indoors with their eyes glazed over.

The other issue is that I have boys.  For quite some time I have been concerned about what they are looking at on their devices.  There are so many temptations out there.  And once they see something, their curious little minds want to see more.  Or one click leads to another one and all of the sudden my innocent little boys are looking at pornography.  Do you know how slippery that slope is?  Not just for kids, but for adults as well.

It is hard to keep up with filters.  Especially when you have computers, iPads and phones all thrown into the mix.  I was overwhelmed with trying to limit everything and find good software that does it all and easily.  I don't have time the inclination to figure all of that out.  The boys are getting older and I want to make sure I do everything I can to protect their hearts, minds and future wives.  The AVERAGE age that kids are exposed to pornography is eight.  EIGHT YEARS OLD.  That is a first or second grader.  That is Jameson, my youngest.  So how much has my 12 year old seen?  Yikes!!!

It is time (way past time) to finally take action and I have found the Holy Grail.

I read this article on a new device put out by Disney that helps put parents back in control.

So a few weeks ago I finally took the plunge and order the Circle by Disney. 

It was on back order because they have had so many people ordering it.  However, it still came in a week or two. 

Today, I finally had time to get it out of the box and start it up.

My consensus.  GENIUS.

Set up: Easy.  Just download the free app on your phone.  Then it takes you through the steps quickly and easily.  The hardest part was figuring out which device was which as some of them just came up as "Apple Device".  I had to go into each (apple) device and go to  "Settings" and then "General" and then "About" and then it tells you the wifi address and you match that to the Circle.  Then you can rename it to "Tanner's iPod" or whatever you want to help you keep it all straight.

From there, you can attach that device to a profile and then set perameters for each person. 

My favorite part.....it tracks how long you are on each app and you can LIMIT it for your kids.  Do your kids spend hours on Minecraft?  Not any more.  You can limit them to however long you deem appropriate.  You can also put filters on YouTube and Safari so that they are not coming into contact with inappropriate things when they are innocently (or not so innocently) browsing.  You can also set bedtimes so that your kids can't be on their device after a certain time.  You can also set this for yourself so that you aren't on your phone before bed.  Of course, you can also put in the password to change this if needed.

Want to have ultimate control???? You can PAUSE the internet at anytime.  Want the kids to stop what they are doing and come to dinner.  Pause the internet.  What?!?!  Awesome. 

I was able to set up all 5 of our family members and all (embarrassing) 14 devices (including our Nest, Wii, computers, laptops, iPods, iPads and phones) that are hooked to our wifi in less than 30 minutes.  Circle makes it easy and you set the level you want for each device (preK, Kid, Teen, Adult) and then customize content and time limits from there.

At any time, I can get on my app and see how long each person has been on their device and what they have been looking at.  At the end of the week, it will send me a report so that I can better customize the kids or realize that I spend WAY too much time on Facebook and Pinterest.  How cool is that?  Accountability for us and the kids.

The only downfall to this is that it only controls things that are attached to your wifi.  So if you have smart kids....they will find a way around it.  Or if they have a phone, they can switch to using their data and it no longer controls the device.  However, at this stage we only have one kid that has a phone and he is pretty limited as to when/how he can use it.  I will share our phone rules and contract in another blog.

If you are looking for a quick, easy way to help manage your family and their screen time, this is for you.  Best $99 I have spent in a LONG time.  Hard to put a price on peace of mind.

Click here for the link if you are interested in finding out more about it.  I didn't get paid anything to write this article.  I just know that in the trenches of parenting....we have to help each other out!!!

We have also been talking about this at church in the new series Sex, Lies and Cyberspace.  If you want to watch these great talks about our thought life and some staggering statistics about pornography and the internet click here.