Mine debacle

Something had to be done. Too many times a day, I hear "That's MINE." Given that the boys are between the ages of 4 and 8, I feel like we should be beyond this. But alas, we are not.
So in a moment of frustration I lamented. "No matter how many times I tell you to stop saying 'mine' you continue. Gang, we need a plan."
I thought of a brilliant plan, but Silas outsmarted me and came up with a HILARIOUS variation of this plan. The original (brilliant) plan was as follows: if you say "mine" you will need to grab one of your toys and give them to yours truly.
As I continued to mull over this plan, I decided it would be fun to create a "mine box." In my teacher tone, I continued to explain to my charges that the confiscated toys would be placed in a toy box and donated.
This is where Silas interrupted me. "The kid should go in the box!"
Wait a second. We all busted out laughing. So instead of the toys going in the box, the greedy child goes in the box for a time out. We negotiated the length of time the offender should stay in the box- Jonah thought one hour and I said ten minutes. We settled on ten.
Note: Braylon was not assigned the "Mine Box" he was merely trying it out.
Note 2: If trying out this tactic at home, you should add a qualifier. Telling on the greedy "mine" offending child is not allowed. Only if the parent overhear the guilty words is the box assigned.

Glamour Shots

Lots of fun pictures here. They were taken by our fav photographer who lives downstairs:ABBY!The boys are really showing off their cuteness. As a reading teacher, I am constantly asking my students to summarize what they read in twelve words or less. So here is my hand at doing this for each Peterson as of late...
Silas: His laugh is contagious-he loves hard and is a phenomenal friend.
Jonah: Loves the water- physically strong and mentally tender- thrill seeker
William: Fiercely loyal, consistently generous- loves to fish and is a tenacious athlete
Braylon: Steadfast and determined- loves knowledge, has high expectations- adores reading
Kendra: Loving summer- obsessed with yoga, reading and writing
Mike: Obsessed with the RV, researching and planning- consistently engaging with the kids

I totally own that I could do a summary of each of our flaws as well. But I chose to focus on the positive, because, well, the positive is way better to reflect upon.