Never enough time

These books have been sitting by my bed since last summer. I haven't read a book since last July!!! I am going to try to find more time for reading...I miss it.

How do you spell....

This morning while I was finishing getting ready for work Luke was in playing nickjr.com on the computer (Claire and Chelsea were both in there too). The game Luke was playing had him type in his name so I heard him spell L-U-K-E while he typed and then I heard the following conversation:

Chelsea: what does that spell?
Luke: bubba
Chelsea: No bubba starts with a buh sound what does L-U-K-E spell?
Luke: It's MY name. It says bubba

Apparently giving him a nickname and calling him it all the time wasn't such a great idea. He can spell and write his name but he thinks it says bubba. He is really going to struggle with reading and phonetics!!! Oh well, it's too late now and really bubba just fits the kid. None of our other kids have nicknames but that one just worked for him. I'm not sure if Claire knows his name is Luke.

A side note: I am hating yummy smelling candles right now! They make me so hungry and I am not supposed to have treats....especially right before bed. UGH!

Reading Help!!!

Help! Help! Help! Every time I sit down to read with Tayson or have him read to me we end up with him in timeout and me completely pissed off. I have tried reading right before bed as a privilege of getting to stay up late, I have tried reading as soon as he gets home from school before he can go out and play. What can I do to get my kid to love, like or even endure reading? I know he knows the words but he refuses to read them. I am beyond frustrated and we are just starting the school year again and need to read and do homework every day.

Are there good books to buy that 6 year old boys will want to read?

Is there a good way to encourage him without just telling him all the words?

Are there reading games that work?

Is there a book I should read to learn how to teach him better as a parent?

Potty Update

Last week we finally got Claire in to see a specialist (Pediatric GI doctor). I made her appointment 2 months ago and was hoping all her issues would be gone before now. Oh well. It was a great appointment. In case you aren't aware of her issues - she cries really hard every time she needs to poo - which has made potty training a little easier since we know it's coming hours before but it's horrible to watch her cry. She has always had issues with constipation and we have had her on Milk of Magnesia since November. Anyways, her appointment was great and the doc said she has a "sluggish colon" but nothing else so we need to give her a high fiber diet. I realize this is healthy and everyone should eat like this .... but she is still short a few teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom and her 4 molars but lots missing in between) so high fiber foods aren't her favorite. But we are on it - I even bought whole grain mac-n-cheese which has 4 grams of fiber instead of 1 per serving. Who knew? So basically we need to keep her on a light laxative until she gets over the fear of pooping.

The best part of the visit, aside from the fact that there is nothing really wrong with Claire, is that the doc had lots of good advice for potty training. He suggested that we have different types of rewards (star stickers for trying and special stickers for going) as well as secondary rewards like nickles for trying and quarters for going. And trust me I am all about buying off my kids if they will potty train. We are trying these tactics on Luke so hopefully now he'll at least try to potty train. He still only has 4 stickers on his chart...pathetic.

Another funny side note to the whole chart thing is that Tayson (who is very competitive) is really bugged that Luke and Claire have charts and he doesn't. He asked me if he could have a potty chart and I of course said no. So instead he rubs it in. He told Luke that he didn't need a chart when he was potty training and I even caught him lecturing Claire about not needing a chart to potty train (like she was as bad as Luke or something). So I told Tayson that she isn't even 2 and he was 3 when he potty trained so he should lay off her a little. But I did decide that since he is competitive and there is something I really want him to do we'll start a chart for him - a book chart. Every book he reads (we help with the big words) he can get a sticker and for every 10 stickers he can get a little something. His first prize is a General Grievous action figure (he's very into Star Wars right now). I'd say the chart works for Tayson because this morning right when he woke up he came in and told me he wanted to read a book and we got one in before school this morning! Yippee. Now if it would only work with Luke my life would be perfect!!!