One great idea my sister in law April gave me was to use a big role of tickets at Walmart, and then use them for guiding specific behaviors.

We developed a Hobby Farm Jar and each time the children act responsibly they get to put a ticket in.

This was great motivation at first until the children sagged with it and we decided to make getting a dog as motivation on our way to getting a hobby farm, because all hobby farms need a dog or two, right?

Now, I am just not an indoor dog, kinda girl.  I’ve seen many many clean houses with dogs but I can envision I would never be able to keep up with dog hair.

When my mother came out to visit us, she said that you can keep a dog soley outside and taught us how to do it…buying a puppy in the spring and making an insulated house that is small to keep the body heat a source of heat as well.

So we are on our way to earning a dog!  And the name so far, we think, is Vasco.  (For Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese Explorer.)