Labor Day Weekend!

I'm so behind on blogging! I have no excuses!

We went to Bear Paw, NC for Labor Day! It was fun, but a little cold.

Some of us, and I'm not naming any names, did not enjoy the scenery, but spent their time reading Harry Potter.

Our beautiful girl!

We rode on the pontoon (we won't talk about when it broke down...).

Tim helped us practice diving skills.

How many people does it take to drop an anchor?

It was a short, but fun weekend!

Princess Cows...

And more princess fun continues...

We went to Princess night at Chick Fil A. It was chaotic, it was loud, it was FUN! There was Prince Charming, many different princesses, and a princess cow. What more fun is there? (Brady and Christian were not enthused to be attending this celebration).

Here is Princess Leah and her cousin Snow White Sarah Beth...

Prince Charming was there to take pictures with...

This princess said she was Sleeping Beauty..

And finally..what can you say about this? It was fascinating and disturbing all at the same time...

And we all lived happily ever after...

Princess for a Day!

Wow! Time flies when you've been locked out of your blog for a week! Hello? Blogger? Why did you lock me out and make me request my password 50 times? And why was I locked out in the first place when the password I was using all along was actually correct? And why didn't you send me my password? Customer service...are you there?

But I digress...

Today was Castle Feast Day in 1st grade. After studying fairy tales for a few weeks, the class celebrated with a party. Everyone dressed up in their favorite fairy tale costume and had a party.

When I asked Leah last week what type of costume she wanted for this party, she stated, "Sleeping Beauty". I was a little surprised at this because I've never read this story to her and she's never seen the movie. So I thought, hmmm... it's nowhere near Halloween...where would I find a costume to fit her? And did I really want to put forth the effort to obtain this specific costume when I could just piece something together? I thought about it...then decided that I did, in fact, want to put forth the effort. I mean, the girl wore a hand me down ghost costume for Halloween last year and was so happy and didn't complain. She deserves a princess costume! So, off I went...

First I went to Walmart. Um, no. Then I went to Toys R Us.. um, no. That's the extent of the Rome stores. So, when I was in Atlanta I looked for a costume. And dangling earrings. And crowns. And shoes.. and jewelry... I had way too much fun shopping.

So, today, we got up extra early, curled her hair, put makeup on and generally just made her look beautiful. My goal was for her to look like and feel like a princess. I think it worked. She tells me that she was the only one that wore her costume ALL DAY. She says she refused to take it off. She seemed genuinely thrilled with her costume and she was SO appreciative. That made me really happy. Here are some pictures of her this morning at home before she left...

Diving!

Yes! After 20 plus years and almost constant nagging by my father and Tim... I have decided to attempt to get certified to dive. And I'm taking my first born child with me...

I'm cautiously optimistic that this may happen. I tend to be high maintenance in situations like this so we'll have to see. The instructor says that Brady is a "natural". He did not say that about me. Big shock. You mean breathing underwater is not natural? Really? But are we really surprised that Brady can do this well? Those children spend more time under the water than above it. I bet Christian has gills now. Hopefully, we will take the class in October. This has always been something that I have wanted to do, so I hope I can make it happen.

Wish us luck!

School Days!

Hi! It's been forever.. I know. But school has started... not just for the kids, but for me too! I've now been at my new job for an entire week. What can I say? I'm tired...that's what I can say! Whew! It's tough! Definitely going to take some adjustments. But I do have some things to say before I go collapse and take a nap...

I attended an Early Literacy workshop last week. This was an amazing experience and totally out of my comfort zone. I learned SO much and now I want to be a teacher... ha ha! Stop laughing! I could do it... Anyway, I came home and quizzed Leah. I couldn't help it.. there was all this research and things that she should know by 1st grade and I had to know if she was on target. Of course she was right where she needs to be. I also learned what the optimal learning environment is for a small child. This brought me to a new revelation. Leah had the perfect Kindergarten experience. Now, I know I've gushed about it before, but now I have scientific research to back me up! It was amazing. All of those projects that I didn't understand why Mrs. Niedrach did (not that I have doubted that they had a purpose)... now I know exactly why they are done. Incredible! I wish I had this information last year and I could have been more appreciative and involved at home. Sigh.. hindsight is 20/20.

The children started school on Friday. Everyone seems to have had a good day. Leah was super nervous that morning. She said repeatedly that her stomach "felt funny". I have not seen her like that since she was about 3 years old. It was a little upsetting for me because I couldn't take her to school and I felt so bad that I wouldn't be there for her. Welcome to full time employment. Christian and Brady also had a good day, although Christian says that his nose started bleeding at school. He says it happens when he's "nervous". Really? It did bleed that morning before he left, so maybe. It's just funny to think that these children are nervous. They are usually so outgoing and happy. Brady didn't seem nervous at all. I hope he enjoys 6th grade more than he did 5th grade.

Well, that's all for now. I must go nap. I'm super tired today. I'll leave you with back to school pictures! All the children picked out their own back to school outfits. Very nice. I can already tell that Leah is going to have some wild taste.

My big girl is in First Grade! Here she is showing off her new backpack...

All three posing for a first day of school picture!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

What is up with these waves? Hello, Scot... you should stop taking pictures and come save your drowning wife...

And your drowning son...

Brady: "Help me Mom!"

Me: "Sorry Brady, I have my own problems!"

Go Scot go!

Watch out Brady!

Surfin' Christian!

Fun in the Sun- part 2

You know how on your first day of a vacation how you want to cram all the fun into that day? Forget about the fact that you have an entire week at the place... you must experience everything that first day. At least that's what happens when you have children and they have no idea how to pace themselves.

We woke up early and sprinted for the beach.


Here is Leah getting ready to "boogie board". She was so excited to do this and talked about it all the way down to Florida.

As you can see below, she really didn't get the concept and was wondering why it wasn't more fun.

Leah: "Mommy, is this how you ride it? Why am I not going anywhere?"

Brady perfected the art of the lazy river. Unfortunately, this activity was too sedate for the boys and didn't last long.

Leah loved going down the water slide over and over. She has come a long way. No longer is she terrified of water. It's great to see her new confidence.

Here I am carefully posing with the boys. This is when I still had a healthy fear of the ocean and was trying to stay somewhat dry (unlike the picture in the previous post).

Christian is an expert boogie boarder.. He has no fear and spends more time under the water than on top of it.

Of course, at the end of the day we were all exhausted. Luckily, we had 6 more days left!

Fun in the Sun!

After the last downer post, I thought it necessary to post something more fun and uplifting. We just got back from a much needed vacation (see previous post below...)! We had such fun playing in the sun. My next few journal entries will revolve around all the fun in the sun that we had. But, tonight, I'm tired so this one will be short.

The vacation was really fun, but it was not always relaxing. Here I am in the deceivingly calm ocean water gazing into the horizon contemplating life's mysteries...

And then (as often happens) my child comes up and asks me a really important question like, "Mommy, why is water wet?" We're still in the calm ocean and I'm feeling centered.

As I prepare my insightful answer, this happens:

Needless to say... that question went unanswered!

More pictures to come later!

Moving the Brick Pile.

This has been a tough week. Work has not been great and the children have been bickering. A lot. A whole lot. So much so that I lost my patience with them this afternoon in the car. That might not seem like a big deal, but it really is for me. I have a ton of patience and tolerance with these children. It comes with being a child therapist. But today... I snapped. I'm SO sick of listening to Christian and Leah argue. They argue about the dumbest things. All day. All the time. It seems like it never ends. But what does this have to do with bricks, you ask?

Recently, we had dinner with my uncle. I love being around him because he is so entertaining. On this particular evening, he started telling stories about his childhood (which was very different from mine). He stated that his mother's primary form of discipline when he became too old to spank was moving a brick pile. He and his brother would get in trouble and they would have to go "out back" and move a pile of bricks from one spot to another one about 10 feet away. It didn't matter if the weather was hot, cold, raining, snowing, or sleeting. He would have to move that pile of bricks. And then the next time he got in trouble... he would have to move it back to where it was earlier. I was fascinated by this story. He went on and on about how much he hated moving those bricks. I thought to myself... "Dang! Why don't I have a pile of bricks in my yard? I would so make the kids do that!". Does that seem cruel? It doesn't to me. Okay, maybe moving them in the rain or snow would be a little cruel... But the idea seems so simple, and yet so effective. What child would want to do that? What a great deterrent. I find it so interesting that I went to school for years to learn how to handle discipline issues with children. I know about Magic 123, time out, behavior charts, behavior plans, medications, diagnoses... you name it. But out of all of those solutions, the one that appeals to me the most is the brick pile. I want one! Sometimes I think that with all of the "progress" that has been made in society, we actually go backwards. We give children too many chances and are too lenient with them when what they really need is structure and discipline. The children of today have such an easy life compared to when my uncle was growing up. They are so privileged that they take it for granted.

So, what is my solution? I don't know. I don't have a pile of bricks and I don't foresee getting one anytime soon. I'm sure tomorrow my patience will be back in full force and I'll feel differently. For tonight though... I will entertain my fantasy of having a brick pile. Maybe I'll come up with really awful chores for them to do. It wouldn't be the first time. Or maybe I'll just go to bed early and let Scot deal with them (that's scarier than the brick pile). One thing that I will do in the future is to look for simpler solutions to longstanding problems. My uncle still remembers the lesson of the brick pile. He acknowledges that he deserved that punishment and that he learned from it. He learned that if you make a bad choice, often you will have to work harder to make up for it. That is something that everyone needs to learn. Or... maybe I'll just borrow that stack of bricks at my parents office. Hey, it could happen...

Camping 101

Here are the top 10 things that I learned on my first camping excursion last weekend...

10. You should check and make sure you have enough tents before the day you actually go camping.

9. You should not get up the morning of your camping trip and realize that your children have nothing to sleep on.

8. When camping at the lake, the bug spray "OFF-Skintastic" just does not cut it. You must have something industrial like "Ultra Deep Woods OFF".

7. It is not good to leave the ingredients for Smores outside where the hot sun and ants can find them.

6. Hearing the phrase, "If you get up in the middle of the night, you might want to take a flashlight to look for snakes" does not exactly lend itself to having sweet dreams.

5. The faster you zip the tent, the less bugs you have sleeping with you.

4. If you wake up in the middle of the night to something large sniffing around your tent, chanting the phrase "It's just a dog, it's just a dog..." can be rather calming.

3. Planning to recreate the Cracker Barrel's "Campfire Grill" might be harder than you originally thought given that you don't have the resources of the Cracker Barrel.

2. Watching Scot attempt to direct the children to set their tent up is a highly entertaining activity.

and the #1 thing I learned on my first camping trip is...

1. Never, never, never go camping in Georgia on the hottest day of the year so far! It was SO hot!

Happy Father's Day!

I hope everyone's Father's Day was as good and peaceful as ours! We had a fun day spending time with family!

Summer is Here!

Summer is officially here! We have been doing all sorts of summer activities. Leah had 2 weeks of swimming lessons and is no longer afraid of the water. Woo hoo! Brady and Christian are enjoying down time from not being at school and have started taking "Intense Martial Arts" (how scary is that? Like Christian needs to be any more 'intense'). We have spent the last few weekends at Lake Lanier enjoying the sun and water and sand. We have made campfires and roasted marshmallows...

Brady perfected the art of roasting marshmallows.

Whoa! That's a serious marshmallow stick Christian! Thanks Uncle Tim for making that! Nevermind that he burned every marshmallow that he stuck in that fire.

We also went to the beach at Lake Lanier and played. The kids said it felt like a day at the beach!

Notice Christian is the one they chose to bury... (Actually, all the children ended up being buried).

And finally, Leah (well, all the children) made a new friend... Vicki's foster kitten. The kids loved that kitten. We tried to explain that kittens grow up to be cats, but I don't think they believe us!

It's been a great summer so far! I can't believe June is half over! We hope to keep having fun and enjoying every minute.

Strawberries!

Recently, we went to pick strawberries! One of my new personal goals as I enter a new stage in my life is to cook more. I've always enjoyed cooking and I just haven't had a lot of time to cook since I work so many evenings. This summer, I am focusing on working less and spending more time with the children. So, in order to focus on my new goal, I decided we would go pick strawberries at a local farm and that I would then proceed to make loads of homemade strawberry things.

So, off we went. The only one of the children that likes strawberries is Brady. However, everyone was eager to participate. Let me reiterate that I have never done this. The most that I've ever made was a strawberry cake that was made with frozen strawberries.

I wanted all the children to pick strawberries, so each one had a bucket. I also had a bucket and so did Scot.

In hindsight, I'm not sure why I didn't realize just exactly how many strawberries that would be. Those children can really pick strawberries fast. I guess that's where child labor came from. We ended up with 15 pounds of strawberries! Wow! That's A LOT of fruit. Especially since the only thing that I really wanted to make was a homemade strawberry cake.

Everyone really had fun and even the children got along and posed together. It was weird...

And I'm not naming any names, but there was one of us that couldn't wait until we got into the car before eating strawberries...

It was a pleasant afternoon and we are still eating strawberry flavored things. I made strawberry jam, strawberry bread, and a homemade strawberry cake. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to go back! This fall... apples!