Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Engineer Ben
One of the perks of Matt working at Toys R Us is that he has the 411 on all the cool happenings! Last Saturday they had a Thomas event. Ben got this cool new conductors hat! Needless to say, it is already well worn!!!
Monday, March 26, 2012
My Little Gardeners!
The Mini's ready to help me attack the weeds in the flower bed!
After we got all those weeds out Matt and Aaron laid a weed barrier and mulch.
It looks sooo nice now! we even saved my Iris's from the weeds!
That little plant is my Hydrangea bush! It was also saved from weed destruction!
This is getting ready to do our seed planting!
Putting the seeds down into the dirt.
Waiting for them to come up!
They did come up! the above picture was Friday and the below picture is today! The first ones to come up are now too tall for the cover!
Only two slots are not yet showing signs of life! So excited!
After we got all those weeds out Matt and Aaron laid a weed barrier and mulch.
Pitifulness
Poor Clara had Strep Throat the week before and of Valentines Day. It was soo sad because she was quite sick before I took her in because she was not running a fever and only mildly complaining. I thought it was teeth. Then she started doing this:
And not eating AT ALL! So I took her to Dr. Amy and discoverd she had strep. Poor thing.
We spent the night on the couch like this:
The Toddler/Preschooler Whisperer
It pains me to admit this, it really does, but here it is. I became a yeller. *sigh* The one thing I have perpetually given my own mother a hard time for since the time I was old enough to get away with it. It is shocking, really, to think that I yell. I LOATH loudness!! Every fiber of my being cringes away from harsh extreme noises, particularly voices. I think one of the integral things I love about Matt is that he NEVER raises his voice to me!!! And yet, for all of this, I found myself YELLING at my kids. UGH. I feel terrible about it. You know how before you are an active duty parent you have all these ideas of how things will be and what you will or wont do. I came into this with the awareness that some ideas would hold, and some would fall. Some principles can be adjusted or altered to fit our reality. Many I have chosen to compromise, there are few actually that I have found I have not compromised or changed. But this one, this is THE one I am not willing to let myself slide on. I demand that I do better, or more accurately DIFFERENT.
Once I realized what I was doing, and determined that this was a non-negotiable principle I instituted a plan to alter the course of my actions. It has not been easy. It has not happened quickly. It still requires constant vigilance on my part. However, over the past 2-3 weeks I have seen indications that my plan is working! What relief!
I decided that each time I wanted to raise my voice I would do the EXACT opposite. I whisper. Not just "lower" my voice to normal speaking volume. But actually sitting in the chapel with silence all around WHISPER!! The kids respond sooooo amazingly. Why? Well, for one I have to get up of my lazy can and walk over to where they are in order for them to hear the whisper. It is hard to ignore Momma when she is kneeling on the floor 6 inches from you! Secondly, like me they DO NOT like loudness!!! I have been told by multiple sources that my children are uncommonly quiet, oh they talk a lot, don't get me wrong, but they just do it in a reasonably mild voice. Therefore, I think they feel more respected when I respect their sensitivity. Who doesn't respond better to a direction given in respect and love? Finally, and arguably the most important factor, is that when I am quiet I can feel and hear the Holy Ghost directing my responses to the children's behaviors. I am more patient, understanding, and in tune with their needs when I am whispering. I would like to take credit for this idea, but I cannot, I prayed about this problem for days. I was prompted to try this, and it is working. I still slip, sometimes a cup of muddy water on the couch warrants a little bit of a strong reaction! But it is usually followed by a whisper and a hug.
Two things have lead me to believe that this little system is starting to take hold as an automatic response. First was that I noticed Clara whispering at us when she is upset!! It took me a few times to figure out what was up. I remember when I told Matt, he was playing with them and told her no for some reason. She walked right up to him, got in his face and started whispering something quite feeling at him. He repeatedly tried to get her to speak up so he could understand, she wouldn't. When I walk out of the kitchen to see what was going on and observed this it occurred to me that she was angry with him and "giving him heck" in a whisper!! I laughed and laughed and felt soo pleased that my behavior has been consistent enough that she was emulating it!! Secondly, I notice myself stopping and walking over to the children before I even open my mouth, the knee jerk reaction to yell is diminishing! I hope to master this, I really do. I want my kids to grow up and tell people, "My mom was not a yeller, actually, you knew you were in BIG trouble when you could no longer hear her unless you were standing right next to her! You did not want to make mom WHISPER!!!" Ha Ha Ha Wouldn't that be funny! And think about it, if a whisper is bad you are less likely to act up in places that require only whispering, like sacrament meeting! I see great possibilities for this........
Once I realized what I was doing, and determined that this was a non-negotiable principle I instituted a plan to alter the course of my actions. It has not been easy. It has not happened quickly. It still requires constant vigilance on my part. However, over the past 2-3 weeks I have seen indications that my plan is working! What relief!
I decided that each time I wanted to raise my voice I would do the EXACT opposite. I whisper. Not just "lower" my voice to normal speaking volume. But actually sitting in the chapel with silence all around WHISPER!! The kids respond sooooo amazingly. Why? Well, for one I have to get up of my lazy can and walk over to where they are in order for them to hear the whisper. It is hard to ignore Momma when she is kneeling on the floor 6 inches from you! Secondly, like me they DO NOT like loudness!!! I have been told by multiple sources that my children are uncommonly quiet, oh they talk a lot, don't get me wrong, but they just do it in a reasonably mild voice. Therefore, I think they feel more respected when I respect their sensitivity. Who doesn't respond better to a direction given in respect and love? Finally, and arguably the most important factor, is that when I am quiet I can feel and hear the Holy Ghost directing my responses to the children's behaviors. I am more patient, understanding, and in tune with their needs when I am whispering. I would like to take credit for this idea, but I cannot, I prayed about this problem for days. I was prompted to try this, and it is working. I still slip, sometimes a cup of muddy water on the couch warrants a little bit of a strong reaction! But it is usually followed by a whisper and a hug.
Two things have lead me to believe that this little system is starting to take hold as an automatic response. First was that I noticed Clara whispering at us when she is upset!! It took me a few times to figure out what was up. I remember when I told Matt, he was playing with them and told her no for some reason. She walked right up to him, got in his face and started whispering something quite feeling at him. He repeatedly tried to get her to speak up so he could understand, she wouldn't. When I walk out of the kitchen to see what was going on and observed this it occurred to me that she was angry with him and "giving him heck" in a whisper!! I laughed and laughed and felt soo pleased that my behavior has been consistent enough that she was emulating it!! Secondly, I notice myself stopping and walking over to the children before I even open my mouth, the knee jerk reaction to yell is diminishing! I hope to master this, I really do. I want my kids to grow up and tell people, "My mom was not a yeller, actually, you knew you were in BIG trouble when you could no longer hear her unless you were standing right next to her! You did not want to make mom WHISPER!!!" Ha Ha Ha Wouldn't that be funny! And think about it, if a whisper is bad you are less likely to act up in places that require only whispering, like sacrament meeting! I see great possibilities for this........
Friday, March 23, 2012
Bikes!
Yup, the weather has already been this good! We have had the bikes out! Ben is sooo close to being able to ride his pedal bike with out assistance! He has been sooo brave about learning! Clara loves the strider! I am confident there will be more bike posts to come!
Scott's Barbecue
Back in February we made an impromptu jaunt to Lexington for some Pulled Pork Barbecue. And it was SOOOOO good!
Matt's style with vinegar slaw and hot hot sauce!
My style, with some of the Amazing beans and NO sauce!!
mmmmmm Scott Be's Beans are THE best!!
Clara waisted no time!
Ben looked happier than was reflected in what he actually ate. He has a hard time with mixed food, like sandwiches. But he really digs the beans!
And Matt. Not much needs to be said. Look at Clara's face!! Ha Ha Ha It was good!
Valentines Day
Valentines Day turned out to be a little crazy for us, so I don't have any really great pictures. Matt did it all himself this year, I just wasn't on it. He made them each a little gift box, it was really cute inside was a sweet treat, a couple of small toys, and a note book. (remember the notebooks from the Pacy Fairy post) Well, these books are for "Daddy Notes" and every few days he rights something to the kids and leaves it out for them to find in the morning. It is really awesome, they LOVE LOVE "Daddy Notes"!!!
These new dress up glasses were in Clara's box, but I think they look pretty styling on both of them!
This Dino was in Ben's box, it was supposed to grow when put in water. It did, just not as much or as quickly as we would have hoped. But they still thought it was cool!
Down on the Ranch...
Make that Downing the Ranch... Dressing! Clara loves to dip food! A couple days ago I put some Ranch dressing in a cup for her and Matt to dip their veggies in at lunch. Matt and I went into the kitchen to start cleaning up and when we turned back around this is what we found! She had been DRINKING the Ranch! ( I am not sure what Ben had in his mouth, but he is super cute! )
Streeeetch!
This is from last week. We went running, Ben and Clara LOVE to run! I am embracing it, gradually.... Anyway, they did some really cute stretching with Matt and Aaron afterwards. Watch Ben, he doesnt need any cues, he is on it!
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