Last night I had a dream that John McCain had dreadlocks and was dressed in baggy pants with a Bob Marley T-Shirt. What the heck? Why would I dream this? Anyone who knows me well, knows that I have weird dreams, but this??? I am excited for this election to be over.
We went and picked a ton of golden delicious apples today at the house of a family from church. We will be eating a lot of apples. Apple crisp, apple bread... hmm.. any ideas of recipes that don't involve butter or brown sugar? I want to make applesauce... but not sure of when I would have time to do that. Any volunteers to help me?
I thought that grandpas would appreciate this football picture. (Don't get too excited Carlos, he may choose to be a gymnast, tap dancer, or accordion player as well). The second football picture shows Gabe's personality so well right now. He melts my heart with that smile.
I got the kids really good rain gear this year, so bring on the rain. I always feel like a rock star mom when I get the kids out in bad weather. They don't mind.. I am the wussy one.
You have to smile when you see this picture.
Gabe checking out his good looking reflection.
It is time for a picture update. You can always tell which pictures I have taken of the kids and which ones Chris has taken. Here's the no fail way to tell: Mine suck and Chris' don't..... but since I am the one with the kiddos all day, you mainly get my pictures. At least the subjects are cutie pies.
-Sofia may not look all that much like me, but she sure inherited my silly genes.
Sofia can make Gabe cry and laugh harder than any other person. Ahhh.. siblings.
My brown eyed girl
Mi Casa es su casa. We just got this cute playhouse off of Craigslist. The kids love playing in it. Come and play with us!
Sofia and her buddy Marshall monkeying around
Blogging is great. It is a way for me to stay connected to family friends. It is a way for me to document the happenings of my family, and it is a time thief. I spend way way way to much time on the internet looking at blogs and facebook. It is nice to get a break, but I am feeling like I need to wean myself a little bit. My kids will appreciate it. My mind will appreciate it. My spirit will appreciate it. I am not saying I am quitting. I am just admitting that I have a problem, and that's the first step, right?
"Don't Let's go to the Dogs Tonight-"This book is really good. I read it awhile ago, so the details are not fresh in my mind,but here is the gist of it. It is about a young girl's memoir of growing up in southern Africa. Alexandra Fuller is a very descriptive writer. She makes you feel like you are in Africa with her.. only you don't want to be, because many crappy things happen in her life. I think that I am done with depressing books for awhile since I have a tendency to be drawn to them... but if you don't have a book to read, go check this one out.
"On Becoming Babywise-" I will preface this by saying that I didn't finish the book.. I just couldn't. Since I have probably offended several people already in the last month, I will try hard not to go on about this book. I am not so much a fan of the parenting style advocated in this book. It's just not me. There are some very helpful suggestions that I will try (like trying to make nursing sessions longer so your baby doesn't eat as often.. I will try this next kiddo), and it also talks about how a healthy marriage is very important in parenting. Like any parenting book, you take the ideas you like and that will work for you, and you throw out what won't.
What I didn't like about the book was the negative tone it had. I feel like the authors were extremely caught up in ripping on other parenting styles (specifically attachment parenting). If their style is so great, why do they have to spend the whole book ripping on another style of parenting? Also, I feel like this book does not take temperament into account very much, and it is kind of a "one size fits all" approach. I have friends who have used parts of this approach (not to an extreme), and they have had success with it... but like I said.. overall,this style is not for me. I am not sure exactly what my parenting style is.. maybe a mixture of a lot of different styles?
I just started a new blog for my family to post recipes on. Check it out sometime!!
http://olsenyummyformytummy.blogspot.com/
My Baby is 1 today! Where has this year gone? I got all teary eyed looking through pictures of my baby in the last year. I love this little boy so much. I know that all parents are so biased, but I just have a feeling that this boy is going to be something great someday. He is so curious, stubborn, and somehow charming and easy going at the same time. Isn't it bittersweet watching your kids grow? Exciting to know all of the fun stages and times ahead, but sad knowing that the time flies by so fast. It doesn't feel like it flies by on a daily basis sometimes when I wake up at 5:30 in the morning and look up at the clock, amazed that it is only 9:30 and I feel like it should be lunch time. It is a good reminder for me to slow down and take time to soak this time up. This is a great time of life that I can never get back. I am blessed.
It has been 2 whole weeks since I have made a controversial post (the last one took this long to recover from), so DJ Kara is here to mix things up again friends. Do you currently or plan on one day spanking your kids? Chris and I are not spankers, nor do we intend to become spankers in the near future. I am not going to lie. There have been a handful of times (okay, more than that) when I have been so frustrated with Sofia, that all I can think about is spanking her, but I don't. The reason that it would not be a good idea for me to spank is because in those moments, I am so totally frustrated and out of control... it would not be good for me to do anything that drastic. By the time I calm down, I no longer have the desire to spank anymore. So, I ask all of you.... is anyone really "in control" of their emotions when they spank, and if so, please explain your rational of why you still do it? Really, I am not here to judge, I know very good parents who spank their kids on occasion, so I am really not trying to judge...I am trying to understand.
I think that some parents who spank, are worried that non-spanking parents do no form of discipline. I agree that if you don't spank, you obviously have to discipline somehow. I am really working hard right now on being more consistent with following through with my threats with Sofia. Being consistent can be hard for me (and every other parent I am sure). I am also working on following through with discipline before I am angry, so I am still calm and in control of my emotions.
Some spanking parents are also thinking, "Well, I was spanked when I was a kid, and I turned out fine." That is true for many of us, but to that reasoning, I would like to quote Maya Angelou: "You did what you knew how to do, and when you knew better, you did better." Being creative with discipline is really really challenging,but I am working on it. Some of you reading this, probably spank, and many of you I probably really respect, so please share some insight on this topic. Also, I am interested in hearing how people do discipline almost 3 year olds. I need new ideas.
I took the kids to the "Kids day of Conservation," and it was great fun. Sofia even touched a snake. I was talking to the dude who had all of the snakes, and he said that he has over 40 snakes in his 2 bedroom apartment. This is going to give me nightmares.
We did our first pumpkin/hayride trip of the season last week. I have a feeling it won't be our last.
Gabe loves pointing at everything now.
