Baby Shower

I had the opportunity to throw a baby shower for a sweet friend back in May.

I'm not a fan of games, and uncomfortable "have-to's" when I'm a guest...so I kept it really casual and most importantly, yummy!

The theme was pickles and Ice cream.  The following saying was part of the invitation:

Pickles and Ice Cream 

for the mom-to-be...

Not quite as tasty for you & me.

I set paper pickles out next to pens if people wanted to leave her any advice.  I remember being pregnant and loved hearing everyones advice on how they did things.  But after my first baby came...people were welcome to keep their advice to themselves unless I asked for it.  Everyone has the best way for everything, but as a new mom you gotta figure out what works best for you and your baby.

The spread was a million different toppings served with all different ice cream flavors, and of course...

a side of pickles!

She's Back...

For some reason or another I felt the need for a little blogging hiatus.  While I was away, I was sporadically creating posts and just not publishing them.  I may or may not be posting them soon.  Stay tuned.

Right now it feels good to be back.  We shall see if that feeling lasts.

S.A.K.

I've always dreamed of saving the world.  You know, doing something so incredible that it had a positive affect on everyone and everything.  But seeing how the chances of that happening are slim to none, I went for something a little less far fetched.  Like traveling to a third world country to help perform life saving operations for those in need.  Or living in an orphanage to love on and read to the children.  Maybe lifting a train from a car with victims trapped inside.  Hey, I can dream right?

And while I continue to dream, I have thought long and hard about something a little more realistic for me right now.  And while I thought, I couldn't help but think of some examples that have inspired me.

Like my mom going around her neighborhood positioning certain peoples newspapers just so that when they opened their door it was easily at reach.

Or the stranger in the parking lot at Walmart who clearly walked out of his way to take my cart back so I could attend to my screaming children.

And I'll never forget Jill offering to bring dinner to my family when we were all sick with pneumonia and I on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

And the candy gram thank you from my sweet young women.

A card in the mail from Leslie who knew just what to say.

A vase of yellow flowers from Tiffani when there were no words to say.

The perfectly timed phone calls from Lauren who always knows when I need to talk.

And money for a birthday pedicure from my sister who recently lost her job.

Joycelyn sitting next to me at church to help with my boys when Dan was at work.

My list could go on for days.  And I highly doubt any of these people thought twice about what they did.  But I have.  These moments, these people, these Simple Acts of Kindness, changed my life.

So here's to saving the world one SAK at a time.

First of Many

Timeout on the stair used to work for Camden.  But now he is sent to his room.  I struggled with this move because I wanted his room to be a place of peace for him and his sleeping issues.  But when your house isn't all that big, and timeout on the stair is longer effective...you are low on options.  So the room we chose, and it has served us well.

Camden's latest issue is running away when we try to talk to him.  Whether he is in trouble, or thinks he might be in trouble, or when he just plain doesn't want to listen, he runs away.  Most days I want to ignore it and let him run so I don't have to deal with it.  But I am trying hard to be consistent and help him make this change.

This morning while wrestling, Camden put Jace in an incredible choke hold.  This WWF move was after he had already slammed Jace's head against the bed causing his gums to bleed(Speaking of which...they are still bleeding.  I wonder if he should see a dentist? Nah).  After asking nice two different times, I decided to walk over for an intervention.  Camden released his victim and promptly took off running.

As calmly as I could muster, I asked Camden to come talk to me.  I wanted nothing more than to make a quick explanation of how he is stronger than Jace and he needs to be careful.  Unfortunately he wasn't having any of it.  He ran around in circles until I got a hold of him and told him he would be spending the next 3 minutes in his room to think about what just happened.  30 seconds later as he pounded on the door I walked back in to explain his time was starting over because of the pounding.  Shortly after one last pound I could hear him quietly crying.  I let the remaining time run out before I walked in to find this.

And when I asked him how it happened he told me Eddie(his cabbage patch doll) did it.

Then Jace did it.

Then he didn't know how it happened.  He didn't do it.

Then his pinkie finger did it, and it really hurts.

Living in a house of boys, I'm afraid this is the first of many holes to be found in my walls.

Remind Me....

that it is important to teach my children how to be INDEPENDENT!

I often think if my kids could only do this or that how much easier life would be for ME. And also how simple I could make THEIR lives if I just did everything for them.

And I often worry about how they feel when I let them try something I know they can't do, because it's okay if we can't do everything.

And what about when they are fighting and the problem could quickly be solved but I let them figure it out on their own.

Wouldn't their lives be a whole lot easier if we just made all the decisions for them, made the mistakes so they wouldn't have to. Fight their fights so they wouldn't need to. Remove their hardships so they didn't suffer.

Maybe. But how much fun would that be?