A is for Albums

I have decided to count my blessings for the next 26 days.  Today I'm thankful for something starting with the letter A.  I am thankful for albums.  More specifically, picture albums.  There is nothing I like more than to sit down and look through our picture albums.  I like looking at pictures on the computer but there is something about holding them in your hand.  One of my favorite things to do is cuddle on the couch with Dean and look at pictures of all our memories together.  It usually ends in laughing about some old joke or some silly thing we used to do or wear.  I am thankful that we have all those pictures to look at and even more thankful for the memories that those pictures hold.  I'll finish off today by sharing some of those memories (more recent since I don't have older ones on our new computer yet).

L on her dedication day

L at four months

L at two years old

Two year pictures by Tammy Engel

Trip to Phoenix

Niagara Falls 2009

T is born!

T at five and a half months

Put Your Cell Phone Away!

I like technology. When Dean and I first got married I knew my way around a computer but all of a sudden I was being introduced to all kinds of technology.  Dean can be a bit of technology junky if he lets himself.  I never used to understand it but now that I have entered the world of Facebook, blogging, texting, iphones, etc... I'm not ashamed to admit that I really like it.

Now, having said that I must also say that there is a time and place for technology.  I hate when I'm having a conversation with someone and they keep saying "yep" or "ah hum" and they are staring at their phone texting while I'm speaking. I especially hate when I'm teaching and one of my students is texting underneath their desk.  It's like they think that by simply placing their cell phone under their desk they have put up a magical shield that now makes them invisible.  Even though these things bother me, the other day I just about grabbed a stranger's cell phone and threw it.  I was sitting at the Bombers game watching our team attempt to win their seventh game of the season while the two girls next to me had their cell phones out texting, not even bothering to watch the game.  Why did they even come to the game!?!?!  Oh, it made me upset.  Why can't people turn off their cell phones for just a few hours and pay attention to what is going on around them.  Now perhaps this is less about the cell phones and more about my intense need to see the Bombers win a Grey Cup, but none the less, why do people spend money on tickets only to sit and text?  I like texting my friends but they do not need to be able to communicate with me 24 hours a day.  And they certainly don't need to contact me while I am watching in suspense as my Bombers squeak out another win.  We need to be able to enjoy life and what is going on around us rather than having our noses pointed directly at our cell phones.

Stomach Flu Perspective

Well, I officially hate having the stomach flu.  The crazy thing is that while I was in the midst of it, I couldn't decide if I would rather have the stomach flu or be going through labor.  It was a bad flu.  But something interesting happened in the midst of this flu.  I somehow managed to gain some perspective.  Usually when I have the flu I cry the entire time.  Seriously, I do.  I hate throwing up.  But this time, as I had my head in my semi-clean toilet, I realized that it was nice be able to have somewhere to throw up into that I can flush and away it goes.  I also have a nice comfy bed that I can lay in between episodes.  I also have air conditioning so that I don't have to battle 37 degree weather while I'm sick.  I have clean water to sip and access to all the gingerale I could possibly need.  In addition to all of this, I have my mom nearby.  She came over first thing in the morning to watch my kids so that I could get well.  Yep, I am blessed.  Too bad it took a stomach flu to make me see that.

Cupcakes

My new obsession is cupcakes.  Making, decorating and eating them.  I need to find people to give them away to because I keep making them and we cannot keep eating them at our house otherwise we are all going to gain copious amounts of weight.  A week or so ago L and I went to the library and I got a bunch of cake decorating books.  One of them was a cupcake book and that lead to the obsession.  The cupcakes are just so yummy and they are so fun to decorate.  They are so fun in fact that I have decided to sign up for a cake decorating class in September.  Until I start attending that class my cupcakes are going to be pretty simple but here are a few samples.

I fed these to my family at a pool party.  They were yummy but REALLY sweet.

These are vanilla cupcakes with key lime frosting :)

These next ones were today's creation.  L helped me make and eat them :)

These are Orange cupcakes with orange buttercream frosting

This was my taste tester :)

 

My Media Rant

I feel the need to rant because I'm getting pretty angry.  What is up with televison these days?  Seriously.  I am so sick and tired of shows that start out pretty good but eventually become saturated with sex.  I understand that I might be old fashioned but I'm not going to appologize for that.  I am so increadably sick of the casual attitude toward sex that our society has adopted.  Everyone is so shocked by hight rates of teen pregnancy but yet our kids watch shows where sex is no big deal.  Everyone does it.  It won't affect you in the long run.  You're strange if you are still a virgin by the time you reach university.  BULL CRAP.  Why have we become so complacent that we just stand by while media keeps bombarding this stuff at us.  And, not only does it affect teens but it affects adults too.  It affects our marriages.  We are so shocked by the high rate of divorce (even amoung "christian" people) but yet we (and I totally include myself in this) watch TV and movies where sex and relationships have one sole purpose, to make us happy.  Umm, I may have only been married for seven years but I'm pretty sure no one has a marriage where they are happy all the time.  If we were to live out what hollywood tells us then we would have to ditch our spouse everytime things got tough...... oh wait.... the majority of society does that.

But wait, there is still more.  We let our teenage boys and we drag our husbands to movies where the women are scantily clad and making continuous sexual inuendoes and we wonder how so many boys and men struggle with pornography.  As women we don't think anything of it because, lets face it, we have those parts and they are no longer amusing.  But, God did design men to like those parts and the more they are flaunted on television, in movies, at the mall, in restarants, the more men are going to continue to struggle. 

Oh, and I have more ranting to do.  What is up the previews for 14A and R rated movies.  I don't want to see R rated movies and I certainly don't want my two year old to see them but as we watch "Till Debt Do Us Part" at 4:00 in the afternoon there are previews for them!!!!  I no longer watch live TV with my kids.  Not even kids channels like Nickelodeon because there are previews for movies that are frighening for my two year old and I can't take those images out of her head once they are there.  Even walking past the entrance to the movie theater at the mall has movie posters with scary images on them.  You might think that I am being overprotective but that's ok with me.  I will guard my little girl's heart as much as I can.  As she gets older and able to understand more, then I will explain more to her and help her navigate this crazy world.  I don't need media to do it for me, especially when I didn't ask for it.

I could go on and on but I won't.  I just want to put those thoughts out there.  If you think I'm being ridiculous then you are totally entitled to feel like that.  But if you've been thinking some of these things as well, then know that you are not alone. 

Potty Training

Lately I've been using the words "potty training" as curse words.  In the almost three years that I have been a parent this is by far the most difficult thing I have ever encountered.  How does one get a strong willed almost three year old human being to defecate in a toilet??  Seriously!  I've heard so many people say that once the child is ready it goes quickly.  I do agree with that (in theory) so I stopped stressing about it and waited until the day L woke up and said, "Mommy, I want to potty train today".  Whooooo hoooooo!  I was so excited.... until I realised that we were leaving for kids camp in five days.  But, I was not about to say no, especially because it was completely and totally her idea.  So, the underwear went on..... er, the pullups went on.  Yep, I was WAY to afraid to let her tromp around in underpants right from the get go.  After a few days she seemed to be getting the hang of it so I did bring out the underwear.  And then we left for a week at kids camp.  The nice thing about being out at camp was that when she had accidents they were usually outdoors which made for a very easy clean up.  The other good news was that she was with my sister most of the day since my sister was at camp to watch the toddlers.  Ha ha ha ha ha ha.  I spent the week giggling that my sister was dealing with most of the potty training drama.  Ha ha ha ha ha.  I`m still laughing a little.

By the time we got home from camp L was doing great.  I was convinced she was done.  I did a little happy dance.  And then, yesterday happened.  Early in the day L announced to me, ``Mommy, I peed on the floor!``  Not just any floor.  My shag carpet area rug.  When I asked her why she peed on the floor, the response was as follows: ``Because I didn`t feel like going to the potty``.   Grrrrrrrr.  As if that wasn`t frustrating enough, later that morning she announced to me that she pooped in her underwear.  Grrrrrrrr.  But wait, there is more.  As she was waiting for me to get the wipes, she peed on the floor.  Wait!  There is still more!  When I noticed the pee, she started laughing!  AAAAHHHHHHH!!!  I must say that I handled it better then I thought I would, although it was still not great.  In the end, my mom came and took L for a few hours in the afternoon so I could have a much needed break from the pee, poop, and (oh I forgot to mention this earlier) absurd toddler temper tantrums.

Today was a bit better, even though she peed on my mom`s outdoor furniture.  People keep saying that kids have setbacks right before they really conquer potty training.  I sure hope those people are right!

Offically a travelling family

Well, we did it.  We made the seven hour drive north to Dean's parent's cabin and....... it went great!  We woke up at 4:00AM and were on the road by 4:30AM.  T just drifted back to sleep once the car got rolling and he slept almost the entire way.  We woke up for about an hour during which we stopped for a quick 30 minute bottle and bathroom break.  The other 30 minutes he was awake he just chatted before drifting back off to sleep.  L on the other hand did not sleep.  At 4:30AM I buckled her into her carseat and she woke up and asked where we were going.  She never went back to sleep.  Not even for a nap.  It turned out that it wasn't a big deal because she played quietly in her carseat without whining or complaining the entire trip.  Once we arrived at the cabin she was so excited to be there that her fatigue didn't hit her until about 6:30PM when she fell asleep while Dean was taking her for a quad ride.  Yep, she fell sound asleep.  Poor Dean had quite a fright because at first he thought she had passed out because of exhausted poisoning or something ;)

I will be perfectly honest here.  I did not want to go up to the cabin for the weekend.  There were a few reasons.  One was the long drive.  Turned out that was no big deal (they were really good on the ride home too).  Second was that our little family had to share one bedroom.  I wasn't sure how the kids would sleep or how I would even get them to sleep in the same room.  Apparently they are deeper sleepers then I realized.  They were both so exhausted from all the fun and fresh air that they just crashed at bedtime and even slept pretty late into the morning.  Dean and I could go in and out of the room once they were asleep and not even bother them.  Third, I was worried about the mosquitoes and bugs.  Turned out that there were no mosquitoes at all and very few bugs.  In the evening when they did come out we all just sat in the screened in gazebo.  The fourth reason I did not want to go was that I was afraid that everyone would take off doing fun things and I would be stuck in the cabin with the baby.  Well, because there were no bugs, T could easily be outside with us when he was awake.  The most amazing thing was that T slept constantly while we were there.  I felt like I barely saw him.  And, the monitor reached all the way to the water (the cabin lot is really long with the cabin at the top of the hill and the water at the bottom).

I guess the moral of this post is that all the things I worried about (extensively) turned out to be no big deal at all.  My need to be in control does get in the way a lot and I am SO happy that I finally made the decision to throw it out the window and go do something that my logic told me wouldn't work.  It did work and it turned out to be one of the best (if not the best) weekends of our summer.  L LOVED the cabin and all the fun things to do there.  Plus, she got to spend an entire weekend with her cousin (Dean's brother and his family also came) that she doesn't get to see that much.  Lillian adores her cousin.  Dean and I had a great time with his parents and brother and sister-in-law.  In a nut shell, it was a great family weekend for everyone.  Next time you are tempted to not do something because it's out of your comfort zone, do it.  Sure, it could be a disaster, but it could turn out as great as this past weekend did :)