It's 2:52 AM, and I absolutely cannot sleep. I went to a friend's Scentsy party and had 2 cups of coffee and a Coke. Pretty sure I could not be more wired than I am right now. I tried so hard to lay in bed, but my husband's peaceful breathing was driving me up a wall, so I decided that catching up on blog reading (and writing) would be the best use of my time.
Given the current time, I don't exactly have all that much that is intelligible to say. But I did, however, find winter boots this morning, (after all the crazy rush of Black Friday was over) that are ranked to -148F. Yep, you read that correctly. -148F. They will be perfect for sitting in a deer stand, or if I ever get the urge, to climb Mt. Everest. I walked around the store a fair amount of time to make sure they fit right, and I have to admit, I probably looked slightly like an astronaut. When I finally took them off, I swear my legs and feet stayed warm for a long time afterwards. I can already say that I am in love with them.
Still no adoption news, but I am just going to gloss over that and move on to: my girls getaway tomorrow! Because it is much more fun and doesn't cause me any anxiety to think about.
3 of my girlfriends and I are going for a girls weekend tomorrow (well, actually today- in 6 hourse, I should probably be sleeping!) I am hugely looking forward to this as it will be a good break for all of us, and is coming at a much needed time for everyone involved. Our schedule is to pretty much hit up every thrift store we can find, and just chill. We have 13 children between the 4 of us, so this will be almost like a miracle for us! Hopefully our husbands will survive. I know they will, but with all of the "what are we going to do without you", you would think that I was leaving for a month! I honestly can say I cannot remember the last time I went away with a good group of friends and had some girl time. Bring.it.on!
Okay, now that I am pumped up about my trip, which I still haven't packed for, I wonder if I should bring my new Everest boots.... I should probably try to go back to sleep. Except I am hungry, so maybe I should eat something. But doesn't that start your system running again? Which will in turn keep me up longer?! Night blogging is something I think I should stay away from!!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
We have our good friend from Uganda here in the states. He has been here for almost a month, and returns on Wednesday. We are sad to see him go as he was hoping to stay a couple weeks into December. However, today I was moved by the blessings that have happened recently regarding Uganda and the orphanage that our friend runs.
This morning we were able to pack 3 huge suitcases with items to bring for the orphans. I am just so pumped at peoples generosity and I so wish I could be there to see the kids' faces. The best news by far is that our church did an offering to raise money so that we could take care of the food needs for all 55 kids for the next year. The youth alone raised $2700, and the total so far is $8,500! Food for a year cost the kids about $4800. That is to eat twice a day, everyday. I just cannot belive the amount of money raised, and I am so excited to see what will happen with the excess above the cost of food. We have a relatively small church and as a group, our hearts have really been heavy for these kids in Uganda. It is so neat to see a group of people moved, and then respond.
I also may have a chance to return to Uganda in February 2011. I would have to completely fundraise the amount to go due to our adoption expenses. I am definitely spending a lot of time praying if this is what God would have me do. I am beyond excited about the idea of it, but am not sure if it is God's will for me right now. Of course, when we went last January, we made the decision to go and then left 3 weeks later! It will all come together if it is supposed to!
Who knows what is in store for me in the near future! It sure is fun to think about. Uganda totally transformed my life last year. From working mother, to stay at home mom amongst the least of the changes due to that trip. I miss the people and the country immensely. REALLY hope that it is what I am supposed to do!
This morning we were able to pack 3 huge suitcases with items to bring for the orphans. I am just so pumped at peoples generosity and I so wish I could be there to see the kids' faces. The best news by far is that our church did an offering to raise money so that we could take care of the food needs for all 55 kids for the next year. The youth alone raised $2700, and the total so far is $8,500! Food for a year cost the kids about $4800. That is to eat twice a day, everyday. I just cannot belive the amount of money raised, and I am so excited to see what will happen with the excess above the cost of food. We have a relatively small church and as a group, our hearts have really been heavy for these kids in Uganda. It is so neat to see a group of people moved, and then respond.
I also may have a chance to return to Uganda in February 2011. I would have to completely fundraise the amount to go due to our adoption expenses. I am definitely spending a lot of time praying if this is what God would have me do. I am beyond excited about the idea of it, but am not sure if it is God's will for me right now. Of course, when we went last January, we made the decision to go and then left 3 weeks later! It will all come together if it is supposed to!
Who knows what is in store for me in the near future! It sure is fun to think about. Uganda totally transformed my life last year. From working mother, to stay at home mom amongst the least of the changes due to that trip. I miss the people and the country immensely. REALLY hope that it is what I am supposed to do!
Friday, November 19, 2010
I have to admit that it has gotten harder for me to do posts on here on a regular basis. Our family has been super busy, obligations during the day, at night, and especially on weekends.
Plus there's that annoying thing that we just don't have any updates regarding the adoption.
Well, technically I guess that isn't totally true. We got an update this past Monday that said we were still waiting on court, which was the update we got a few weeks ago. So since it wasn't anything new, I don't really feel like it was an "update". Meanwhile this coming Monday will be week 9 waiting for court. If I could scream through the computer I would!
Plus there's that annoying thing that we just don't have any updates regarding the adoption.
Well, technically I guess that isn't totally true. We got an update this past Monday that said we were still waiting on court, which was the update we got a few weeks ago. So since it wasn't anything new, I don't really feel like it was an "update". Meanwhile this coming Monday will be week 9 waiting for court. If I could scream through the computer I would!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Deer Hunting
This past weekend and through Monday, we all went up to my parents house. My hubby is a big deer hunter and we use venison almost exclusively in place of hamburger when cooking, and so for 9 years this has been our routine.
My brother lives up by my parents as well, and as you can imagine, is also big into hunting and all things outdoors. He has not had any success this year so far, and is starting to get antsy. Chris has gotten two, so my brother asked that Chris go hunting for him, and if he sees anything to shoot it.
My hubby has asked me multiple times in the last 9 years of marriage to go hunting with him, and I have politely declined. Chris is one of the uber hunters, who stays in the stand the entire day. Doesn't pee, doesn't eat, doesn't drink anything. All.day.long. Plus it is almost always very cold out. Doesn't sound fun if you ask me. However, my sister in law was over with their little girl and got talking about how there were deer right by her house and they probably could have been shot right off their deck (which, by the way, is illegal).
Between the two of us, we developed a brilliant, if naieve, plan to go hunting ourselves, and get the deer for her hubby. Let me be clear on this- I have never hunted in my life. I once shot a bb gun at a squirrel in my mother in laws yard, but I missed. Amanda and I were getting super excited with our plans to go out and bring home the meat, and were talking about where we should go and all that stuff like we knew exactly what to do. My husband and dad are looking at us like we have gone crazy, but they love hunting, so it's not like they discouraged it.
We got a crash course in gun safety: essentially this is where the safety is, you have to turn it off to shoot, look through the scope and line it up at this part of the deer, don't fall out of the deer stand or shoot each other. You know, all the important stuff so you don't die by gunfire that could drop an elk. My dad decided that he would go and sit in a stand close to us, partly to give us any help if we needed it, and partly I think to watch us and see what we would do. And partly because my mom is slightly irrational, and thought for sure that we would both end up dying(Chris decided to go hunting in a different section of the woods.)
We get out to the tree, climbed up and sat down. And then....we waited. That is pretty much what deer hunting is. Sitting in a tree, trying to stay warm, and hoping against hope, that a deer will come walking past you so you can blast him for food. We never saw a single deer, we did however see a tiny little chickadee. We also heard some neighboring cows going crazy for who knows what reason. I checked my watch twice. The first time after we had only been out for 25 minutes because my toes were starting to get cold, and the second time an hour later. Surprisingly, two hourse went by really quickly. Still, it would have made the story of a lifetime, and been grounds for ruthless teasing of my brother if his wife and I had gotten a deer when he couldn't!
Amanda and I both have plans to take gun safety training (which technically you need to hunt) and go next year with everyone. Regardless of our lack of bagging a deer, we both kind of got into it, which I think after 9 years of asking, my hubby is praising God for!
(Plus I have a really cool gun name, they want to get me a gun that is called "Savage", and I said that I wanted it to be black, because black matches everything- which is clearly so important in hunting, and so we came up with 3 good gun names: Black Savage, Black Widow, and because my hubby doesn't want me to be too manly, Black Beauty!)
My brother lives up by my parents as well, and as you can imagine, is also big into hunting and all things outdoors. He has not had any success this year so far, and is starting to get antsy. Chris has gotten two, so my brother asked that Chris go hunting for him, and if he sees anything to shoot it.
My hubby has asked me multiple times in the last 9 years of marriage to go hunting with him, and I have politely declined. Chris is one of the uber hunters, who stays in the stand the entire day. Doesn't pee, doesn't eat, doesn't drink anything. All.day.long. Plus it is almost always very cold out. Doesn't sound fun if you ask me. However, my sister in law was over with their little girl and got talking about how there were deer right by her house and they probably could have been shot right off their deck (which, by the way, is illegal).
Between the two of us, we developed a brilliant, if naieve, plan to go hunting ourselves, and get the deer for her hubby. Let me be clear on this- I have never hunted in my life. I once shot a bb gun at a squirrel in my mother in laws yard, but I missed. Amanda and I were getting super excited with our plans to go out and bring home the meat, and were talking about where we should go and all that stuff like we knew exactly what to do. My husband and dad are looking at us like we have gone crazy, but they love hunting, so it's not like they discouraged it.
We got a crash course in gun safety: essentially this is where the safety is, you have to turn it off to shoot, look through the scope and line it up at this part of the deer, don't fall out of the deer stand or shoot each other. You know, all the important stuff so you don't die by gunfire that could drop an elk. My dad decided that he would go and sit in a stand close to us, partly to give us any help if we needed it, and partly I think to watch us and see what we would do. And partly because my mom is slightly irrational, and thought for sure that we would both end up dying(Chris decided to go hunting in a different section of the woods.)
We get out to the tree, climbed up and sat down. And then....we waited. That is pretty much what deer hunting is. Sitting in a tree, trying to stay warm, and hoping against hope, that a deer will come walking past you so you can blast him for food. We never saw a single deer, we did however see a tiny little chickadee. We also heard some neighboring cows going crazy for who knows what reason. I checked my watch twice. The first time after we had only been out for 25 minutes because my toes were starting to get cold, and the second time an hour later. Surprisingly, two hourse went by really quickly. Still, it would have made the story of a lifetime, and been grounds for ruthless teasing of my brother if his wife and I had gotten a deer when he couldn't!
Amanda and I both have plans to take gun safety training (which technically you need to hunt) and go next year with everyone. Regardless of our lack of bagging a deer, we both kind of got into it, which I think after 9 years of asking, my hubby is praising God for!
(Plus I have a really cool gun name, they want to get me a gun that is called "Savage", and I said that I wanted it to be black, because black matches everything- which is clearly so important in hunting, and so we came up with 3 good gun names: Black Savage, Black Widow, and because my hubby doesn't want me to be too manly, Black Beauty!)
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Apple Cider Vinegar
I have several friends who are fairly in to "alternative" medicine. With a degree in microbiology, alternative, just isn't something I gave a whole lot of credit to. I vaccinate my kids for everything, as long as they are not sick and don't have a fever.
Then last year people started freaking out about the whole swine flu thing and people literally ran to the clinic for their shot because they all thought they were going to die. By the time I got around to calling to get my kids the shot, they were out of swine flu and regular flu vaccines. So we didn't do them, and guess what? No flu and we are all still alive. I started researching into the swine flu vaccine, and I learned a lot. Probably wouldn't have vaccinated them anyway had I done my research before hand (that is saying a lot for a former microbiologist!). Regardless of that, it sort of opened the door for me to look a little more at some of this so called fringe medicine. (By the way, I still think it is important to vaccinate your children for the majority of the diseases there are. It would be dangerous for everyone in the world to not vaccinate, because of something called herd immunity. The majority of people are vaccinated and have Ab response to diseases which thus prevents it from getting out into the population at large. If everyone stopped vaccinating you wouldn't have that, and diseases would make a much larger and aggressive come back. I know some of you probably disagree with me in a big way, and that is okay, but this is my blog, so I say how I feel!)
Anyway, onto Apple Cider Vinegar. I seem to have all of these random, bizarre health issues that aren't really bad, but mostly annoying. A friend of mine suggested drinking apple cider vinegar, but it had to be the raw, unfiltered type that costs $4 for a teeny tiny bottle. So I, in my naive type of thinking thought no sweat. 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar a day? I got it covered. Then I opened the bottle and actually smelled the stuff. So I started reading the directions and it said to mix with 8 oz. of water. I did that. Cold water . Let me tell you, I probably could not drink 8 oz. of cold apple cider vinegar water to save my life. I gagged the whole time I tried to drink it. Then I tried to not breathe and chug it down. Didn't work. So, I decided to forget mixing it, I was going to drink it straight up- 2 tsp. of straight apple cider vinegar down the throat. It burns like crazy. Especially for someone who used to have GERD, and is still prone to excessive heartburn issues. I would drink 2 tsp. and then chug a bunch of Gaviscon as a chaser.
Then my sweet aunt said you have to warm it up, add a little honey and drink it like tea. And you know what? It is much better warm, I think I actually might be able to do this! It is supposed to help with all sorts of ailments from woman problems, to skin issues to just about anything you can think of. My one girlfriend has those little, white bumps on the tricep part of her arm. She rubs it on the outside in the shower, and those bumps have totally gone away. This makes me a little nervous as I am drinking something that makes skin bumps go away, but I am going to roll with it. Ask any person older than 70 and they will tell you this is nothing new to them. I am surprised at how many people in that age range have done this for years.
Now I have started to take things like fish oil, and flaxseed and cranberry supplements. I find that I want to know some of this alternative medicine! I do think that I actually feel better now that I am doing all this stuff. Could be the placebo effect, but who cares if it works!
Then last year people started freaking out about the whole swine flu thing and people literally ran to the clinic for their shot because they all thought they were going to die. By the time I got around to calling to get my kids the shot, they were out of swine flu and regular flu vaccines. So we didn't do them, and guess what? No flu and we are all still alive. I started researching into the swine flu vaccine, and I learned a lot. Probably wouldn't have vaccinated them anyway had I done my research before hand (that is saying a lot for a former microbiologist!). Regardless of that, it sort of opened the door for me to look a little more at some of this so called fringe medicine. (By the way, I still think it is important to vaccinate your children for the majority of the diseases there are. It would be dangerous for everyone in the world to not vaccinate, because of something called herd immunity. The majority of people are vaccinated and have Ab response to diseases which thus prevents it from getting out into the population at large. If everyone stopped vaccinating you wouldn't have that, and diseases would make a much larger and aggressive come back. I know some of you probably disagree with me in a big way, and that is okay, but this is my blog, so I say how I feel!)
Anyway, onto Apple Cider Vinegar. I seem to have all of these random, bizarre health issues that aren't really bad, but mostly annoying. A friend of mine suggested drinking apple cider vinegar, but it had to be the raw, unfiltered type that costs $4 for a teeny tiny bottle. So I, in my naive type of thinking thought no sweat. 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar a day? I got it covered. Then I opened the bottle and actually smelled the stuff. So I started reading the directions and it said to mix with 8 oz. of water. I did that. Cold water . Let me tell you, I probably could not drink 8 oz. of cold apple cider vinegar water to save my life. I gagged the whole time I tried to drink it. Then I tried to not breathe and chug it down. Didn't work. So, I decided to forget mixing it, I was going to drink it straight up- 2 tsp. of straight apple cider vinegar down the throat. It burns like crazy. Especially for someone who used to have GERD, and is still prone to excessive heartburn issues. I would drink 2 tsp. and then chug a bunch of Gaviscon as a chaser.
Then my sweet aunt said you have to warm it up, add a little honey and drink it like tea. And you know what? It is much better warm, I think I actually might be able to do this! It is supposed to help with all sorts of ailments from woman problems, to skin issues to just about anything you can think of. My one girlfriend has those little, white bumps on the tricep part of her arm. She rubs it on the outside in the shower, and those bumps have totally gone away. This makes me a little nervous as I am drinking something that makes skin bumps go away, but I am going to roll with it. Ask any person older than 70 and they will tell you this is nothing new to them. I am surprised at how many people in that age range have done this for years.
Now I have started to take things like fish oil, and flaxseed and cranberry supplements. I find that I want to know some of this alternative medicine! I do think that I actually feel better now that I am doing all this stuff. Could be the placebo effect, but who cares if it works!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Cautiously Optimistic
We learned that the unconfirmed rumor was not substantiated, and we are moving forward with the adoption of our little girl. While we are very thankful for this, I am a little nervous as well. Once we pass court, there is a 30 day wait period where anyone who thinks they have legal claim to the children can try to prove their grounds to claim the child or the mother may change her mind. Given the rumors about our daughter, this time frame still puts on us edge. Even though we only have 1 picture of her, we have thought of all the different ways she will be part of our family. It would be heartbreaking to have that taken away from us. But we are trusing that God will have the best plan laid down for us as well as for the little girl, and that what will happen is meant to be.
In the mean time, I will continue to try and "patiently" wait for court to happen, this week is week 7. The last two families with our agency came out at 3 and 4 weeks. I do not know the reason for our extended court time, but am trying to trust that it is all for good. Maybe it will allow for the new I600 filing to be smooth and quick by the time it is our turn!
Of course, I seem to remember asking God for patience, so let this be a caution for all that what you ask for, you will probably get and in ways you could not imagine! I was hoping for a switch that he pulled and boom, automatic patience. But nope, instead I get, deal with the situation and get patience as you go through it! A little rougher than the first option!
In the mean time, I will continue to try and "patiently" wait for court to happen, this week is week 7. The last two families with our agency came out at 3 and 4 weeks. I do not know the reason for our extended court time, but am trying to trust that it is all for good. Maybe it will allow for the new I600 filing to be smooth and quick by the time it is our turn!
Of course, I seem to remember asking God for patience, so let this be a caution for all that what you ask for, you will probably get and in ways you could not imagine! I was hoping for a switch that he pulled and boom, automatic patience. But nope, instead I get, deal with the situation and get patience as you go through it! A little rougher than the first option!
Friday, November 5, 2010
If you would please pray for the adoption of our little girl our family would be very grateful.
Yesterday we were made aware that something has come up that could prevent her from coming home and being a part of our family. Right now, it has not been confirmed, and I don't want to go into anymore details until we have accurate information. But we truly need the power of your prayers in this situation.
For those that are adopting out of the same country, don't panic! It has nothing to do with the program, just specifically to our little girl.
Yesterday we were made aware that something has come up that could prevent her from coming home and being a part of our family. Right now, it has not been confirmed, and I don't want to go into anymore details until we have accurate information. But we truly need the power of your prayers in this situation.
For those that are adopting out of the same country, don't panic! It has nothing to do with the program, just specifically to our little girl.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Can you help me?
I am writing this blog post to ask for help.
When Chris and I were in Uganda, we spent a lot of time with an amazing woman and her family. Her name is Pastor Juliet, and her husband is Pastor Tom. They have two daughters, Esther who is 4, Joy is 3, and a son Joshua, who is 1.
Chris and I have felt that God is asking us to help this family out. Another couple in our bible study have also felt a calling to help someone, and we together have decided to "adopt" the family and contribute to their needs financially.
They currently live in a two room house with no running water or bathroom. It is close to where their church is, and behind a gate for added safety, and while it doesn't sound like much for us, it has served them well so far. However, they are 5 months behind on rent. Rent for their house is $100 a month. Chris and I do not have the money to get them caught up and current on their rent, but combined with the other family we do have enough to take care of rent in the future if we can get rid of their current debt.
The church where they pastor is in an extremely poor part of the town, and the total tithe that it takes in per month is about $10.00. Pastor Juliet and her family rely on God's provisions each and every single day that they might have food for their family and clothes on their backs. I cannot imagine being in the same situation and trusting God for him to provide for me in that way. Just today I had McDonalds for lunch with a friend, and then went to Costco and bought food in bulk. It is a situation that I cannot even fathom, and one that is so far from my mind, sometimes it easy to forget how much people suffer- even as I go through an adoption and know the statistics.
We would definitely appreciate your prayers for Pastor Juliet and Tom and their family. I know in my life I have seen the power of prayer working powerfully, and I believe that God has done amazing things through Juliet, and will continue to do so in the future.
If you are able to contribute any amount to getting rid of their debt we would be forever appreciative of you. We are hoping to alleviate this burden from them so they can move forward in ministry without the fears about providing a house hovering over them. If you cannot contribute financially, I completely understand, but I would ask that you pray for them and the church that they are responsible for.
If you would like to contribute financially to this family, please email me at: cjnelsonfam@gmail.com and I can give you details on sending the money to us, and then we will send it to the family through Western Union.
Thank you for taking the time to read through this and prayerfully considering a way that you can help.
Jess
When Chris and I were in Uganda, we spent a lot of time with an amazing woman and her family. Her name is Pastor Juliet, and her husband is Pastor Tom. They have two daughters, Esther who is 4, Joy is 3, and a son Joshua, who is 1.
Chris and I have felt that God is asking us to help this family out. Another couple in our bible study have also felt a calling to help someone, and we together have decided to "adopt" the family and contribute to their needs financially.
They currently live in a two room house with no running water or bathroom. It is close to where their church is, and behind a gate for added safety, and while it doesn't sound like much for us, it has served them well so far. However, they are 5 months behind on rent. Rent for their house is $100 a month. Chris and I do not have the money to get them caught up and current on their rent, but combined with the other family we do have enough to take care of rent in the future if we can get rid of their current debt.
The church where they pastor is in an extremely poor part of the town, and the total tithe that it takes in per month is about $10.00. Pastor Juliet and her family rely on God's provisions each and every single day that they might have food for their family and clothes on their backs. I cannot imagine being in the same situation and trusting God for him to provide for me in that way. Just today I had McDonalds for lunch with a friend, and then went to Costco and bought food in bulk. It is a situation that I cannot even fathom, and one that is so far from my mind, sometimes it easy to forget how much people suffer- even as I go through an adoption and know the statistics.
We would definitely appreciate your prayers for Pastor Juliet and Tom and their family. I know in my life I have seen the power of prayer working powerfully, and I believe that God has done amazing things through Juliet, and will continue to do so in the future.
If you are able to contribute any amount to getting rid of their debt we would be forever appreciative of you. We are hoping to alleviate this burden from them so they can move forward in ministry without the fears about providing a house hovering over them. If you cannot contribute financially, I completely understand, but I would ask that you pray for them and the church that they are responsible for.
If you would like to contribute financially to this family, please email me at: cjnelsonfam@gmail.com and I can give you details on sending the money to us, and then we will send it to the family through Western Union.
Thank you for taking the time to read through this and prayerfully considering a way that you can help.
Jess
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Halloween Candy
The kids' Halloween Candy has turned into the ultimate bribe- and I am loving it.
As in: If you kids fight you will both loose a piece of candy! Works like a charm. Plus Chris benefits because when the kids loose candy, he gains it! I, on the other hand, am trying to stay away from it. I looove chocolate and am afraid that once I start, I will not be able to stop.
Today I had to go and exchange our babies' take home outfits. We had picked out these adorable coming home outfits, but after receiving recent pictures of the kids, and knowing our daughters weight, what we got for them is almost guaranteed to be too small. At least now if their clothes are a little too big, they will be comfortable, as opposed to too small and feeling all tight and icky.
It is kind of a tricky time to be looking for clothes for the kiddos. Not too worried about our son because we have all of Owen's old stuff, but am a little paranoid for our girl. We have nothing left of Ava's. Plus if the kids come home 6 months from now it will be April sometime, so while it will still be on the cold side it will be getting nice, and most of the stuff in the stores is for cold weather. Oh the dilemmas! And then I have to keep myself from going crazy with the cute little girl clothes! I still think that dressing a little girl is way more fun. The bows! The colors! The tiny little silk skirts that are so adorable but impractical!
Must get control!
As in: If you kids fight you will both loose a piece of candy! Works like a charm. Plus Chris benefits because when the kids loose candy, he gains it! I, on the other hand, am trying to stay away from it. I looove chocolate and am afraid that once I start, I will not be able to stop.
Today I had to go and exchange our babies' take home outfits. We had picked out these adorable coming home outfits, but after receiving recent pictures of the kids, and knowing our daughters weight, what we got for them is almost guaranteed to be too small. At least now if their clothes are a little too big, they will be comfortable, as opposed to too small and feeling all tight and icky.
It is kind of a tricky time to be looking for clothes for the kiddos. Not too worried about our son because we have all of Owen's old stuff, but am a little paranoid for our girl. We have nothing left of Ava's. Plus if the kids come home 6 months from now it will be April sometime, so while it will still be on the cold side it will be getting nice, and most of the stuff in the stores is for cold weather. Oh the dilemmas! And then I have to keep myself from going crazy with the cute little girl clothes! I still think that dressing a little girl is way more fun. The bows! The colors! The tiny little silk skirts that are so adorable but impractical!
Must get control!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Movies
At our house, I have the rule for the kids that their rooms need to be cleaned before they can watch a movie. Ava ususally has to help Owen with his room too, because she spends a significant amount of time in there messing things up as well.
This morning they were frantically cleaning away, because they haven't watched a movie in around 4 days, and oh my goodness, the world must be ending! After everything was all done to satisfaction, they trooped off downstairs to pick out the movie.
I also have the rule that they must agree on the movie they will watch. If they can't agree, we don't start one until they can compromise. Usually this involves something along the lines of I will watch this one, and next time you can pick it.
Today though, they came up together happy as clams, and presented me the movie- Tinkerbell the Lost Treasure. There is NO WAY that Owen would have agreed to this movie without some form of signficant negotiation. He is more of the Kung Fu Panda and Cars type. I turned to Ava and asked her what she promised Owen in return. She told me that she gave him money. At which point Owen had this huge grin on his face and was all happy. How much you are asking? 7 cents. 7 cents is all it took for my poor son to agree to that movie. He has zero concept of money, and the more pieces of it, the better it must be.
I don't know whether I should allow her to negotiate in this way, I much prefer the I will watch this one, and you pick next time, but it was so funny, and fairly ingenious of her, that I turned away and let it pass. Of course, it is probably not something I should encourage, or I should perhaps teach Owen the value of money, but it is funny, and on a Monday, I can appreciate that!
This morning they were frantically cleaning away, because they haven't watched a movie in around 4 days, and oh my goodness, the world must be ending! After everything was all done to satisfaction, they trooped off downstairs to pick out the movie.
I also have the rule that they must agree on the movie they will watch. If they can't agree, we don't start one until they can compromise. Usually this involves something along the lines of I will watch this one, and next time you can pick it.
Today though, they came up together happy as clams, and presented me the movie- Tinkerbell the Lost Treasure. There is NO WAY that Owen would have agreed to this movie without some form of signficant negotiation. He is more of the Kung Fu Panda and Cars type. I turned to Ava and asked her what she promised Owen in return. She told me that she gave him money. At which point Owen had this huge grin on his face and was all happy. How much you are asking? 7 cents. 7 cents is all it took for my poor son to agree to that movie. He has zero concept of money, and the more pieces of it, the better it must be.
I don't know whether I should allow her to negotiate in this way, I much prefer the I will watch this one, and you pick next time, but it was so funny, and fairly ingenious of her, that I turned away and let it pass. Of course, it is probably not something I should encourage, or I should perhaps teach Owen the value of money, but it is funny, and on a Monday, I can appreciate that!
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