For the last maybe 4 days ive been really kind of obsessing about life and my appreciation for mine and what i have and who i have in it. As some know, ive been following the journal of a family whose son had a horrible car accident back in November. I knew him from church when i was a teenager. Once in a while a situation comes along unexpectedly and kind of knocks me off my feet and makes me think ya know.. it could be me.. it could be my brother, it could be my kid.. my husband, my best friend etc...
Along with this, I have been going to church more often, and i feel it has been a realyl great move for me and my family, AND my relationship with Mark. We dont have too many times in a day when it is just he and I, and his work schedule hours are random as far as when he comes home sometimes. i usually dont even ask when he will be home. i just know if hes not home by 8, i should call to check that he is ok. brody is in school, so its just me and ethan together a lot. and even then, i had gotten so wrapped up in my own stuff, including spending way too much time bumming around. in previous blogs, i wrote some about that... this place has just taken away some of that drive to do anything that i had in me. but im getting it back :)
So over the last maybe 2 months weve been going to church and life's been moving forward in a direction im liking, so ive really been enjoying it, however, not to the fullest, adn i want that full cup. then 4 days ago things started coming full circle for me and im liking it. life really is wonderful. for some, maybe not so much but you gotta figure out a way to get back onto that path and sometimes, it takes someone elses story to make you realize this. sometimes even a total stranger.
ive been in these situations before where ive been so moved by another story its helped me get back on my own track of where i want to be in life. i thank god for those opportunities. I woke up this morning, and as soon as i sent Brody off to school (hes been riding his bike again because the weathers been nice and he is SOOOOO excited about that btw!) before i even got my cup of coffee, something came over me to write on my little pink wipe board top 10 reasons why my husband rocks lol. so i did, and i ran out of room. hes amazing! see thsi chain reaction happens when someone elses story touches your heart... and it extends to the world around you... its like a smile.. its contagious. so hopefully that made marks night.. which i believe it did, because in return, we spent some much needed time just snuggling on the couch, watching alton brown with the kids. we also decided not to go out tonight, just stay in and enjoy the night together. i made us each a nice drink and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. it was a great night. tomorrow is going to be another great day. were taking the boys to the movies which we havent all done together in a while.
anyhow... i just felt the need to blog because ive had so much on my mind and ive been feeling really good. we have a great life here. i may not where physically where i want to be, some days are tough being out here 'alone', my schooling has extended way beyond what i ever though it wouldve been.. in addition my upbringing, some of it, wasnt a fairy tale although far from being down right awful... but all of this is trivial compared to other possibilities. eventually i will complete school and i will be home with my family and who knows..maybe i wont like it being back home after all lol!! my personal life with my family members is in a good place, for everyone i want to be close to and im happy about that. even long distance i feel loved :) I have one life, thats it, and I am really enjoying it despite the obstacles.
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Friday, March 2, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
singing in the rain! just siiiingin in the raaaiiin!
ok so this has nothing to do with rain, but i am feeling pretty glorious! :)
Ive been making some pretty good life style changes that im pretty proud of. years ago when the kids were babies, i used to make their baby food at home (very easy and fun btw!) nothing wrong with Gerber or any other big brands of baby food, but i felt good being able to make my kids their foods from scratch. i was pretty proud of that. so over the years ive made a home made thing or two myself.. things you normally would by at the store like a jar of pasta sauce or something. as time goes on my collection of recipes (most are great, some ehh..) has really expanded. mostly thanks to allrecipes.com and comparing recipes that have a rating of a 4 1/2 star or greater to other recipes and info i can find online, and my own preference.
When i was growing up, most of my food came from a box or a can. (like hamburger helper which i still cant stomach.. not because it would taste bad now.. because i probably would like it, just that smell and that box.. and how often we had it.. no..) my mom could cook some things pretty well, and she did have a hand full of hand me down recipes that i now have, but there's other family members that come to mind when i think of good cooking. its a bummer btw, to find out all this time you think something is cooked for hours over a stove, only to find out it came from a microwave (ah hem! jag... yes, my Grammy gave me a recipe for microwave jag and it is amazing... but she did make hers on the stove of what i remember) anyways...
my heritage is italian, german, english, irish (just found out) and cape verdean (google it) i grew up mostly connected to my cape verdean and italian roots and the older i get the more i really enjoy cooking meals from my heritage. besides, i absolutely LOVE italian food, and certain dishes my Grammy always had available when we would visit on the weekends, or after school id stop over and grab some monchupa out of the fridge mmm. mmm.
SO i have really started to WANT to eat a little healthier. not every day all day, but i want to know whats in my foods as often as possible. food labels can be tricky and deceiving. if i can make it at home, i will give it a try at least.
also, this is great therapy for me. im an artist, and everything i love involves art... i like to paint, sew, crochet, cook, make jewelry, paint my nails with designs etc... all arts. even my profession someday :nursing. all arts. (and a little science :) ) when im making something from scratch it may not taste the best the first time or two around. i try to stick close to the original recipe if its something i have never made before or tried much of before altering it too much. but something like a pasta sauce or bread crumbs ... its pretty easy to figure out how to do and what to add and what to skip. theres basic ingredients then theres seasonings and fillers.
something else i really like about making things from scratch is substituting. did you know you can make baking powder if you dont have any on hand? did you know you can substitute apple sauce for oil? did you know there are more than 1 or 2 ways to cook to cook a vegetable? lol. i laugh, but seriously, some people just dont know and i didn't know until i grew up and educated myself.
im by far an expert on any of this stuff and cooking from scratch however i have been doing it for a few years and really love it. i know a thing or two about cooking and i am always looking for suggestions and ideas. i think about all the snacks i buy at the store ad feed to my kids that i could so easily make at home, like these fruit roll ups im making right now. they have just peaches, strawberries, and about 2 tsps of sugar in it that's 8 grams of sugar TOTAL for the entire batch for anyone wondering. i could've used honey or nectar or juice but i didn't have any. cant say all the time every time i will be making everything at home from scratch, its a lot of work, and time, and once school starts i doubt ill have time to experiment like i can now. but it sure is fun :)
so look in your cabinet and see if maybe there is something you can try to make from scratch just for the fun of it. start easy... like the pasta sauce i keep mentioning. sauces are really simple and you can jar it or freeze it and use it for another day :)if it tastes terrible well, at least you'll have fun making it!
so in conclusion to this entire blog.. which ive strayed a bit from the main point here... and the conclusion has little to do with the body of my blog lol... i went to the gym today, ive been going 1-2 times a week, ive been going to church most sundays, eating a little healthier for the most part, taking part in my hobbies like i used to do, and feeling pretty damn good right now. i got into a rut of feeling just "blah" for a little while, it happens to us all from time to time. but i can feel im getting back on track :) i have to say i am really, REALLY loving yoga btw and i am really looking forward to starting school in april!
Ive been making some pretty good life style changes that im pretty proud of. years ago when the kids were babies, i used to make their baby food at home (very easy and fun btw!) nothing wrong with Gerber or any other big brands of baby food, but i felt good being able to make my kids their foods from scratch. i was pretty proud of that. so over the years ive made a home made thing or two myself.. things you normally would by at the store like a jar of pasta sauce or something. as time goes on my collection of recipes (most are great, some ehh..) has really expanded. mostly thanks to allrecipes.com and comparing recipes that have a rating of a 4 1/2 star or greater to other recipes and info i can find online, and my own preference.
When i was growing up, most of my food came from a box or a can. (like hamburger helper which i still cant stomach.. not because it would taste bad now.. because i probably would like it, just that smell and that box.. and how often we had it.. no..) my mom could cook some things pretty well, and she did have a hand full of hand me down recipes that i now have, but there's other family members that come to mind when i think of good cooking. its a bummer btw, to find out all this time you think something is cooked for hours over a stove, only to find out it came from a microwave (ah hem! jag... yes, my Grammy gave me a recipe for microwave jag and it is amazing... but she did make hers on the stove of what i remember) anyways...
my heritage is italian, german, english, irish (just found out) and cape verdean (google it) i grew up mostly connected to my cape verdean and italian roots and the older i get the more i really enjoy cooking meals from my heritage. besides, i absolutely LOVE italian food, and certain dishes my Grammy always had available when we would visit on the weekends, or after school id stop over and grab some monchupa out of the fridge mmm. mmm.
SO i have really started to WANT to eat a little healthier. not every day all day, but i want to know whats in my foods as often as possible. food labels can be tricky and deceiving. if i can make it at home, i will give it a try at least.
also, this is great therapy for me. im an artist, and everything i love involves art... i like to paint, sew, crochet, cook, make jewelry, paint my nails with designs etc... all arts. even my profession someday :nursing. all arts. (and a little science :) ) when im making something from scratch it may not taste the best the first time or two around. i try to stick close to the original recipe if its something i have never made before or tried much of before altering it too much. but something like a pasta sauce or bread crumbs ... its pretty easy to figure out how to do and what to add and what to skip. theres basic ingredients then theres seasonings and fillers.
something else i really like about making things from scratch is substituting. did you know you can make baking powder if you dont have any on hand? did you know you can substitute apple sauce for oil? did you know there are more than 1 or 2 ways to cook to cook a vegetable? lol. i laugh, but seriously, some people just dont know and i didn't know until i grew up and educated myself.
im by far an expert on any of this stuff and cooking from scratch however i have been doing it for a few years and really love it. i know a thing or two about cooking and i am always looking for suggestions and ideas. i think about all the snacks i buy at the store ad feed to my kids that i could so easily make at home, like these fruit roll ups im making right now. they have just peaches, strawberries, and about 2 tsps of sugar in it that's 8 grams of sugar TOTAL for the entire batch for anyone wondering. i could've used honey or nectar or juice but i didn't have any. cant say all the time every time i will be making everything at home from scratch, its a lot of work, and time, and once school starts i doubt ill have time to experiment like i can now. but it sure is fun :)
so look in your cabinet and see if maybe there is something you can try to make from scratch just for the fun of it. start easy... like the pasta sauce i keep mentioning. sauces are really simple and you can jar it or freeze it and use it for another day :)if it tastes terrible well, at least you'll have fun making it!
so in conclusion to this entire blog.. which ive strayed a bit from the main point here... and the conclusion has little to do with the body of my blog lol... i went to the gym today, ive been going 1-2 times a week, ive been going to church most sundays, eating a little healthier for the most part, taking part in my hobbies like i used to do, and feeling pretty damn good right now. i got into a rut of feeling just "blah" for a little while, it happens to us all from time to time. but i can feel im getting back on track :) i have to say i am really, REALLY loving yoga btw and i am really looking forward to starting school in april!
Friday, July 29, 2011
values and other stuff some people may or may not care about.
Be prepared for some typos and such because i probably wont review this to correct them. :)
So, we have been in california for over a month now and so far we are really loving it here. i was vaccuming the couch a few minutes ago and thought i should probably blog because i was thinking about something. actually, the last several days i have been really thinking about several things. One of them is what i value, and what other people value, and how sometimes it can be perceived in a way its not meant to be.
anyhow, when we moved into base housing i didnt realyl know too much of what to expect. i thought ok this could be a really positive thing or really bad, but its for 2 years and it will be a good experience. we moved into this house, i bawled my eyes out because i didnt think our king size bed would fit in our room, and honestly, it wasnt about the bed... i had just been overwhelmed. even though our road trip here was AMAZING and almost perfect, it is still stressful and i guess that day my stress came out emotionally. after a good cry, i was better. later that night, i realized how ridiculus it was that i had cried...thats when i realized it wasnt over just the bed...
so with every move i try my best to make our house our home... with my things, decorated the way i like it within our means. when mark and i first got together he had practically nothing after going through a breakup with someone else, he just left that situation and started fresh. he had a bed, 2 tvs, a cooler, a table with no chairs, a fouton, and a dresser made out of cynder blocks and wood... and a tv stand made of cynder blocks and wood. honestly, thats about it! but we were happy. :) then we were very lucky to get some pieces of furniture we purchased from another coworker of marks when he was moving, and then my brother helped us get some things, and we purchased a couch together. brand new. that was exciting!
we always made the best out of what we had and we still do. we finally stepped into the current times with technology about a year 1/2 ago. we felt we deserved it, we went a long time doing things the right way, paying down our bills and not worrying about having new things. it wasnt a big deal! we worked on getting our credit better and things like that.
so in south carolina we made our house our home updating some of our things and it felt really good to be able to put a little more effor tinto making our home a bit nicer. not expensive, just better... i am pretty thrifty if you didnt know that about me :)
when we were kids we got tons of hand me downs. actually, im not sure when there was a time we got something brand new. i know we did i just cant rememebr a time. i had the same bed from the time i was 4 until i moved out and met mark. it wasnt important and honestly that damn bed was comfy even if it did sag in the middle ha! I was really proud the day i purchased a brand new desk for my room as a teenager. i remember my moms husband helping me put that thing together. but i worked my butt off to get that thing and it cost about 80 bucks. i had been working at dominos and we had gotten a bit of extra cash... it was around the holidays. i thought at the time 80 bucks was a lot for me. i used that desk until we moved from maine to florida when it finally start falling apart. it was the story behind the desk that made it important to me. its the story behind some of my things that make them important to me. i am so appreciative of what i have. i always have been. i value a nice home with things in it that have a story, or were given to me by someone special, or my art i put on my walls, my pictures of my friends, the lamp on my desk that belonged to my grandmother, i look around my own house and i see things that remind me of good times in my life and struggling times and saving, and things like that.
so when i go into someone elses home, i feel the same. i like to look around and see what their house looks like, you can gain a lot from looking around someones home and seeing what they value, what is important to them.. i learn a bit of who they are and what they like. do they have pictures of friends and family around everywhere? do they have a giant cook book full of old recipes? plants in every corner of the room? toys all over the floor? whatever it is... clean or messy, a room full of junk or an almost bare house... theres a story behind it.
living in military housing and picking up moving every 1-3 years (for us anyhow) its a chore somtimes... but i want to make my home feel like it is my own and not someone elses. this is where my kids will grow up and memories they will have. for me, i want them to have good memories and as normal as i can make it for them. with a comfortable, normal feeling home, with pets, and pictures on our walls, and stains on the rug if they make them, and toys in the bath tub that never get out, and a mess in their room from having kids come over and playing, and i want to deal with foot prints on my floor from them walking around with their dirty wet/muddy feet from playing in the water outside... you get my point. this is our life. everyone makes what they want of their lives, and for military families, it really is different than civilian life at times. everyone will choose something different for their family and this is my choice :) ive been very accepting over the last 6 months especially that this is our life, that i may not go home for 2 years, that my kids may not be around their cousins and uncles for a while... but we make the best of it, do video chats, write letters, make phone calls, hang pictures so we dont forget them adn when we do get to go home, we take advantage of seeing everyone we can and making good memories. i feel were on the right track and making this military life work for us instead of against us (me) and everything i ever wanted for my family and my kids especially :)
so i guess theres a bit of a moral to the story... dont look down on someone who doesnt appear to have as much as you do, and dont look down on someone who has more than you do. just be thankful with what you have. our spouses work every work day, long hours. some of us come from fortunate families and some of us do not. some of us value nice things, some of us do not. to some of us its important to have the trendiest things, adn to others it is not. wherever these things are on your scale of value and importance, it is ok and dont be ashamed of that. people will probably judge.. and maybe thats because they value things a bit different than you do! :)
So, we have been in california for over a month now and so far we are really loving it here. i was vaccuming the couch a few minutes ago and thought i should probably blog because i was thinking about something. actually, the last several days i have been really thinking about several things. One of them is what i value, and what other people value, and how sometimes it can be perceived in a way its not meant to be.
anyhow, when we moved into base housing i didnt realyl know too much of what to expect. i thought ok this could be a really positive thing or really bad, but its for 2 years and it will be a good experience. we moved into this house, i bawled my eyes out because i didnt think our king size bed would fit in our room, and honestly, it wasnt about the bed... i had just been overwhelmed. even though our road trip here was AMAZING and almost perfect, it is still stressful and i guess that day my stress came out emotionally. after a good cry, i was better. later that night, i realized how ridiculus it was that i had cried...thats when i realized it wasnt over just the bed...
so with every move i try my best to make our house our home... with my things, decorated the way i like it within our means. when mark and i first got together he had practically nothing after going through a breakup with someone else, he just left that situation and started fresh. he had a bed, 2 tvs, a cooler, a table with no chairs, a fouton, and a dresser made out of cynder blocks and wood... and a tv stand made of cynder blocks and wood. honestly, thats about it! but we were happy. :) then we were very lucky to get some pieces of furniture we purchased from another coworker of marks when he was moving, and then my brother helped us get some things, and we purchased a couch together. brand new. that was exciting!
we always made the best out of what we had and we still do. we finally stepped into the current times with technology about a year 1/2 ago. we felt we deserved it, we went a long time doing things the right way, paying down our bills and not worrying about having new things. it wasnt a big deal! we worked on getting our credit better and things like that.
so in south carolina we made our house our home updating some of our things and it felt really good to be able to put a little more effor tinto making our home a bit nicer. not expensive, just better... i am pretty thrifty if you didnt know that about me :)
when we were kids we got tons of hand me downs. actually, im not sure when there was a time we got something brand new. i know we did i just cant rememebr a time. i had the same bed from the time i was 4 until i moved out and met mark. it wasnt important and honestly that damn bed was comfy even if it did sag in the middle ha! I was really proud the day i purchased a brand new desk for my room as a teenager. i remember my moms husband helping me put that thing together. but i worked my butt off to get that thing and it cost about 80 bucks. i had been working at dominos and we had gotten a bit of extra cash... it was around the holidays. i thought at the time 80 bucks was a lot for me. i used that desk until we moved from maine to florida when it finally start falling apart. it was the story behind the desk that made it important to me. its the story behind some of my things that make them important to me. i am so appreciative of what i have. i always have been. i value a nice home with things in it that have a story, or were given to me by someone special, or my art i put on my walls, my pictures of my friends, the lamp on my desk that belonged to my grandmother, i look around my own house and i see things that remind me of good times in my life and struggling times and saving, and things like that.
so when i go into someone elses home, i feel the same. i like to look around and see what their house looks like, you can gain a lot from looking around someones home and seeing what they value, what is important to them.. i learn a bit of who they are and what they like. do they have pictures of friends and family around everywhere? do they have a giant cook book full of old recipes? plants in every corner of the room? toys all over the floor? whatever it is... clean or messy, a room full of junk or an almost bare house... theres a story behind it.
living in military housing and picking up moving every 1-3 years (for us anyhow) its a chore somtimes... but i want to make my home feel like it is my own and not someone elses. this is where my kids will grow up and memories they will have. for me, i want them to have good memories and as normal as i can make it for them. with a comfortable, normal feeling home, with pets, and pictures on our walls, and stains on the rug if they make them, and toys in the bath tub that never get out, and a mess in their room from having kids come over and playing, and i want to deal with foot prints on my floor from them walking around with their dirty wet/muddy feet from playing in the water outside... you get my point. this is our life. everyone makes what they want of their lives, and for military families, it really is different than civilian life at times. everyone will choose something different for their family and this is my choice :) ive been very accepting over the last 6 months especially that this is our life, that i may not go home for 2 years, that my kids may not be around their cousins and uncles for a while... but we make the best of it, do video chats, write letters, make phone calls, hang pictures so we dont forget them adn when we do get to go home, we take advantage of seeing everyone we can and making good memories. i feel were on the right track and making this military life work for us instead of against us (me) and everything i ever wanted for my family and my kids especially :)
so i guess theres a bit of a moral to the story... dont look down on someone who doesnt appear to have as much as you do, and dont look down on someone who has more than you do. just be thankful with what you have. our spouses work every work day, long hours. some of us come from fortunate families and some of us do not. some of us value nice things, some of us do not. to some of us its important to have the trendiest things, adn to others it is not. wherever these things are on your scale of value and importance, it is ok and dont be ashamed of that. people will probably judge.. and maybe thats because they value things a bit different than you do! :)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
'You Lost' ...and a baseball story
To get Brody and Ethan moving their bum-bums in the morning ill have them race to get dressed, but Brody is usually slower than Ethan just because Brody is just not paying attention. so I usually hear ethan say 'oh yeah I won!' and Brody feels sad... so anyways It has helped Brody to get dressed faster, adn pretty much anything I want them to do, if they are not doing it I make a game of it...
SO I did this to get them in the car too (get their belts on and stuff etc... just to get out the door and to school on time!) so anyways, lately i hear Brody saying 'Oh yeah I won, you lose!' Then Ethan would say the same thing...'You lose!' whenever he would win...well i didnt like that... 'you lose'?????
So i explained to my boys, ' you finished first, he finished second....everyone won because you didnt give up. you only lose when you give up' Brody seems to really understand this.
When Brody played baseball we were pretty srtict with him finishing a game. he decided he wanted to play he was going to finish the game even if that meant he just sat on the bench or stood in the outfield, he was going to be there with his team.. he was apart of that team. I dont want him to get used to giving up so easy and it being ok. if he really really hated baseball i wouldnt make him go, but he did like it. he just got side tracked here and there now and then especialyl in the beginning when they were all just learning...(well it was a little boring sometimes!)
i remember hearing one grandmother of another kid say 'that boy doesnt want to be here he should go home' talking about brody, not knowing i was his mom. i ignored it but i really wanted to give her a piece of my mind because hes just a kid.. he was having an off day...
funny thing though is that at next practice, her grandson was fussing, crying, whinning, not wanting to play and well he didnt go home. they had him stick it out... but the grandmother wasnt there that day...unfortunately! kinda wish she got to see that so she could see all kids have bad days!
ok so back to my story...
so i started thinking about that statement in the adult world and how true i feel that really is. we dont lose until we give up. we are not losers unless we giveup. I started thinking about some of the decisions i know others have made and if they are, by my statement well... a loser lol. and the outcome is YES because they gave up on something they could have worked harder on. Like Dr. Phil says (lol) dont give up until you have tried absolutely everything, everything in your power... mostly speaking on marriages and divorce, but i agree with this.
So then i started to think about my schooling, and replacing the word 'loser' with 'failure' i am not a failure until i give up, before all other options were tried. and im certainly not ready to do that. I havent tried everything yet. With everything i do i try to do it with all of me...all that is inside of me. Same goes for my close relationships and trying everything i can to salvage the important ones.. upkeep them, kind of like a spring cleaning...make a phone call if its been a while... send a note..whatever... you get my point...
with relationships they all need a little tweak now and then or a clean up... you part a little, get close again...etc... this is just the way it is and its ok.
I have a best friend who i have known for 22 years and not all of those 22 years did we get along, or were always hanging out, etc... mostly in middle school we kind of drifted a little bit, but we were still friends and friendly. we found other friends too, and then eventually we got closer again and now still she is one of the 3 people i consider my 'best' friend'. she definitely holds the number 1 spot though because weve known eachother SOOOOOOO long.
SO I did this to get them in the car too (get their belts on and stuff etc... just to get out the door and to school on time!) so anyways, lately i hear Brody saying 'Oh yeah I won, you lose!' Then Ethan would say the same thing...'You lose!' whenever he would win...well i didnt like that... 'you lose'?????
So i explained to my boys, ' you finished first, he finished second....everyone won because you didnt give up. you only lose when you give up' Brody seems to really understand this.
When Brody played baseball we were pretty srtict with him finishing a game. he decided he wanted to play he was going to finish the game even if that meant he just sat on the bench or stood in the outfield, he was going to be there with his team.. he was apart of that team. I dont want him to get used to giving up so easy and it being ok. if he really really hated baseball i wouldnt make him go, but he did like it. he just got side tracked here and there now and then especialyl in the beginning when they were all just learning...(well it was a little boring sometimes!)
i remember hearing one grandmother of another kid say 'that boy doesnt want to be here he should go home' talking about brody, not knowing i was his mom. i ignored it but i really wanted to give her a piece of my mind because hes just a kid.. he was having an off day...
funny thing though is that at next practice, her grandson was fussing, crying, whinning, not wanting to play and well he didnt go home. they had him stick it out... but the grandmother wasnt there that day...unfortunately! kinda wish she got to see that so she could see all kids have bad days!
ok so back to my story...
so i started thinking about that statement in the adult world and how true i feel that really is. we dont lose until we give up. we are not losers unless we giveup. I started thinking about some of the decisions i know others have made and if they are, by my statement well... a loser lol. and the outcome is YES because they gave up on something they could have worked harder on. Like Dr. Phil says (lol) dont give up until you have tried absolutely everything, everything in your power... mostly speaking on marriages and divorce, but i agree with this.
So then i started to think about my schooling, and replacing the word 'loser' with 'failure' i am not a failure until i give up, before all other options were tried. and im certainly not ready to do that. I havent tried everything yet. With everything i do i try to do it with all of me...all that is inside of me. Same goes for my close relationships and trying everything i can to salvage the important ones.. upkeep them, kind of like a spring cleaning...make a phone call if its been a while... send a note..whatever... you get my point...
with relationships they all need a little tweak now and then or a clean up... you part a little, get close again...etc... this is just the way it is and its ok.
I have a best friend who i have known for 22 years and not all of those 22 years did we get along, or were always hanging out, etc... mostly in middle school we kind of drifted a little bit, but we were still friends and friendly. we found other friends too, and then eventually we got closer again and now still she is one of the 3 people i consider my 'best' friend'. she definitely holds the number 1 spot though because weve known eachother SOOOOOOO long.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Ethie... We have a problem
I know normally, i should give an introduction first, but right now i have to get my morning tantrum (uh, ethies mornign tantrum) out to the world i guess. Ethan (aka ethie) is my 2 1/2 year old son.
SO the mornign starts off well, sort of. My 2 little boys are snuggling with me in bed, i wake them up to snuggles and tickles, my kids are happy and laughing, and suprizingly, were going to get my older son to school on time. I have to get Brody, my oldest, to school by 8am. so we head on out, get to school adn that is where the trouble starts with ethie.
ohhhh ethie...
i have to put in a code on a screen to get brody into his school...and usually the kids like to push the right buttons to make the door open. ethie likes to push the stop light button for the door to open...well, brody got to it first, so of course ethie flips out. once i get the door open and ethie behind it though, i can atleast drop brody off to class and let ethie flip out for just a second in the hallway at the door. im about 100 feet from him, hes fine.
so off brody goes to class and i grab ethie, now theres probably about 10 people there who hear my child cries and fusses, and i try to explain to ethie when we go to get brody, he then can push the button...
that wasnt going to fly with ethie..
so i get ethie in the car asap, dont even buckle him in yet. i sit there for a minute because i know whats to come next.... hes going to have a bad tantrum.. well, it technically already started, but it wasnt that bad yet. so he refuses to get in his seat. so i turn around in my chair to try to help my wild 2 year old get in his seat...yeah right... so i get out the car, hop in the bac seat to get ethie down in his chair, finally after successfully managing to do that i try to open the door to get out of the car but we have the child protection lock on, so i have to climb in the front seat. so i feel a little silly because now ive been climbing all around the car liek an animal, and im parked right in front of the building. ah well..
so we drive home.. all the way home, the 10 minute drive, ethie is crying and fussing about this button. i try to convince him to get out of the car when we get home, tellign him he can puh the lock button.. ok, so that worked. then i have to try to get him in the house. he loves to close the front door, so i make it sound really exciting "ethie you want to close the door? you can close the door! yay! lets go!" ok, so he starts walking up the drive way as if he is going to walk to daycare so he can push that button.. uuuhh!!!! ethie....
so finally, he starts walking to the door, but doesnt step inside the house...so i close the door on him and peek out the window and tell him" bye bye" and then he gets upset after a few seconds, so i let him in... then he comes in..
after a while of playing do you want to close the door, him saying yes, then not doing it, i gave up. i closed the door and started to clean. ive learned how to dealw ith ethies tantrums. he is nothing liek his older brother, who really was a lot easier lol.... so instead of me getting frustrated, i really do laugh in my head to myself, and i just clean... as long as im up usually its a distractor for both of us.
so i start vaccuming... when i walked in the door one of th dogs got ahold of ethies pull up so there was stuffing all over the place. (clean pullup thankfully. they must have gotten it from my bag!) so im vaccuming. ethie is so upset ... probably because the vaccum is louder than him.. so he comes over to the vaccum adn hits it.. i tell him we do not hit.. and continue to vaccum.. then he practically climbs on the vaccum, trying to turn it off, adn i figure, ok, if hes going to do this, ill make it more difficult for him,.... so i start vaccuming a little out of control lol. i get a laugh out of it in my head as ethie is barely hanging onto the vaccuma dn trying with all his might to turn it off. eventually he goes away. so i throw in a load of laundry, make a bed, get him juice that he threw on the floor.. he also told me not to make brodys bed.. while all of these tasks are bing done of mine, im askign ethie if he wants to help me to distract him but he didnt want to. he just cried at the door.
so ok, 45 minutes later, since the tantrum began, ethie says he wants to close the door, so i tell him ill allow him to do it and he has to be a good boy.. so i did it...and he was just fine... he grabbed his juice, and is now watching sesame street lol.
OHHH ethie.... ethie...ethie....
total tantrum time: 45 minutes.
total stress level from 1-10 on average: 3
total level of patience tested on a 1-10 scale: 10
SO the mornign starts off well, sort of. My 2 little boys are snuggling with me in bed, i wake them up to snuggles and tickles, my kids are happy and laughing, and suprizingly, were going to get my older son to school on time. I have to get Brody, my oldest, to school by 8am. so we head on out, get to school adn that is where the trouble starts with ethie.
ohhhh ethie...
i have to put in a code on a screen to get brody into his school...and usually the kids like to push the right buttons to make the door open. ethie likes to push the stop light button for the door to open...well, brody got to it first, so of course ethie flips out. once i get the door open and ethie behind it though, i can atleast drop brody off to class and let ethie flip out for just a second in the hallway at the door. im about 100 feet from him, hes fine.
so off brody goes to class and i grab ethie, now theres probably about 10 people there who hear my child cries and fusses, and i try to explain to ethie when we go to get brody, he then can push the button...
that wasnt going to fly with ethie..
so i get ethie in the car asap, dont even buckle him in yet. i sit there for a minute because i know whats to come next.... hes going to have a bad tantrum.. well, it technically already started, but it wasnt that bad yet. so he refuses to get in his seat. so i turn around in my chair to try to help my wild 2 year old get in his seat...yeah right... so i get out the car, hop in the bac seat to get ethie down in his chair, finally after successfully managing to do that i try to open the door to get out of the car but we have the child protection lock on, so i have to climb in the front seat. so i feel a little silly because now ive been climbing all around the car liek an animal, and im parked right in front of the building. ah well..
so we drive home.. all the way home, the 10 minute drive, ethie is crying and fussing about this button. i try to convince him to get out of the car when we get home, tellign him he can puh the lock button.. ok, so that worked. then i have to try to get him in the house. he loves to close the front door, so i make it sound really exciting "ethie you want to close the door? you can close the door! yay! lets go!" ok, so he starts walking up the drive way as if he is going to walk to daycare so he can push that button.. uuuhh!!!! ethie....
so finally, he starts walking to the door, but doesnt step inside the house...so i close the door on him and peek out the window and tell him" bye bye" and then he gets upset after a few seconds, so i let him in... then he comes in..
after a while of playing do you want to close the door, him saying yes, then not doing it, i gave up. i closed the door and started to clean. ive learned how to dealw ith ethies tantrums. he is nothing liek his older brother, who really was a lot easier lol.... so instead of me getting frustrated, i really do laugh in my head to myself, and i just clean... as long as im up usually its a distractor for both of us.
so i start vaccuming... when i walked in the door one of th dogs got ahold of ethies pull up so there was stuffing all over the place. (clean pullup thankfully. they must have gotten it from my bag!) so im vaccuming. ethie is so upset ... probably because the vaccum is louder than him.. so he comes over to the vaccum adn hits it.. i tell him we do not hit.. and continue to vaccum.. then he practically climbs on the vaccum, trying to turn it off, adn i figure, ok, if hes going to do this, ill make it more difficult for him,.... so i start vaccuming a little out of control lol. i get a laugh out of it in my head as ethie is barely hanging onto the vaccuma dn trying with all his might to turn it off. eventually he goes away. so i throw in a load of laundry, make a bed, get him juice that he threw on the floor.. he also told me not to make brodys bed.. while all of these tasks are bing done of mine, im askign ethie if he wants to help me to distract him but he didnt want to. he just cried at the door.
so ok, 45 minutes later, since the tantrum began, ethie says he wants to close the door, so i tell him ill allow him to do it and he has to be a good boy.. so i did it...and he was just fine... he grabbed his juice, and is now watching sesame street lol.
OHHH ethie.... ethie...ethie....
total tantrum time: 45 minutes.
total stress level from 1-10 on average: 3
total level of patience tested on a 1-10 scale: 10
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