In case your heart hasn't melted yet today...
(it is supposed to be all black - I didn't want him distracted by the camera, so I hid it)
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Grillin in January
Jim really wanted some grilled steak. It took a while to get the grill heated up!
Tee hee
Laura's been sounding out words and making guesses. This is Black Beauty.
*hee hee*
P.S. She doesn't know that this is funny. Please don't tell her yet.
P.P.S. What's your opinion? Should I be correcting her spelling yet?
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
What if?
Laura and I blasted down Trapp Farm Park Tubing Hill today. Seriously, the thing was deadly steep and icy with a ramp at the bottom that sends you up and over if you don't drag your feet on the runout. At least, that's what my Oklahoma-raised mind thought. But other parents were tossing their 2 year olds down the thing alone, while I constantly berated my almost-5-year-old (holy cow, how did that happen?) to "Be Careful! Be Careful!" So I guess I might have over-reacted a bit.
Anyway, after forcing Laura to ride with her mother 4 or 5 rides, I let her go down by herself, contingent on my holding on to the tube while she got in. That last stipulation almost made her cry. She wanted to do it all by herself, darn it! "I can do it, I can do it!"
There was no flat spot at the top to get ready. As soon as your feet left the ground, you were off, down the icy slope of terror. What if she slipped and rolled or slid down the entire hill with no sled? What if she was getting in and her sled left without her? What if I slid down the hill and left her up there without me to help her? What if she got to the bottom and was slammed into by another sledder? What if her tube tipped over and dumped her out, breaking her neck? What if? What if?
Long story short, no necks were broken, and by the end, I was going first and she was jumping in her tube and following shortly after me. She had no fear, similar to her attitude when faced with ocean waves and ice skating. I only pulled her up the hill the first time, after that there were no free rides. She even pulled up her own tube once. I offered to pull it up the other times because it really was a struggle for her, and she relented on that point.
And in the end, she was proud of herself, I was proud of her and me, and we both had lots of fun, exercise, and adrenaline.
And because the Grandmas require pictures, but I forgot my camera, here are a couple unrelated shots:
Anyway, after forcing Laura to ride with her mother 4 or 5 rides, I let her go down by herself, contingent on my holding on to the tube while she got in. That last stipulation almost made her cry. She wanted to do it all by herself, darn it! "I can do it, I can do it!"
There was no flat spot at the top to get ready. As soon as your feet left the ground, you were off, down the icy slope of terror. What if she slipped and rolled or slid down the entire hill with no sled? What if she was getting in and her sled left without her? What if I slid down the hill and left her up there without me to help her? What if she got to the bottom and was slammed into by another sledder? What if her tube tipped over and dumped her out, breaking her neck? What if? What if?
Long story short, no necks were broken, and by the end, I was going first and she was jumping in her tube and following shortly after me. She had no fear, similar to her attitude when faced with ocean waves and ice skating. I only pulled her up the hill the first time, after that there were no free rides. She even pulled up her own tube once. I offered to pull it up the other times because it really was a struggle for her, and she relented on that point.
And in the end, she was proud of herself, I was proud of her and me, and we both had lots of fun, exercise, and adrenaline.
And because the Grandmas require pictures, but I forgot my camera, here are a couple unrelated shots:
Friday, January 7, 2011
Dr. Steve Kahn
At the beginning of the school year, I joined a parenting group at Laura's preschool's church called CAPstone. We meet twice a month with speakers and have discussions yadda yadda...
So we had a speaker this week who made it worth the entire year, even if I didn't get anything out of the rest of the speakers and companionship, which I do. Dr. Steve Kahn is a parent psychologist here in St Paul. Basically, he just said everything I needed to hear at that moment.
In a nutshell, good parenting is largely about those moments right after your kids make a "mistake". How you handle yourself. Its about being at your best when they are at their worst. And the "mistakes" the kids make are exactly what they are supposed to be doing at that age. And your job is to give the consequence and move on. You can't extrapolate to how they are going to behave in 10 years based on whether they hit their sister or talked back today. There's no need for hours of weighty guilt trips. Give your consequence, then sit down and eat dinner with them. Sounds kinda hokie when I say it, but he hit home in my brain when many many other parenting experts have just made me roll my eyes.
So we had a speaker this week who made it worth the entire year, even if I didn't get anything out of the rest of the speakers and companionship, which I do. Dr. Steve Kahn is a parent psychologist here in St Paul. Basically, he just said everything I needed to hear at that moment.
In a nutshell, good parenting is largely about those moments right after your kids make a "mistake". How you handle yourself. Its about being at your best when they are at their worst. And the "mistakes" the kids make are exactly what they are supposed to be doing at that age. And your job is to give the consequence and move on. You can't extrapolate to how they are going to behave in 10 years based on whether they hit their sister or talked back today. There's no need for hours of weighty guilt trips. Give your consequence, then sit down and eat dinner with them. Sounds kinda hokie when I say it, but he hit home in my brain when many many other parenting experts have just made me roll my eyes.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Christmas 2010 - the second half
I really dropped the ball on getting pictures with Grandmas and Grandpas and Uncles and Aunts this Christmas, especially at my parents' house.
The weather was very different at this house, only 3 hours away from Jim's parents. The high during the 4 days was 70 degrees! In December. We took many walks down to the lake and thoroughly enjoyed no coats!
She's so cheesy when you pick up the camera!
Gramma Ann PJs!
Gramma Ann PJs!
Lots and lots of Tetris
Monday, January 3, 2011
Christmas 2010 - the first half
The stark difference between our Christmas experience last year and this year was astounding. Last year, Adam was still nursing and not sleeping. This year, he slept, ate meals with the rest of us, and was a pretty pleasant fellow. And Laura kept a pretty good attitude the whole trip. Consequently, the parents kept a pretty good attitude most of the trip too!
I love Laura's style. Its Punky Brewster-ish.
Fishing with Grandma
The first (and biggest) of many loved fire trucks for Christmas. He's a happy boy.
Church was packed Christmas morning. We almost didn't get a seat.
While both kids are much more comfortable with the big dogs than they used to be, they don't really fawn all over them like I would expect. Aunt Rosemary's little Sadie, however, was Laura's best friend. Laura sincerely cried sweet tears after we left Sadie.
It was pretty windy and chilly, but we tried to get outside everyday. Feeding the cows and tractor rides!
This is the only shot I got of Laura on Christmas morning. If you ignore the fact that she's "flossing" her teeth, she looks so grown up and pretty.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
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