BOOKS

So, I'm in a book club and I am loving it. I really do enjoy reading. I especially like fiction, historical fiction or (auto)biographical adventures. Just straight (auto)biographies are too boring for my simple brain. Does that even make sense?

Anyway, it is nice to be reading something other than parenting books. I may have read a few of those over the past 6 years and I am in the middle of one right now.

I love how the book club has introduced me to books that I otherwise would never read.

I am reading the above book for fun (not book club) because my friend told me about it and another friend from Liberty referred to it in his FB status saying that he felt like he was back at Liberty. That intrigued me because I look back at my LU days with much fondness and appreciation. Man, I miss those days.

It is written by a self-proclaimed, liberal college student from Brown University who was intrigued by 3 Liberty students he met during a trip to Lynchburg for a journalism assignment. He decided to transfer to Liberty for a semester to see what it was all about. I have found it riveting to see Liberty through the eyes of this guy who knew NOTHING about evangelistic doctrine, lifestyle or beliefs. It has opened the flood gates of all manner of memories for me and I cannot get enough. It has simultaneously made me overwhelmingly proud and made me cringe in embarrassment at some of the things he sees and hears during his stay on Liberty Mountain. He was there when Dr. Falwell died and ironically conducted his last interview. I haven't gotten to that part yet. I am at the part in his semester when he has just returned from his Spring Break mission trip to Daytona Beach. Quite eye-opening to say the least. All you LU alumnus can imagine how insane it is that he was on one of those trips.

I HIGHLY recommend it to all LU alumni. Not the mission trip, the book!

This book is my current book club read. It has brought me into the bizarre world of rare book collectors. A world I would never have known about, but have enjoyed strolling through and observing from the safety of my bedroom for a while. Not that collecting rare books is particularly bizarre, but the ends to which many have gone to get those books is utterly out of my realm of understanding. This is the true story of a man who has spent several jaunts in prison for his "uncontrollable" book thievery.

The woman who chose this book is a teacher and it is written by the sister of her school's principal. I think that adds an element of attraction to the adventure for me as I read it.

*AG, I think you would enjoy it.*

So the way our book club works is we each have a turn to choose a book. I chose this book. It was recommended by a friend who's life was changed by it. Though it was my book choice, I found it hard to read and embarrassingly, never finished it. Should I be kicked out or what? I just don't like the author's writing style. Now, I am a details person. But the amount of geographical and landscape details this guy includes was just toooooo much for me. I would have liked more details in the area of the relationships and every day occurrences in the village(s). Just saying. The book, well really the life of Greg Mortenson and all he has done and is doing sparked many questions for me that I am still pondering...........

Just didn't enjoy reading the book, found it laborious really.

So, any good book recommendations?

The Story of My Life

As told by Valentine cupcakes.

My cup(cake) runneth over.

Dorothy

My mother's name.

Thea's namesake.

Dorothea. My little firecracker who is giving me a run for my money right now. My little girl who has decided to name most of her dolls and stuffed animals.........

Dorothy.

Am I the Only One?

I wonder......

Am I the only one who nearly has an emotional breakdown each time one of my kids puts one of their tiny little hands in mine?

I can't help but try to cherish each time since I know there will come a day when those hands will be too busy with activities, homework and waving goodbye to me as I have to let them go a little more with each passing year.

I can't help but try to capture each moment that those little fingers are wrapped around ONE of mine since I know there will come a day when they are no longer so tiny. And a day that Sammy's will more than likely engulf mine.

I can't help but hold on for as long as I can since I know there will come a day when those hands will mostly be holding that of another.

I have a thing for my kids' hands.

Am I the only one?

Daylight Savings

Don't forget to set your clocks ahead tonight.

Every Daylight Savings from the time I left my mother's home, she would call to remind me to set my clocks, back or ahead.

"I knooow Mooom."

or

"Oh. I totally forgot. Thanks Mom."

I miss those calls.

I miss her voice.

I miss....her.

Here's to the first signs of Spring sprouting up in all kinds of delightful ways, with the exception of losing a precious hour of sleep tonight.

I love Spring...........

Here's to the promise of New Life.

Words fail me..........

Shadows, Memory, Bobbins and Consistency

4 unrelated topics that I want to blog about.

*note: I started this entry last week while Mike was gone and didn't sit down to complete it until now. So all the "today's, yesterdays and last nights" are false. I don't have the energy to change them. Busy weekend.*

Shadows

This probably won't be cute to anyone else but I wanted to record it because I got such a kick out of it and the video camera tape is full. Last night I was in the bedroom getting ready to settle in for a good game of Jenga with the kids and SURPRISE!!! Sadie was right there beside me. I swear the only time she is off on her own is when she is doing "stinkies". So the bedroom light was off and the closet light was on. Sadie was in playing where the light fell upon the ground. She began walking forward and backward pointing at the floor and asking "Dat? Dat?" I thought she saw a bug and I tried to find what she was looking at and it dawned on me that she was looking at and playing with her shadow. It was clear this was the first time she had noticed it. It was one of those priceless moments of parenthood when you get to watch your child discover something for the first time. Her squeals of delight as she hopped back and forth trying to catch it will forever be etched in my memory. She kept saying "Waht" (walk) and "Bah" (back). When she followed it all the way up to the window, making it disappear, she asked "go?" (where'd it go?). It was a bit like watching a dog chase it's tail.



I like her a lot.

Memory

The game.

Sammy, Sadie and I (on why Thea wasn't involved, see "consistency" paragraph) played a round last night and Sammy KICKED MY BUTT!!!!

When I told Mike he asked "Were you trying?"



UMMMMMM!!!!! Why would he think I would LET Sammy win???



No. Really, he KICKED MY BUTT!!!!! He got 21 matches and I got 13.



We chalked it up to fatigue on my part.



Sadie got 1 match. "Hah and Hah." Can you guess which set she got? And yes, she really got her match on her own as well.



Moving on.....

Bobbins

My friend is teaching me how to sew. Today was my first lesson. We "made" a fleece blanket and it turned out very cute. I have always wanted to learn and have received instruction from friends before, but after one or two lessons, life got in the way. I am really hoping to be able to meet with her regularly so I can finally get it. I would love to teach my girls how to sew some day. Oh wait, maybe I'm putting the cart before the horse.

Consistency

Through various means of seeking counsel on how to be a better mom/have better behaved kids, a particular theme seems to keep rearing it's obvious head. Whether it was my counselor (yes I was seeing a counselor for a bit) or books, or MY OWN BRAIN THAT KNOWS THIS AND ALWAYS HAS, I was reminded of that ever magical C-word.

Goodness gracious!!!

As I said I have always known the importance of consistency. For Pete's sake I used it for years with children at camp, or in classrooms or in their own homes as I babysat them. But let me tell you, I had an epiphany a few weeks ago.

And here it is.

There is only one eensy-teensy-weensy little thing that gets in the way of consistency when you are striving to execute loving discipline in the lives of your own children....ready for this...it's a doozey....it's....

LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously?

I got ta thinkin how many scenarios in a given day that work DI-rectly against disciplining your kids in a consistent fashion. Oh I don't know, say, being in the car, or being in the store or trying to get out of the house to take one of your kids to preschool, or giving the baby a bottle, or caring/fearing what others will think. Or, here's an embarrassing admission; I had become AFRAID of the tantrum. Now, I wasn't filling out an application to Super Nanny or anything, but I was, unfamiliar with the internal wimp that had taken over my body while there were just too many little bitty kids livin in my shoe. I would give warning after warning after warning................... you know where this is going.

So, am I looking for advice?

Goodness no!!

Not this time anyway.

I am writing to say that over the past month or so, I have been really focusing on consistency, and BY GOLLY, it works. There are some other factors at work here that have helped. The most significant being that the kids are getting older and are better able to be reasoned with. I have ALWAYS been a fan of natural consequences in connection with consequences that directly speak to the infraction. Which is quite challenging with toddlers. But are now taking more of an active role in this family. For instance, we have started to take away toys if the kids don't clean them up in a timely manner (case by case, yet consistent determination). And it is working. We have always told the kids "don't eat dinner/lunch, no dessert/snack" and now it is to the point that they make the clear decision whether or not dessert/snack is worth the AGONY of eating the disgusting food I have the nerve to put on the table. There is no long, drawn out discussion. A simple "I don't want dessert." and done. Their loss, as we usually have some pretty fun desserts around here. One or both of the adults in this house may or may not enjoy a sweet snack before bed.

So there you have it. Many moms who have been there, done that, have PROMISED that if I stayed consistent, I would start to see the fruit.

And I have.

Since I am beginning to determine what the set consequences are, it enables me to stay calm in the execution of them which, as many of you know, is one of my biggest struggles as a mom. There is more joy in my parenting, especially in the disciplining, since it is more teaching and training as opposed to screaming, maniacal, rampages. And the kids are reacting with more peace and acceptance, since consistency means predictability of action-v-consequence.

Being a Mama to my 3 is the most humbling, challenging, exhausting, yet rewarding endeavor I have ever experienced...and it has only just begun. But I will press on, everyday. I will still scream, probably more than most. I mean, come on, I AM Italian and have you MET my father? But I will also laugh, probably more than most.

And as God blesses me with small victories each day, He is giving me the strength I need to press on.

I will aim to consistently give Him all the glory and thanks He deserves.

Can I just say?

J-Lo and ME

Well, of course I can. It's my blog.

Shall I dive right in? Are you ready? Because this is a babbler, for sure.

Alrighty then. I have a HUUUUGE pet peeve with people over-using I.

Okay, so I am about to bash people for a grave grammatical error and I am not even sure of the correct terminology. I know it is hypocritical especially in light of the fact that I am WELL aware that I make many mistakes in every post. But I claim poetic license in these cases. Perhaps some of my teacher/homeschooling mom friends can give the technical explanation as I am CERTAIN it drives them nutso as well. I just might have a friend who wrote a letter to and/or is boycotting Wal-Mart because they used improper grammar on a sign in one of their checkout aisles.

I mean, it is as if all of the sudden in the mid 90's people thought it sounded smarter to use I ALL THE TIME, so to heck with any grammatical guidelines.

It makes me want to SCREAM!!!!!!!!

All I know is when you are referring to a photo of you and someone else it is So-and-So and ME. ME people. Not I.

And when you want people to report to you and/or your partner in a particular situation PLEEEASE don't tell them to let So-and-So or I know. It's ME people ME.

I don't remember many of my grammar lessons (see above) from middle school but I CLEARLY recall Mrs. Cenamo instructing us to take the other subject out of the sentence to determine whether it is appropriate to use "I" or me. Perhaps I remember this one and only rule because she dumbed it down so nicely for me. And when I say "one and only", it's not too far from the truth.

For example; this is a photo of Mike and me. If you take Mike out of the sentence you would say this is a photo of ME. ME. ME.

Ahhhhhhhh. Much better. And remember all you wonderful teachers-of-all-things-Language-Arts (formerly known as English), no need to point out my writing errors as I am aware there are many. Actually, now that I think of it, if there is a recurring error that I make that you have noticed, by ALL means let me know. I actually wish, in all my nerdiness, that I could remember all the rules and apply them accordingly.

I know this family....down in Georgia....who has lots of kids....and in college.....the oldest boy, we'll call him Josh (tee hee), used to point out that I misused the words take and bring. He said I used one when I should have used the other and vice versa, but to this day, I get confused about what I am doing wrong and what the actual rule is. But, EVERY time I use either word i stop and wonder if I am correct. I try. I really do.

So see, if you tell me I will take it to heart.

Thank you for listening to me, myself and ME. No, just kidding. THAT is a place where it is OK to use I.

I need to stop now because Mike and I are going to feed the kids. Look there is another appropriate use of the word. So for all of you who need lots of opportunities to use I, there are plenty out there. No need to commit grammatical homicide.

Thank you and good night.