PETER RABBIT.....



Peter in action

 Camden got the chance to be Peter in the 1st grade performance of Peter Rabbit today. He did an awesome job!! I had watched the dress rehearsal so I knew what to expect. Today was Sam's first time seeing it and when I looked over at him during Camden's solo the tears were flowing. We are very proud of him!!

HUNGER GAMES EDUCATION

What I learned at the Hunger Games premiere last night.....

• Even being at the movie theater for 4 hours, I still couldn't finish a large diet coke.
• When you are old and are planning on staying up until 3am, you should really try to get a nap in sometime during the day.
• No matter how long you have been married it is still fun to do something different.
• I was prepared to have to deal with loud, annoying teen-agers all night but they were all so nice and as soon as the movie started were quiet.
• Sometimes things work out and you snag 3 seats (Sam, me, my purse) in the front row of the upper level.  You know the seats....the one with the foot rest!! 
• I have no concept of ages anymore.  They all looked like jr. high kids to me.
• When watching a movie with teens, be prepared for laughter in strange and sometimes inappropriate places. 
• The kids really loved the Effie Trinkett character.  Every time she spoke they laughed.
• I had been obsessing about how much shorter Peeta was than Katniss before the movie started.  Once the movie started,it didn't really matter.
• Who says kids are insensitive?  The young man sitting next to Sam lost it when Rue....well you know if you read the book.
• It was so fun to watch a movie with people who weren't scared to clap, boo, or cheer.  I think that's fun! 
• The previews before The Lorax are much, much different than the previews before The Hunger Games.
• Every movie coming out in the next few months has something to do with vampires.  (Did you know Abraham Lincoln was a vampire slayer?   Neither did we!).
• When you are 40 something and you go to a movie geared towards 15-somethings, wearing a movie-themed shirt does NOT make you cooler.
• Sam totally reverted last night.  He was waving at people, giving every one he saw wearing a District 12 tribute t-shirt the Hunger Games salute, and heckling teens.  Lucky for him I was there and stopped him from putting on one girls' bread placard (that was evidently a tribute to Peeta). 
• You know you are old when you turn and give your spouse a high five every time someone older than you comes into the theater (for the record that only happened about 5 times and we were in a 500 plus person theater).

 Happy Friday!

May the odds be ever in your favor!

MAMA BEAR

Before we had kids....back when I didn't think I ever wanted kids.....I thought I knew what would be the hard things about being a parent. Actually, I was pretty accurate in my worries. The things I knew would bother me definitely do. Although some would disagree, I think I have learned to deal with these things pretty well.

The one thing I was not expecting was the mama bear persona that overtakes me when my kids are threatened by something (or I perceive they are threatened). Now I'm not some softy parent. I'm actually quite tough on these kids. High expectations are placed on them. They know they are loved regardless of the outcome, but we do expect a lot from them in their behavior, grades and in their other pursuits. In fact one time I acknowledged to CM that I had been a little harsh on her when she had brought home a great grade but one I knew she could have done better on. I told her I would try not to be so tough on her and she said, "Don't quit being tough on me mom. I need that." (It was one of those days when I felt my parenting methods were quite validated)!

So from the previous paragraph it may seem like I would be one who would make my kids handle everything on their own (i.e. bullies, issues with friends or at school). That is so not me (some of the time). I believe in helping them if they are struggling with something, not all the time but when something is over their head or is really upsetting them.   Isn't that my job while they are living under my roof?

My friend Melanie told me a story of how when she was growing up a boy was picking on her at school.  She told her mom and one day after school her mom confronted the kid and told him to knock it off.  She never had a problem again.  Now I can feel some of you readers (are there any of you left?) cringing, thinking, "She should have made Melanie handle that on her own."  Why?  Melanie was a child....a child who needed help.  Melanie has had plenty of opportunities to stand up for herself since then and her mom handling it for her when she was a child did not hinder her development in that area one bit!!  She is a capable person who is raising four sweet kids of her own. 

CM was having some terrible problems last year with a "friend" bullying her.  One day I pulled the child aside and said, "CM has been a good friend to you and the things you have done to her have hurt her."  I went on to say, "I haven't called your mom or the principal yet but if there is ever another instance of this happening, I won't hesitate to call both."  Did the child continue this behavior?  Did she make things worse for CM?  No....she gave me a hug and apologized and we have not had a problem since then.  Later when I told CM, she ran to me and hugged me (the tightest squeeze I've ever felt) with great relief and said, "Thank you mommy."  She acted as though the weight of the world had been lifted off of her shoulders.  Oh no.....you are cringing again aren't you?  For the record, there have been quite a few times when we have made her do her own confronting but in this case it seemed parental intervention was best.  Sam was not sold on me saying anything to the child either but after he saw CM's reaction he realized how much it had been bothering her.

Or take today for instance.  Cam's teacher pulled me aside and said that all the boys were going to have to go to the principal's office because some of them had been misbehaving.  She said, "Camden isn't one of them but I'm just going to go ahead and send them all."  At first I didn't think anything of it but as we were walking to the car, I start to feel him put his head up against me and he just started sobbing.  He was so upset that the principal might think he had been one of the boys who was misbehaving.  He said, "You are supposed to get a consequence when you are being bad.  I'm getting one for doing nothing.  Why do I have to go to the principal's office?"  He had a point I thought (plus seeing his crushed spirit was KILLING me and was awakening the mama bear).  Cringe alert....So I told him I was going to go back and talk to the teacher about it.  He was OK with that.  I didn't yell or scream or anything but calmly told her how upset he was and his reasoning and logic.  She said she'd think about doing it differently.  That's all I could really ask.  We have processed it here tonight and Cam knows he may still have to go down.  He's made his peace with it especially since he knows that his teacher knows how he feels. 

If I were a great writer, there would be some moral at the end of this long tale.  There's only this.  It's OK to help the kiddos out once in awhile.  It doesn't mean that they are going to grow up to be weak or unable to handle their problems.  Actually I think it shows them something greater.  It shows them that you are on their side, that you will be there for them, and that they can count on you!  In this world of insanity, our kids need to know that. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM

SAM

Today we celebrate you!! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I love you!

 



I'M BACK....

It's been awhile...some of you have checked on me...thanks for that! We are all well, just busy living life instead of writing about it I guess.

First grade and Sixth grade are proving to be great years for both offspring. The 6th grader especially is thriving in middle school. So fun to watch!!

After helping in Camden's classroom today I realized that it's been awhile since I've given a career update. Today he wrote the following for a book his class is doing.

"My dream is to be a cartoonist.  It would be so fun.  I might draw a talking dog.  It would be hard to think of the other characters.  I'm sure I would eventually think of them.  I think that is God's plan for me."

Those of you who have followed this blog will know that this is a great improvement over what he said back in 2009 in this post. 

Claremarie has decided that interior designing is her calling as of this moment.  Of course that changes every time she watches Cake Boss on TV. 

PURE CUTENESS....

When a little boy loses his two front teeth before Christmas, the inevitable happens.......

Learning this song was his gift to everyone this year!

WHAT I'LL REMEMBER.....

Here's what I'm going to remember from Christmas 2011....

due to watching so many suffer, true focus on the things that matter (even if that meant letting some cherished traditions go),
hearing my sweet son sing, in a clear, loud voice, the Christmas carols at our Christmas Eve service,
a relaxed night on Christmas Eve with my 3 most treasured gifts,
the lovely Christmas cards we got from so many of you-thanks for not taking us off your lists!!,
the fun and thoughtfulness of the 12 days of Christmas gifts my hubby bestowed on me,
a daughter who is growing up so quickly and was our chief present wrapper this year,
a Christmas Day prayer that earned a standing ovation,
a Christmas Day sing-a-long with accompaniment by a guitar and a saxophone,
games, popcorn balls, and TONS of laughs during our Hershey celebration,
and
a heartfelt prayer to usher in 2012.

Cherished times.
Cherished memories.
Cherished people.

Happy New Year!