Latest cake- and one of my favs!

This was the cake I did for Logan's darling little friend, Zoe. For her 3rd birthday, she had an Alice in Wonderland theme. Happy birthday Zoe!!!

My Buddy

I have always called Logan my buddy, as a nickname and as our relationship. Yesterday I was leaving to take Chloe to school and said goodbye. Logan came running up to me as I was walking out the door and said, "Mommy, I'm your buddy." Then he kissed me and ran off. I loved it! It made my heart so happy! Throughout the day, he would stop what he was doing and come over to me (I was working on a few cakes) and ask how I was doing. Then after checking on me he would go back to playing. In our household, bedtime is a family event-everyone is involved! We had just finished praying with Logan and were giving out hugs and kisses. I said, "Thanks for being my buddy today. I love you." Then my little guy said, "Mommy, I'm your buddy everyday. I love you!" Ahhhh :) I love being a mom!!!!!

Wow. Just WOW

I am slighly astonished and fully irritated at a "parenting" study I just read. This "new study" said that children that were disciplined in a negative manner (i.e. spanking, time outs) resulted in a higher percentage of children that grew into rebellious teens and angry, abusive adults vs. children that auto-corrected themselves, were redirected or given positive reinforcement. The study went on to say that if parents wanted to produce successful adults, the correct way to correct your children was through redirection and positive reinforcement- never a spanking! Don't get me wrong, I do believe in redirection and positive reinforcement. But I also believe that there are negative consequences to negative behavior. I don't spank my kids for every wrong-doing. But willful disobedience requires discipline! I want my children to be quick to obey, with an attitude of respect and honor. And not just with me or Jeremy. I want them to be quick to obey God, our government and laws, teachers, etc. Adults that steal or murder, are given consequences befitting the crime. I think a lack of parental discipline/correction/training/teaching has resulted in an unruly, disrespectful, ungodly generation. I know, I know, not everyone falls into this category. But it is more evident today than 40 yrs ago. I want to teach my children to respect authority and others. We can't expect them to just automatically have respect for authority, other people, people's property or God's creation. Children must be taught. I'm not a perfect parent, but I am doing the best I can.

If I were to follow the advice of this study perfectly, it's very likely that my children would grow to be what I don't want for them! And the very same people that gave the advice will probably be the first to point their fingers at me and blame me for my children's bad conduct!!!!!

Getting Settled

Yikes! It has been so long since I posted anything! Things are going well around here. We are still settling into the new house. It is taking me a while to get everything unpacked and organized. After the necessities were unpacked, I became less motivated to unpack the rest! So, I still have a garage with tons of boxes yet to be touched. The kids love their rooms and we are slowly getting them transformed into "their" rooms. Chloe's is almost done. She truly has a princess room- chandelier and all! I think all we have left in her room is to find curtains and put up the rhinestone border. Logan's- well, I will do that room whenever I get to it! The downstairs bathroom is getting finished this weekend. Next on the list is the entry. We have a massive entry that needs some life added to it!

I have also discovered that I have not developed my "green" thumb. At least it's not entirely black yet!!!! I have managed to kill most of my plants and only have a few remaining ones. My tomatoes- yes, Grandpa, I got the Big Boys- the kids' strawberries and my mint are all I have left. I killed my flowers, lavender, herbs and an azalea bush. And my beautiful orchid is about to be added to that list. I love this beautiful flower! Last night I found myself praying that it would live, and speaking words of life over it! I just really want it to make it :) Next year, we will attempt a larger garden. If I can just keep my tomatoes alive I will feel a gardening accomplishment.

I am looking forward to summer and having some nice weather as we work on the landscaping. Plus, we have quite a bit planned already for this summer! A couple of camping trips, a couple of day trips around the state, and a couple of mini-vacations to Port Orchard! Add in soccer, swimming, classes at the community center, youth conference, day camps, and play dates, I think it will be an eventful summer!

Baby's 1st Birthday

Baby is 1! We had a few people over for lunch after church to celebrate. Annalise Joy has truly been a JOY! She is still just as happy, just a lovable, just as sweet. It has been fun to watch her personality emerge. She is such a little lover and snugglebug! And she actually plays with toys! We were surprised. Chloe and Logan didn't show interest in toys until they were older. But she is so quick to figure things out. She can watch Chloe or Logan do something once or twice and then she will do it. And the look of pride and accomplishment on her face- I could watch her all day long!

She signs a little, but not as much as the other 2 did. Instead she uses the words! She has become very chatty and will sit and "talk" with us throughout the day. She is becoming more independent every day! She likes to walk out to the car when we are heading out. And she has learned how to go up and down the stairs. I know most people put up gates and don't let little ones on the stairs. But we taught our kids as soon as they were crawling how to slide down the stairs. Yes, we still use baby gates, but there have been several times that one of the older kids have taken it down and suddenly Baby is downstairs with us.

I love my BabyGirl and could talk about her all day! She is such a sweetheart and we love having her in our family!!!! Happy 1st Birthday, Baby!

Moved In

Finally!!!! We have been packing/moving for the last 2 weeks and I am just done! I love the house, just wish it would magically paint and unpack itself. I managed to get the living room, our bedroom and Chloe's room painted. But that's it right now. All the necessities are unpacked and put away but we will have tons of stuff in the garage to find a place for! This house is smaller than the last so we are slowly getting rid of things we no longer have room or need of. It's been hard for me because most of the stuff I use at least once throughout the year. Because we do so much entertaining, I have large things like buffet servers, coffee urns, massive serving bowls, etc. And then there are the 2 sets of Christmas tree decorations. Jeremy is just sure we only need one tree from now on. I guess....

During the move, our house got broken into. They only took what little bit was in the house at the time- TV, surround sound, XBox360, games, etc. Fortunately they hadn't made it into the garage. My jewely chest was in there, along with Jeremy's guns. It was a bummer, and definately inconvenient, but not devastating! It wasn't a fire, we didn't lose everything, I still have our pictures, and we will get new stuff. And for the past few days, Jeremy has been enjoying some online shopping while he looks for his new TV.

I'm sure by the end of summer, I will finally have the garage cleared out. And who knows, maybe there will even be enough room to park a car in it!