I love this man because....he has a special look just for me.

There is this look he gives me.  It's reserved only for me.  I catch him giving me the look at the most unexpected moments.  Recently, it happened in the kitchen.  And with that look, I know that he is still passionately in love with me, that I am the woman that catches his eye, that to him I am lovely, beautiful, and irresistible.  That look takes my breath away every time I see it. 

Awesome Kid Quotes #11

I had been telling Eden that I wanted the hat he won at surf camp.  He asked me why I wanted it so much.  I said, "Because I think it's cool."
Asher responded with, "Mom, you're too pretty for cool."

Escape Adulthood: Challenge #11

Do something your parents would never let you do as a child.

Captain Crunch....never in my childhood home....NEVER!  If we wanted sweet cereal (Captain Crunch, Lucky Charms, etc.), we had to sleep over at a friend's house.  Oh, and trust me, when I had the opportunity to eat sweet cereal at a friend's house, I ate my fill.  I had no shame in eating 2 or 3 bowls.  My friends probably felt sorry for me, the way I gobbled that stuff up.

So, for this challenge, I bought one box of Captain Crunch and we ate it for...wait for it...DINNER!!  Oh my goodness, that was so against all of the healthy eating habits my parents instilled in me as a child.

Sidenote #1: My husband found this box of Captain Crunch (even though I had it hidden) and ate half of it for dinner one night when the kids and I weren't home.  Can you tell that his parents had the same crereal rules as mine?

Sidenote #2: I totally hold the same values now about healthy eating habits as my parents did when I was a kid.  I'm truly grateful for what they taught me, and I am teaching those same habits to my kids.  However, a little splurge now and then is fun, fun, fun.

Challenge ideas take from "The Escape Plan" written by Kim and Jason Kotecki

Awesome Kid Quotes #10

Eden (on the phone with me after his first day of surf camp):
"Mom, I caught my first wave today.  It was a great feeling."

Escape Adulthood: Challenge #10

Create a memory today with someone you care about that will mean a lot ten years from now.

My boys and I spent the day at the beach together.  Just me and them.  This is a HUGE deal because they so often have to share me with their sisters who, because they are younger, usually get more attention from me.  We had a wonderful time.  We rode bikes to the pier, played in the water together, and sat on the towels and talked. It's rare for them to get my undivided attention like this.  It was so fun.  During one of our conversations that day, we were reflecting on all of the things we had done this summer.  I asked them what their favorite things was.  Asher leaned into me and said, "Spending time with you."

I have to say...I agree with him. 

 

Challenge ideas take from "The Escape Plan" written by Kim and Jason Kotecki

Awesome Kid Quotes #9

When Asher was in kindergarten, I received a call from his teacher.  She informed me that he and some other students were saying the phrase, "Kick his a**."  She said that upon further questioning, he admitted to saying that he was going to, "Kick the devil's a**."  She told me that she had to work really hard not to burst out laughing after that comment.  She explained to him that, yes, the devil is a bad guy, but maybe we shouldn't be having these kinds of conversations at school.

Wow!  I do not know where he comes up with this stuff!!

Escape Adulthood: Challenge #9

Do one thing today to support a cause or issue you really care about.

Positive, Nurturing Behavior Management

This is the issue I really care about.  I am passionate about behavior management.  To be honest, I am unlike many teachers I know.  I LIKE getting the students with behavior problems in my class.  Nothing is more exciting to me than to build a relationship with that challenging student, get to know him/her, and find a plan that works.  I love discovering the great qualities in that child and finding an incentive that causes the child to exhibit more of their great qualities over their difficult traits.  I have had the privilege of being part of this process for many students over the years.  Nothing is more amazing to me than to witness a child's behavior to change from negative attention seeking to positive, confident, and self-sufficient. 

Much of what I do in my classroom comes from the book Transforming the Difficult Child: The Nurtured Heart Approach by Howard Glasser, MA and Jennifer Easley, MA.  After I read this book, I completely changed how I ran my classroom, and my home.  It is amazing, and the techniques definitely produce results.  What's really great is that I can use it with ALL of my students and it allows all of them (both challenging students and "well behaved" students) to feel encouraged, respected, noticed, and built up. 

So, for this challenge, I wrote a thank you note to the authors and sent a donation to The Children's Success Foundation which is devoted to introducing the nurtured heart approach into schools.

Challenge ideas take from "The Escape Plan" written by Kim and Jason Kotecki

Awesome Kid Quotes #8

Asher's kindergarten teacher wrote this on facebook. (He is "other kid")
so I'm telling my class that we are all going to ride the bus to the pumpkin patch this month....
kid: even you? you're gonna ride the bus?
me: yep, i'm gonna ride the bus
kid: don't you have a car?
me: well, yes, I have a car
kid: how come you don't just drive your own car??
other kid answers: because if she was by herself, she wouldn't have anybody to play with!

My boy is so thoughtful and clever.

Escape Adulthood: Challenge #8

Draw a funny picture and hide it in an unexpected place for someone to find.

I drew this and left it in my hubby's car on his last day at work before our vacation.  You see, we are taking a 2 week road trip which will cover 2500 miles of driving, 4 hotels, 4 nights of camping, and a family reunion.  I've been working on the packing for over a week already.  I'm sure he got a kick out of it because it's a pretty good likeness of me (after I have been trying to pack for 6 people).

Challenge ideas take from "The Escape Plan" written by Kim and Jason Kotecki

 

Awesome Kid Quotes #7

When I was pregnant with Abby, Josey put her head on my belly and told me she could hear the baby. I said, "Really, what is the baby saying?" She said, "B-I-N-G-O and Bingo was his name oh!"

Escape Adulthood: Challenge #7

Spend 15 to 30 minutes doing something you love that you don't often have the chance to do.

I SOOOOO knocked this one out of the park.  Thanks to my wonderful dad and step-mom, I had an afternoon (way more than 15 to 30 minutes) to myself.  I went to Whole Foods to get a delicious lunch and my favorite tea.  Then, I went to the beach alone.....yes, you read that correctly....ALONE.  I rode my bike for a while, then sat in the sand, read, and napped.  It was FABULOUS!

P.S. And I only had to apply sunblock to myself.  Anyone else with kids knows that this is a HUGE deal!
Challenge ideas take from "The Escape Plan" written by Kim and Jason Kotecki

This one is for Meme.

Thank you for the adorable ballet outfits. 

 The girls look so cute in them.

Awesome Kid Quotes #6

I got ready to go on a date with my hubby a while ago. When I came out of my room Josey said (with total sincereity), "Wow mommy, you look beautiful!" It just melted my heart.

Escape Adulthood: Challenge #6

Write down one big dream of yours.  Draw or find a picture to go with it and put it somewhere you will see it often. 

So....I have two.  One is a crazy dream for me personally, and the other is a dream I have for me and my family.

My dream for me:  I would LOVE to dance again someday.  I often catch myself daydreaming that I am dancing when I hear certain songs.  My true desire is to be able to dance in worship to the Lord.  Something about being able to incorporate dance with worship would make the experience deeper and more meaningful to me.  It would feel as though all of me, my body, heart, mind, spirit, and soul would be involved in that act.  Beautiful!

 My dream for me and my family: I want us to become involved, as a family unit, in a volunteer, service, or missionary capacity.  I want us to find something we are excited and passionate about that does great and wonderful things for other people.  I want our lives to be about more than finding and maintaining that middle-class American comfort level.  I want us to serve others in a way that forces us to work hard, get dirty, and go outside of our comfort zone. 

Challenge ideas take from "The Escape Plan" written by Kim and Jason Kotecki

Escape Adulthood: Challenge #5

Become a scientist.  Conduct a silly experiment.

I decided to see if the saying, "It's so hot you could fry an egg on the sidewalk," is true.  I picked the PERFECT day to try.  It got up to 105 this past Wednesday, basically as hot as it gets here in Redlands, CA.  This is what the egg looked like after an hour.

Apparently, an egg can not be fried on the sidewalk on a hot day.  My husband said I may have had better luck on the asphalt.  Oh well.

Challenge ideas take from "The Escape Plan" written by Kim and Jason Kotecki

Awesome Kid Quotes #5

My mom and I were taking Josey to the ballet.  I came out of my room after I finished getting ready.  Eden took one look at me and said, "Wow mom, you look...good!"

Coming from a 10 year old boy, I will definitely take that as a compliment.

Escape Adulthood: Challenge #4

Add something childlike (not necessarily childish) to your workspace or home.

I chose to add something to my home for 3 reasons:
1. I am on summer break, so it will be awhile before I could add something to my workspace.
2. I am a teacher, so I already have some childlike items in my classroom.
3. Because we have 6 people living in our home, which is not huge, I have adopted a sort of minimalist attitude to avoid clutter.  Therefore, if it's not in use, it's not in our house.  This would bring some decorative fun back to our home!

I figured out pretty quickly what I wanted to put up and, fortunately, I had something on hand I could use.  I LOVE dragonflies.  I think they are so delicate and beautiful.  Whenever I see one, it captures my attention.  To me they are just captivating and lovely.  I am not really a "girly-girl", but whenever I see one, I immediately think of whimsical fairies and enchanted forests.  I chose to hang this in the hallway between my dining room and kitchen.  It's a pretty high-traffic area for us.  Whenever I look at it I am reminded to take some time out of life's craziness to allow myself to be a little fun and fanciful.

Challenge ideas take from "The Escape Plan" written by Kim and Jason Kotecki

In a moment of near mommy meltdown....

I came up with this...

 

My Sunday, to the tune of "The 12 Days of Christmas":
12 lectures given
11 time outs taken
10 pouts attempted
9 chats interrupted
8 arguments ended
7 socks a missing
6 lawsons shopping
5 cheese-bur-gers
4 hours sleep
3 crying kids
2 grumpy parents
and a spanking at the furniture store!!!

 

I posted it on facebook and got quite a response. 

I think all the other parents out there could TOTALLY relate.

Awesome Kids Quotes #4

Best tattle ever. 
Josey came up to me and whined,
"Asher said I'm not going to Awesome-town." 
Ba ha ha ha!!!

What makes it even funnier is that fact that Asher really did say that to her.
Side note: Awesome-town is my dad's house.

Awesome Kid Quotes #3

Me: VERY LOUD DEEP SIGH
Josey: Mom, you are tired. You are tired from doing all the things.
She...so...gets it!!

How did this happen?

We came home after a three hour outing, and this is how we found our dog.

I laughed so hard!!  I just wish we had a video camera to capture how this went down.

Awesome Kid Quotes #2

We were at the beach. There was this wonderful, gentle breeze. 
Josey leaned over to me and said,
"Mommy, Jesus is blowing us kisses...I can feel Him." 
Soooo sweet!!

Mama said knock you out.

I'm gonna knock you out.

Escape Adulthood: Challenge #3

Do something that is typically seen as inappropriate for someone your age.

I ran and jumped over a big hole on the beach, then followed that up by skipping back to my towel.

Um.  This one made me nervous.  I struggle with being WAY TOO WORRIED about how people perceive me.  So, doing something that was inappropriate for my age (in public) gave me heart palpitations and sweaty palms, for reals!!

I didn't plan this one ahead of time.  The moment presented itself on the beach while I was there with my two boys.  They were running and jumping over a very large hole that some other kids dug.  I realized that this was the perfect opportunity for challenge #3.  Of course, a zillion other things were going through my mind like:

People are going to see your "four-kid-havin'-body" run...on the beach...in a bathing suit.
You are going to fall...in front of all these people.
You are 34...not 10.
You are going to twist your ankle...then your summer will be ruined.

But those thoughts were crowded out by:

No one is really watching you, except your kids...and they will think you are super cool for doing this.
If you fall, that will be funny...really funny.
You are 34...not 84.
Your ankle, and your summer, will be fine.

So, I did it.  I laughed.  My boys laughed.  It was great, and both my confidence and body survived.

P.S. Thank goodness I have no photo of this one...no one wants to see that! :-)

Challenge ideas take from "The Escape Plan" written by Kim and Jason Kotecki

Escape Adulthood: Challenge #2

Find a reason to celebrate and do something to celebrate it.

We celebrated the "2nd Day of Summer".

This challenge was difficult for me at first because, as I typically do, I started to over-think it at first.  Once I relaxed a bit, I realized that we had a perfect thing to celebrate.  Although we didn't celebrate the first (calendar) day of summer, we could absolutely celebrate the 2nd day right?  After I made that decision, the rest was easy. 

The kids and I were all home together that day, and we had already decided that it would be a low-key day at home with no major plans.  So, I declared that we were celebrating the 2nd day of summer.  We all wore hats and sunglasses.  Then, we took a walk down to Olive Market where we purchased refreshing summertime beverages (lemonade and iced tea).  Then, after we got home we went to the pool.  We ended the day with a movie and frozen hot chocolate.  Yummy!

Yay for summer!

 

Challenge ideas take from "The Escape Plan" written by Kim and Jason Kotecki

Escape Adulthood: Challenge #1

Spend at least 15 minutes immersing yourself in a field you know nothing about.

I drove a Duffy boat.

Honestly, I was quite nervous about it.  When I was planning the day out with friends, I hadn't really thought about the fact that I was going to have to drive.  The night before, I really started to stress.  I asked Korey to give me some pointers (he's the one that has driven before when we've gone on these day trips).  So with his advice, and a ton of prayer, I got behind the wheel of a boat for the first time. 

What was I scared of?
crashing, getting lost, crashing, hitting someone on a paddle board, trying to pull back into the dock, and (did I already mention) crashing

Of course, none of that happened.  As usual, my fears were totally unwarranted.  It was a weekday morning.  The water was calm.  There were very few boats out.  It turned out to be a great day.

At the end of it I felt very proud of myself that I tried something totally new and different.  It forced me out of my comfort zone.  It was fun, relaxing, and exhilarating all at the same time.  I would totally do it again.

Here's a shot of my awesome passengers. 

God love them for trusting me with their lives!

Challenge ideas take from "The Escape Plan" written by Kim and Jason Kotecki

Adultitis

So, I've been following this pretty fabulous blog for about 10 months now.  It is a husband and wife team.  They are on a mission to rid the world of adultitis.  They really are pretty awesome, and thanks to their blog posts and books (and a TON of pushing and shoving nudging from God) I am starting to overcome some of my own symptoms of adultitis.  Translation: I am learning how to slow down, lighten up, have fun, and enjoy life.  The first book I read of theirs is Escape Adulthood.  It was an excellent read and had plenty of great nuggets of wisdom like:

"How much better would life be if we didn't have to worry so much about where we were going and had more freedom to enjoy the scenery?" -Jason W. Kotecki, Escape Adulthood

Now, I am reading another book of theirs called The Escape Plan.  It is a book filled with 40 different challenges to help eradicate the adultitis in your life.  I'm excited about doing this.  It's totally out of my comfort zone, which is a good thing.  I decided to blog about what I do for each challenge instead of writing it in the journal.  That way, I can post pictures too.  It should be pretty fun and silly.  I may totally humiliate myself.  That's ok.  It's time for me to stop worrying about what people might think of me and realize that they like me better when I'm a little messy and frayed around the edges.

First Family Camping Trip

OK.  So I promised more info on our first camping trip.  Here it is.  We had so many things go "wrong" on that trip that it is now such a great story.  I wish now that I had taken pictures of our issues so I could post them here.  Oh well, live and learn.

#1- Car Sick Dog: Daisy gets car sick.  So, on the way to the campground, Eden had to catch her...ahem...vomit in a plastic grocery bag and hold on to it until we arrived.

#2- Asher almost lit the Cleveland National Forest on Fire: Oh yes he did! Once we got our camp set up on the first night, Korey lit a camp fire.  The kids were playing in it with sticks.  It was all fine and good until Asher lit the end of his stick and proceeded to walk around with it, right by some trees.  Woo boy.  Our voices raised in unison over that one.

#3- Our Air Mattress had a Leak: That made for an interesting first night of sleep...or lack of it.  First, the mattress kind of turned into a taco shape, with Korey and I smashed together in the middle.  Then, Daisy proceeded to get into bed with us and bounced us all around.  Finally, we woke up in the morning with Korey's side almost flat, and Abby and I raised up really high.  Looking back, it was quite comical.

#4- Vomit Covered Baby: Our second night there, Abby got a little sick before bed.  I didn't think anything of it.  We put all the kids to bed, then hung out by the campfire for another hour or so.  When we went into the tent to go to bed, I turned on the light and glanced at Abby in the playpen.  She was covered in vomit.  Apparently, she got sick and rolled around in it.  It was EVERYWHERE; matted in her hair, covering her clothes, everywhere.  Lucky for us, the campground had free, hot showers. 

#5- Car Sick Dog, Take Two: Daisy got car sick on the way home, too.  Unfortunately, Eden didn't catch it that time.  We were literally pulling into our driveway at the time. 

The really crazy thing is, that we truly did have a great time and can't wait to go again.  Here are some photos of our good times.

Hiking

Tree Climbing

Playing

Cooking

Sitting

Reading