two quotes for the day

The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall. " Vince Lombardi

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else. " Charles Dickens

Every once in a while, I have a moment where I think, "wow, I am doing ok as a parent". I had another one of those moments today. I can't go into it anymore, and I am far from perfect, and I question myself quite often. Somehow my kids have managed and I think they are pretty great. I am amazed at some of their bedtime prayers. I think a good part of it is who they were before they came to earth, but they are good kids. I just hope I can help guide them as they deal with some pretty crazy stuff out in the world and some pretty bad influences. Its terrifying what some kids as young as in kindergarten and first grade are exposed to. I've thought again about how our children are our heritage. I just hope I can try to help them in this insane world.

Duck, Duck Goose!

I've got to put this down before I forget this. It was too quick before I could take a picture. I was in Addi's room with her when she put her three baby dolls in a circle, and started playing duck, duck goose with them. That little girl can be trouble sometimes, but she is so incredibly adorable!!! I Love it!

A couple weeks ago we were in church and Addi started going through my purse. She said "gum, gum, where are you??" Adorable!

I'm so cheap!!!

I am so cheap. I call it frugal, but I admit that I'm cheap. I just have a hard time spending money on some things. The kids were begging me to take them to the carnival and I finally caved in on Saturday night since we had a couple of free tickets. When we got there, I came to realize that it's $3 or more per ride, and with the two boys I'd have to spend at least $6 a ride. The rides are old and just so not worth it in any way. I let the boys do a ride and play around, and then they got to choose between getting strawberries and cream (so yummy!) or another ride. They chose the treat. We had our treat after playing on the playground with a friend they saw, and then went home. They still had fun, we On the way home, we talked about saving our money for other things. Nate said, "But Mom, you always save your money!". We had yet another talk about how important it is to be smart with your money and that we can save for the things we really want. We talked about having money to buy food and Nate said, "but Mom, there are some foods you don't buy!". Yes, I deprive my kids and usually only buy things on sale and very rarely by oreos.
I know I should have done more at the carnival, but there are some things I have a really hard time paying money for. I'll have to do more this week. Lest you think my kids are totally deprived, we have a pool pass, the seven peaks pass, and we took the kids to the aquarium this week, which is all a pretty big deal for me. Oh, and we do have a boat. Maybe next year I'll do more with the carnival. Maybe.

Manners

At my house, my kids know that they have to say please and thank you. They are far from perfect at it, but they do really pretty good. I think one of my biggest pet peeves is any kind of sense of self entitlement, and I have tried really hard to have my kids be polite and make sure to say please and thank you whenever they are supposed to. They are far from perfect, but we're working on it. There are times where they have to ask me a couple of times before they remember that they aren't saying please before they get what they are asking for. There are other times where I say "what?" or I can give them a look and they will remember to ask correctly. It is just really important to me that I have polite kids. Nate's teacher did comment about how polite Nate was and how he would come and thank you for the fun activity's they got to do in class. It makes me so happy to hear that!
We've been working with Addison lately and she has been doing much better. I'm amazed that I can ask her quite often what do you say, and she'll either say please or thank you. I truly hope that my kids are polite and use their manners when they are supposed to. I just hope it continues as they get older.