At least for Kylea. I sure hope my friend comes through to DJ or I am going to have one mad (not so) little girl on my hands. She will be 12 on the 4th.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
The damnits and skateboarding
It was Jamie and Dan's anniversary this past weekend so I had the boys over on Saturday night. You know what that means.......Devin, Danyn, and Dillion the three damnits! My friend Shawn brought his daughter Natalie over. She is a cute 3 year old blonde and Dillion fell in love! Even asked her to sit by him when we ate pizza.
The kids had a blast and there was a little to much rough housing, but that is to be expected from three (4 if you count Shawn) boys. But Natalie held her own with them.
Sunday was a skateboarding day. The Skate Park of Austin is closing. The 26th is going to be there last day open. This is where Devin first learned to skateboard about 3 years ago. Four of the boys that were there had been at my house the night before skating on Devin's mini ramp. Shawn also showed up. The boys all had a good time and it will be said for me when they close. I have spent many hours there watching Devin fall, cry, get mad, get hurt, and do stuff for the first time! I am hoping that Rick will let me have Devin on Saturday so I can take Devin.
On a Devin note I am starting to really not like him being gone for a week at a time. Need to work something out with Rick so I can get him in the middle of the week or something.
The kids had a blast and there was a little to much rough housing, but that is to be expected from three (4 if you count Shawn) boys. But Natalie held her own with them.
Sunday was a skateboarding day. The Skate Park of Austin is closing. The 26th is going to be there last day open. This is where Devin first learned to skateboard about 3 years ago. Four of the boys that were there had been at my house the night before skating on Devin's mini ramp. Shawn also showed up. The boys all had a good time and it will be said for me when they close. I have spent many hours there watching Devin fall, cry, get mad, get hurt, and do stuff for the first time! I am hoping that Rick will let me have Devin on Saturday so I can take Devin.
On a Devin note I am starting to really not like him being gone for a week at a time. Need to work something out with Rick so I can get him in the middle of the week or something.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
I think I make to many muffins
" Compare & Save" says the Jiffy box. Well that is what I have done. It seems like I am making muffins at least three times a week for breakfast. Usually I buy the MARTHA WHITE mix but then saw that the Jiffy mix was a little cheaper.
The price difference is about $0.11 between the two. However when making them the M.W. calls for 1/2 cup of milk and the Jiffy calls for 1 egg and 1/4 cup of milk. I started thinking what the real cost was making these.1 egg - $0.12*
1/4 c milk - $0.05*
1/2 c milk - $0.11* (I am rounding and that is how I got 11 cents instead of 10)
$0.63 - Jiffy mix
$0.12 - 1 egg
$0.05 - 1/4 c milk
______________
$0.80 - Total cost
$0.74 - Martha White mix
$0.11 - 1/2 c milk
___________________
$0.85 - Total cost
So far it looks like the Jiffy is cheaper. When you make the 6 regular muffins you cannot tell the difference. But when you make the mini muffins you only get 20 and with the M.W. you get 24.
$0.04 - cost per mini muffin for Jiffy**
$0.035 - cost per mini muffin for M.W.**
When you break it down by cost per muffin the Martha White is the better deal.
So what has this told me (other then I think to much when making these things)? That really there is not much of a difference.
I like the taste of the Martha White muffins better, plus they have chocolate chip ones, so that is the route I will take. I hope this comparison was not to boring and maybe a little helpful.
*The cost was an estimate based on my memory of the cost of the product and not the actual price.
**If my math is off a little I have several kids running around right now and driving me crazy.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Getting there.....
“Love is so short, forgetting is so long.”
-Pablo Neruda
But on another note here is what it looks like when a 6 year old is getting showed Google Earth.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Ugly day
Have you even had one of those days where you wake up, look in the mirror, and think "Damn I look like ugly today"?
I have and today is that day.............
I have and today is that day.............
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Is the battle worth fighting?
I have just learned 8 good questions to ask yourself when you are getting into a fight with your kids. More on why this is coming up later. But for now I will list out the questions.
1. Is my child's health or safety at stake?
Yes I believe arguing with your kids about jumping off a second story house might be a yes to this question.
2. Am I fighting for a deeply held value?
For me this would include lying, being hateful, or using certain words (shut up, stupid, fat, hate....)
3. Am I worried about others' opinions?
Almost all of our fights happen with no one else is around so I don't feel this really applies to me.
4. Is this a body issue? sleeping? eating? dressing?
It is good to win when it is 30 degrees outside and you kid does not want to wear a jacket.
5. Is my resistance a knee-jerk reaction?
I really need to work on this on
6. Do the benefits to my child (a sense of mastery, a new learning experience) outweigh the negatives?
I think I am pretty good about that, I let the kids try lots of new things and push there limits.
7. Is my child's behavior violating an established household rule?
I struggle with this one since my own unspoken rule is "what I say goes". Hard to keep a good balance that way.
8. Can I accommodate my child without compromising my own beliefs?
Again, hard to do this on when I think i am always right.
Question #8 came into play 2 weeks ago when Devin and I were fighting and he got mad at me for yelling at him "EVERYDAY". So I stopped and thought about it and I had been on a yelling streak so I stopped. Now I warn him before I am going to start yelling.
This post has been brought up mostly because of a situation that happened tonight.
I have been feeling sick the last couple days and my friend Shawn made me soup and brought it over for dinner. After we got done eating it was time for Devin to do his homework. He wanted to go play next door. So I told him that if he finished with enough time he could. Well being a normal kid he was taking to long so I finally told him he had run out of time. We argued back and forth about it. He was crying and yelling, storming off to his room, the whole nine yards.
Now that I think about it we were really fighting over time management. (and on top of that I am feeling sick and Devin was overtired and cranky) Not really the best way to teach a child. Maybe I should have gotten a timer out and let him have more control over the situation. But in the middle of a fight it is hard to give in. So I stood my ground like I always do and finally got Devin to get focused on his homework.
About this time Shawn was leaving and he told Devin that if he finished his homework and didn't give me a hard time he would go skateboarding (Devin's favorite thing right now) with him on Sunday. I held my composure but was a little pissed that all the fighting I had just done with Devin was under minded with one statement from my friend. Ugh!!!! In all fairness his daughter is only 3 and they have not gotten to this point in parenting yet. I stepped outside and explained my frustration with him and I think he really understood where I was coming from.
Most of you that read this have seen me around my kids and know how I am..... a hard ass to put it bluntly. But when you are outnumbered like I am I feel that is how I should be. It is just now getting to the point where I am starting to rethink a little of how I parent. Maybe the "iron fist" is not the best for all kids.
1. Is my child's health or safety at stake?
Yes I believe arguing with your kids about jumping off a second story house might be a yes to this question.
2. Am I fighting for a deeply held value?
For me this would include lying, being hateful, or using certain words (shut up, stupid, fat, hate....)
3. Am I worried about others' opinions?
Almost all of our fights happen with no one else is around so I don't feel this really applies to me.
4. Is this a body issue? sleeping? eating? dressing?
It is good to win when it is 30 degrees outside and you kid does not want to wear a jacket.
5. Is my resistance a knee-jerk reaction?
I really need to work on this on
6. Do the benefits to my child (a sense of mastery, a new learning experience) outweigh the negatives?
I think I am pretty good about that, I let the kids try lots of new things and push there limits.
7. Is my child's behavior violating an established household rule?
I struggle with this one since my own unspoken rule is "what I say goes". Hard to keep a good balance that way.
8. Can I accommodate my child without compromising my own beliefs?
Again, hard to do this on when I think i am always right.
Question #8 came into play 2 weeks ago when Devin and I were fighting and he got mad at me for yelling at him "EVERYDAY". So I stopped and thought about it and I had been on a yelling streak so I stopped. Now I warn him before I am going to start yelling.
This post has been brought up mostly because of a situation that happened tonight.
I have been feeling sick the last couple days and my friend Shawn made me soup and brought it over for dinner. After we got done eating it was time for Devin to do his homework. He wanted to go play next door. So I told him that if he finished with enough time he could. Well being a normal kid he was taking to long so I finally told him he had run out of time. We argued back and forth about it. He was crying and yelling, storming off to his room, the whole nine yards.
Now that I think about it we were really fighting over time management. (and on top of that I am feeling sick and Devin was overtired and cranky) Not really the best way to teach a child. Maybe I should have gotten a timer out and let him have more control over the situation. But in the middle of a fight it is hard to give in. So I stood my ground like I always do and finally got Devin to get focused on his homework.
About this time Shawn was leaving and he told Devin that if he finished his homework and didn't give me a hard time he would go skateboarding (Devin's favorite thing right now) with him on Sunday. I held my composure but was a little pissed that all the fighting I had just done with Devin was under minded with one statement from my friend. Ugh!!!! In all fairness his daughter is only 3 and they have not gotten to this point in parenting yet. I stepped outside and explained my frustration with him and I think he really understood where I was coming from.
Most of you that read this have seen me around my kids and know how I am..... a hard ass to put it bluntly. But when you are outnumbered like I am I feel that is how I should be. It is just now getting to the point where I am starting to rethink a little of how I parent. Maybe the "iron fist" is not the best for all kids.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Out of the loop
Sorry to everyone that I have not called or anything lately. I have been busy and stressed. Kind of doing my own thing the last month or so. But I guess most of you guys were used to me not calling anyway. I was even 2 days late on calling my dad and telling him happy birthday. Guess I am the bad daughter again.
My friends have a new addition, new addition (I typed it twice for a reason) to there family.
Mischa and Tasha (but that might not be the correct order)
Want to have Devin be quite and still, give him a newborn baby!!!
I am actually having a low key week for once. Sick today and tomorrow. I have Jerri's kids on Wednesday, the kids get to see the above babies on Thursday and then nothing else planned. Pretty excited about not doing anything. It has been too long.
Now to find free events in Austin I can take the kids to this weekend......
Monday, January 7, 2008
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Going back in time
So I left off with the mini ramp being finished and skipped ahead to Kylea eating the fish eyeball. I need to fill you guys in on Devin's birthday party. I have not been able to get Kodak Gallery to work on my computer so no slide shows. Please feel free to suggest any other place I can store my pictures.
Can you find Devin in all the balloons?
Lots of horse play was going on with the older boys around.
There was also plenty of dancing going on, although most of it was bad.
Well, that is all I have time to post right now. More later!
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