I’m sure I’ve posted about my Dad and his, ahem, “preaching”, of the Golden Rule somewhere on this blog, but it’s something I’ve come around to often as an adult and parent.  My kids and I talk about the Golden Rule a lot and how it applies to almost every single situation there is.  He used to say that the Golden Rule was his religion, that all religions were pretty much based on it anyway.  He was so right.  One thing, though, that I hope I am teaching my kids is to really appreciate its implications on a daily scale.  You see, my Dad would say it, way back when, and I would think something along the lines of “Yeah, yeah, here he goes again”, I was pretty sure he couldn’t possibly solve my situation with his cliché words.  Of course now, looking back, it did apply and I was a fool to take such wise words for granted.  Maybe, if I’m really lucky, my kids will actually HEAR what it when I say it, maybe…

My Dad’s other favorite saying involved “The Green Eyed Monster”.  Did you know Shakespeare wrote that phrase?

April 10, 2018

Just Because I miss it so....

Just some random pictures to share...Jo

Just some random pictures...

Joe and Jon were on their own with wrestling the next morning so Joci and I had a girls night.  We, of course, went to Target and got Starbucks while we browsed. 

Joci in the ER after having a really high fever that wouldn't go down.  Turns out it was Influenza B.  Poor baby.

Olive and Joci having a little snuggle.  When Olive isn't bouncing off the walls with energy she LOVES to snuggle!

Yes, you may have noticed there are no pictures of Joe in this installment of random photos.  Now that he's a teenager, it's gotten much trickier getting pictures of him!  I'm sure I'll post some soon.

March/April 2018

Do Your Kids Read?

I’m wondering if this is just my kids, or is it a new phenomenon growing amongst the teens and preteens of our country?  Do your kids read?  Mine do read, they read novels, homework, and anything presented to them on Youtube.  But, do your kids read things like labels, signs, or instructions?  Mine definitely don’t.  I’ve started noticing this on and off recently and then had an epiphany.  You see, we would be out in Target (of course) and I would pick something up and inevitably one of my children would ask me what it was, even if it had a clear as day label on it.  Or, mean Mommy that I am, I will make them microwave or bake their own snack and…they won’t read the instructions, they’ll ask me how long to cook it.  They still can’t comprehend what the shampoo vs. the conditioner is for, and will very often not check to see who the package is for that was left on our steps.  How did this happen?  My hypothesis?  It’s Youtube, Google, Alexa, and Siri!  Have a question ask one of them and they get the perfect answer right away.  It could be partly me, though, too, as I may have been blindly answering them without thinking about it.  Now, after my epiphany, I am determined that my kids will be able to READ.  Really, read.  Like the kind of reading that we all have to do every single day.  Emails that you have to decipher, ingredients within food labels, or how to bake a box cake!  We all have to do this, every single day, and I am going to get them back on the path of us “old fashioned” people who still use our eyes and our brains to get through instructions, not Youtube.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  We have a couple of Echo Dots in our house that we use often, and I like to ask Google a lot of stuff.  I’ve also noticed that my attention span has really waned the last few years as there seems to be this almost constant stream of media input.  I get it.  I’m not getting rid of my tech, nor my kids’, but what I am going to do is start taking a beat when these opportunities come around and engage my kids into really reading what is going. 

There, Mom soapbox over.  Just don’t get me started on texting, spelling, and autocorrect!

Now, some obligatory pictures of my sweet babies...

My gorgeous girl having some downtime with Mom.

Joe and I had a giggle over finding a small bag of coffee at Michaels.

April 10, 2018

Happy Easter Everyone!

I hope you all had a pleasant Easter the way I did.  I got especially lucky, in that I was off both Thursday (my birthday) and Friday (Good Friday), plus the weekend.  A four day weekend is a marvelous thing, indeed!

For Easter Jon had the kids, but was really kind in asking me to join in for Easter dinner.  As usual, he didn’t disappoint in the food department, though I know he had some amazing help in the kitchen this year.  Joe made a scrumptious rib roast that turned out perfectly.  Dad would have been over the moon to see him make that!  He also made cheddar biscuits which were also delish.  Jocelyn made Jon’s family’s famous no bake cheesecake which was to die for.  It had been a long time since I had it, and it was even better than I remembered.

We had fun chatting, and talking about East and all the other stuff going on, coming up on the calendar etc.  When the kids and I got home, they had more Easter eggs to find and a little basket from me.

It was such a good day that the only picture I got was of the prime rib that Joseph made.  Which is funny, because Dad did that a lot, too, took pictures of his food.  I ended up not taking any pictures of the kids, or me, in our festive Easter clothes, but not to worry, I’ll get them sometime soon!

I hope you all had a beautiful day, no matter the weather in your area, and that you enjoyed your time with family and friends.

Happy Easter!

April 1, 2018