Archives for April 2010

I recorded Oprah for the first time ever

April 13, 2010 by Kelli

I’m going to step out on a limb here and potentially make a few people mad…I don’t like Oprah.

*cringe*

I think she’s a little annoying. I watch her show maybe once a year (I must say I do like the favorite things episodes because I like all the gadgets) but in general, I don’t waste my time watching her fawn over every guest with her ever changing spirituality.

Ouch.

Last week, however, I did something I’ve never done before. I recorded an episode of Oprah! In fact, we rarely even use our DVR. We always forget to set it up. (Unless, of course, LOST is coming on, in which case we check, recheck and check again to make sure it’s prepared to catch that glorious hour of television). But I made a very distinct point last week to set up the DVR to record an hour of Oprah and then I sat down and watched said hour of Oprah.

So what, pray tell, could have been so very exciting that I absolutely had to see it?

One word: GLEE.

The cast of Glee was on Oprah and they were singing, dancing and taking us all backstage. Oh it was gleefully delicious to watch. *groan*

Yes, I am addicted to Glee. It’s a good thing too, because LOST only has six weeks left so I will need a new show to look forward to each week. Yes, I said NEED.

As I watched the adorable cast of Glee do their thing, I couldn’t help but smile…and bop my head…and tap my toes. I may have even clapped a couple of times. May. You’ll never know for sure. After it was over, I got online to check out the open auditions they were having for Glee because how fun would that be?

You have to be between the ages of 16 and 26. Shoot. Just missed the cut off…

Incidentally, the two guys that play Finn and Puck are actually 28 and 29 years old in real life. Which means that the crush I have on them is totally realistic and not at all inappropriate. Not like my crush on Zac Efron which boarders on Puma-ish…

Anyway, back to Glee. It starts again tonight! And there’s another new episode of LOST on tonight. Sweet mercy, could life get any better. Finn, Puck, Sawyer and Jack all in one night. Smile with me, will you?

Yes, sometimes my life actually is this shallow…

Filed Under: Random, the boob tube Tagged With: Glee, LOST, Oprah, TV

The Tea Party

April 12, 2010 by Kelli

I have never been much of a girly girl. I enjoy nice clothes and make up, but I’m not primpy or frilly, I don’t know how to sew and none of these things have ever bothered me. And I can proudly say that I have never once in all my life jumped up and down squealing and crying over a celebrity (although had I had a personal encounter with John Travolta in high school I might have swooned a little…and fainted…).

But there is one thing that brings out the frill that lays buried deep inside. It is the one thing that makes me happy to pull out an apron and want to sip Shirley Temple’s while skipping about my kitchen.

A tea party. Commence to girl squealing now!

I threw a tea party over the weekend and it was all sorts of frilly. There were flowers and lace. We noshed on such dishes as Caramalized Pear, Roasted Walnut and Bleu Cheese Quiche and Lavendar Tea Cakes. There were Spinach-Basil Scones and Martha Washington Petite Cakes, Roasted Turkey and Avacado finger sandwiches and Cinnamon Plum Tea. Oh it was yummy and girly and fun, fun, fun.

I’m giggling. Right now. Giggling like a little girl.

The pictures to follow will show you why. If you’re a girl, you will likely breathe a small sigh and smile. If you’re a dude, you’ll probably feel sorry for Lee as you imagine him being forced to sample all the lovely cuisine. (He does have to sample it all. And he doesn’t like it. Hmph…)

Enjoy. You may want to grab a napkin as drooling is quite the possibility.

The Centerpiece

I know. Makes you want to weep...

See how happy they are?

Even my own little tomboy got to come along. I'm raising a second generation tea party addict. No politics allowed!

How was your weekend?

Filed Under: Easter, Holidays, Kids, Life, Motherhood, Random, tea parties Tagged With: tea party, Tea Time Magazine

The confidence to walk away

April 8, 2010 by Kelli

Yesterday we had the first of what I trust will be many incidences where a crushed and devastated child came home after experiencing the hurtful behavior of a so called friend.

I will not go into the details of the incident here, except to say that it bordered on bullying and it broke Sloan’s heart. It wasn’t physical, but he was emotionally crushed and, as his mom, I hurt for him in a way I’ve not yet experienced. I get teary just thinking about it.

My sweet Sloan. I’ve chronicled some of the wonderful, funny, immensely blessed characteristics that make up this remarkable boy. He is kind and tender hearted. Remember his love for our older mailman, Mr. Herman? A couple of weeks ago he came in after retrieving the mail and told us that Mr. Herman’s wife was sick. “We should pray for her,” he said. And so we did. And the next day Sloan made sure to tell Herman we prayed for his wife. That’s the kind of boy he is.

Sloan is precocious, to be sure. He’s very confident in a lot of ways, but also becoming more aware of what others think and some of his innocence is slipping away. He’s becoming a little more self-concious, which makes me a little sad.

One of Sloan’s best qualities, however, is his loyalty and his ability to make and love on friends. This is a quality that cannot be taught. It is inborn and innate to who he is and I love that about him. He loves his friends with every fiber of his being. Even if they hurt him.

That’s not to say he isn’t willing to fight back. Sloan’s mouth can be his downfall at times. We’re working on helping him learn to control his words because that’s how he fights. It’s not constructive and it gets him in trouble. But at least he’s not hitting anyone, right?

As we walked home from his friend’s house yesterday after “the incident,” I talked to Sloan about how important it is to choose friends who build you up; friends who make you feel good about yourself; friends that make you smile, not cry. And even though he had just been ganged up on, his immediate respone was to look me straight in the eye and say, “But mom, I love them. They’re my best friends.”

Sweet, sweet boy.

There were no tears, but I could tell his spirit was crushed. We returned home and I began dinner and then I heard a few sniffles. I looked over and he had his head buried in his arms. I scooped him up and the dam broke.

“Why did they do that to me?” he sobbed.

Oh, it broke my heart. I let him cry for a few minutes then set him down and reminded him that he was a child of God and he was incredibly special, kind and good. I then thanked him for being such a good friend, even when he was hurting. I refrained from saying anything nasty about the kids who hurt him, but I will confess that some very un-Christian monikers crossed my mind.

Points to me for holding back…

And after dinner we walked to a local ice cream place and got ice cream cones. It did his heart good to get out and run off some steam. And ice cream does wonders for healing the soul, does it not?

I remember how I felt as a kid when a friend hurt me. I remember the devastation I felt and the confusion. But I must say, the devastation I felt as a kid doesn’t even compare to the hurt I felt for my own child yesterday. It cut to my core and it still aches. I know this is only the beginning as I’ve got a little girl coming up behind him and if you think boys can be cruel – oh my!

Lee and I work hard to instill in our children the confidence that they will always be loved and accepted in our home. And when the days of disappointment come, I want them to know that they can run home and cry and find comfort and healing.

I also want to teach Sloan that it’s okay to just walk away. That’s hard for him. He depends on friendships, thrives on them. So teaching him to protect his heart without crushing that natural and precious loyal spirit will be our challenge.

And now I’m going to go wipe my eyes and blow my nose. If only I had some ice cream to calm my nerves!

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Life, Motherhood, Sloan Tagged With: Bullying, Motherhood, parenting

Wordless Wednesday: The Time Out

April 7, 2010 by Kelli

The two year old has morphed into a two year old seemingly overnight. Where he once was compliant and sweet natured, he is now often beligerant and feisty. He is experiencing discipline to its fullness here lately, including his first ever time out.

Stubborn Resignation

Shame

Guilt

Deep Thought

Is that remorse? Uh...I'm not sure that it is.

It's a good thing he's so cute.

Happy Wednesday!

Filed Under: discipline, Kids, Kids do the darndest things, Landon, Wordless Wednesday Tagged With: Wordless Wednesday

The Zoo

April 6, 2010 by Kelli

Tia had school yesterday – Sloan did not. So I went back and forth about whether or not we should go to the Zoo after Tia went to school or whether she should just skip school and we could go in the morning.

I decided that it wouldn’t kill her to miss a day of preschool, so we headed out to the Zoo around 8:30 yesterday morning. Best. decision. ever. The Zoo was virtually empty when we arrived, which is a good thing when you have three kids who all like to run in different directions.

By 12:15 when we left, however, the Zoo was…well – a zoo! I knew it was time to leave when every time I turned around to check on Landon (who insists on walking about 15 paces behind us at all freaking times) he was out of my line of sight due to being swept up in large groups of people. After my third heart attack, I decided to call it a day.

So we bopped out of the park and jumped in our car, which was parked right up front and headed out past the endless line of cars waiting to park.

There's nothing like pickingyour nose oon a train ride. You should try it sometime...

There's nothing like picking your nose on a train ride. You should try it sometime...

Becke', I tried to get a picture of his bootie for you but he wouldn't turn. 🙂

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Landon, Motherhood, Sloan, Tia Tagged With: Kids, Motherhood, St. Louis, St. Louis Zoo

My New Toy

April 5, 2010 by Kelli

After selling much of my childhood and pieces of my parents souls on Craig’s List, I finally made enough money to purchse the one thing I’ve desired for awhile now. A good camera.

My parents are moving from their home of 13 years into a small condo. It’s a good thing. It’s the right decision. But it means getting rid of many of the items that I grew up with. Furniture and decorations that have graced the houses of my parents different homes for most of my life. It’s hard – not as hard for me since I have been living on my own for a long time – but definately hard for them.

My mom was sweet enough to let me post and sell her stuff and, as a reward, split the money she made fifty-fifty. And thus my brand, spanking new camera. My magic camera that actually takes the pictures I want it to take. And I’ve had a good time taking said pictures this weekend.

Yesterday we went to my parents house for one last holiday meal. And we all tried to keep it light when discussing their move, because if we started talking too seriously, the tears would begin to flow. So we laughed and joked, but inside we were all feeling a bit sentimental. Change is never easy, even if it’s necessary.

Despite the emotions, however, we had a wonderful day. The weather was perfect, the kids were well behaved and I was able to document it all just the way I wanted to…

Here is a little collage of our Easter Sunday:

Click on the image to see a larger view.

And, of course, here are a few more pictures from the weekend. The camera has been practically attached to my hand…

Blurred background! That was the one thing I wanted in a camera - the ability to actually focus on what I wanted to focus on.

We had a crazy week with several nights of late bedtimes. Which means Landon did a lot of this Saturday morning when we went to Forest Park.

Poor boy. His parents need to get him a haircut. He's looking like a mushroom head...

We’re going to the Zoo today so look forward to more pictures tomorrow!

Today’s post for STL Family Life is up. Go check it out and let me know what you think!

Filed Under: Easter, Family, Holidays, Kids, Landon, Life, Motherhood, Sloan, Tia Tagged With: Easter, Kids, Pentax K-x camera, Photography

Smile sob Smile

April 2, 2010 by Kelli

I came across these sweet videos the other day and my heart melted. My babies are growing up too fast. I never thought I’d be the type of person to say that and get all weepy, but it does make me a little sad. Those stages go by so fast. How is it they are aging so quickly and I am staying the exact. same. age?

Weird.

As I lay in bed this morning, trying desperately to pry my eyelids open, I couldn’t help but correlate the emotions I feel about my children aging with the emotions that this particular day bring about. Happy and Sad. Good and Bad. Gratefulness and Humility.

Today is the day we remember and observe the sacrifice of Christ. It is heavy. It is hard. It is “the sad part,” as Sloan told us this morning. In fact, he got up early and drew us a picture:

Notice the top corner says "Sad Port"

If you look closely, the picture shows Jesus on the cross. The two people on the right are the soldiers who crucified him and they are laughing. On the left are Mary and Joseph and they are crying. And on Jesus’ head is the crown of thorns.

This day makes me reflect and ponder. It’s something that occurs deep within the recesses of my heart and I often want to run from these reflections because they often uncover the worst of myself. And it is sad. It’s the sad port, erm, part.

But balancing out the sad is the joy in knowing the end of the story. And it just so happens that Sloan depicted that as well. He called it the “Good Port.”

Jesus was not defeated and the grave did not hold him forever. Notice the “sparkles” surrounding Jesus in Sloan’s drawing. It’s because Jesus rose and “He was so shiney when He came out of the grave, mom, because His body was new.”

That really is the Good Part, isn’t it?

So as I look at these videos, I’m reminded again of the preciousness of life. I remember how quickly life happens. We blink and the moment is gone. And it’s sad. But it’s also good.

Happy Easter.