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Is this Russia?

November 19, 2009 by Kelli

Tonight was the semi-annual Russian-American School concert and it was nothing short of adorable (albeit a little drawn out…).

And because this is a mommy blog and I’m a proud cheesy mom, I am going to document tonight’s happenings with great zeal. Because that’s what I do! I don’t scrapbook people – this is all I’ve got.

There was singing, dancing, acting and so much adorability (totally a word) I left with a sugar high. Just take a look:

Isn’t she yummy? She did so well. She said her poem loud and clear and wasn’t nervous at all. It was an on night for sweet Katya (or Katinka as the Russians call her).

My performance shy first born chose to play it cool. But when he recited the poem I told you about a few weeks ago, he incited quite a bit of praise from the very proud and impressed crowd. And so as not to embarrass the poor child, I did not let out the “Whoop!” that so desperately yearned to escape. I simply gave him a tender golf clap and blinked hard against tears of pride.

I. am. a. dork.

And because I know you’re dying to watch, here is a short clip of them reciting their poems. Seriously, it’s 38 seconds long. Happy viewing and Happy Friday!

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Russian Tagged With: Russian American School

Testament Focused: A Giveaway

November 18, 2009 by Kelli

*Update-Okay folks, you have to comment to win. Even if you’re not sure you want this, surely you know someone who would like to have it. Click on the link below to preview the book, then please leave a comment. Giveaways are more fun when you have several commentors to choose from!

This post is a sticky post. It will remain at the top of the page until the contest ends. To read updated posts simply scroll down.

I’ve been blogging for almost two years now and I’ve never before done a giveaway. I’ve thought about it, but just haven’t really gotten around to doing it.

But today changes as I am hosting my first giveaway. And what will I be giving away you ask?

A copy of my sister-in-law Becke’s new book, Testament Focused! That’s right – I’ve ordered a copy of the hardbound edition of the book and I plan on giving it away to one lucky reader. But first, a little about the book.

Testament Focused is beautiful. It’s 72 pages of spectacular images, each with a corresponding Bible verse. Becke’ has combined her love for photography, God’s creation and God’s Word into a coffee table style book. This would make a great gift for Christmas or would be the perfect book to have sitting on your coffee table. And you could possibly have one for FREE! That’s a value of over 50 dollars. Seriously, you guys are going to love it!

So, to enter simply leave me a comment telling me what a fantastic idea this is telling me how much you would love to own this book and you will be entered to win!

Want to earn extra entries? Great! I’ll tell you how: Leave a status update on Facebook announcing the contest, then come back and leave me a second comment telling me you did that and you will be entered again. If you tweet about it, I’ll count that as a third entry. And if you announce it on your blog, leave a comment with the link and I will consider that an entry as well. Oh so many ways to win!!

So leave a comment, then get to tweeting/facebooking/blogging for more entries. I will use Random.org to pick a winner on Monday, November 23.

Filed Under: Family, Giveaway, Random Tagged With: Testament Focused

I hear this 100 times a day…

November 9, 2009 by Kelli

Sloan thinks this commercial is hysterical:

And it is. We laugh every time it comes on. And Sloan has long since memorized it, which means 100 times a day I hear this:

I love that kid…

Filed Under: Family, funny stuff that happens, Kids do the darndest things, Sloan Tagged With: Geico Pothole Commercial

Intentional Parenting

November 5, 2009 by Kelli

In the few years that it’s been since Lee and I become parents to one child, then a second and finally a third, we’ve learned a LOT about this journey called parenting. A LOT.

And from what I hear we’ve only scratched the surface. *deep breath*

One of the things we are learning in large amounts right now is the idea of intentional parenting.

This is not a new or ground breaking concept. Plenty of people are parenting with intention and Lee and I were doing so to an extent before the year 2009 – but this year has definately been a year of growth for us in our parenting.

While we have been intentional in the past about teaching our kids basic, common sense virtures like sharing, kindness, obedience, etc…We’ve learned this year that we need to step up to the plate and really dig into this parenting thing.

Before, so much of our parenting took place only in the now. We were controlling the behaviors in the hopes that the immediate future would be impacted and changed, but we weren’t necessarily thinking of down the road.

Not that we were completely oblivious to the people our children would someday become. Like any parents, we often dream of who our children will grow into. We have hopes, dreams and ambitions for them. And the number one prayer of our hearts since the day any of them entered this world was that they would grow in wisdom and stature and they would find favor with God and man.

But back to intentional parenting. This year has been about learning how to parent our children with the future in mind. Why do we want them to obey immediately? Certainly immediate obedience makes our day run much more smoothly. But beyond that, a child who is taught to respect and obey his parents immediately will grow up with a respect for authority and a drive to complete tasks in a timely fashion.

But it’s a not a blind obedience that we’re asking for. Before this year, I used to think that because I said so was the parental charge for action. It was the acceptable excuse and was never to be questioned. Ever.

Now, while I still believe there is a time and place for because I said so, I try harder to give my kids a reason for their obedience.

You need to put your shoes on right away because if you don’t, we won’t be able to get to school on time and you will have to walk into your classroom late and that would be embarrassing.

You need to pick up your toys because if you don’t, mommy or daddy might trip over them and get hurt.

You shouldn’t run in the store because someone might not see you and you could cause them to fall and get hurt or break something.

We’re trying to instill in our kids a moral reason why they need to obey. Not just demand that they obey. We’re also reinforcing to them the fact that when they do obey immediately, things will go well with them. Life is much smoother for a child who knows how to respect the authority of adults.

Life is also much easier for adults who know how to respect their authorities. Isn’t it?

You see, we’re trying to be intentional about teaching our children how to live responsible lives. I require them to make their beds simply because it’s a responsible thing to do. We ask them to clean up their toys simply because they need to take responsiblity for the things that are theirs. So that someday, as adults, they will know how to live lives that are responsible and effective.

So that I won’t send off two boys into marriage and stick their poor wives with slobs who don’t know how to help out around the house (Lee is a great example for our boys in this area).

And so I don’t send off my daughter off to be a wife and leave her with no clue how to take care of a home, cook a meal, care for others.

It’s intentional, you see, this thing called parenting. And it’s hard. It’s really, really hard. It’s so much work. It takes so much energy and time. And my kids are still young. God help us when the game of life gets more complicated than cleaning up a little Play-Doh and picking up LEGO’s.

This concept of intentional parenting is very deep. And if you’re interested in more, I highly recommend the study Growing Kids God’s Way. It’s an excellent study on the the why’s and how’s of training up morally responsible, enjoyable, godly children.

And now I am off to intentionally get my younger two out the door to a gymnastics class.

Filed Under: discipline, Family, Kids, Life, Motherhood Tagged With: Growing Kids God's Way

The Truth in Blogging

November 3, 2009 by Kelli

My friend, Nicole, has a great post today about keepin’ it real in blogging. The idea is that many times us blogger mama’s tend to keep things positive and not really show the messy in life.

It can be very deceptive and even discouraging when it seems that these people you read and grow to love are perfect mothers who always prepare fresh, organic fare for their children, have a hot meal on the table when their husbands get home and smell of roses when they sweat.

In general I think I have a pretty good balance on this here blog. I’ve let you know the times when my heart has been heavy, I told you I clap my hands at my kids, and who can forget this little escapade? But, for the most part, I like to keep things light on my blog. I don’t record every single thing we are doing in our lives here – first because that would be incredibly boring and second – because the world doesn’t need to know everything.

So today, in an effort to keep it real, I share with you some of the bad/funny moments in my home.

– My youngest child woke up in the middle of the night last night and wouldn’t go back to to sleep so I finally put him in his crib where he cried loud and hard for an hour and a half. And I put the pillow over my head and attempted to go back to sleep.

– When his loud crying woke up Tia, I plopped her back in bed and when she started crying I shushed her sternly, threatening to throw away her Halloween candy if she woke Sloan up. (I did apologize for being so harsh this morning. In my defense it was 4:30 am and I’d already been awake for an hour and a half.)

– While I know that I should be working with Sloan every day on his English reading and his russian homework, I often times talk myself out of it simply because I’m lazy and don’t feel like it. I’m working on being more diligent so that I can pass that on to my children. It’s hard.

– I am over committed this holiday season. It’s almost feeling out of hand and all I can think is that I just need to get through the next 6 weeks and it will all get better.

– I suffer from mommy guilt a lot. I am constantly thinking about how I could have/should have done something better in my parenting (a post about how we are learning to parent intentionally is coming tomorrow). I have to work hard not to get bogged down in that attitude.

– I spend too much time on the computer. I’m working really hard at limiting my internet time so that I’m focusing more on my kids and my house. Is there a 12 – step program for that?

– My third born is a terrible eater. And I’ve never had a terrible eater before so I don’t know what to do with him. So many times I just let him drink his meals. This morning he had a cup of Emergen-C and a cup of diluted antioxidant water and two bites of pancakes. He just refuses to eat. It’s insane!

– I’m not very good at grocery shopping. I always spend a ton of money yet never seem to have anything for dinner. I know, I know – I should plan out my meals in advance so I get the right ingredients and save money…

– I’m not overly organized – see above.

– Sometimes I don’t start dinner until 5:00, which means we eat a lot of pasta and other quick and easy meals. Again, see above.

– Sometimes I drop my kids off in child care at the gym, then I go sit in the hot tub instead of working out.

Okay, that’s enough confessing for now. What about you all? Do any of you have any confessions you’d like to make? Do share.

Oh, and I do smell like roses when I sweat so I’ve got that going for me…

Filed Under: Blogging, Family, funny stuff that happens, Life, Motherhood Tagged With: Keepin' it Real in blogging

Memory of Halloweens Past

October 30, 2009 by Kelli

This morning, the kids got up long before Lee and I were ready. So as we laid in bed, they pitter pattered out to the living room. From the warmth of our bed, we could hear them digging through their little halloween buckets where the candy they racked up yesterday trick or treating at my dad’s office awaited their arrival.

Twice they came into our room to ask if they could have a piece. Twice I played bad cop and said no, not until after breakfast – because eating a sugar-filled-teeth-rotting-sugar-exploding morsel is way better after you’ve eaten a bowl of cereal. (eyeroll) Really, I just didn’t feel like I would be doing them justice as their mother if I allowed them candy at 6:30 in the morning.

Moments after their second rejection, I heard Sloan tell Tia that they should dump their buckets out and count their candy to see how much they had.

So with a tumble and a THWOP we heard the innards of their plastic buckets fall to the floor and the delighted giggles of two very excited children. After saying a silent prayer that they would have the same amount of candy I heard Sloan count to 14…twice.

“Tia, we both have 14 pieces!” he exclaimed. “That means we don’t have to fight!”

Yes. And it meant that mommy could lay in peace for a few more minutes. Praise God Almighty from Whom all blessing flow!

As I thought of them counting their little piles of candy, I remembered my trick or treating days when my brother and I would come home and share the same ritual. We would dump out our pillow cases of candy and take an inventory of our loot. Then, of course, the trading and bartering would commense.

I tended to trade the Twizzlers and M & M’s for Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and Skittles. Of course, I also hoarded the Bottle Caps and Pop Rocks and we both handed off the Sugar Daddies and Suger Babies to my dad, because those are his favorite. And we threw away the Nut ‘N Honey’s because, ew…

Then we would diligently count how many pieces of candy we had and hoot and hollar if we were fortunate to pass the 100 piece mark then squeal with delight if passed 200. We would plan out what we would eat when and how long it would take us to devour our treasures.

(Come to think of it, I wonder if my mom ever threw away a few pieces of our candy every day without us knowing so that we would ultimately not end up eating that much junk. Not that I do that…ahem.)

When it was all said and done and Brett and I were equally pleased with our final count, we would sit back and eat as much as mom would allow and rehash the night’s events remembering which house gave the best candy, who had the best costumes and how we nearly froze to death in the frigid Wisconsin weather.

Then we would head to bed, our stomach’s aching from over consumption and our head’s spinning from the rush of sugar.

Those are sweet (pun definately intended) memories. I miss my brother.

What are some of your favorite Halloween memories?

Filed Under: blast from the past, Family, Halloween, Holidays, Kids, Motherhood Tagged With: Halloween, Tick or Treating

Pumpkins and Funnel Cakes – A Lovely Combo

October 25, 2009 by Kelli

If you must know – there were also three Kool-Aids, two hot dogs and sloppy nachos involved. Yum…

Filed Under: Family, Halloween, Holidays, Kids, Life Tagged With: Rambachs Pumpkin Patch

There seems to be no escaping…

October 23, 2009 by Kelli

H1N1 is spreading around here like wildfire. Every day I hear of new cases, more schools closing and so on and so forth.

We decided not to vaccinate our kids against H1N1. We decided this for a couple of reasons. First of all, the vaccination is too new. I don’t trust it – plain and simple. And I cannot get a concenses from doctors as to whether or not it’s a good idea. Some say definately get it, others say definately don’t. So in my mind, the risks outweigh the benefits.

Second, I’m not even sure that I would be able to get it. Sloan’s school has to keep pushing back the date on the vaccine because they haven’t received their supplies yet and I would only be able to vaccinate him. I don’t even know that I could get it for the other two – if I wanted it, that is.

Third, I feel like it’s inevitable that we’re going to get the swine flu. I’m taking every precaution I can think of short of holing ourselves up and barring the door. The kids are getting double the amount of vitamin C, I’m faithfully administering their JuicePlus vitamins, I’m serving them more green vegetables and raw fruits, we’re washing hands, I’m *limiting the amount of dairy they receive, I’m washing sheets more frequently in hot water and so on and so forth. I’m not really sure what else I could be doing.

Despite all of that, however, I feel like this H1N1 thing is a ticking time bomb and I would almost rather we just get it and move on. I know that sounds terrible and I’m not hoping my kids get sick, but if they’re going to get it, I’d rather it happen sooner rather than later so we can move on our merry way.

I heard on the radio this morning there are 1300 confirmed cases of the swine flu in the St. Louis area, which is more flu than doctors usually report in an entire season. It really is spreading like the plague. Even my friend Nicole has been affected and she takes similar precautions to me.

So we’ll see what happens. I heard that this week there were 13 confirmed cases at Sloan’s school and five kindergartners were home sick today (I don’t know if they were any of the confirmed cases or not) so we’ll just take it one day at a time. I did get the kids a seasonl flu shot this year for the first time since 2006 in the hopes that if they do come down with the swine flu it will be a milder case. Who knows? It’s just crazy.

* There are studies that say that dairy products increase the amount of muscus your body produces, so by cutting back on dairy, I’m hoping to help their bodies eliminate as much unneeded mucus as possible. I can’t cut it out all together, as my kids love their milk. But I’m pretty much only giving it to them in the morning at this point, rather than throughout the day.

Anyway, moving on…

Today was Sloan’s first field trip to the pumpkin patch and oh my goodness he was excited. He’s talked about it all week. Yesterday when it rained all day long, Mother Nature and I had a long talk about how she better not ruin my boy’s first time to go somewhere with his class, and she obliged somewhat – if you count freezing cold and overcast obliging. But alas, at least there wasn’t any rain.

I didn’t think I would get to go because I didn’t have anyone to watch Tia and Landon, but at the last minute my friend Jessica offered to keep them and I was able to surprise Sloan and show up. I’m so glad I went! It was fun to see him in that environment. Thanks again Jessica!

And I think he was glad I was there. When no one was looking he gave me a big hug. Of course, when he was eating lunch with one of his friends, he said I was weird. Ha!

I’ll take it.

So that was a fun highlight of the morning. And now I’m off to get the house in order because Lee and I are going on a date tonight. A date! What is a date?!

I’m not sure what we’re going to do. We wanted to see our friend Joe and his band play downtown, but they aren’t going to start playing until 10:30 or 11:00. Couple that with the fact that our babysitter doesn’t drive, which means I’ll have to drive her home and the knowledge that we have three little alarm clocks that will drag us out of bed at the crack of dawn tomorrow.

Needless to say, we’re not going to do that to ourselves. Getting old bites.

We may go see a movie instead, which sounds like an old person thing to do, but I was thinking about it today and I’m pretty sure it’s been about two and a half years since Lee and I went to the movie theater together.

I think we’re due for a movie night…

Happy weekend!

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Life, Sickness, Sloan Tagged With: h1n1

Weekend Update

October 19, 2009 by Kelli

This weekend’s Interactive Festival went off smashingly. We had a great turnout (I believe there were just under 100 people there) and had relatively no major glitches.

We got a ton of positive feedback and people seemed to really enjoy themselves and learn a lot.

As for my panel – it went great! I didn’t stumble or stutter over my words, I kept the conversation flowing (thanks to a fabulous panel of speakers and a very participatory audience) and I didn’t once have to imagine someone in their underwear. Whew. I had a blast doing it and can’t wait for next year’s event!

As for the rest of the weekend – honestly, Interactive took up most of my weekend. The kids had a great time playing with their grandparents, since Lee was out of town visiting friends. On Sunday afternoon, I decided to take the kids to Twin Oaks Park for our annual picture taking session. I sat in on a photography panel on Saturday and was excited to try out the new tricks I learned.

I think out of 82 pictures I managed to come out with about 9 really good shots. Sooooo…I clearly need a little more practice. It didn’t help that Landon was 100% not into having his picture made, and Tia wasn’t overly thrilled either.

Here are a few that I got:

I don't think I got a single good shot of the three of them *sigh*

I asked Tia to give me her best pose and this is what she came up with.

I’ll be back tomorrow with actual content for you to read. In the meantime, have a blessed Monday!

Filed Under: Family, Kids, Landon, Random, Sloan, Tia Tagged With: St. Louis Interactive Festival, Twin Oaks Park

A fun little conversation

October 14, 2009 by Kelli

I don’t have much for you today. I’m so busy working on this Saturday’s St. Louis Interactive Festival that I haven’t had much time for anything else. Oh, and my internet was down all morning.

I KNOW, RIGHT?!

Please, if you are interested in attending the Interactive Festival, I encourage you to do so. We have some A-HA-MAZING speakers lined up. Seriously – top notch folks. Don’t believe me? Check out the St. Louis Bloggers Guild site and read for yourself. Every day this week, I have been writing out descriptions of each panel and giving you the bios of all our speakers.

It’s FREE to attend AND your registration includes breakfast, lunch and beverages! What a deal! You should come!!!

M’kay – moving on…

I had an interesting little conversation with Tia this morning as I got dressed. It went something like this.

Tia: “Mommy, I wike your undawear.”

Me: “Thanks, Tia.”

“Tia: “Who buyed dat for you?”

Me: “Nobody – I bought it for myself.”

Tia: “You buyed your own undawear?”

Me: “Yep.”

Tia: “Well, who buyed you your pants?”

Me: “Nobody. I bought these pants for myself.”

Tia: “Why you buyin’ you own cwothes?”