Natural Consequences

So for the most part I have tried to raise Miss A (yes I have changed her blog name once again) as natural as possible and as I was reading MckMama's blog the other day I came across one of her many awesome posts about natural consequences and the wheels started to turn in my head. My mom and I always like to refer back to WAY back when they didn't have this or that and as I was growing up I heard a lot of "be careful" (especially from my dad) which now being a parent I completely get, but at the same time I feel like he used that phrase so much that it never left an impact and even before finding out I was pregnant with Miss A I knew I didn't want to do that (unless needed). I wanted her to be able to make mistakes and learn from them (trust me I have made enough mistakes and I've learned more from those mistakes then I could EVER learn from a billion "be careful's". With that said I have decided to try this out with her. Last night was a good experience. She decided to throw her noodles on the floor and I told her that if she kept throwing her noodles on the floor she would have to pick them up (which was kind of hard for me not to just stop her right there and then and was also hard for me to not just let the dogs out and eat them up for her). So when she was done I told her to pick them up and she started to with good spirits and pretending her noodles were people diving into her bowl, but she started to slow down and lose interest and I told her that if she didn't pick them up she would get a time out and she started to cry and tell me that her hands were to little *grin*. So I told her to go sit in time out. A few minutes later I went and got her and we compromised and I helped her out which I didn't want to do, but I also didn't want to make this into a two hour ordeal. And obviously different circumstances may need to be handled differently, but I don't think she will be throwing noodles on the floor any time soon! *grin* Alright time to get off to the dentist!

Holidays!!!

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving. Mine went well I'm not huge into the traditional food served for Thanksgiving (go figure) *grin* but I did eat it anyways. Last year I think my dad actually made a roast especially for me haha. This year was great anyways. We did our traditional board game playing as usual and pumpkin pie. From here until Christmas will be so crazy busy I can't even believe it. My sister was trying to schedule our annual photo that we do for my mom and dad (the four siblings and four grand kids) and it was actually really difficult to find a time that would work for us all (me being the easiest schedule to deal with being that I am a SAHM and I don't have much for a social life *grin*). Hopefully any of you who did their Christmas shopping on black friday found everything they needed. I already have pretty much all of my gift shopping done. Just a few stocking stuffers I need to get for Arissa. See I do a lot of my Christmas shopping year round like if I find something on sale. One of our families somewhat new traditions is to go to the Macy's eighth floor and the Holidazzle parade. It's a lot of fun and gets you pumped up for Christmas. I would love to hear some of your traditions or maybe arts and crafts projects you do with your kids or you did as a kid.

Proud...

is the only word I can find to describe how I feel about this awesome young man. He is my cousin who I feel probably closest to... which we actually haven't been very close for a while not because we don't want to, but because of things like both being busy teenagers with our friends and me having a baby (which for me made my interests change tremendously and his not so much) and everything in between. I hope that with our future we will grow close together. He is two years younger then me and for a couple of years growing up lived two houses away. We played anything from Power Rangers to playing house with baby dolls. He started boot camp 2 months ago and he just graduated. Now I can't put words into his mouth, but he always seemed somewhat lost in the crowd (which I can't say much different for myself) and I really hope this helps him find out who he really is. From what I have heard this experience has helped him grow and I am just so extremely proud of him. I think he is extremely brave for deciding to go into the military. His dad is also in the military and has been for MANY years so my cousin actually knows a lot more then the average person and was still brave enough to make this choice. I pray to God that He watches over all the troops and helps them along their long journey. I pray that any troops over seas get home safely to their loved ones. I would like to thank every soldier out there for serving our country. Thank you...

Brilliant!

Well maybe not brilliant, but a pretty good idea I think. Arissa is a candy junky. I am honestly embarrassed with how many times a day she asks for it and also how many times a day I actually give in. So I was thinking tonight how I can handle this with a compromise and what I came up with was if she asks for candy she first must have a healthy snack (fruits or veggies preferably). I'm really hoping it works and so far so good. Twice tonight she has asked for candy and I made her eat some banana first and she didn't disagree. If any of you have any other helpful ideas I would love to hear them. I have considered just not carrying any candy in the house, but is difficult seeing as though I live with other adults who I can't boss around *grin*.

So on another note look at this little model! Ooftah she is going to be trouble with a capital T!

Nothing...

Absolutley nothing has been going on here and that is exactley why I haven't posted anything for over a WEEK! We've been sick here and there the last week and a half. Just little stuff like sinus stuff and coughs, no biggy! Actually the funniest thing that has happened in a while just happened this evening. A conversation with Arissa...

It all started with me getting a boogy out of her nose and it was kind of a slippery one. Well this slippery boogy ended up slipping off my finger at the same moment that her mouth was wide open... (you can guess what happened next)

Me: Oh my a boogy just went in your mouth.

Arissa: *eyes get big* YUMMY!!!

Me: Your boogy is yummy?

Arissa: YES! It went in my belly and down into my toes. *grin*

I know pretty sad that a three year old eating a boogy is the funniest thing that has happened in quite a while. Thank goodness we have playgroup tomorrow YAY and even more exciting because it is at ikea!

Wordless Wednesday

TrIcK oR tReAt!!!

A. had a great Halloween and even learned a new Halloween phrase from one of her buddies "Trick or treat... smell my feet... give me something good to eat". It is actually kind of cute (for now)...

Here is a picture of A. and her playgroup buddies at the library Halloween morning dressed up to watch Halloween movies.

Here is a picture of the princess, the ghost (aunt M.), and the scarey guy (papa).

Here is the princess with two of her three "girls" (cousins) huge props to their other grandma who makes awesome costumes!