Chili's Coma

The other night we went to Chili's with a few friends, it was a busy night there and we waited for awhile and the kids were really hungry by the time they got their food.  

Shaw had a corn dog kids meal and 3 glasses of chocolate milk, he was a happy camper.  We were all visiting and Marinn leans over to Melissa and says, "SHHHHhhhh, Shaw is sleeping." And she looks over to see this....

 Shaw was totally out, in a Chili's coma.  This is very uncommon for any of my kids but it was soo hilarious.  How could we not take a picture??

Shortly after this we headed home and as we were walking to the car, Taurin says to Shaw, "Shaw Boy,  you looked so cute when you were sleeping in the rest-R-ant.  You looked sooo cute!"

Blaize & Bath Time

Being the fourth child in a land of little children some photo opportunities often get overlooked... I realized the other day that I had never taking pics of Blaize in the bath.  He LOVES the bath, if he hears you turn on the water he will head straight for the tub.  If it's not his turn for a bath he will gladly stand by the tub and watch, get splashed, reach his hand in an give the water a pat, drum on the side of the tub, and just enjoy himself being close to a bath. 

I often describe Blaize as a pleasant baby. He knows how to communicate vocally with words like "Yeah!" and loud shouts.  He crawls around looking for adventure and loves finding any object resembling a sword.  How I love my baby boy.

Healthy Eating.... Kid Style

Over the past few weeks we have been transitioning our eating habits to a much healthier way of living, more veggies and fruit and less sugar and dairy.  Anyhow, even though it is extremely challenging we are enforcing healthy eating not just for us but our entire family including a 5 year old, 3 year old, and 2 year old.  Have they complained at most of the dinners I have made in the last few weeks? YES! But they have eaten it and sometimes even enjoyed what I served.

Tonight I made hamburger patties with a tomato and cucumber salad and some sweet potato fries.  I thought the kids were going to be ecstatic at the idea of fries as part of our meal, but to my surprise they weren't interested in the fries and were asking for seconds of the tomato and cucumber salad.  I think I might be winning over their healthy taste buds!  Could it be?!

After dinner they were rewarded with a delicious healthy dessert:

1/3 sliced banana
1/8 C. blueberries
handfull of sliced almonds, large flake coconut, raisins
1/4 C. of Almond Milk

They really enjoyed their dessert, but asking Marinn what she thought she said it was good but it would have tasted even better with a large scoop of chocolate ice cream in the middle.  Ahhh glad to see they are still kids at heart.  ; )

Some perspective from a 3 year old...

The other morning Taurin was awake while Andrew was getting ready for work.  We had a conversation on one end of the couch while Andrew put his boots on at the other end.  It went something like this....

Taurin: "Dad is a cop mom."

Me: "Yeah, he is.  A cop is also called a police officer."

Taurin: With full confidence in her voice. "Yeah, and he saves us."

Me: "Yes he does, and he helps save other people too, and protect them from the bad guys."

Taurin: "Who are the bad guys mom?  What are their names?"

Me: "Well, I don't know their names but they are people who break the law, and hurt other people... stuff like that."

Taurin: "Yeah!  He is soo amazing!"

Me: "Yeah... he's kind of like a hero.  Like a super hero."

Taurin:  "Yeah! He IS a super hero!"

Andrew: "Taurin, mommy is silly."

Me: "Daddy is just trying to be humble Taurin."

Taurin: "Yeah Dad, you are being a humble."


How I love that she believes that he is the strongest, most amazing man in the world.  That's a good dad.

All I want for Christmas....

The other night as we were standing in line to see Santa I asked Marinn what she was going to tell him she wanted for Christmas.  She told me she couldn't say.  I reminded her that it was me and Daddy that bought the gifts so if she wanted something specific she should let us know.  Her reply was precious.
She said, "Mom, you and Dad can get me whatever you would like to get me, I will like it."
She was totally sincere and it just melted my heart.  She still wouldn't tell me what she was going to tell Santa.  After a good 45 min of waiting in line it was our turn.  Marinn and Taurin sat on his lap and he started to ask them if their room was clean and if they cleaned it themselves. He was a great Santa!  Then he asked Taurin what she wanted and she told him a baby doll.
Then he asked Marinn, she replied, "Some gloves, my hands are pretty cold."
We couldn't help but giggle when we heard her request, we had been standing outside in the cool weather for quite a long time and I guess gloves sounded like just the right thing for the moment.

Later the next day I mentioned getting rid of some of the old toys to make room for the new ones they would be getting for Christmas.  The next thing you know Marinn and Taurin have loaded up all of their toys but about 3 stuffed animals and anything that wouldn't fit in a Wal-Mart bag.  I was happy to see that they weren't so concerned about having it all and they would freely give it all up in a moment.  We went back through their toys and put some back so they would have something to enjoy until Christmas came.  I'm excited to see their faces light up on Christmas morning,  even more so feeling like they know the true meaning of Christmas and the joy of giving.

Health Food and Fasting

As parents we try to feed our kids healthy foods, but what do we do when they don't enjoy our selections?  Do we give in to their pleas of disgust and give them the bad stuff they enjoy? 

In general my children have done pretty well eating what I serve them,  I always try to make things taste good and allow them small servings at a time so they aren't overwhelmed by new flavors.  Recently there have been many meals where my kids just don't want to eat what I'm serving and the other night at dinner I was frustrated that no one was eating and asked Andrew what I should do to solve this problem.  He had an idea that we have seen used by friends that has been effective and decided it was time to get serious.  

THE RULE: When dinner is served you have 30 minutes to eat what you are served, if you do not complete your meal dinner is over and you can continue eating what was served for dinner at breakfast the next morning.  This rule continues to all remaining meals until it is finished.  

So... I let the kids know the rule even gave them some incentive of a piece of chocolate cake for finishing their dinner.  Here were the results.

Marinn: Quickly finished her food and happily enjoyed a piece of chocolate cake. 

Shaw: Ate a few bites and was dissatisfied with the flavor.  He was served the same meal for the following breakfast and ate a few more bites,  but still didn't complete the meal.  Lunch time came and his hunger got the best of him, he quickly finished the dinner and then gladly enjoyed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  

Taurin: Ate a few bites of the dinner.  Ate a few bites the next day at breakfast and lunch.  All day she was hilarious... she kept saying she was sleepy, that she wasn't hungry, giving us puppy dog eyes and asking for hot dogs.  The funniest part was I kept finding her laying like this....

Face down in the carpet, pitiful and patiently waiting our surrender.  Dinner came and she had about 5 bites of food remaining from the dinner before.  She finally finished and was rewarded with lots of mac and cheese, a hot dog, and a cheese stick.  

Since that day, meals have been pleasant.  Everyone is gladly finishing their food and actually complimenting the chef.  

Food Drive for Shaved Heads

Marinn's school is doing a food drive.  I sent her to school with a backpack full of cans letting her know that if they brought in enough the principal would shave his head.  She was excited about this idea and was fully willing to carry the load of cans for the cause. 

 

Andrew picked her up that afternoon from school and as she came in my mom asked her if she turned in her cans... she said very disappointed, "I didn't get my head shaved! Mom, I didn't bring enough to get shaved!"  I giggled that her competitive nature went so far that she wanted to win even if it meant her getting her head shaved.  She was seriously disappointed that she still had hair.  

After explaining that the principal would be the one shaving his head she was okay with the idea, and we sent her off again today with more cans. 

**This was a quick photoshopping adventure and I apologize for the poor quality, but I still think it's hilarious.... I actually used an old picture of Andrew's shaved head for this**