The power of your thoughts

The Man Who Thinks He Can

If you think you are beaten, you are;

If you think you dare not, you don't.

If you'd like to win, but think you can't

It's almost a cinch you won't

If you think you'll lose, you're lost,

For out in the world we find

Success begins with a fellow's will;

It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are.

You've got to think high to rise.

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man;

But sooner or later the man who wins

Is the one who thinks he can.

-Walter D. Wintle

Fib

Katelynn has discovered the power of the "fib". We have had to have several conversations about the small little lies that kids tend to tell, usually to get themselves out of trouble.

I am not a fan of these small, seemingly harmless, fibs. They tend to grow into something much more and starts a bad habit of lying.

Yesterday, Katelynn and Justin were playing and Justin had hidden underneath a blanket. Katie knew he was there and purposely sat on top of him, hurting him. I know she did not mean to hurt him..they were playing. She quickly apologized and made sure he was ok. When he came to me upset, she followed saying that she didn't know he was there.

She then found herself in time out. Not for hurting him, that happens when you are playing and the hurt was not done on purpose, but because of the fib of not knowing he was there.

Later last night, Katie was drawing a maze on a piece of paper. She did not finish and started playing something else. When I came across the maze in my cleaning, I quickly finished it for her. When she returned to the maze later she was amazed to see it completed and asked who had done it. I played dumb, having fun with the two kids (Justin had gotten in on the mystery too!). Later when I admitted to finishing it, Katelynn had sentenced me to time out for my fib. I took my punishment like a big girl. She was right. I hadn't even realized that my playing was the same kind of fib as she had done earlier.

Lesson learned...LOL

A week into it

I'm so proud of myself! LOL I know that sounds funny! I'm proud of the whole family!

It has been a week without a bottle!!! She still asks for it and gets a bit upset when I had her a sippy of milk instead of her "Bah" but she isn't protesting as much! I am so excited!

AND....

Yesterday I finally put her in big girl panties!

She wanted to wear every pair she had, but we compromised with putting on two pair. However, that didn't last long. After the second accident, we moved on to one pair at a time. She had several accidents last night, but she would scream "potty" and finish on the toilet every time..so I am still considering it a success.

Now, I just need to stick with it! ::crosses fingers::

Love ya!

Busy busy busy busy

Monday I started my new job. I am now officially a Business Lending Consultant. The job is a bit complicated and involved working on several different systems but I am confident that I will get it all in no time.

So please bear with me during this slow blogging period. I will have a few minutes of spare time eventually, just not right away.

I love you all!!

First Night

Ok...Last night I finally did it! I put Ciara to bed without a bottle!!

I am so proud of myself!

She was not a happy camper. She screamed and screamed and screamed for over an hour. When I tried to give her a sippy cup of water she would throw it at me. So she went to bed with nothing.

Let's hope this stage doesn't last too long.

Little Slugger

With the nice weather, we have been playing outside more and more. Justin's favorite activity is playing catch with Dad. Katelynn likes it too, but not nearly as much.

Justin has gotten really good at catching and throwing. And is very proud of that fact. The other day Shawn pulled out a little baseball bat at handed it to Justin with no instructions. I made a comment about being careful not to break any windows and Shawn laughed, "He won't hit it yet." He throws the ball and BAM! Justin hits the ball first try! That boy is a natural!

It is so fun to watch them play together!

If I Were A Snowflake

This is one of Katelynn's journal entries from school. I thought it was really cute and wanted to share it with you. It makes me laugh every time I read it.

The subject was: If I were a snowflake.

I would land sumwer. I do not know where I would land. I thinck I would land on the grawnd and roofs and porches and other stuf. I do not want to be a snowflake. I would maby want to be a snowflake. If I was a snowflake I would be pritty and sparckly and flat and I would melt when I tuct the grond.

I can see a huge improvement in her spelling from when this was written in December til now. It amazes me what a few months can do!

Parent Teacher Conference

Last night was parent teacher conference. I'm lucky because Katelynn loves school and loves to learn therefore I am always excited for these meetings because I know I will be hearing great things about my daughter. Yesterday was no different!

Katelynn is doing awesome in school! She is excelling in her reading, math, Spanish and penmanship. In fact, the teacher wants to move Katie up to third grade reading! Katie has also started multiplication and cursive penmanship. Although right now, she is in the very very early stages of cursive writing. And she writes it better than she can read it. We are very proud of her!

She does have difficulty however, in turning in her homework. So we will be focusing on getting her better in that habit. That is definitely not something I want to continue.

So I just wanted to give a shout out to my Baby Girl! Fantastic job Katelynn!!! Keep up the great work!!

RE: Potty Girl!

Just a quick note regarding my Potty Girl post!

Ciara is doing amazing!! This weekend we found out that she has an ear infection in both of her little ears so I decided not to worry too much about the potty. Sunday during breakfast she told Shawn, "poo" and tugged at her little butt. There was no poop in her diaper so he took her to the bathroom, set her on the toilet and she went potty! What a big girl! Poo Poo in the Potty!!

YAY!!!!!!

Training Wheels

Yesterday I took a little nap on the couch. When I woke up, my kids had no training wheels on their bikes and they were riding like pros!! I am so excited for them!

Way to go Katie and Justin!!

(Thanks for being patient with the pictures. Sorry about the light blinding you in the background!)

Potty Girl!!

I'm trying really hard to not get too excited! I know it is very early!! Buuuuut

Ciara has been going peepee in the potty!!!

She has been talking a lot of potty talk for a couple of months now. And she doesn't like to be in a dirty diaper.

Awhile ago, I started sitting her on the toilet before she'd get in the bath...it terrified her. She would hold onto the sides with a little death grip. So I backed off.

This weekend I pulled out our little potty just to see what she'd do. At first she didn't like it at all. I couldn't even get her to sit on it.

Then I asked Katie to sit on it and show her sister how to use it...that was the trick!

She goes pee pee in the potty whenever I remember to sit her on it. She doesn't really ask to do it on her own, but does really good if I put her on it. And boy, does she get excited when she is successful!

We have now taken the top of the potty and put it on the actual toilet seat..that seems to be working well too!

Again, I'm trying not to get too excited, but she is doing so well! I am so proud of her! I am really really REALLY hoping that we can get her potty trained in time for our vacation! Wouldn't that be nice!?!

Haylee's first sleep over!

I am so excited!! Haylee has always been a "mommy's girl". She didn't really want to be anywhere that her mommy wasn't going to be. She wouldn't mind playing for a couple of hours or so as long as she knew that Jenn was coming right back to get her. The idea of spending the night without her mom or dad absolutely terrified her.

I have been asking Haylee to come sleep over for awhile. Every time I talk to her I try and talk her into it. And every time she says she will if her mom or dad does. Well, that's not going to happen...at least very often.

So it was quite a surprise when I was talking to Haylee on the phone while Jenn was dropping Darrien off at his grandma's and she said yes! She wanted to sleep over! What was the magic trick?? High School Musical 3!! I told her I had the movie and wanted to watch it with her! And it worked!!

Everyone was amazed!

So her mommy hesitantly dropped her off at my house and left. Haylee did fantastic!! She was such a big girl! She had a few moments of anxiety later in the evening but they didn't last more than a few seconds and she was happy again! By the time she woke up in the morning she was so happy and proud of herself! She now says that she wants to sleep over again soon! I am so happy! And I'm glad that her mommy and daddy were able to have a little alone time!

I love you sweet Haylee!!