Aidan's 6th Birthday

Happy 6th Birthday, Aidan!

Aidan opened gifts in the am after his requested breakfast of scones, cheesy eggs and bacon.

There was his first Bible, hymn book and bible case....

Which led to this later in the afternoon.  I already feel good about the purchase!

Then we took cupcakes to Explora, but first stopped by to see our friends, the Rudolphs, as they passed through town.  So fun!

After a lunch at Sonic, we went and tried our hand at miniature golf.  It was a first for the kids, and they ended up liking it!  Not that we stuck to the rules exactly...

Then we came home and had cake, mint chip ice cream, and white grape punch with floating lime sherbet in it.  No supper.  Just cake.

Aidan successfully turned 6!  And now my baby doesn't have much "baby" left of him!  He still lets me snuggle and he will allow some lap time before he's off and running again. =)

Aidan loves a poem that my mother taught me, that I seem to recall she learned from her dad.

When I was one, I was just begun.

When I was two I was nearly new.

When I was three I was hardly me.

When I was four I was not much more.

When I was five I was just alive.

But now I'm six and as clever and clever.

So I think I'll stay six, for now and forever!

An Accidental Parenting Technique

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a way to handle sibling fights that seems to work!  I've been talking to my sisters about it, and now I keep hearing what a great idea it is.  And I think to myself, "Oh yeah! I need to remember to keep doing this!"

One weekend, two kids came up to me crying and talking over each other about how they had been wronged.  I turned and looked at them, and decided to just keep listening to them until they had nothing left to say.  After a few minutes of talking, they both fell silent, waiting to see what I would do.  I felt calm.  I had decided ahead of time that because of all the screaming and yelling, they would both hang the wet laundry.  So I made a remark like "Thank-you for telling me."  Then I told them that because of the yelling and upset in the house, they needed to go hang the laundry.  And off they went!

Not a tear, not a complaint, they just headed out and hung up the laundry.  I was flummoxed, I can tell you!  I expected at least some little complaint about doing a chore.  But they just went and did it.  So I've talked to sisters and thought about why this happened because I'd like to understand what is at work here.  One sister suggested that it felt good to the kids to be "heard".  And that just being heard can alleviate frustration.  Another sisters suggested that it felt fair to the kids not to have me make a judgement "against" one or the other.  And I wonder if me being calm and not getting angry and trying to sort it all out keeps them from feeling so angry.

Whatever it is, I'm glad I told my sisters about it.  Now they can help keep me accountable by asking how that technique continues to work for me. =)

This may be somewhat "love and logic-y" although I haven't been a devoted scholar so can't claim to be using their methods exactly.  But I have read one of the books and like the idea of separating oneself from parents giving out consequences to more of empathizing with the kid as they experience negative repercussions of their choices.  And I do like the love and logic method very much, just haven't been terribly conscientious about following it.

SchoolRoom ~ the after pictures

My friends, I posted the before pictures of my school room so that I would be inspired (shamed) into finishing it.

At last, I have almost everything done in this room.  And I love it!  So here are some after pictures to show:

To the left, the worktable, piano and loveseat facing the computer desk.

To the right, the treadmill with our best work over it.

One master closet painted and turned into...

a Library

And puppy dog tails hold up the backpacks for their long trek to school.

Today was our second quarter awards ceremony.

Goals were met, prizes awarded and achievements acknowledged.

How To Safely Cook Onions

No Tears

My Sister Is Published!

Yippie skippie and a whoop, stomp, clap!

Congrats to my sister, Gina, who in short has worked very hard and is beginning to see a return on her investment.

Now for the "in long".

Girl, you gotta comment and tell us more, but I'll do my best.  My sister got her degree, then her Masters from Portland State in Conflict Resolution.  With her recent graduation, so many possibilities have popped up and now she's a published writer!  She's at the beginning of so many NEW things, spearheading movements and opening doors.  This is a relatively new field, and the applications are just  beginning to ignite and spark outward into so many new and different areas.

Also, she has done all of this schooling, researching and graduating WITH a family, including having a second baby boy in the middle of it all.  A feat that impresses me.

After I read the article she wrote, I decided it was something I needed to share.  I'm on board, and I agree with Gina's perspective.  In having a husband who is fitted perfectly for creating things of the nuclear sort AND who disagrees with it... it means that I hear a lot about nuclear clean-up, hazardous waste and the need for solutions.  Solutions he believes are out there, and if he could get paid to do it, he'd be interested himself.  But does he move the whole family to a leaking nuke site?  =)  It has been discussed!  When someone has specialized knowledge in an area, and they are deeply concerned, it makes sense to get concerned yourself!

So get concerned, loved ones!  And maybe we can get concerned to good effect.

And now, Gina speaks her piece.
In this publication, a video has been added to explain more about the origins and purpose of the site in question, and includes a bit more basic info of the site in the article itself:
http://www.theskanner.com/article/Goverment-Failure-to-Deal-with-Hanford-Radioactive-Leaks-is-Massive-Betrayal-2013-03-01
This article includes her photograph:
http://www.huntingtonnews.net/56317

and I just got an update: this article is now in three publications only 24 hours after submission.  GREAT JOB, GINA!!! =)