Disneyland Here we Come!

Yea!!!! We are leaving for Disneyland in just a few hours, so I better get packing. After we get back I will post some pics!

My promise

I can't believe that fall is here and I haven't posted about the kids much. I want to try to most more about what is happening with the kids. They are growing so fast and I'm not real good at keeping a journal, and I'm not real good at remembering the cute things that they say and do. So this is a promise that I will do better even if it is only a few lines of what was going on.

"The Mom" Song

Me and Riley watched this last week and thought it was hillarious. Thanks to ginger's blog I snaged the link and the lyrics

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/ver/223/popup/index.php?cl=4274384
"The Mom" song, sung to the William Tell Overture, by Anita Renfroe.What a mom says in 24 hours, condensed into 2 minutes and 55 seconds! Hilarious and talented! Lyrics for "The Mom Song" is given below. (Thank you BelleFlower15!)
"The Mom Song"
Get up now
Get up now
Get up out of bed
Wash your face
Brush your teeth
Comb your sleepyhead
Here's your clothes and your shoes
Hear the words I said Get up now!
Get up and make your bed
Are you hot?
Are you cold?
Are you wearing that?
Where's your books and your lunch and your homework at?
Grab your coat and gloves and your scarf and hatDon't forget!
You gotta feed the cat
Eat your breakfast, the experts tell us it's the most important meal of all
Take your vitamins so you will grow up one day to be big and tall
Please remember the orthodontist will be seeing you at 3 today
Don't forget your piano lesson is this afternoon so you must play
Don't shovel
Chew slowly
But hurry
The bus is here
Be careful
Come back here
Did you wash behind your ears?
Play outside, don't play rough, will you just play fair?
Be polite, make a friend, don't forget to share
Work it out, wait your turn, never take a dare
Get along! Don't make me come down there
Clean your room, fold your clothes, put your stuff away
Make your bed, do it now, do we have all day?
Were you born in a barn?
Would you like some hay?
Can you even hear a word I say?
Answer the phone!
Get off the phone!
Don't sit so close, turn it down, no texting at the table
No more computer time tonight!
Your iPod's my iPod if you don't listen up
Where are you going and with whom and what time do you think you're coming home?
Saying thank you, please, excuse me makes you welcome everywhere you roam
You'll appreciate my wisdom someday when you're older and you're grown
Can't wait till you have a couple little children of your own
You'll thank me for the counsel I gave you so willingly
But right now I thank you not to roll your eyes at me
Close your mouth when you chew, would appreciate
Take a bite maybe two of the stuff you hate
Use your fork, do not burp or I'll set you straight
Eat the food I put upon your plate
Get an A, get the door, don't get smart with me
Get a grip, get in here, I'll count to three
Get a job, get a life, get a PHD
Get a dose of,"I don't care who started it!
You're grounded until you're 36"
Get your story straight and tell the truth for once, for heaven's sake
And if all your friends jumped off a cliff would you jump, too?
If I've said it once, I've said at least a thousand times before
That you're too old to act this way
It must be your father's DNA
Look at me when I am talking
Stand up straighter when you walk
A place for everything and everything must be in place
Stop crying or I'll give you something real to cry about
Oh!
Brush your teeth, wash your face, put your PJs on
Get in bed, get up here, say a prayer with mom
Don't forget, I love you
And tomorrow we will do this all again because a mom's work never ends
You don't need the reason why
Because, because, because, because
I said so, I said so, I said so, I said so
I'm the mom, the mom, the mom, the mom, the mom!!
Ta da!!! (more)

English?

I saw this and Just had to laugh!


English --- Asylum for the Verbally InsaneAuthor unknown

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
but the plural of ox became oxen not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
yet the plural of moose should never be meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?

If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet,
and I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
and the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
but though we say mother, we never say methren.

Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
but imagine the feminine, she, shis and shim.
Let's face it - English is a crazy language.

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes,
we find thatquicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square,
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend?

If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.
In what other language do people recite at a play andplay at a recital?

We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns down,
in which you fill in a form by filling it out,
and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

So if Father is Pop, how come Mother isn't Mop?
And that is just the beginning - even though this is the end

Jack Loves Hannah Montana

Here's Jack on a lazy summer morning, jamming to Hannah Montana

Sam took a 3 hour Nap!

I can't believe that Sam took a 3 hour nap today! Normally he takes 30 min cat naps here and there and mostly just in the car. Over the weekend we got some things moved around in our bedroom so we could make room for the crib. And he's been sleeping better and better ever since.

Today I started the EASY plan again and it worked! I feed him, he played and then nap time came. He slept for an hour then started fussing do I gane him a binki and turned on the music and he settled right down and slept for another 2 hours!

Wow! I am so excited!

Good Job Sam

Maddies First Week of School

Maddie started school last Wednesday. She had been counting down the days until school started. She was so excited. She Has Mrs. Lundell and Mrs. Dalby. They team teach so she has Mrs. Dalby in the morning and Mrs. Lundell in the afternoon. Back to school night was Aug 31st and we got to meet them. They seem very nice and I love the homework program they have set up. So far she has loved school. Last week was early out all week and Monday was Labor day so today was her first long day at school. She loves being in first grade and has made new friends already. I'll get some picture posted of her first day later this week. Congratulations Maddie!

Sam's Ticker

Here's Jack's Ticker

Here is Madison's Ticker

Sam can roll over!

Two days ago Sam rolled over onto his tummy for the first time. He always rolled around and can even turn himself opposite of the way I laid him down but now he can roll to his tummy too. He doesn't quite know what to do when he gets there but I'm sure he'll figure that out too.

Be a More Positive Parent -Gail Reichlin

Alice, mother of three spirited boys under the age of 7, had made a recent promise to herself to change her discipline technique. "No more yelling, nagging, bribing, or threatening." But on Friday morning, feeling frazzled and with her kids running late for school, she reverted back to "automatic parenting pilot." She reeled off a rapid-fire list of demands: "Hurry up, you'll miss the bus!" she called out. "Eat your breakfast! Keep your hands off your brother!"

Alice is not alone. As we try to manage our kid battles, we sometimes snap and fall into old habits. But you can be assured that no matter how challenging the situation is in your home, you can begin using a strategy called positive discipline that will help you get the cooperation you're after without losing your temper or your sanity. A Better Way Positive discipline, based on love and limits, is common sense. It's often the simple, sensible choices we tend to overlook as options, especially when we're in the heat of a kid battle. Unlike punishment, positive discipline works to maintain the dignity of both child and parent by helping the child want to cooperate because he knows it's the right thing to do, not because he feels he has to comply "or else." It has three main objectives:
• To put a stop to misbehavior (such as whining, lying, hitting, tantrums).
• To encourage good behaviors (i.e., cleaning up, healthy eating, using manners).
• To strengthen the relationship between parent and child.

The starting place for positive discipline is with you. It involves modeling good behavior - the kind you'd like from your child. As you have already discovered, children will do as you do, not necessarily as you say. To review the kind of behavior you expect, schedule private discussions and family meetings to revisit a situation without blame, shame, fear, or guilt. When the child has input into solving the problem, he is more inclined to want to cooperate as planned when a similar situation arises. The process helps him feel important. But keep in mind that you have full veto power. Over time, a well-disciplined child learns to control his impulses, take responsibility, solve problems, and empathize with others.

In truth, changing your ways and your children's isn't easy, and it can be especially difficult to hold it together on crazy mornings like Alice had. But even if you find that what comes out of your mouth is not what you had practiced, don't worry. Your child will give you another chance - sooner than you think - to say it better.

8 Great Ways to Get Your Kids to Cooperate
• Acknowledge strong feelings. A child who feels understood sees you as on his side rather than on his back and is more likely to cooperate. Say, "I noticed how angry you get when you're having fun and have to leave your friend's house. Let's practice a happy goodbye for tomorrow. How would that look and sound?"
• Talk less. Say what needs to be done in a single word if you can. "Coat." "Breakfast." "Teeth." Children hate long explanations, which often turn into a screaming tirade of reasons it must be done. You're also modeling self-control.
• Tell your child what he can do, rather than what he cannot do. For example, "We pet the cat" works better than, "Don't pull the cat's tail like you did last week." This serves as a reminder of an acceptable action rather than of what your child did wrong.
• Give limited choices. Say to your child, "You can get in your car seat all by yourself or Mommy will help you do it. Do you need my help? It's your choice." Most toddlers will say, "Self, self . . . I do it." The more you do this, the more you'll get "self" cooperation.
• Lighten up. Make inanimate objects do the talking for you. If you want your child to put on his shoes, for instance, make the shoes say, "Please put your feet in my tummy." Toddlers will usually happily comply, at least once.
• Rewind! This announcement means that your child will "take back" her words and actions and start anew with good behavior. Silly babble and walking backwards indicate the bad behavior has been "erased." In order for this to be effective, it must be introduced, demonstrated, and talked about repeatedly, outside the heat of the moment.
• Take a break. To calm a frustrated child, stop and breathe together. Say, "Looks like you need a break; let's breathe together." Sitting across from each other, holding hands, inhale slowly and deeply three times. Say, "I'm feeling relaxed now."
• Take a silly break. A sense of humor is very positive and often works well to stop misbehavior. When things are out of control, consider declaring, "We need to get silly!" Dance, sing the "silly song," tell a joke, talk in a silly voice or a foreign language. The children will join right in - or at least stop misbehaving long enough to watch the show!

From Parent & Child magazine

Summer Fun

So far the summer is half over and we have had some fun! Maddie loves to play with her friends right up until bedtime. She FINALLY turned six. She has been waiting for her birthday ever since last year. She got lots of fun toys including the slip'n'slide Ryan got her and a sprinkler to run through. Every Thursday they go to Grandma Dablings (black grandma) house to play. There they always have a full day of fun like swimming, feeding the horses, movies, and the playhouse muesum. And of course, we had a very fun fourth of July. Jack is quite the character. He loves to rough house and he loves to play with Maddie and her friends. Its funny, but when he gets around boys he's not sure what to do. We did find a friend for him too though, Riley's friend Derek has a boy about Jacks age and they play good together. So we have someone to have a playdate with, Yea! Sam is just a fun little soul. He is really a big smiler, we are waiting for the first giggle, he is so close. (Maddie can't wait either so that a new fairy will be born) So far, me, Sam and Maddie went to Lake Powell with the Porters and Riley and Jack went to the cabin. We split up just because Riley couldn't get off work and we were worried about Jack on the houseboat. But this weekend we are going to the cabin together so that will be fun.Here are some pictures of our fun summer days.

Happy Birthday Madison!

Today is Madions Birthday. We celebrated with family tonight with the Poters, Dablings, and Grandma Beers. Tonight we had dutch oven potatoes, beans, and chicken, and salad, fruit, and pie and cake for dessert. Maddie then opened her presents and she got a lot of great stuff, thanks you guys! She loved the slip n' slide uncle Ryan and new aunt Emilee gave her, so much so that they set it up and started sliding on it in their clothes (they meaning, Riley, Ryan, Jack and Madison) great gift Ryan and you can come over and play with it whenever you want to. She loved all the clothes she got from Grandma Dabling, Great Grandma Beers and Grandma Porter. She got some cool sticker books from Chad and Melissa, some workbooks from Grandma and Grandpa Porter. She loves her Sleeping Beauty barbie and horse from Mimi, Timmy, and Channdra. She got fairies and pet shop animals and a my little pony. Wow what a great birthday finished with a homemade cake that was supposed to look like a round of Swiss cheese. (Due to the ratatouille movie theme that we will see tomorrow with her friends. ) All in all it was a great day. Thank you Heavenly Father for all of our blessings!
Happy Birthday Madison! I love you.

"This is the Place" -Brigham Young

Today we took the family on an outing to This is the Place Heritage Park. We a wonderful day together. The kids loved the petting farm! We also rode in a wagon, ate hot dogs and hamburgers, went on a train ride, and saw a snake. It was a fun filled day for the Dablings.

Once upon a time.... in real life
I thought I would start a new blog that was just about the life of the Dablings. It will be more of a journal of our lives and what goes on as the kids grow.