Friday night I started not feeling well ( a little cough, and just generally achy) . Saturday I had a mild version of stomach flu, and pretty much slept the whole weekend until about 1 or so today. It felt like such a wasted weekend. So tonite we went out to dinner, and then the girls and I watched the Nancy Drew movie on demand. It was so great! Nancy Drew books were the first books I can remember reading, and thus sparked my lifelong love of reading. I was in the 2nd grade when I first read "Secret of Shadow Ranch". Another girl had checked it out from our school library and as soon as she returned it I grabbed it up. The rest is history.
P.S. If you love Nancy Drew you will love this that was a gift from my girls and Mark last Christmas. It is every aspiring super sleuths dream to have a peek into Nancy Drews diary/scrapbook.
Showing posts with label best books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label best books. Show all posts
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
a little patience
After yesterdays online class, I thought a lot about having more patience and spending more quality time with my kids. I struggle with this a lot, because I feel like there is always so much to do around home, and so many things to get done at work, etc. I find myself tired and snapping at them when I should just take a deep breath!
My biggest challenge in life is to let the small stuff go, or "don't sweat the small stuff".
This has been very, very hard but I feel as the weeks and months go on this has become easier. Part of A New Earth (the book and online class I mentioned in yesterdays post) that I have already learned is about knowing that you can only control yourself and not what others do. I think I am a little bit of a control freak and I come by it naturally. When I think about mornings around our house I get tense and this is because the girls are so difficult and lots of tantrums occur. I usually react to this but now have a different approach that I hope will work, and become "routine" for me. And who knows it just may be a much smoother time in the mornings for us around here. Today actually went really well and I can say that I did not have one fit from either child. I almost want to pinch myself! When I felt a conflict come up this morning, instead of correcting the girls or trying to change their behavior, I took the class suggestion from yesterday and imagined the kids negative words passing through me instead of staying with me and making me mad. This may sound a little strange, but it really worked. And the best thing is that it was a very simple thing to do, with a much better outcome than in days past. I know it will take some time to become a thing that I don't have to consciously think about, but it will be worth the work if we can have much better time together with the kids.
And with that I am out! And now I can't get the Guns n Roses song out of my head "...a little patience...ya ya."
My biggest challenge in life is to let the small stuff go, or "don't sweat the small stuff".
This has been very, very hard but I feel as the weeks and months go on this has become easier. Part of A New Earth (the book and online class I mentioned in yesterdays post) that I have already learned is about knowing that you can only control yourself and not what others do. I think I am a little bit of a control freak and I come by it naturally. When I think about mornings around our house I get tense and this is because the girls are so difficult and lots of tantrums occur. I usually react to this but now have a different approach that I hope will work, and become "routine" for me. And who knows it just may be a much smoother time in the mornings for us around here. Today actually went really well and I can say that I did not have one fit from either child. I almost want to pinch myself! When I felt a conflict come up this morning, instead of correcting the girls or trying to change their behavior, I took the class suggestion from yesterday and imagined the kids negative words passing through me instead of staying with me and making me mad. This may sound a little strange, but it really worked. And the best thing is that it was a very simple thing to do, with a much better outcome than in days past. I know it will take some time to become a thing that I don't have to consciously think about, but it will be worth the work if we can have much better time together with the kids.
And with that I am out! And now I can't get the Guns n Roses song out of my head "...a little patience...ya ya."
Monday, March 24, 2008
Doing what oprah tells me to do!
So the joke in our house is that I do whatever Oprah tells me to do. I don't really, it just seems that way. Often she has some really great shows, and has featured a lot of wonderful books in her book club. I have always loved to read, Mark loves to read and it shows in our house by how many books we have and how much our children love to read. I can't say that I have read every book ever picked for the Oprah book club, but it is pretty darn close. I did however have some trouble deciding if I was going to read the newest book A New Earth . As a general rule I loathe "self-help" books. But I have heard a lot of buzz about it and have seen a few people who have chose to read it, so I decided to give it the once over while I was in Barnes and Noble the other day. After reading the back and a couple of pages of the first chapter I decided to give it a try.
Turns out I love it! Today I took a chance and decided to get online to take the class (they are offered every monday-one chapter a week) even though it was on chapter 4, and I am still on chapter one. So the class went a little over an hour, and much of what was discussed really hit home with me, which was shocking. It is no secret that I am struggling with the kids lately in the patience department and certain "attitude" problems with our oldest. It will be a real test to see if I can take some of what I learned today and start applying it in my every day life. I can't wait to read more, and go back and take the classes on the other chapters. Best of all, the online classes are free! Here's to looking at things from a different perspective, and for more calmness in our house.
Turns out I love it! Today I took a chance and decided to get online to take the class (they are offered every monday-one chapter a week) even though it was on chapter 4, and I am still on chapter one. So the class went a little over an hour, and much of what was discussed really hit home with me, which was shocking. It is no secret that I am struggling with the kids lately in the patience department and certain "attitude" problems with our oldest. It will be a real test to see if I can take some of what I learned today and start applying it in my every day life. I can't wait to read more, and go back and take the classes on the other chapters. Best of all, the online classes are free! Here's to looking at things from a different perspective, and for more calmness in our house.
Monday, January 7, 2008
peek into my week
As a rule I generally don't like all of this reality t.v. that is on every stinkin chanel these days. I do like the competition shows like the biggest loser and dancing with the stars . So how happy am I that Bruno and Carrie Ann from Dancing with the Stars (judges) have their own show that started tonite. It is a little American Idol crossed with Dancing with the Stars and I love it. And how much do I love that Harry Connick jr. is doing commercials and one is on right now? I love that guy. Ok, got sidetracked there for a minute-sorry! Anyways I really like the new show.
Tonite for dinner I made our family favorite, low-carb pizza. I won't post a recipe here, because you can do many variations on it, but if someone wants to know my recipe give me a comment, and I will email you privately. Basically it does not have a dough crust and you can put any topping on that you like. We usually do bacon, but you could do veggies, or other meat(s). Everyone at our house loves it and that is saying a lot because we have two very picky eaters here!
Scrapbooking is coming right along. Here is a peek at a layout I did tonite which took me less than 20 minutes...that includes narrowing down the pictures. I am all about the basic page these days. I am looking forward to everyone coming over here on Friday. I feel like a lot is going to be accomplished, and it is the best to hang out together. The girls won special awards at school, and will be at the sock hop/pizza party celebration for all students who get the award. I know they will be having a great time with their friends!
Today I started a new book called songs of the humpback whale. So far so good. It is by my favorite author Jodi Picoult.
Tonite for dinner I made our family favorite, low-carb pizza. I won't post a recipe here, because you can do many variations on it, but if someone wants to know my recipe give me a comment, and I will email you privately. Basically it does not have a dough crust and you can put any topping on that you like. We usually do bacon, but you could do veggies, or other meat(s). Everyone at our house loves it and that is saying a lot because we have two very picky eaters here!
Scrapbooking is coming right along. Here is a peek at a layout I did tonite which took me less than 20 minutes...that includes narrowing down the pictures. I am all about the basic page these days. I am looking forward to everyone coming over here on Friday. I feel like a lot is going to be accomplished, and it is the best to hang out together. The girls won special awards at school, and will be at the sock hop/pizza party celebration for all students who get the award. I know they will be having a great time with their friends!
Today I started a new book called songs of the humpback whale. So far so good. It is by my favorite author Jodi Picoult.
Happy Monday everyone.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
This girl is funny
I reserved a great book at the library by Amy Sedaris and it is really funny, plus has some great recipes in it. Even for those of you who are :
1. Not female
2. Kitchen challenged
3. Don't usually read a lot
This book is a must read! It has a lot of subtle humor in it.
1. Not female
2. Kitchen challenged
3. Don't usually read a lot
This book is a must read! It has a lot of subtle humor in it.
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