I can't tell you how long I've been waiting for this...

Any of you who know me at all, know that I am a BIG lover of books and have been since I can remember. The fact that my husband is ALSO a big lover of books means that our house is full of them. To the tune of six bookshelves and growing. To be perfectly honest, I can't think of a single member of our immediate family that doesn't have at least one book going at all times.

Due to this fact, it shouldn't be hard for you to imagine that one of the things that I have MOST looked forward to in this parenting adventure, is the chance to pass along this love of books to the schnitz. Now, it didn't start out in such a promising fashion. Until about a year or so ago, his response to our reading to him was at best to ignore us, at worst, to throw the book across the room. I wasn't too interested in making him hate reading at the tender age of one and so I decided to be patient and just let him come to the decision that they were worth his time (this is the way he's done everything from walking to talking, so why would this be different?). Well, that phase has passed and he has developed more than a substantial interest...yay! And as excited as I have been about that, I've been waiting for the day that he would be ready for the books that I remember loving when I was little. Since my memory doesn't extend back to my very earliest days, I've had to have a bit of patience in this area. However, tonight we took a trip to Borders and I FINALLY got to indulge myself! I just had to share the books we got with y'all because I have a feeling that it's not just Brad and I who will be taking a stroll down memory lane with these! Enjoy!

And can I just say how happy it made me, in my heart, that he wanted us to read "The Poky Little Puppy" to him three times before bed? He just made my day!:-)

Who doesn't like a playdate?

The nice weather we've been having over the last couple of weeks has led to a LOT more time to get out and enjoy ourselves. There's just something about a day of sunshine and warm temperatures that makes it seem just this side of criminal to spend the day indoors! (Mind you, we've now hit what looks to be a two week stretch of clouds and rain, but that's neither here nor there:-)

I have to admit, Rusty definitely gets the bulk of the playdates around here, but I've had a lot of fun just being outside. We're very fortunate to have a fantastic park just down the street and we've been making good use of it. Here's a couple of pictures from a day when just the schnitz and I were hanging out at the park and then a week ago when we had the opportunity to hang out with some of our friends.

The schnitz ALWAYS find a puppy to love on while we're at the park.

I had to include this just because the expression on his face cracked me up!

My friend, Amy's, little girl...isn't she just the cutest thing you've ever seen??

My son is part monkey, we're pretty sure. He started climbing this thing about six months ago...hopefully our health insurance will cover the heart attack he's going to give me one of these days!

Me: "You're supposed to go down on your hiney!" Schnitz: "Heh heh heh heh....BYE!"

Does anyone else think that this child truly needs a dog??

I've always wondered about the wisdom of putting a rusty horse statue in a park full of kiddos, but the schnitz found him absolutely fascinating.

Taking a break from playing to eat a bit of lunch.

Ahhhh....life is good!

In addition to our more "spontaneous" playdates, the schnitz is also part of a playgroup that meets every Friday. There are four of us moms and six kiddos that are involved in this. We each host one Friday per month. One of the cool things about this is that two of my friends live out in the country. One has two horses which you know is a hit. The other has a big, shaggy, black dog which the schnitz thinks is just fantastic stuff. I personally like the drive out to their homes and think it's great for the kids to have so much room to run around and have fun! It's especially nice now that it's spring. Things are finally starting to turn green and last week was just really pretty. It was all quite blissful, to be honest, until the dog actually caught the ground squirrel he was digging for. That was a bit more "circle of life" intensive than I think either Elysha or I were prepared for. What can I say? It's been a really long time since I've lived in the country and witnessed dogs doing what dogs do! Let's just say that we quickly decided maybe movie time wasn't such a bad idea:-)

See the frantic digging? Yeah...this is before he was successful:-)

And finally, I actually got to go on a "playdate" of my own! (Don't you think I deserve one?:-) We have a museum, here in town, called the Wildlife Experience that also has an IMAX theatre. Every couple of months they have an event called "Martini and a Movie". Basically, you show up at 6:30 for martinis, appetizers (cheese and crackers, tortilla wrap and a skewer of veggies), and dessert. Then at 7:30, you go to the theatre where they are waiting with fresh movie popcorn (yum!) and watch the featured movie on the big, big screen! Well, this past Thursday the movie they were showing was "Sixteen Candles". How fun is that? I managed to convince two of my highly entertaining friends, Laura and Jeannine, that this was absolutely something that we needed to do. Our only hitch is that Laura didn't buy her ticket ahead of time and it sold out:-( However, she stayed for the first hour and we've made plans for a make-up, so it's all good! Here's a sneak peek at how relaxed three moms can look on a night out without the kiddos;-)

I think it's going to be a fun summer.

A Mothers Day gift of perspective...

I've found that there are certain days, during the year, that just naturally trigger the impulse to take stock of different aspects of my life. The obvious ones are New Years and birthdays. Since having the schnitz almost 3 years ago, Mothers Day has been added to the list. While it is a great day for dwelling on how very happy I am to be a mother, especially to one of the world's coolest little guys, it also makes me ponder whether or not I'm actually doing a good job. I don't know about the rest of you, but my answer on this changes day by day and minute by minute.

However, we had the coolest guest speaker in church this morning. She is the mother of 6 children and grandmother to (almost) 12. Once all of her kiddos were out of the house, she and her husband became very involved in mission work through our church and have been to Africa (Niger and Burkina Faso) twelve times in the past three years. They've had a very up close and personal look at how parenting transpires in vastly different circumstances. Talk about someone you can count on to know what she's talking about! She used the word "Perspective" as an acrostic which I really like because I have a much easier time remembering the material. I decided to post my notes from her talk since I figured that I might not be the only one who would be able to appreciate what she shared. Oh and just a few pictures of the schnitz over the years since he's the one who made me a mama in the first place (and because it's fun to take a little trip down memory lane;-)

Praise what you think is really important.

• Try to avoid telling your child that they are the "best" because then they have no where to go but down! Instead, focus on what you really want to highlight such as, "You worked so hard, I'm very proud of you".

How on earth is it possible that he was ever this tiny??

Expect a lot of them and set your expectations of what you want them to be.

• E.g., Self sufficient and independent.

I had so much fun hanging out with the schnitz in New Orleans and he found the powdered sugar pretty entertaining too!:-)

Respond with grace.

• When it's tempting to ignore this one, just spend a few moments pondering the incredible grace showered on you by your Heavenly Father on a regular basis.

Shower them with warmth and affection.

I'm not sure if this bunny ever recovered from the "love and affection" he was showered with by the schnitz;-)

Perceive who God made them to be.

• He created them with unique characteristics, personalities and gifts, as well as weaknesses. It is your job to encourage those strengths and work to overcome their weaknesses.

If God can create such beauty in the world, why not in our kids?:-)

Encourage gratitude by letting them experience deprivation first hand, not just by observing it.

• As much as we would like to think that children will automatically learn gratitude by receiving, that's just not how it works. Human nature is to take as much as you can get and then ask for more. The speaker noted that the people of Niger, the world's poorest country five years ago, are some of the most gracious and grateful people she's ever met.

Cut the ties as they grow.

• For those of us with little ones, this seems a bit far in the future. But, we need to remember that this is an ongoing process from day one and exactly how God intended for things to be. Our job is to do our best to prepare them for an independent life where their dependence is on God and themselves, not us.

Teach them that there is a God, but they are not Him!

• Remember that life does not revolve around your child(ren) and/or their extracurricular activities.

Invest your time in your kids.

• The yield on this investment is incredible!

Value their character, not their accomplishments.

• The character traits they develop will affect their future far more than any of the other things.

Eliminate doubt about your ability to be a good parent.

• Even if your childhood experiences were less than ideal, you can give what you never received. God as your Heavenly Father is and always has been a perfect parent and can fill in the gaps where you have a need.

Rusty with his first and one of his favorite friends, Damien. It has been so much fun watching them grow (they're only two weeks apart in age and he lives just across from us)!

I hope y'all enjoyed this as much as I did! Have a wonderful and blessed Mothers Day and keep up the good work!:-)

Black Bean Soup with Shredded Pork...sooo yummy!

Cost per serving: $1.38

Preparation Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cooking Time: 6 hour(s) minutes

1 pound dried black beans, rinsed and picked over
2 bone-in center-cut pork chops (about 1 1/4 lb.)
2 slices bacon, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped canned chipotle chilies in adobo plus 1 Tbsp. adobo sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin1
1/2 teaspoons salt

Combine 6 cups water, beans, pork chops, bacon, onion, garlic, chilies, adobo, cumin and salt in slow cooker. Cook on low until beans are tender and pork chops are falling apart, 4 to 6 hours.
Remove and discard bacon. Cut pork away from bones. Discard bones and shred meat. Add meat back to slow cooker with beans. Season with additional salt and serve.

Yield: 8 Servings
CALORIES 320 ; FAT 6g (sat 2g); CHOLESTEROL 48mg; CARBOHYDRATE 37g; SODIUM 581mg; PROTEIN 29g; FIBER 9g

All You, MARCH 2009

Ok, as most of you know, Rusty is allergic to wheat, eggs, dairy and soy. So, I had to make just one modification for him. And then I made a few other modifications based on the fact that we a big meat-eaters in this house:-) So here goes:

The chipotles in adobo turned out to have wheat in them...obviously a no-go. But, I found something called El Paro jalapenos in tomato sauce that was almost the same thing, just no allergens. Recipe calls for 1 T, but I threw in about 1 1/2 T. Also, instead of the 1 1/2lb of bone in pork chops, I used what we had which was boneless. And b/c I defrosted the whole pkg which was almost 2lbs...just went with the whole thing b/c let's be honest...we're meat eaters in this house:-) And the bacon didn't say whether to cook it or not, but I cooked it up and didn't bother taking it out (really...take OUT bacon?:-) I also ended up cooking it on low for more like 12 hours. I stuck it in at 3:30 yesterday afternoon and at 9:30 it was kind of done, but the meat was in no way "shreddable". Stuck some more water in and kept it on low overnight. Got to it around 6:30 this morning and it was falling apart! We ate it for lunch today in tortillas with chopped red onions and cheddar cheese. If have everything I WANT to put on it, at some point, it would probably also include salsa, sour cream and guacamole...load it up!:-) Oh and this made a HUGE crockpot full,so plenty of leftovers.

Competitive Parenting

"Just had to share...thought this was a really good remind that we should take it easy on ourselves and our kids. Everyone benefits in the long run:-)"

Are your friends always comparing their kids to your kids? Do you feel pressure to push your little one to walk or enroll your preschooler in music lessons? Learn how to combat competitive parenting.

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