Consequences...

I believe in them.  In parenting, I think they are essential. If you fail to uphold a responsibilty or make a bad choice, you must face the consequences.

When meeting with the big kid's teacher about what to expect in 1st grade, one point that was clearly driven was they would be expected to become more independent....they would be responsible for writing down homework assignments in their homework folder and they would be responsible for loading that folder into their backpack along with their lunch box and snack bag.  I'll be honest, my alarms were going off because I knew this was going to be a challenge for my duo.

And, it has been.  There have been many days that one has forgotten their lunchbox, parts of their uniform, and now one of them has forgotten their homework folder twice.  The first time I gave a warning and made a copy so they would be able to complete the assignment.

The second time happened today and I feel we must go big here to make a statement....If you forget your homework folder, you will get a zero and sit down during recess to complete the work (this is the class rule, not mine).  

The fact is, we are trying to raise these children with the plan that they will leave our home with the skills and morals to do good in the world and in their spiritual life.  At the same time, I have a tendency to want to keep the peace and keep everyone happy, because it's easier that way isn't it?

Easier, in the short term but not in the master plan.

After talking it over with my husband, we feel like this is the only way to drive home the importance of upholding responsibilities.  But it's hard.
 
This child gets very upset when "punished" and doesn't want to disappoint.  Through tears and worries for what the teacher will say, I had to stand my ground. 

I couldn't help but think this issue is probably going to seem very insignificant compared to other challenges we are likely to face in these growing up years, but here's hoping they will be teenagers who can keep up with their homework!   

Look Who's Walking!

Yesterday Mary Connor took her first steps!

She does not like to fall, so she is very cautious- one little wobble and she slowly lowers herself down on her bottom.  She is so funny!

The big kids were so excited they got to see her take her first steps and spent the day trying to get her to walk to them.

Lyla James is not at all interested in walking and who can blame her?  One peep and her brother runs over, picks her up, and takes her to wherever she wants to go.  Really, why exert yourself?

As of Thursday at noon, the big kid's were on Fall Break, so we headed to the mountains for a long weekend.

About 10 minutes into the drive it hit me that I had forgotten baby wipes, so after a quick detour to Kroger, we were on our way.

Our first stop was the Georgia Mountain Fall Festival....

The big kids could not believe this was what a school room looked like...no smartboard or anything...

They were super excited to watch the Swamp Master's demonstration on how to catch and handle an alligator.  At the end of the show he posed the question to the audience, "So, if you were to meet an alligator while driving down the road, what is the first step you would take?"  AC raised her hand and said, "Run over it!"

Watching them hold this tiny gator was a little unsettling, espesially since B, my little animal lover, put his face right up to the gators' saying, "Don't worry little buddy.  I'm not going to hurt you."

We need a pair of these at our house....

it wore the kids out!

Exploring the cabin's grounds with Daddy.  The cabin we rented was great....this pond

and view was the front yard.  It also had a game room complete with ping pong, air hockey and pool.

We knew at least one Sparkman would fall in the pond during our visit and sure enough Brian went in right along with a heavy rock he was trying to toss into the the water....within 20 minutes of us arriving.

Because eating out isn't so easy for us these days, not to mention the expense, we tried to plan ahead and cook in the cabin.  I knew we would be out all day Saturday so I brought along my crock pot to make taco soup for Saturday night's dinner.  The cabin rental company said the kitchen was "fully equipped"...unfortunately that does not include a can opener and even more unfortunately, taco soup involves about 8 cans.  Driving back to civilization wasn't really an option since we had planned activities, so sweet T opened all of the cans by pounding a steak knife with a meat mallett around each of the cans.  Thankfully, no cuts.  On a side note, if you ever have a few minutes Google "how to open a can without a can opener"...intriguing.

Feeling very resourceful, we went apple picking.

We tried so many unusual varieties, including one-the name escapes me- that tastes like strawberry, banana, and apple mixed together.

The baby girls' loved their apples....

In fact, they ate 2 whole apples while we looked around the store!

For lunch we had a picnic in the park and browsed around an art festival being held in the park..

After some face painting, I was thrilled to meet an Atlanta portrait artist.  We have been looking for someone to do the kids' portrait and we finally found her!  Her work is beautiful and I can't wait to get started.

After a quick afternoon nap, the big kids and I set out for a little hiking on the trails surrounding our cabin's property.  I wish I could say I was right there with them prancing down the trail....

but the reality is, I was on the look out for snakes and bears.  Nature girl, I am not.

Oh, how they love to make their Momma a nervous wreck.

This morning we decided to visit a nearby swinging bridge.  After looking at the map, I thought I had a basic understanding of the bridge's location plus, I was counting on there being signs.

  Well, after driving for over a hour, all of us feeling nauseous from the twists and turns, and a very unsettling stop for directions, and a long 3 mile drive down a very bumpy, non-signed road...

we found it!  My understanding was that this was a quick little walk from the road to the bridge. 

I obviously misunderstood and I for some reason decided ballet flats were the best shoe for hiking... my feet felt every rock and tree root for the 20 minute hike.

But, in the end, this view was so worth it!

Thank goodness he is strong!

This spot is a favorite of campers and they were so excited to tell us they had seen a family of black bears about 15 minutes earlier playing in the river...

AC and B were on the watch for them as made the trek back to the mini.

We had the best time.  Isn't it amazing how a quick get-away can leave you feeling so refreshed and thankful?

BOO!

The big kids and I got crafty Sunday afternoon and made a family of ghosts...

AC

B....snaggle tooth and all

LJ... her newest trick is sticking out her tounge

MC...

As with all of my projects, things didn't go as planned.  I had a hard time finding the tiniest tomato cages and had to use the 42 inch.  Which would have been fine except I had already gotten all of the white felt my fabric store had, so we used off-white felt....we have dirty ghosts...which maybe is more fitting to us anyway.

Second challenge was I decided to just hot glue the ghosts together since I'm not really speaking to my sewing machine at the moment...well, I didn't make the ghosts big enough resulting in ghosts that need to watch what they eat.

All that being said, the kids LOVE them and that is what we were going for...

Head over to Sarah's for more Autumn outdoor decor ideas!

An Afternoon at the Fair

My kids talk about it all year and much to their delight, the county fair is this week.  We hurried through homework and spent the remainder of the day at the fair!

last year at the fair...what a difference a year makes!

We came home hot, dirty,and stuffed from dinner at the fair!

Yes, Ma'am...

B came home from school yesterday at noon with a fever and a headache.  Our school's rule is the child must be fever free for 24 hours before going back to school.  So, even though he has had no fever since coming home, he was at home today.  Because he seemed to feel fine and he was fever- free, i took him along to run a few errands.

At one stop, he politely held the door for a young (mid 40'sish) lady.  She asked him a question and he responded, "Yes, ma'am."  She looked at me and said, "You know it's really old-fashioned and a little bit insulting to teach your son to say ma'am and sir.  It makes the child think he is not equal to adults."

What? 

Is this the current thinking?  I know saying ma'am/ sir is not held to the standard that it once was, but insulting to the child? 

So, I'm curious, do you say ma'am/sir?  Are you teaching your children to?  Do you think it's insulting to the child?  Is this some archaic tradition?

Really, I want to know. 

It's Fall Y'all....

and today it really feels like it!

After pinning this wreath months ago, the weather inspired me to try this wreath.

Mine...

I used a foam wreath form, reindeer moss, and a mixture of faux gourds and pumpkins- couldn't find just faux pumpkins- and just used the glue gun to put it all together. 

I think it took me about 1 hour and that includes taking a wine break because the moss stressed me out- I admit it, I have the attention span of a gnat.

 

I really love it, but after looking at the inspiration, I'm thinking I should maybe hang it so that the wreath is a little lower than the bow...what do you think?

About the bow, I'm going to admit that I didn't make it- 3 girls and no clue how to make a bow- but I spotted it in a shop recently.

Head over to Rhoda's at Southern Hospitality for more fall inspiration.