Knock Knock Who's There?

After preschool the other day, we were driving home and Emma told me the funniest joke! She remembered all the words and delivered it with perfect comedic timing. I knew preschool would be money well spent. :-) Here is Emma telling her joke...

Dancer or Drummer?

Lucy started her ballet class last week. She really enjoys it. It's so cute to watch the little 2 year olds run wild. The poor teacher has her work cut out for her. The kids are not really interested in group activities. I think they each have their heart set on being soloists.

Well, if the ballerina thing doesn't work out...

Raining Cats & Dogs

On our way home from Kentucky last Sunday, because of the massive amount of rain, interstate 80/94 was closed due to high standing water. We ended up on a 3 + hour detour through Northern Indiana. Here was one of the streets we ended up on...

And, here's more rainy day craziness...this is my nephew Ben's football game that same day!

Congratulations Constantine & Mandy!

So, we left the kiddos with Auntie Kelly and drove down to Louisville, KY last weekend for Constantine's wedding. The ceremony was at an Antiochial Orthodox church. It was unlike anything we had ever experienced. The Reverends (there were like 10 Reverends officiating, I'm not exaggerating) each sang their part of the ceremony...maybe more like chanting. It was interesting. And there was a choir on a balcony in the back of the church that piped in from time to time...which sounded amazing. It was a very long litergical ceremony which caused us to reflect on the Holiness of wedding vows and traditions. It was cool. At the reception, Sean got to reconnect with several guys from his highschool days in the PC North band. Here they are:

Sean Lantz, Jeff Plant, Michael Clarke, Constantine Nasr and Sean Edmison

(Not pictured, Ron Clamser, Blake and Sarah Cooper)

Constantine, his brother Phil and Mandy

I just had to include this picture because this is the dance we did ALL night long at the reception. It was so much fun!! They had a band who played very polka sounding music and sang in Arabic. Constantine's mom was so sweet to grab my hand a few times to try to teach me the dance "one, two, three, one, two, three"...she kept saying, but apparently my feet were not paying attention. Either way, we had a blast attempting..and in the end, I am proud to say, I DID pick it up! Sean & the other guys, being band geeks and all, did not have any trouble picking up the rhythm/steps. I don't know if it was because we were away for the weekend without the kids or just their warm culture but it was one the most joyful and fun weddings we had ever been to. Congrats Constantine and Mandy!

Parenting 101

Tonight was the first night of our couples small group on parenting ala Dr. James Dobson. Such great stuff! We are fired up to get these girls back in line...not that they were ever necessarily out of line, but we were just getting lazy with our follow through on some things. The funny thing about the timing of this small group is that just in the past few days, I've had to say "Let me be the mommy"...to Lucy when I heard her repeating me ("No, Emma") and to Emma when I heard her trying to correct Lucy's behavior. They are trying to figure out their places in our family, it's very interesting.

Some of the key points tonight were:

• Clearly define their boundaries in advance. Dr Dobson wisely said, if you love your kids, lead them.
• Take Action to get Action (not anger to get action) You can't control your child with empty threats, always follow through.
• Kids want you to EARN the right to be in control (the ultimate paradox, they want you to be in control, but they will test you just for the sake of finding out if you're for real)
• Distinguish between willful defiance and childish irresponsibility and respond accordingly.
• Reassure and teach your child after confrontation, let love be your guide.

I know that I have not always been consistant and it's hard as the girls are growing and developing completely different personalities. I am often in awe at how much I love these two girls. I want them to have everything they want and to be happy...but even more than that I want them to be respectful to me & Sean and others, to develop character, to not be spoiled, snotty bratty girls and to one day know God personally. Dr Dobson said the 2 most important ingredients of parenting are love and control working together with balance. This is our goal.

We don't enjoy being disciplined. It always seems to cause more pain than joy. But afterwards, those who learn from that discipline have peace that comes from doing what is right - Hebrews 12:11

Back to School

Emma was so excited to go back to preschool today. She goes to preschool 3 days each week this year at Creative Learners and had a great first day. The top 2 things that she remembered and told us about her day was: "Mrs. Palmer told us all the rules at preschool and I made a picture of my family". We are privileged and excited to help her learn and watch her grow this year.

Soak up the Sun

It was absolutely beautiful out this Labor Day weekend! Here are some pics of the fun times at a birthday/pool party that we went to. (Considering the kids wore coats today, it's so hard to believe this was just a few days ago!)