Sunday, October 14, 2007

Miss me?!?!

Well, here I am to apologize yet again, for being MIA...again! Can you believe the kids are STILL sick?!?! Mind you, they're getting much better, but whoa! Bill has been sick too, and I have been fighting something for a couple of days now. BLECH!

Sooo, what's up with Flickr?!?! Well, I switched all of my pics to friends/family only. I really hated to do that, however with all the crap going on with people stealing pics and using them on Okrut to create profiles...I felt it was necessary. You see, these creeps are stealing pics from Flickr (pics of OUR CHILDREN) that are public and then creating profiles with them. EWWWWW!!! So, better safe than sorry, I made the switch. If you would like to be added, just leave me a comment or email me and I will add you! It's a pain because you will have to log in to view, but this is serious. I don't know if anyone stole some of my pics, but they did steal some of Chris's and I don't want the risk.

Grrr, doesn't anyone respect Copyrights anymore?? These people figure because the pics are public, that means they're welcome to take them and use them as they wish!
My next step I am in the process of, is adding a watercolor mark to my pics.

Ok, 'nuff of that.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner! My Mom, Grandma, and my mom's boyfriend all came. The turkey was Fab-U-licious! Everyone left with VERY full tummies! Alex and I had a smallish food fight...with Cool Whip! (There are pics in the Flickr!!) Too funny! It was a lot of fun and nice and quiet at the same time. This was the first dinner that my Mom's boyfriend came to. Bill and I are very cautious as to how we handle inviting boyfriends/girlfriends over for family functions. We want to send a very clear message to our kids that relationships are serious and not something that you can change on a whim. My Mom and Bruce have been together for about 5 yrs or so, and this was his first dinner! It was a nice visit and the kids really liked Bruce or Grandpa Bruce as they called him! I really think that because we let the children get to know 'about' him very, very slowly prior to introducing him, made a big difference. Bill and I are firm on this and it applies to all family and friends. Some agree and some do not, but that is their prerogative, we are the parents and we call the shots. Although, the majority of our parental choices are against mainstream and hard for others to understand sometimes!!LOL We research and talk and make a decision together as parents, as husband and wife. Sometimes I have had to be the one to do the research and come up with the reasons behind a choice I want us as a family to make (such was the case with homeschooling) and then 'present my case' to Bill. Then we discuss and go from there! I love this aspect of our marriage, we can discuss a myriad of issues and work together towards a resolution. Bill being bluntly honest and not always thinking before he speaks, and I typically afraid to speak the truth for fear of hurting someones feelings, we make a good team! He shows me how speak up and I show him (sometimes!!LOl) how to tame his tongue.

It's funny because through the course of my life I swing from one side to the other, from being a child who freely said what she was feeling to a preteen who was quiet and wrote poems and stories, to a outspoken teenager to a passive aggressive young adult and I have been there for quite sometime now. However, as I approach 30, I feel a change coming forth. I am getting more comfortable in speaking the reasons behind the why's in my life. (Why homeschool? Why so many kids? Why? Why? Why?) I am also finding ways to tame my own tongue and not lash out a people for their somewhat rude comments. I have the choice at those moments, I choose how I will feel, react and respond. I also choose the emotion I feel, I can choose to be hurt or sad. People do not MAKE you feel this way. You can choose to be, or not to be, around people that may make it easy for you to feel sad or hurt by their comments. I have been making an extra conscious effort to surround myself with people who I am not always in the position to question how should feel or react.

Of course, this is difficult in a public setting, such as grocery shopping or what have you. In those positions, I am trying very hard to respond in a positive manner and leave it at that. I am not going to 'carry with me' others comments or interpretations of me based on a split second meeting. This is hard, because I can't help but roll my eyes or get angry at some of the comments. In time though, it will get easier. I think the biggest thing I've found to work the best is, to not let that gap in time where someone can jet in their negative opinion during a conversation. Just keep it upbeat and positive and straight forward.

Oddly enough, that applies to all aspects of life! Upbeat, positive and straight forward!! :o)

Onto my upcoming week. Grocery shopping tomorrow night, which means (insert: lightbulb above my head) I have to make my list and menu's!!
I have to get Matthew in to have his ears checked again (he ended up with a second ear/chest/sinus infection and needed another bout of antibiotics) hopefully they're all clear now! I have to get on the phone to doctors and dentists and optometrists, and get appointments booked. Put the finishing touches an any Halloween costumes that may need it. Finish up modules in school to get the kids ready to hand in. It is time to start getting Christmas lists ready and figure out what I making this year. I LOVE this season!!

Well, I have ten loads of laundry waiting patiently for me in the basement! (Oh, and grocery lists and menu's to make!)
Have a blessed day!!
~Penny

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