For the super duper busy mama's of the world. Or maybe for my kids to look back and laugh. Or just something to do because I don't have enough to do already. I'm not entirely sure. When I decide, I'll update my header.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Date Night and Dessert
Monday, April 23, 2012
The Boy Finds a Passion
This weeks grateful story….BASEBALL!!!
It’s true. Only probably not what you think. My kiddo Jackson is 11 and
has ADHD and a touch of Asperger’s traits. He’s somewhat of a challenge to be
around. He’s sincere, loving, very thoughtful at times but kids find him weird.
It’s not untypical for this family. These poor kids come from a long line of
weird people so the chances of this turning itself around is very small.
Jackson decided he wants to play baseball this summer and the first
practice was Saturday AM. HE
LOVED IT!!! That child has been practicing in the back yard every single day
since it got warm and we experienced this warm and wonderful early spring and
I’m please to say it paid off. He had kids on the team compliment him and his
ability to hit and field a ball. IN FACT he had 2 boys older than from the
neighborhood come over yesterday
and ask if he’d play with them. Other than the 2 neighborhood boys (much younger
than him) he’s never been asked to play. Ever.
The boys I believe come from families where it’s fostered the idea of
teaching and mentoring kids younger. Set an example by your way. I preach that
nonstop to my kids because I think this is a very good habit to get into and
eventually because a natural part of a person’s thought process. The Golden
Rule applied without another thought first occurring. I believe that’s what
these boys did for my boy. Just look at the kid concentrate and focus. I don’t
often see focus like this so it’s a MIRACLE!!! At least though my eyes.
Grateful for those other boys. More than I can say. I’m sure the baseball
stories will be plentiful like the veggies this summer so stay tuned.
Join Laura and her peeps at Heavenly Homemakers for Gratituesday and more inspiring stories.
Karen
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread - BIG FAN!!
I have no idea where I got this recipe but I would like to hug it's maker. It's made with process stuff so if you are looking for a more organic approach, please share when you find it. The beautify of this recipe is it's cheap, easy and fast. Here goes:
1 box white cake mis
1 3.4 ounce package lemon pudding
4 eggs
1 c warm water (not sure why it has to be warm; I've never messed with it so I'd say go warm)
1/2 c canola oil (or vegie oil)
4 tsp poppies
Mix well, grease 2 loaf pans, 1/2 batter in one, 1/2 in the other... bake at 350 for 40 minutes.
It's SO GOOD!! My kids eat it for breakfast with a side of fruit. It's soooo good!!!! Here's photos of the process if you are visual.
The mix.My daughter helped so see....so easy a kid can do it!
The bred in the pans (cuz you didn't know what that was all about, did you!!)
The bread with a bite missing b/c it's too good to wait!
The pretty side of the bread.
1 box white cake mis
1 3.4 ounce package lemon pudding
4 eggs
1 c warm water (not sure why it has to be warm; I've never messed with it so I'd say go warm)
1/2 c canola oil (or vegie oil)
4 tsp poppies
Mix well, grease 2 loaf pans, 1/2 batter in one, 1/2 in the other... bake at 350 for 40 minutes.
It's SO GOOD!! My kids eat it for breakfast with a side of fruit. It's soooo good!!!! Here's photos of the process if you are visual.
The mix.My daughter helped so see....so easy a kid can do it!
The bred in the pans (cuz you didn't know what that was all about, did you!!)
The bread with a bite missing b/c it's too good to wait!
The pretty side of the bread.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Homemade Bread - Fan or Flop?? Not sure...
So today is the first time I've ever tried to make homemade yeast bread from scratch. I got out the old Betty Crocker cookbook and invested 3 hours of my time. The results?? Not too shabby. I am not jumping up and down and dancing the jig over this bread but it rose as it was supposed to, it baked during the timeframe it was supposed to and it's edible. I am not sure what I expected but wonder if I got the bread the recipe said it would make. I was expecting something different. Someting lighter andsmoother....softer. This was a course textured but not too dense bread. Here are the pictures. I need to try a challa bread next time. I brought home a loaf of it one time from the Great Harvest Bread Company and WOWIE!! It as go-od. Me and the peeps polished off an entire loaf in one meal!
If you make bread and have a good recipe, please share. I think I have this yeast thing figured out!
Doing the melty butter/milk thang....
Adding wet to flour/yeast mixture thang....
First rise. I wish I could credit the blogspot where I discovered this little gem but I cannot. Turn on the oven light, put bread mixture and set the timer. It doubled in size.....thang.....
Result of the first rise...thang....
After the 2nd rise (on countertop covered by a towel)..thang..
I can't seem to stop once I've started.
There was a rise once the loaves were in the pan, for about 10 minutes before turning on the ove to bake, but you may not want to see a picture of every little step....thang......
If you make bread and have a good recipe, please share. I think I have this yeast thing figured out!
Doing the melty butter/milk thang....
Adding wet to flour/yeast mixture thang....
First rise. I wish I could credit the blogspot where I discovered this little gem but I cannot. Turn on the oven light, put bread mixture and set the timer. It doubled in size.....thang.....
Result of the first rise...thang....
After the 2nd rise (on countertop covered by a towel)..thang..
I can't seem to stop once I've started.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Edible Book
Our lovely little town has so many wonderful features. One of them is the public Library. They have good authors in a lot, weird animals and tons of activities for the kids. Well one such activity was to create an edible book. The awards were given to the Most Creative, Most Appealing, and Weirdest Ingredients. I'll tell you about our cookie and then you can guess which award we won.
YES WE WON!!!! WOO HOO

Here's the book and the progression of things including the ingredient list.
First we baked ourselves a sugar cookie out on a pizza pan.

Then we frosted it with white frosting, lined the bottom (the dirt) with crushed oreo cookies (take out the middle but don't eat them all...seriously, you will not feel good after having done so. I tried. I'm not proud). We also grated some English Muffin using a hand grater to sprinkle in with our 'dirt' to get it some color variation.
Top the dirt portion of your cookie with lettuce that's been finely chopped and dry. It is important to try the lettuce in a paper towel or else it will make your cake a sloppy, wet mess.
I added some redhots to act as lady bugs because as long as they're not living in my house lady bugs are cute. Add some mushrooms. Similar to the cover I attempted to position one of the mushrooms into a table where wormy could sit and write, but it still looks like a plain old mushroom. Moving on.
Color some coconut with some blue food coloring to make a couple of clouds, add your worm (which is not picture here because I did not have a worm. I had gummy bears and sour patch kids but the book is not called 'Diary of a Bear' or 'Diary of a Sour Patch Kid' so you will have to improvise here. My apologies.

I do not write well with a pen and paper so the frosting was VERY IFFY, but it turned out okay. My daughter helped me reform some of the letters that got a little gloppy. Here is the finished product (minus the worm). Next I'll share with you what the little girl is made out of. KIDDING. She's human. Well, most of the time.
We won ourselves $10 to the local DQ for our efforts. We won for weirdest ingredients. We have to put our thinking caps on for next year's contest and strive for more weird and wild ingredient ideas. This winning business is pretty fun!
YES WE WON!!!! WOO HOO
Here's the book and the progression of things including the ingredient list.
First we baked ourselves a sugar cookie out on a pizza pan.
Then we frosted it with white frosting, lined the bottom (the dirt) with crushed oreo cookies (take out the middle but don't eat them all...seriously, you will not feel good after having done so. I tried. I'm not proud). We also grated some English Muffin using a hand grater to sprinkle in with our 'dirt' to get it some color variation.
Top the dirt portion of your cookie with lettuce that's been finely chopped and dry. It is important to try the lettuce in a paper towel or else it will make your cake a sloppy, wet mess.
Color some coconut with some blue food coloring to make a couple of clouds, add your worm (which is not picture here because I did not have a worm. I had gummy bears and sour patch kids but the book is not called 'Diary of a Bear' or 'Diary of a Sour Patch Kid' so you will have to improvise here. My apologies.
I do not write well with a pen and paper so the frosting was VERY IFFY, but it turned out okay. My daughter helped me reform some of the letters that got a little gloppy. Here is the finished product (minus the worm). Next I'll share with you what the little girl is made out of. KIDDING. She's human. Well, most of the time.
We won ourselves $10 to the local DQ for our efforts. We won for weirdest ingredients. We have to put our thinking caps on for next year's contest and strive for more weird and wild ingredient ideas. This winning business is pretty fun!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Struggling
I am really struggling this week and I’m not even sure what with. I got a
case of the blues I think. Well I don’t think, I KNOW I got the blues. It’s
been confirmed because I’m struggling with Gratituesday .
He had no idea.
He was crushed.
Mom was angry.
I am having a hard time finding something to be grateful for!! HOW SAD IS
THAT!?! I have been thinking on this post since last weeks posting and come up
empty. So what is going on you ask…well I can summarize. I need to summarize
otherwise it will sound like am seeking pitty party.
The biggest contributor to my blue-ness was Easter. I know, Easter. I know
it’s not starting out very Gratituesday-ey but hang in there with me; I’ll
circle back. I planned this elaborate Treasure Hunt for the kid. I had stuff
hidden and clues galore and it was an interesting switch form our traditional
Easter activities. While we’re working through the hunt my 9 year old daughter
keeps making comment about how Mom did this, not the Easter Bunny. Dad did
that, not the Easter Bunny. Until yesterday both of my kids believed. I finally pulled my
daughter aside and asked her if she thought it would help adjust her attitude if
she knew truth? Or would it ruin the image she currently enjoys. She said she
wanted to know. I told her. No Easter Bunny, it’s ME! She was fine. She told
me my son was also suspicious because they have been having conversations about
this all the while. So I go to my son and explain that while we believe in the
magic and spirit of Easter the bunny is in fact, not real.
He had no idea.
He was crushed.
Mom was angry.
And any of you who have gone through this probably know that if you take
out the Bunny, you also get the tooth fairy and Santa. I spent the next hour
getting ready for Easter Service at church and being peppered with questions
about this and that (who eats the cookies? Who puts the $ under the
pillow??????? And on and on while trying to feed everyone, make sure teeth are
brushed, clothes are appropriate, hair is in good shape and consoling a sad 11
year old whose world I just rocked with a ton of truth. I was just sad. I
felt defeated. I sat through
service feeling the same way. Until Easter Sunday I can honestly say when I it through service it’s the
most wonderful time because at one point or another the pastor is going to say
something that makes me feel as though God tapped him on the shoulder and said
‘reach out and touch her; say this’ and out it comes. Leaving me with an
overwhelming calm, renewed energy and a hunger for more. Yesterday I heard and felt nothing. I
prayed on it ‘Please God help me focus. Help me hear’ and nothing. Made me sad,
but here’s the bright side and the reason I post on this Gratitudesday:
Thank you GOD for being patient with me. I need it now more than I can
express. I am on the pitty pot right now but I will soon get off and find my way
back to you again.
I am grateful He is patient. Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!
Monday, April 9, 2012
A Philosophical Moment
Wow What a weekend the Brunner people had. Ever feel like there is a dark
cloud just hanging over your house. Our entire family has been rocked by this
cloud for 3 weekends straight now. Sad because this last weekend we celebrated
Easter. To my husband and I, not so much but Jesus, church, salvation, all
newer terms in our home. I’ve always been a believer in my core but did I
practice? No. Did I live my life in accordance with biblical teaching and
expectations? No. For some reason that surpasses all my understand, 2 years ago
I had an attack of conscious and realized that by letting the kids ‘choose
religion’ I was in fact, screwing up. I can’t believe how long it took me to
figure this out and how blinding the jerk was when I finally put the thoughts
together. Talk about listening to the whisper of Jesus. I finally got it.
So we are now churched and I still struggle some. I struggle with the
community sense that comes with church. I love the people, well most of them.
Like me, every single solitary person on the planet struggles and those
struggles take different forms. What makes me nuts are all the wonderful ladies
engage me in conversation most likely because we have kids the same age and are
also about the same ages ourselves, and their biggest problem is the pink heels
the chose to wear Easter Sunday
didn’t quite match the pink in the dress. WOW. I wish I had your problems. I
realize though that those gals are the ones who need the most prayer because I
believe 2 painful things:
- They’re longing to ‘have it all together’….the total package, perfect kids, perfect marriage, perfect life (and heels) or make people believe they do. I mean face who wants to be a wreck and wear it on their shirt like a badge!?
- They’re in pain. They are reaching out to me for a connection. To fill something or to feel something.
I now have my kids in a weekly program of fun, entertaining bible study and
I help out with kitchen detail to feed the volunteers (mentioned in a previous
post). What I am not though is a fully active, willing participant of the
events that make this church a church! I still feel on the fringe of things. I
don’t want everyone to be my BFF and I don’t want spotlight or anything like
that. In fact I want the opposite; I want to blend, blend, blend. I am new to
bible teachings so perhaps once again I am missing the boat entirely. My
involvement or lack thereof is setting an example for my children. I know that.
What I really struggle with is how to maintain who I am, what makes me, me in
all of this while allowing Jesus to guide me, the holy spirit to whisper to me
the things I seek. HOW DO YOU DO THIS!?
Do you ladies share my struggle? In truth this is a short post. I am
loaded with questions of this nature and it is a constant struggle. It keeps me
up at night.
Brunner Add...Off's???
Well it didn’t work out. That there is the cutest dog I’ve ever seen in my
life I think but he made me nuts. He was healthy and sweet but he misses his
mama something awful. At least all night anyway. People I hate to be callous
but I raised 2 babies through the screaming period and I have no desire to do it
again. I felt sorry for him but just resented him something terrible. The
first problem was he was taken from his mama about 2 weeks too early. Weaning
too soon is bad for puppies. I have never raised a puppy so I’m thinking ‘oh
Karen, just love him through it’. My pitcher ‘o love emptied quickly
after day 4.
Here’s a summary of how the week went with the new puppy Opie.
Day 1: Isn’t he just the cutest thing? I will need everyone’s help making
this a smooth transition from his mama to our house. Might be in for a rough
night but only 1 or 2
Day 2: He’s cute but he don’t like to sleep at all!!! Maybe take the
advice of my many dog loving friends and put a t-shirt of Jackson’s in the crate
with him; bring him comfort.
Day 3: Someone else is going to have to take puppy out tonight. I was a zombie at work today and need more rest than I am
getting. Now this is a partnership; all of us are Opie’s humans.
Day 4: Determination kicked in. I was going to raise this puppy to be a
good, well rounded, pooping and peeing OUTSIDE member of this family if it kills
me. Sleep deprivation is not an excuse.
Day 5: Someone better help me either sleep or train that dog!
Day 6 and 7 were hideous and only get worse from here. I got ZERO help
with the dog, called in sick on day b/c I was literally sick from no sleep. I
am not an old lady but I am no spring chicken either it seems. I need my rest
too. Of all the animals to be dumped in my lap to care for and raise this was
the worst example of being dog-slapped I’d ever experienced.
I learned this:
- Don’t take the dog to the vet unless you are sure you are keeping it. $105 later I have one major regret.
- Warn the kids of the helping thing and force it. If they do not help it just won’t work; plain and simple
- Dogs are worse than toddlers without diapers. They just GO without warning.
- Hubby’s who’d not proven to know what to do with dogs should not be allowed to bring them home because they are cute.
- Get a dog who’s 3 and trained.
Opie is now back in the care of his mother at the house that hosted the
fish fry. I am not sure if they were upset with us or not but they did say ‘if
it doesn’t work out, bring him on back’ and that’s what we did. The kids are
upset and I miss his presence too but we can’t raise a dog like this. Not
successfully. Opie is a living creature that has needs that we are responsible
for filling. If we can’t do that, we need not have a pooch then.
Oh and another lesson learned. If you get a puppy, middle name him/her
Mayhem. You will use that name before you reach the 2 week mark!!
I love him to
pieces, but from the view in someone else’s window.
Using the Ole Noodle
I’ve gotten into the habit recently of planning meals. I have a love/hate
relationship with menu planning. I love what it does for me which is keep me
organized, keep me ahead of the dance that used to exist; the one where I say
‘what do you guys want for dinner’ and receive no reply. Then I make something
not knowing for sure what everyone wants only to find everyone’s grumping about
the food prepared and digging through the fridge an hour later. This way you
can look ahead and see what’s coming up so if you want to make adjustments you
can!! The stinker in the whole deal is I can’t slack as much as I’d like. I
have to shop on a Saturday after
payday b/c that’s how it works in my house. If I don’t have my list ready I am
buying stuff hoping I remember the menu plan and get all the items I need. The
major bonus to this is that I save money. It’s not a huge massive chunk of
change but over time it all adds up.
My recipe for noodles is dreadfully simple. This makes one batch; I double it because the Brunner’s are some noodle eaters!!
As a result of planning I’ve also learned what a time saver it can be to
make a freeze food ahead of time. This has been a good and a bad thing too….I’m
a yin/yan if you have not already noticed. THE GOOD NEWS is that on Sloppy Joe
Thursday, I only have to take the
frozen meat block out of the fridge, toss it in a crock, add some H2o and voila!
When I come home from work the sweet smell of our main course has penetrated the
fabric in our house. All I have to make is sides. WOO HOO. The bummer is that
I usually spend one entire afternoon every 2 weeks or so making tons and tons of
food.
The good news …ah COME ON, you HAD to see that coming…the good news is I’ve
been able to incorporate Meredith in this. IT’s a fun training, if you will. My
mom never cooked with me. I think part of the problem was we were poor and you
couldn’t mess too much with the food you had. If I cooked and blew it, you
either ate questionable food or nothing at all because there was only so much to
go around. So the food preparation I do I either learned on my own, from
friends or online. God bless the internet because lord only knows where I’d be
without it.
It was a proud moment for me because I was able to teach Meredith to make
homemade noodles. It was such a mess and so much fun. She felt big. She needs
this. The poor dear girl is 9 and she’s short, really short and petite. She
can’t reach the stove buttons yet and that’s my rule. When you can turn the oven
timer on, you can run the stove. She’s not even close and very unhappy about
it. But on the noodle extravaganza day she was happy as a clam. Here are some
pictures.
I froze these puppies; made 3 batches and they turned out great! Thaw them
completely; do not do what I do with the Joes and toss in a frozen brick. It
turns in to one hot mess with noodles.
My recipe for noodles is dreadfully simple. This makes one batch; I double it because the Brunner’s are some noodle eaters!!
1 C Flour
2 eggs
Pinch of salt
Mix all together and roll out to your desired thickness and cut with a
noodle cutter. That’s it and that’s all. How wonderful is that!
Got other frozen pasta ideas pah-lease share with me. My family loves
pasta but I grow nervous when the freezer is introduced.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
The Truth about Fiction
In an earlier post, I moaned and groaned about being confronted by a person
who felt it was wrong to sell children on Santa, Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy
because how can you expect kids to believe in Jesus when these things are fake.
Along with a friend of mine we stumbled onto Dr. Dobson’s site where this very
issue is addressed. Read more about that here.
** Easter 2010, 9
and 7 years old**
The flip side of this is explaining to an asking child what’s real and
what’s not. Well I stumbled onto a Gem here. I’ve got to credit my friend Sara
for this. She does not have a blog (that I know of) nor does she take a stand
on either side of the issue. She is for her kids being kids. I’ve realized for
a few years now that I am on borrowed time as it relates to these magical
holiday figures and I don’t want it to end, but they will wise up and start
asking the difficult questions.
I have 2 scenarios for you. Mix and match however you will but I will say
these worked. One for me personally and another b/c it was published on the
internet and you know, everything on the internet is true. ;-)
** I mean WHEN ELSE
will you see a kid make this face!!** (Christmas 2012, 8 years old)
** And this face,
proud of the lost tooth and what is to come in the AM** (Summer 2006)
The 2nd thought is spill it in all
its glory to your kids. Tell them everything. Here is a letter I found online
that touched me. What a beautiful way to find out about the Secret of these 3
wonderful beings. I found out about these 3 and about being adopted all in one
fail-swoop by my brother. He was mad at me over something. I thought my parents
were going to massacre him right then and there. I was 5. So I read this
letter and think about how neat a way to find out something that could
potentially shape the latter years of childhood. Go to this link to find the letter. Tell me your
thoughts? Do you have another clever ideas regarding this topic!?
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Brunner Add-Ons
So, our hamster died. I am not sure what her name was because we never
fully agreed upon a name. I like the ham- names that are more
like puns such as canned ham..smoked ham..shaved ham. Meredith wanted to name
her fluffles. So she ended up being called ‘the hamster’. She lived to
escape. She escaped out of that cage more times than I can recall. She always
went to the same part of our basement (yes she is in the basement, so the living
area is not impacted at all by the little scoundrel) so she was easy-ish to
retrieve. The cage is about 3 foot off the ground and so jury-rigged I am not
sure how she keeps getting out, but I tell her each time that one of these days
your last jump will be your last jump.
Sure enough, that jump was 2 weeks ago. Ham was found dead; peaceful but dead.
Upon discovering Ham, my husband asks me ‘can we take a break from pets for a while?’ I don’t bring home pets for me, I do that for the kids. I want them to experience things and I want them to develop a love for animals and a sense of responsibility for another being; an extension of our family which they can have complete responsibility for. So as you probably suspected or experienced, I always end up with the clean-up of the cages, regular feedings and water refills. I don’t mind because I know ‘I’ll take care of it’ always turns into another of mom’s many jobs (hence the blogs name!)……
I do have a point here, I promise. I want to emphasize that I was specifically asked to NOT bring more animals into the house. I will comply as asked.
So 2 days later, hubby and Jackson go to a friend’s house for a fish fry.
I opted to not go and kept Meredith with me. I was a grumpy old cuss and I just
wanted to spend some time in the kitchen making items to freeze for the next 2
weeks and teach Meredith some of the things I know about the kitchen. I get a
text message from the hubby and it’s a picture of Jackson with this puppy. I’m
like ‘aww..cute’ and as a joke I text back ‘I would like to hug him; can he live
here!?’ thinking the response would look something like this
‘$%^&*&^%$^&*(‘. I get back a ‘Na’ reply which concerned me.
I don’t know my hubby to be a softy when it comes to animals but this reply was weird. So I am not sure how to respond because how do you communicate that you are standing in the kitchen up to your ear lobes in homemade noodles with a girl sporting an expression that pleads for the puppy coming home idea to be true. So I didn’t reply. 30 minutes later I get a call and I ask if he is bringing home the puppy and he says yes.
Holy Poo!!
Okay so I can’t bring home a caged rodent which I exclusively care for but
he can bring home a barking, eating, pooping machine! WOW!! Strange turn of
events. Meredith, needless to say was ecstatic. She let out a scream that would
peel paint! I just could not wrap my head around this at all and then I saw the
puppy.
Holy Poo!
Cute doesn’t even begin to describe this creature. He’s cute! He’s a
beagle and weighs in at 3 pounds. CUTE!!! His favorite things are leaves,
sticks and my feet. His name is Opie.
Stay tuned as well tell tales of the new pooch.
A Parental Dilema
I love the church I attend. It’s fun for the parents, fun for the kids for
the kids and I learn so much. I grew up in a different faith so the refreshing
perspective of this church is wonderful!!!! On Wednesday evenings there is a program for 3 years through
5th grade.
It’s also a wonderful program without 150 kids in attendance each and every
week. But leave it to me to have a problem. It’s not a problem with the
program it’s a problem with the other children. I arrive at the church early as
I am a coordinator to feed the volunteers who teach the kids. This
responsibility is new to me this year so there’s been some
Bumps but overall it’s been wonderful. I’ve met so many people and eaten
some very tasty treats. While I am in the kitchen making sure the food is
fresh, presentable, the crummies are attended to and the drink pitcher is full,
my son is playing in the sanctuary usually with a ball of sorts. He gets wild,
he is an 11 year old with ADHD so I have to check in on him a lot to make sure
nothing is damaged or broken. As the parents and their children arrive the
activity in the sanctuary increases to where I have to check in more
frequently. If I find the activity is in a bad place and I am no able to send
them outside, I confiscate whatever is causing the riff-raff, usually it’s a
ball of sorts. I should note our church used to be a winery. I know, right!?
But it’s beautiful building that’s been transformed to be a wonderful place.
There is a large 10,000 square foot room with all the chairs removed to
accommodate the kids, that’s our sanctuary.
So, moving on to about 2 months ago. There was a leadership meeting to
discuss lesson’s learned, building needs, needs of the children etc. What came
out of the meeting was to keep the children under-control during the dinner
hour. Fine, works for me and I understand their concern. What I didn’t know is
there were some kids who were sneaking away and getting into storage bins taking
items and either taking them home or playing with them. I gathered my kiddos
and talked to them about these items because I want to know if they are
involved. They are not and I believe them. The thing about these kids is they
can’t lie. They try but it doesn’t work and it never has. They either start
crying immediately or they circle back and confess their wrong doing. I then
explained that I 100% believe them but felt it was only fair to cover the items
to reinforce doing the right thing. 2 things we have to remember are:
- Set an example by doing good, doing the right thing
- It’s fun at church but it’s still God’s house, treat it as such
So my kids have been very good. I mean it. I am no one of those mothers who
is oblivious to the antics of my children. They can be very stinky and
mischievous and when they do they are disciplined appropriately. Overall though
I don’t have to get on them that much especially in public. With an ADHD boy
this has been a monumental task and we don’t always hit the mark but we teach as
much as we can and correct what he is capable of understanding. But they are
good kids.
Well flash forward to last night. When it all went to pot for me was when
the other children carried on in such a way that they never heard anything about
this email and the request to correct our behavior. So my kids are looking at
me like ‘why can they do it but I can’t. I have an answer to that question but
as active and busy kiddos my answer would leave me resentful. They did resent
me. I had to punish my poor son last week because he yet again, refused to eat
the food the volunteer served. So I grounded him from an activity. He spent the
night crying off and on just sad and mad at me. My goal is to help him see that
food is food, it’s not always our favorite thing or even good for that matter or
we’d rather have something else. But unless it’s squid or raw buffalo meat, you
give it a shot or eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It’s a respect thing
and your goal is to fuel your body to get you through the evening ready to learn
and have fun, not to enjoy a nice sit down meal at someone else’s expense.
So this leaves me second guessing my behavior toward my kids. I am torn
and find myself asking about the fairness in all of this. I hold my kids to a
high standard and 95% of the time they are compliant. Perhaps they are all
messed up because of me and I just don’t see it, I don’t know. Am I conveying my
quandary? I don’t want them to behave in the way the other kids do, but it
makes the discipline piece of this very hard for me. Do you ever find yourself
in the same predicament?? How do you handle or cope or explain this??? To the
kids?? To anyone around who would take witness to this??
Even in this post I feel I waver back and forth not knowing what the right
thing is and there is no formula. Parenting is tough and often painful and you
never really truly know if you’ve made the right decision on many issues.
Tossing out there for a lesson in experience. What was yours!?
Dirty Water
Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers! Swim through this site; you will LOVE IT!
My family bought a house about 5 years ago that had a koi fish pond in the back yard. The thing is huge..HUGE. Measuring 16x20 foot and a few foot deep it boasts of lilies that flower an assortment of colors, cattails that bloom beautifully, frogs which sing and make babies (science, if you’re a Brunner child), and gunk. Lots and lots of gunk. So you say, clean the pond out Karen! Easy peasy! Well not so much. This thing sat unnoticed, unloved and uncleaned for about 3 years before we showed up. Short of draining and starting completely over which means plant life and wildlife, you have to spend a chunk of change to chemically treat this pond. So at a loss for what to do b/c we’d like to preserve the pond but are not sure what to do!? How does this relate to Gratatuesday?? I am grateful to God for this beautiful mess that is currently springing back to life. I am not the only one. Check this out.


Before you picture me and then picture the sewer I speak of, check this out. In all it's glory, it’s just beautiful!!!!
My family bought a house about 5 years ago that had a koi fish pond in the back yard. The thing is huge..HUGE. Measuring 16x20 foot and a few foot deep it boasts of lilies that flower an assortment of colors, cattails that bloom beautifully, frogs which sing and make babies (science, if you’re a Brunner child), and gunk. Lots and lots of gunk. So you say, clean the pond out Karen! Easy peasy! Well not so much. This thing sat unnoticed, unloved and uncleaned for about 3 years before we showed up. Short of draining and starting completely over which means plant life and wildlife, you have to spend a chunk of change to chemically treat this pond. So at a loss for what to do b/c we’d like to preserve the pond but are not sure what to do!? How does this relate to Gratatuesday?? I am grateful to God for this beautiful mess that is currently springing back to life. I am not the only one. Check this out.
This is the result of Jackson enjoying the great outdoors….LAST FALL! The
ball is split and stuck on the lillies.
Here is the other reason; the instinct to have life beyond oneself. To keep things clean and appropriate, there are 2 there...one is beneath the water.
Before you picture me and then picture the sewer I speak of, check this out. In all it's glory, it’s just beautiful!!!!
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