Punishment blues

Yesterday I had to do something that as a parent I think is one of the hardest things to do. It just about broke my heart and today I am still upset about it. I'm writing this in hopes that one day when Anthony is older it will help him understand that parents really don't get a thrill out of punishing their children. I now think that it may be harder on the parents than it actually is on the kids but how do you help them to learn important lessons?

Anyway, here is what happened:

Anthony, who is an extremely sweet and sensitive boy is also a child that likes to get reactions out of his siblings. He loves to push their buttons and is known to walk by someone and hit them, giggling while he is doing it. He thinks it is funny and of course it is not. We have had lots of talks about this with him and about the importance of keeping your hands (and feet and whatever else) to yourself. He is better about it than he was and hopefully he will continue to improve. To help him understand the importance of his behavior we set up a strike policy. We very clearly explained to Anthony what kind of behavior would be a strike.

If Anthony gets three strikes in one week then he won't be able to go to Cub Scouts. Anthony loves cub scouts and looks forward to going every week so we thought this would be a good incentive for him. As a bonus, if he has a week totally strike free (which has only happened once) then he gets a special reward. Right now going BB gun shooting with his Dad is hanging over his head.

I thought Anthony was going to have a no strike week since Sunday night he was strike free and only had to get through Monday and Tuesday. I guess it was not meant to be and maybe Anthony has to learn that we will stick to our rules. By the time Monday afternoon rolled around Anthony had three strikes. I really hated giving out the last strike that I knew would keep him from going to cub scouts and since it has happened I've gone over it in my head many times. Did I act too rashly? Did I react to the situation? Did I act out of anger? I feel that I handled it very well and based on the rules we had previously set up for Anthony I feel that he had plenty of warning and chances to change his behavior and avoid the punishment.

I think Anthony understood completely that he deserved the three strikes because he didn't argue but simply hung his head as the tears dripped off his cheeks. He didn't stomp up to his room and slam the door but came to me for hugs and comfort while he cried and I cried along with him. It about broke my heart.

So, tonight is Cub scouts and I'm sure that when Jeremiah leaves to go there will be more tears. From both Anthony and his Mommy. But now it is a new week and Anthony has a clean slate. No strikes. Can he keep it that way?

The Joy of Little Boys

"What's in this little hole?"

I have to say that I can't blame Trevor for being so inquisitive. I'm a "big boy" now, and I still have that drive to see what's inside holes and what happens when I push buttons. Luckily, my self-preservation has advanced to the point where I probe holes with sticks instead of my own flesh.

Trevor claims it happened as he was walking out of my room, which I imagine is partly true. His curiosity was piqued by the little hole in the door jamb, and, as far as I can gather, he tore off part of his thumb when he wrenched it out after it got stuck.

Anthony told me that Trevor didn't even notice the wound at first, and that it took him noticing the steady stream of blood trickling onto the floor before he started to cry.

It should be no surprise that within the hour Trevor and I were sitting in the emergency room waiting to be seen. Perhaps I was overly cautious in dragging Trevor to the hospital, but I was quite concerned when I got home and saw the extent of his injury. Once I had it properly cleaned, I could actually see below the top layers of skin.

After a lot of tears and a fresh dressing for his thumb, Trevor was sent on his way armed with a syringe to squirt his sisters with. He was in a pretty cheery mood, and even asked if I'd carry him out like I had carried him into the hospital. I told him that I would pay for the visit and call it even.

Those of you with faint hearts should be thankful that I only had my phone with me. The photos are rather blurred.

Six months old

Now that Emersynne is almost seven months old I am finally getting around to doing her six month post. She hasn't learned any new tricks but she does have a tooth. Of course, it waited until after Grandma Cindy left before coming in. It's amazing how their smiles change when the teeth start coming in. We have started Emersynne on baby cereal and so far she has had squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, and tonight she had green beans for the first time. The kids love watching her face when she starts on a new food. There was a lot of laughter at the dinner table tonight as we watched Emersynne eat the first few bites of green beans. She wasn't so sure about it but kept opening her mouth for more.

Two days ago Emersynne had her six month check-up. Because of the doctor needing to reschedule our appointment (which should have been earlier in March) her six month check-up was almost her seven month check-up. Oh well. She is doing great and survived her shots.

My BIG beautiful baby girl!
Emersynne Victoria
19 lbs 3 oz
28 inches

This dress was made for Michaela by my
Grandmother Beverly Pendleton.
It has been an outfit to treasure
and now all four of the girls have worn it.

Trevor and Abigail can never resist being in a picture.
I don't know where the other three kids were.

Emersynne showing off her "fur" coat.

Happy Birthday Jeremiah!

Sunday was Jeremiah's birthday. The kids were so excited and had been counting down the days until the celebration. They were a little upset that Daddy's birthday was on a fast Sunday and even more upset that it rained all day on Daddy's birthday. We had a yummy dinner of taquitos and refried beans, Jeremiah opened presents (with the help of Abigail), and we got our fill of chocolate with Chocolate Cake with Chocolate frosting and Chocolate ice cream. We finished up the evening with two games of bite the bag and two games of hide and go seek in the dark.

Natalie made her daddy's favorite cookies for his birthday. She wanted to make big ones so we made giant snickerdoodles!

Anthony designed and made a watering can for Jeremiah to use at work

Trevor stuck with another one of his Daddy's favorites. Black licorice!

Michaela was excited to find fruit slices at Trader Joe's since she remembered how much her daddy likes those.

This present was tucked away until the very end. I knew as soon as Jeremiah saw the box he would know exactly what was inside.


And he was right!
This present was from my parents and Jeremiah had been dropping hints about it every time my mom and I went out shopping while she was here!

And it wouldn't be a complete post unless I added a photo of cute little Eme. Here she is playing with Jeremiah's slipper while he is opening presents.

Come on!

Okay. I knew I'd get here eventually--my first post from my iPod. It's gonna be really special, right?

I was in the bathroom today doing what people do in bathrooms. In walks some, I have to say it, IDIOT with his phone up to his ear. He pulls up to a urinal and, in addition to the expected transaction, leaves a detailed message about his day thus far on his girlfriend's voicemail.

First of all, who doesn't know that you don't talk on the phone in a restroom?

Second, how could anyone just casually talk on the phone in front of his coworkers who are *going to the bathroom?*

And lastly, what kind of man leaves a message for his girlfriend with "potty" sounds in the background?

Thanks, buddy, for making my day.

Picnic at Dean Park

We finally had some nice weather! Saturday was a beautiful day and we couldn't resist leaving our chores and projects and taking the afternoon to play. We packed up a picnic and went to Dean Park in Shrewsbury.

The kids had a blast playing in the wagon, walking on the trail around the pond, watching the turtles sun bathing on the rocks, skipping rocks, and playing at the playground. The afternoon went by way to quickly and we had a great day!

The trees are still bare and ugly but we finally saw signs of winter being over!

The kids were so happy to be free!

Amazingly enough Trevor did not end up in the water!

Abigail loves going outside with her hat and glasses

Trevor loved finding rocks to climb on

Can you tell that Abigail loves getting her picture taken? She is always climbing in pictures!

It was so exciting to see the turtles and each of the kids got to take turns using the binoculars to take a closer look at the turtles.

Even Abigail begged for a turn although she had no idea how to make them work. It made for a cute picture with her daddy.


After our adventures around the pond we headed over to the playground. The four older kids didn't keep in one place long enough for pictures but Abigail and Emersynne had a great time on the swings. This was Emersynne first time swinging. From all the smiles she gave us I would say that she liked it!

Saturday crafts

We didn't have very good weather while my Mom was here and that pretty much kept us at home on the weekend. Thank goodness for the dollar store crafts that the kids had fun doing. Unfortunately the craft time only lasted about 10 minutes. Oh well. The kids had fun!

Pictures

Just some more pictures from my Mom's visit. It's kind of hard to tell but the pictures of me with my Mom were before I got my hair done and the picture of me and Jeremiah were after I got hair done. Nice to have a fresh look. It's amazing how much better it feels after getting it trimmed up again!

Abigail's new bed

A few weeks ago we made the switch and got Emersynne out of the porta-crib and into the crib. This meant getting a new bed for Abigail. After doing lots of online research I found the bed I wanted and ordered it. Before the bed actually arrived Abigail had been moved out of the crib and was sleeping on a mattress on the floor. She was very excited with her new bed when it was only the mattress so you can imagine her excitement when her real bed was put together.

We put it together late one night, (I can say we because I screwed in one screw) carried it up to the girls room, and lifted the sleeping Abigail mattress and all into the new bed. We woke up the next morning to excited chatter as Abigail told the girls about her new bed.

Abigail has done very well with the transition and I am very happy with our new toddler bed. It is the first time we have bought a toddler bed. We moved our other kids from the crib to a twin bed but didn't have that option with Abigail because of our limited space in the girls room. The bed looks really cute and even matches the crib!

Swimming lessons

So Trevor finished up his gymnastics class and has started swimming lessons. He has gone three times now and loves it. He looks forward to Monday mornings when he can go swim. This past week his teacher brought out the slide the last few minutes of class and Trevor was ready for action!