I Just Don't Get It...

*This regularly scheduled program is interrupted by the following random rant. 

Proceed at your own risk!*

I just don't get the world sometimes. I don't understand why people bring children into this world and see them as a bother, something to boss around and treat however they wish without regard to the simple fact that kids are people too. All of these shows and books are created to "fix" children when the cold hard reality is that it is ADULTS who are ruining children. It is adults who are making our nations children devoid of creativity, violent, sick with toxins, obese, depressed. It pisses me off!

And then there are those adults out there who are so mean, cruel, and inhumane that I have to take a moment to process what I actually just read. Tonight I had the displeasure of learning of a blog called Mama Tao. Apparently this woman's goal in life is to mock and demean all those hard choices that a mother makes for her children, including but not limited to  VBACs, vaccinating, water births, and natural childbirth. She believes that basically we (we, meaning those who went for an all natural birth, read Ina May's work and praised the heavens for such wisdom, and who question vaccinations) have all been drinking some strong Kool-aid and are to blame for lies?! I felt like I needed to bleach my eyes out after reading just one post, and it got worse with each post there after. It was vile.

It makes me sick to my stomach to think of all those people who are cheering about the fact that there are restaurants who ban children under the age of 6 from eating there. While we're at it, let's ban people over 65 because they are loud, rude, drop things, spill, and sometimes even have accidents! Gasp!!! Makes sense right? And then can we ban people who are developmentally challenged because really, they are loud and can possibly ruin my meal as well... and so on and so forth. Ugh!!

So yeah, I am pretty fed up with the majority of adults I know. I could go on and on and on about this, on any given day. From the random woman who tells me that I am doing Gabby a disservice by homeschooling her to the well meaning friend who thinks it is dumb to question doctors because they have the PhD and I don't.
But I am going to stop now and take a deep breathe and remember that it is because of these people that others work so hard to educate the public about the topics that are important.


Thank you for listening to this random rant, tomorrow we will continue our regularly scheduled program!

Our Days...

Our days are a kaleidoscope. 

Every instant a change takes place in the contents. 

New harmonies, new contrasts, new combinations of every sort.

                                          ~Henry Ward Beecher 

These summer days are flying by us. Filled with laughing, bike rides, bubbles, hot dogs, splashing, sand, and so much more. The sun has been out in full force and while we are out in the early and late hours, I am praising the invention of air conditioning. 

Yesterday I made the best bubbles ever. Who knew that corn syrup was the secret ingredient?  I also tried my hand at making homemade mac n' cheese and let me tell you, I am never buying boxed Kraft mac n' cheese again! You can get the recipe here! (It is a little bland unless you decide to add some spices and some spicier cheeses, but I adored it as is!)

Thanks to Pinterest I am getting back into sewing, decorating, and fashion- especially hair and nail designs. I did this trick again and it worked like magic! I have these long glorious curls and feel so sassy today. =)

Source: thepapermama.blogspot.com via Connie on Pinterest

Cool huh?! Well, that's about it... what have you been up to today?

(Psssst! Check out my Pinterest for awesome recipes, neat nail ideas, and tons of other funness!)

 
Psss 

7 Months!

Miss Moira turned 7 months old a few days ago. She is such a delightful baby to watch and grow! Here are a few highlights from this month:

* She can pull herself to standing easily and using anything and everything to help, including my hair!

* Moira LOVES looking out the front windows and all the people

* She is getting not one but two teeth at once!

* Favorite foods include hummus, guacamole, and oatmeal

* Is definitely an active baby who needs little sleep to be happy

*Sits by herself and plays with cars while we cook

* Favorite toys are matchbox cars, tag blocks, and her Jumperoo

* First Words: My Mama! (YAY!)

All in all Moira is doing fabulous and everyone is so quick to play with her and make her laugh, which she does a lot of. She is trying to talk more and I am pretty sure that she is planning on skipping the crawling thing. We'll see! 

:this moment:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. For more moments, visit SouleMama.

Where the Heck is the Village?

Usually when I read parenting posts that have a different viewpoint than my own I shrug them off and walk away. But once in awhile an article just hits that nerve and I have to at least speak up for those who can't aren't allowed to.

This article, written by a callous and inhumane man named LZ Granderson, is an article that everyone should read, as well as it's comments. It is a wake up call about the culture we live in and how we treat our pets better than our children. Don't believe me? Check out this clever little chart made by Vickie at Demand Euphoria:

Know what this chart tells me? It is really bad to hit my dog, that's animal cruelty. But it is perfectly ok for me to hit my own child, that's called discipline. Makes sense right?

Yet, in the article written, LZ states:

Spanking is not a cure, and should not be the first resort, but I don't think it should automatically be taken off the table when dealing with small kids. We're so preoccupied with protecting children from disappointment and discomfort that we're inadvertently excusing them from growing up.

Why can't people realize that kids are PEOPLE TOO!  If you would get fidgety and annoyed sitting at a boring dinner where people ignore you, why is it so hard to believe that your child feels the exact same way?! So your child complains about the situation and gets punished.... or worse yet, your child tries to have fun in a not-fun situation, and gets punished. I don't know about you, but it seems like a lose-lose situation to me.

I believe that we, as a whole, need to remember what it is like to be little, unable to express any emotion that may be perceived as disrespectful (aka: discontent, resistance, annoyance, stubbornness... really any emotion that is not quiet calmness), to not have any say in how the day went, what was served, where you went, when you slept. To be thirsty but not able to have a drink without going through all the hoops of getting an adult's attention, asking for a cup, asking for help to get the drink, and hoping that you will actually get to drink what you want to drink, remembering to say please or whatever word the adult wants to hear... personally it sounds exhausting!

The thing that bothered me the most about the article though was these two simple sentences:

I do not love your child.
The rest of the country does not love your child either.

When I read those two sentences I just sat back, stunned that someone can write such hate. Hate against someone that we are supposed to protect and care for because they cannot protect themselves. And then we wonder why children are the victims of violent crimes, why they grow up to be bullies, bring guns to school and take their own lives after their rage explodes.... Here are children that needed a hug instead of a slap, a kind word instead of a time out, and needed the adults in their world to love them.

Why can't we smile at a child who is making the best out of a situation? Lend a kind word to a harried parent who is just trying to make it through the day instead of giving a dirty look or a rude comment? Kids and parents have bad days and sometimes there are situations out of their control. Maybe we can stop expecting everyone to be perfect and realize that as long as society allows this hatred of childhood to continue, bullying and other hateful acts will also continue.

Want to read more posts regarding this article? Check out this one from Vickie and this one from Tiff.

Happy 4th of July!

Today we decided to skip the parade and go to the zoo to see some patriotic animals.

We are all feeling a bit "off" lately at Casa de Krebs...

bad tempers, tiredness, teething, stress...

so we are taking it sort of easy today,

instead of trying to fit in parties and festivities.

I hope everyone is having a great day!

Happy 4th of July to all!

(Now to go pop some popcorn and watch Independence Day!)

So Sweet but Sour!

Yesterday we met up Carena and Heather again for another adventure with our kids- cherry picking! I have never picked fresh cherries and even though this was the sour variety, I couldn't resist eating some. (They really weren't as sour as I was told!)

The kids had a lot of fun picking, Sam and Hailey were so cute trying to pick up ones off the ground or putting fallen ones back onto the tree. Gabby and AJ helped pick a whopping 4 pounds of cherries!! It was a beautiful day filled with laughing, of course, and friends.

From the cherries I decided to make freezer jam and saved a little bit for some yummy banana cherry bread, which I will make tonight. What is your favorite fruit to pick and what do you make with it?

On Sunday...

On Sunday Klint and I took the kids here:

It was simple, beautiful, and foreign all at the same time. Take this city girl out of the city and you have an interesting time! The girls loved seeing all the lavender plants blooming, real dragonflies, and a quaint little cabin where they dry the flowers.

I love summer, not for the hot weather (ick!!) but for the fairs and pick your own fruit farms. The smells of fresh fruit makes me smile and dream of pies baking on windowsills and salads topped with lush berries! Even though I wouldn't know what to do with myself in the country, there is something about it that is just calling my name. We will see....

On Saturday...

This past weekend I had the joy of having a wonderful little picnic with some wonderful sorority sisters of mine. We met up on a not so sunny, kinda chilly summer day at the beach, ate some great food, took photos, saw some weirdo teenagers taking photos that borderlined on creepy, let our kids play with each other, and laughed like we haven't laughed in about 9 years! It was fabulous, to say the least.

Heather and her little boy, Sam

I love that I can pick up right where we left off, no matter how many months or years it has been in between chats.  These ladies are friends and sisters in the truest sense of the word. There is nothing that I can't tell them and nothing I wouldn't do for any of them.

Carena and Miss Moira

Carena and her daughter, Hailey

Sam decided to take Leslie for a walk, so cute

The girls and all of our babies! Leslie and Heather are expecting little girls this fall!!

It was so nice seeing everyone and I know now that we are all having our families and growing up, we will see each other more often. I especially love that my girls will grow up with aunts who will look out for them and care about them as much as any family would. Thank you ladies for a lovely afternoon!!

Plank Pulling: Self-Hatred with a Side of Cream Cheese

"The one day a week that we strongly resolve to ignore the multitude of specks and sawdust around us and pull one bona fide plank from our own eye." 

Today's plank isn't one thing but a whole bunch- body image, beauty... 

As a dancer there is a preconceived image that you are supposed to fit: tall, skinny, chestless, long-limbs that are full of power. You are supposed to survive on only salads and water, be a size 0, be lithe and waif-like. Nothing like me. 

I will fully admit that I struggle with loving my body, fighting my genetic makeup of shortness, curves, and a chest that Victoria's Secrets cannot contain. I tried to will myself into an eating disorder, as bad as it may be, because I did not look like a dancer. My calves, instead of lengthening with barre work, bulked up like a gymnasts. My muscles get large and prominent instead of long and lean. I hated looking at my reflection in the mirrors everyday in class. Yet here I am, 20 years into dancing, and even though I may not look like a dancer- I am a dancer.

I try very hard not to let my girls hear me say negative things about myself because I don't want them to think those things about themselves. I know that my girls are beautiful, there is no question. Yet, I know that society will tell them that they are not pretty enough, thin enough, tall enough, not enough... I don't want to set a bad example. But inside my head I say those bad things about myself, and I need to stop.

So what if I am not 100lbs? I can palm the floor with ease. Who cares that I am not the smallest size on the rack? I have three beautiful girls and earned those stretch marks proudly. And I know that I can't do a darn thing about my height other than laugh when I try on "capris" and they hit the top of my foot. =)

When my girls see themselves in the mirror I do not want them to pick themselves apart like I do, I want them to stand strong and healthy. Yesterday Gabby had a wipe out on her bike and got a pretty good scrape across her face. It darkened today to include a purple-ish colored eye... but to me she looked even prettier because those marks didn't stop her one bit. She asked for a bigger bike for her birthday!

First Road Rash ever!

That is the attitude I want to have... happy with what I got and just aim for a more healthy lifestyle!


Do you have a plank to pull? Hop on over here to read Jen's and to share your own!