Kids in Pain

A friend of mine is having trouble with her 14 year old daughter being emotionally bullied at her middle school. My heart broke for the mom and the kid, and I asked the mom if she was interfering at all. She said absolutely not; she and her husband pour into their daughter and love her and encourage her, hoping that by doing so they've given her the tools to cope with pain. HOW ADMIRABLE! I remember a counselor friend of mine telling me when we were going through the divorce, that it's every mom's temptation to shelter their children from pain, anger, fear, or sadness. And yet by doing so we're denying them the chance to practice how to deal with those things...especially while they're still in the safety of our home and care, rather than as adults in the real world and dealing with it for the first time. It's so hard to see our kids hurt, but especially now that my kids are bigger I'm trying to let them learn to deal with disappointment rather than rescue them from it...Danny Silk (pastor who did a really good parenting series on teaching your children to make good choices without our help!) calls it the "helicopter mom," hovering hovering hovering... leaving our kids to their own devices --- as long as theyr'e not in any danger of course--- is easier said than done!

Bounty

Happy Thanksgiving one and all! I love this day; I'm not one of those who goes straight from Halloween to Christmas without camping for awhile at Thanksgiving. And here's a cute recipe Hannah brought home from school for a tasty pre-turkey snack mix:

Bugles- Shaped like a cornucopia or Horn of Plenty, a symbol of our Nation's abundance.
Mini Pretzels- Arms folded in reflection, a freedom sought by the founders of our country.
Candy Corn- Sacrifices of the Pilgrim's first winter. Food was so scarce that the settlers survived on just a few kernels of corn per day.
Nuts/Seeds- Promise of a future harvest; we reap only if seeds are planted and tended to with diligence.
Dried fruits- Harves gifts from our abundant land.
M&Ms- Memories of those who came before us, to guide us to a future of freedom.
Mini Hershey's kisses- The love of family and friends who sweeten our lives.

Isn't that cute? And it's DELICIOUS... perfect combo of salty sweet...
HAPPY THANKFUL DAY:)

Birthday Ramblings

Ok ladies, tell me what you think. I'll be 33 tomorrow and tonight is Friday night, so my munchkins and I are gonna do something together tonight and then we're doing some extended family going-out-to-dinner-stuff tomorrow night. I've been told (by some who acted like they were joking but I'm not sure) about how sad that is; "poor Jen is single so she has to go out with her kids." I disagree! My kids are so much fun now it's like they're my girlfriends; they're old enough to enjoy shopping, they're good in restaurants, and they make me laugh. Is that so bad?! Second, I've been told (by the same people) that I tend to be intimidating to men, I'm "too confident" blah blah blah and that's perhaps why I don't have a date for my birthday. What?! I'm supposed to pretend to be needy so some guy with low self esteen can muster up the courage to ask me out, all so I can feel "good about myself" that I have a date for my birthday?! I'd rather hang out with my kids.

Ghosts, Ghouls and Demonic Chocolate

I understand Halloween is somewhat controversial, and to those of you who don't celebrate it I'll try not to step on your toes at all. But we love it! We hang stuff in the yard, we carve pumpkins, we watch The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and crack up at Snoopy playing the War Pilot on top of his doghouse. We do have the rule that no one can dress as anything "yucky," but other than that we do it up baby. I've posted a pic of our cute autumn house and my cute autumn kids:) (I also dressed up, as a baseball player from my beloved Cubbies, though I was the one taking all the pics so alas you all have to go without seeing mommy in a baseball jersey...) It's hard to see in these pics but once a year these 2 girlies are allowed to wear mascara and let me say, unbelievable are the EYELASHES on my children. Good grief Charlie Brown.