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Scotland's 5th Birthday party
Scotland has his first friend party this year. He invited eight of his friends. After much discussion we settled on a building theme. We built a huge fort downstairs, and then set out the marble track, duplos, and legos for the kids to build with. We made marshmallow catapults and saw who could shoot them into…
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Scotland- Age 5
Scotland turned five on Monday. It was a much anticipated birthday and he’s thrilled to finally have joined the bulk of his friends at this magical age. We had a simple family celebration on Monday with his dinner request of balsamic glazed salmon and mashed potatoes, grape juice, fruit salad, and chocolate chip cookies. We opened presents:…
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Happy 2nd Birthday Anders!
It’s always fun to look back and reflect on the beginning of a life. Reading back over past blog posts (here and here) I was reminded of that significant day two years ago when this sweet chubby boy entered our life. He has blessed our home with such joy, camaraderie, and laughter. His quick smile, and spunky…
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New Foutz Rule
One of the largest take home messages I got from the Positive Discipline philosophy was, if it only works for a week- “Great! It worked for a week!” So who knows the duration of this latest success, but I’m reveling in it as long as I can. There was a long period where dinner time…
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The sweet things in life
My boys are really sweet. I often get overwhelmed by their aggressive behavior, insensitive interactions, and disrespect; but I find that when I dwell on the sweet things they do- those tender moments multiply. So, a list: -Scotland is still leaving “stockings” for Tom by his bedside. Yesterday, his sock hung from his bedstand drawer…
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Keeping it real
In a world of photo editing, Pinterest, and selective sharing, I always appreciate a good “real life” share. I came across these photos from Christmas and they made me smile. This is what our nativity reenactment looked like: Both boys were most excited about being angels. This is a carry over from last year when…
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Christmas Ramblings
I just love this time of year. Our boys are too young to be caught up in all the stress and busy-ness of school parties, end of the year concerts, and whatnot. So while so many are running around stressed and overwhelmed, as of yet this is a very special intimate time of year for…
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Brotherly love
Last week, we set up the toddler bed in Scotland’s room, thinking we’d give the shared room a try. It resulted in many late nights (full of fun for the boys) followed by days of emotional duress and conflict when their fatigue hit them. It didn’t take long to realize that, when other options were…
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Happy Halloween!
Pumpkin carving: We started the holiday festivities off at FHE on Tuesday when we carved pumpkins, halloween music playing. Scotland carved a scary face, Tom a Tiger, and I a bat. Anders painted a pumpkin. Tom had him help him clean out his pumpkin. At first Anders refused but finally got in on the fun.…
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Absorption issues
If I check out a book and it sits on my desk where I can see it daily, I absorb the information right. Even if I never crack the cover? I’m endlessly requesting books at the library. I excitedly pick them up. I bring them home, I hold them tenderly. I put them on the…