drawing the line in the sand

Hi, my name is Jennifer and I'm a parent who spanks. Agree or disagree that's totally up to you. It's what works for us and our particular child. However, we've recently realized the virtues of time-out. There are those instances where removing your child from the situation that's causing them to get in trouble truly works wonders. So, we've been giving it a go and it's been very successful. Owen is a very stubborn and hard-headed child who isn't fazed much by spanking. There's something about standing in the corner that's working much to our amazement. So, I'm going to make the proponents of time-out proud and say that I'm starting to see your point.

Ignore the dirt all over the poor child...this was immediately after I removed him from the sandbox/umbrella incident and he decided to lose his mind. I will post a little disclaimer and say that we're doing time-out "Super Nanny style" meaning that we kneel down on his level and explain to him why he had to go to time-out and then finish with a hug and kiss when he's finished serving his time. So far it's working.....I'm saying a little prayer right now that he will continue to respond well to this type of punishment. Pray with me folks!

Umbrella-ella-ella

Owen has a few weird obsessions that we've discovered here lately. One of the weirdest is his thing about umbrellas. He goes crazy when he sees an umbrella and he's already broken two of my umbrellas by insisting on holding them. That's another post all by itself because he doesn't get the connection yet between umbrella and rain but I'll save that for another day. Owen's sand/water table has an umbrella on it that we normally keep closed because the wind just kills it. He was insisting on opening it the other day and I kept putting him off. Stephanie came to pick up Reece and I had my back turned talking to her so when I turned around this is what I saw.....

One thing you can say about Owen is that the child doesn't give up.....EVER! He stood under that umbrella for a long time until I physically removed him to get him to come in for dinner which didn't go well and leads me to my next post.....

J-E-L-L-O

After we realized how much Owen loves pudding on Easter, I bought him some pudding and jello to try out at home. He's such a weirdo at times about texture and food so I figured the jello would be a disaster, but he surprised me and really loved it.

I can't believe I'm this bored on a Friday night to post about Jello but oh well! I just can't believe how big he looks sitting at the table eating that jello. Time sure does fly when you're having fun!

the infamous tent

Owen got this great tent for his birthday last year that he was able to play in for several months. Then, overnight he turned into this wild and crazy little boy so the tent had to go away. We brought the tent out on Sunday afternoon to see if he was ready for it again. We quickly realized....it's a definite no!


the tent "at rest"
Owen sees the tent.....runs full speed into it....then proceeds to tumble around the room inside the tent. It was pretty entertaining to watch but definitely not something you want to witness on a daily basis. This picture captures the tent in "mid-flight" so you don't really capture the essence of what we witnessed.

peeking out to see why he's getting in trouble...notice Chris is in the background either looking bored, nonchalant, or completely ignoring what's going on!

he may be wild and crazy but who wouldn't love this face!?!

So the tent has been away for awhile longer....stay tuned!

Easter

We had a great Easter this year. We started off the morning with a little Easter surprise. Owen woke up to find a bucket with a new book, a bubble gun, candy, and an alligator truck. Of course his favorite thing was the little bendable bunny that was a dollar at Wal-Mart!

giving it the once-over....that's Emma in the bottom left corner

reading the new book....he's all about animals these days so we got him an "Old McDonald" book.

testing out the new truck while enjoying his morning milk in his special "hands-free" fashion...

We enjoyed a great Easter service at church and lunch with the fam. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of Owen in his Easter outfit or the family because I intended to take them after church. Owen made sure we had a little excitement right after church by disappearing from the nursery just before we came to get him. I was so happy he was found that I let him have chocolate pudding at lunch which he got all over himself..so the pictures were out the window!

Future Firefighter

We have been outside a lot lately enjoying the beautiful weather. Owen recently discovered the joys of the water hose and specifically the sprayer.

just figuring it out....
looking for something/someone to spray....poor Emma!

giving the castle a good power wash

I LOVE this one...check out the look on his face!

lesson learned

**disclaimer** the picture in this post will not be amusing to all audiences....to some it might just be a little gross!

I learned the hard way recently to not put Owen to bed without any pants on............

yes folks...he took off his diaper and then peed on the floor right beside it. Oh the joy of parenting little boys!