What Ever Happened To Discipline?

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to post. Seems like this week everytime I pick up the camera to catch a cute moment...they stop....Uggh! Plus our afternoons are consumed with homework! Every night there is Spelling, Reading, and Math. Our children are in so much trouble especially when it comes to Math! I hate it - Mark hates it. I am horrible at it - Mark is horrible at it! Exactly the reason why I got my degree in journalism/communications - not real math intensive! The most math the hubby ever had to do was read a radar and figure out how many miles per hour over the speed limit some poor schmuck was going! And it doesn't help that Landman would already pull his own toenails off rather than do homework! Makes for very long afternoons and evenings around the Taylor household. So I just haven't had much motivation to pick up my camera.

But what I have done is read an article on some web site or magazine, I can't even remember now where it was, but I read it and just fumed the whole time! It was some cutesy article that was supposed to be humorous and and oh so relateable to mothers. Just ticked me off! The author was writing about her trip to the grocery store with her SINGLE child! And of couse it turned into a three ring circus - the little girl ran off, crashed into another person's cart- threw opened bag of cookies down- screamed bloody murder, etc. and so how did this mother handle it????? You guessed it! She abandoned her shopping cart and left the store! CHILD GOT HER WAY! Hello - idiot- you just taught her how to get her way! Then this lady proceeded to list off all these ways to avoid this situation.. 1.Bring another adult to play/entertain child! Is she freaking kidding me? 2. Immediately buy child a toy or drink or candy to make them happy. Totally what is wrong with the world!

Now, don't get me wrong - I am no super mom, genius of child raising or great disciplinarian(sp) but I do make my children mind! And I don't (on a normal basis) BRIBE them to act correctly either! Most of the time, I have TWO almost 2-year-olds with me - and I have yet to have a meltdown in a store! In fact they never even frown! Why, because I make them mind! When I tell them No - they generally stop! We are for sure still learning - and we still have plenty of meltdowns but they happen in the privacy of our own home!

It just infuraited me to read some absurd list about dealing with a child in the grocery store, when I could have written the same article in one word....DISCIPLINE!

(And NO - that screaming you hear in the background is NOT my children throwing tantrums, and NO Reid isn't kicking the door - and Ella isn't hanging on my ankles crying - I am not counting to 10 to keep from blowing my top....We live in a completely calm, serene, mellow home! LOL!)

I promise - pictures in the next day or so!

Movie Talk and Ella and the Purple Crayon

Okay - A little movie talk first today. I generally put the twins down for their nap after lunch time. That generally allows a good two hours before we go pick up Landman from school. I always, always, always plan on catching a quick cat nap at the same time - but 99% of the time I find a movie on TV and get involved in it- even if I have seen it a bazillion times already. So nap time generally turns into movie time for mama! The curse of being an avid movie watcher.

But here is the deal that perplexes me about myself. Since about March of 2009 - I have become a crier. Yup, at everything! Curiously I turned this way right about the time - well, you do the math....Reid and Ella showed up 7 months later and they were two months early! Not only did pregnancy mess with my body but it changed my personality!!! I went from someone who laughed uncontrollably at the "sappy" moments of movies to being someone who cries during the opening credits! What made me think about this was the movie I got involved in today.

Let it be said - I will watch just about anything Mark Wahlberg is in. Let's face it, I have always had a thing for him! When I first met the hubby I called him Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. I would listen to the police traffic on the scanner at the newspaper office, and I knew everyone's radio handle so, I would know when he was out on a call and then I would also know what deputies were out with him - so he became Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.

Yet again, I digress. Back to watching Mark Wahlberg movies. I will watch almost anything - he has a few that are real stinkers and just plain gross - but probably one of my favorites is Invincible. It is the biopic about Vince Papale - the walk on for the Eagles. Anyhow, it came on this afternoon and I of course had to watch it. Not only is that just a plain good movie - but it makes me cry about every five seconds. All his buddies get so excited - he makes the team - his daddy is proud- he gets the girl - scores in the big game!

So this afternoon while the twins slept - I watched Invincible and cried! Another quirk about me...I cry most often during sports films! Drama, Romance, Suspense, Comedy - they might be able to bring moisture to my eyes but a Sports film can turn me into a blubbering idiot! Miracle, the movie about the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team - I am an emotional wreck during the whole thing! Also, why I generally prefer to watch movies by myself!

Now to the Purple Crayon- My little girl got a little out of control with her purple crayon. The funny part was watching her try to cover it up so I could not see it! And yes, I have had to put a blanket over the couch so that the couch isn't multi-colored! The blanket is multi-colored thanks to the twins!



My music man was just playing his guitar!


No pictures please!

Coloring With Meemaw

The twins and I finally got our weekly dose of Meemaw today. We sure did miss our Pops though! It had been 10 days since Ella had seen her Meemaw and she was beginning to have a breakdown! Anyhow - here are some pictures from today. Meemaw replinished our stock of crayons and spent the day coloring! Yes - I began to play with editing pictures but I ran out of motivation....but I did play with some of them.

Watching Glee and waiting on Meemaw to arrive.

Meemaw! Meemaw!

Reid thought his job was to put crayons in the box and then dump them all over his head! BOYS!

Makin' A Hand

This week has been spent trying to reacclamate ourselves with our school routine. I had forgotten how nice it was not having to load everyone up in the car everyday at 3 p.m. and sit in the never moving car pool line at school! So I haven't really taken any pictures - but the hubby did take some pictures before we left for vacation when he and Landman went with Pops to feed cows. Poor Reid - his need for a nap still causes him to miss out on big boy fun sometimes!

A self-portrait!

Are baby herefords not the cutest little things ever!!!

You can never go feedin' with Pops, pass a tank and not at least throw a couple of lines out! (Well, most of us can ...but Landon can not! LOL)

He didn't get to actually go, so when he woke from his nap he looked at previous trips on the computer!

I just had to post this next picture just to torment my mama! This is the cake equivalent to the green silk dress for me and my mama! I am sure most of you in the family have heard and remember the infamous green silk dress!!! Oh mothers and daughters! I can only imagine what will be my and Ella's green silk dress! Any hoot - my mama was in the process of making a masterpiece of a chocolate cake and her daughter (me) caused a major malfunction in her concentration and this was the result! LOL! She tried to throw the whole thing in the trash but I would not let her and was determined it could be salvaged....I think I was wrong! LOL!

We still ate the cake and it didnt' taste any different had it not been broken! LOL! I still laugh when I look at this photo -But I DO NOT laugh when I think about that horrible GREEN SILK DRESS!!!

Up in the Morning and Out to School!

The teacher is teaching the Golden Rule! - Ah! Back to School and back to our non-summer routine! Landman happily marched out the door this morning. He is excited because he likes who he has for a teacher, Mrs. Libby. "She is nice!" We will see how long that opinion lasts...LOL!

Can't believe in about 4 years these two will be dressed in their navy and khaki uniforms and headed to school too!

"We will have to go WHERE???! You have got to be kidding me!"

Beach, We Miss You Already....

We somehow managed to escape for a week to the beach last week. It was the first beach experience for all the kiddos. Everyone LOVED it! It is amazing how fast the days go when you are doing nothing but playing on the beach, napping, eating and swimming in a pool! We first thought 3 nights might be a little much but turned out to be not near long enough!

Be prepared for picture overload! It was a real challenge to keep sand and water out of my camera, take pictures, and control 3 water loving kids without a major catastrophe and I am proud to say- we succeeded! And the only two idiots that got sunburned were the hubby and I! But I stand by the fact that we were so preoccupied with making sure none of the kids got even a little pinkish that we totally forgot about ourselves! He and I need a little color anyhow! Try not to be too jealous of our week (especially all you folks that turned down our invitation to join us!!!)

My beautiful girl was ready to hit the surf!!

We got to Mustang Island on Tuesday afternoon and were in our condo long enough to bust out the swimsuits and to the beach we ran as fast as we could!

Yes - the hubby and I are out numbered and ALWAYS have our hands full!

On Wednesday morning, we packed the cooler with sandwiches, chips, snacks and drinks and headed straight to the beach by 9:30 a.m.

As you can tell - he was tired of waiting on mom and dad!

Once again.....I have my hands full!

That water felt so good and the beach was really pretty clean!

In the background are the condos we stayed in. It was so nice to just have to walk across the pier to get back to our rooms rather than loading back into the car!

Relax Meemaw - daddy is standing watch just outside the picture!

I think Reid is out surfing a wave!

Those are the condos and the pier to the beach!


That is daddy and sissy on his shoulders heading out into the waves!

My many attempts at a group shot!

By about 2 p.m. - The hubby and I were getting pretty toasty and the twins were in need of a nap - though they showed no signs of it! They would of stayed out at the beach and happy all day I think! So we headed back to the room - everybody showered, took naps and snacked some more. After the twins woke up, we headed into Port Aransas to do a little souvenir shopping.

On Thursday morning we got up and headed to Corpus to go to the Texas State Aquarium. Mark and I held no illusions that the twins would be entertained but boy were we WRONG! They loved it!

The main reason for the visit othe aquarium was to see the Dolphin show! It wasn't very long but I think the hubby and I enjoyed it as much as the kids did.

Yes - they are wearing backpacks with leashes! Not only do their backpacks serve me in the fact that I use them as MY pack mules and stuff them with diapers, wipes, cell phone, wallet - but they also allow the twins the freedom they so crave to walk around like big kids but keeps them from getting away from me! YOU live my life for a day and then judge me! LOL!

They really did enjoy the aquarium!

We just gave the USS Lexington a drive by on the way to the aquarium!

My little angel is getting so big....hard to believe that less than two years ago she was nothing more than a little 2 pound 10 ounce baby sleeping in an incubator! And making her mama a bundle of nerves and stress.....wait, that part hasn't changed! LOL!

After lunch and another nap time we spent Thursday afternoon at the swimming pool! That requires both Mark and I in the pool at all times so no pictures were taken at the pool! Probably best too, since I think those would cause Meemaw to have a major not minor stroke! The twins just don't see why they have to be in a floaty or even have a life jacket on and are only happy when the are in the pool free - and trying to swim! The pool was like 4 pools all joined together so there was even an area that was only two feet deep so the twins could touch the bottom - swim lessons are definately a necessity next summer!

After supper, we decided to make one more evening trip to the beach. The poor twins were so worn out they barely got out of the wagon.

It was a little annoying how the minute I would take the lense cap off my camera - it would fog over for at least 20 minutes! Dadgum humidity!

I have never laughed so hard as I did at Reid trying to put his shoes on in the water. He would put one down to try and put the other one on and then the tide would come up and wash the other shoe off and he would abandon the one to go chasing after the other. It was a sad yet hilarious cycle the little boy could not break out of!

Plum wore out! But still Happy!

I think he was going to try to club the fish!

Sadly, Friday morning rolled around and we had to load everyone and everything back into the car and head back to reality. If only they were this good and sweet all the time! Reid has the reminants of his breakfast (a healthy chocolate donut) on his mouth!

That leg looks a little painful...I just noticed that. OW!

Back to the grindstone and school starts on Monday! Yippeee!