Cake's by Krista

Parker's 3rd Birthday

Derek's 9th

Kiefer's Baptism

Parker's Birthday

Derek's 11th Birthday

Paul's 40th

Blaine's 4th

Katelyn's Farewell

Parker 5th

Derek's 13th

Katelyn's 18th

Kiefer's First

Hallowe'en cupcakes

No "F" word in our house!

In our house, we do not like to use the "F" word.  It almost always means there is crying involved, freaking out, and downright melting down.  Yes that's right, in our house it is an almost banned word. 

FERBER.  I do not like it Sam I am.  I do not like Ferber I am. 

Maybe this post is inspired because I just finished rocking my baby to sleep.  A method that took all of 5 minutes.  A firm snuggle, a soothing back and forth rock, and a soft rendition of "You are my sunshine" and 5 minutes later he is in la la land. 

Who of us wouldn't love a warm snuggle on mom's shoulder, her soothing scent and warm voice lulling us into peaceful bliss??  As opposed to a hard cold mattress and wailing it out until you are just too tired to cry anymore and give up...

I admit it, there are those babies (and we've had them!) who just don't care for the rock, don't care for the swaddle, and are sleep resisitant!  Swing?  BAH!  That's nothing compared to their anti sleep powers!  And you gotta do what you gotta do!! 

But today, of all days, when I have a 4 year old birthday party to finish planning, fill loot bags, bake and decorate a batman cake for AND make sure we are ready for the WEDDING that follows that party - I am a little short on time.  But probably the BEST 5 minutes of my day will be that slow soothing rock and singing my, slightly off key, 'You are my sunshine' and kissing the warm cheek of my baby as I lie him down in his crib. 

Maybe Ferber would say it's a waste of precious time.  And he's half right.  It IS precious time and it won't last forever.

Get to know me better

These are always fun and a GREAT time waster.  LOL

What time did you get up this morning?     7:20 am
How do you like your steak? medium RARE 
What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Oh dear, uhm, Date night. 
What is your favorite TV show?  Dexter
If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Anywhere it NEVER EVER snows 
What did you have for breakfast? egg on english muffin
What is your favorite cuisine? SUSHI
What foods do you dislike?  blue cheese, anchoivies
Favorite Place to Eat? Canyon Creek and The Keg
Favorite dressing?   House or Raspberry Vingerette 
What kind of vehicle do you drive?   Honda Oddessey
What are your favorite clothes?  Jeans and tshirt
Where would you visit if you had the chance?  Hawaii
Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?  "who the hell drank 1/2 my drink?!?!?"
Where would you want to retire?  Mexico Mayan  
Favorite time of day?  Toe touching time with Paul and then BEDTIME
Where were you born? Barrie Ontario
What is your favorite sport to watch?  Paul's hockey or baseball
Bird watcher? Uhm, NO
Are you a morning person or a night person?  niether! 
Do you have any pets? dog -- Zoe golden retriever
Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?  Going to BC in January - is that exciting??
What did you want to be when you were little?   a doctor
What is your best childhood memory?  Any Christmas or any camping trip
Are you a cat or dog person?   DOG 
Are you married?  almost 7 years 
Always wear your seat belt?   yes
Been in a car accident?  Yes
Any pet peeves?  Rudeness - especially not holding open the door 
Favorite Pizza Toppings? Prefer not to eat pizza but Hawaian if I must
Favorite Flower? Lily
Favorite ice cream? Don't really like ice cream
Favorite fast food restaurant?  McDonald's
How many times did you fail your drivers license test? 0
Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?  Flight Center.  LOL
Done anything spontaneous lately? Every day is an adventure in Kristaland. 
Broccoli?  I like  
What was your favorite vacation?  Bahamas getting married with friends and family
Last person you went out to dinner with?     My husband
What are you listening to right now? peace and quiet! 
What is your favorite color?  black, blue, purple
How many tattoos do you have?   none...yet
Coffee Drinker?  STARBUCKS BABY!!!


Did you learn anything new???

Marketing vs. Parenting

I posted this picture recently on Facebook along with my disgust that chocolate cookies for babies existed.  One of my friends made a good point in that she wasn't a saint when it came to what her kids ate, but the MARKETING of this product makes it appear we are being better parents than we really are.  I may have been a bit unclear about my opinions as well.  The MARKETING of this product is EXACTLY where my issues lie. 

How would you feel if you saw a mother handing her barely 12 month old an oreo cookie??  You'd probably think she was nuts.  Is this REALLY much better?  We are bombarded with images and messages telling us NOT ONLY what to feed our children, but how to parent them (along with all the labels of different parenting styles), what to dress them in, where to send them to school, what to read to them, and the list goes on and on.  And along with all these well intended messages are also the JUDGEMENTS.  Again, I have issue with the judgement of using such advice, not in the giving of it.

Kiefer's first food was either pizza crust or french fry.  I'm not exactly sure which one.  CLEARLY, I am no saint when it comes to the nutritional needs of my children either.  But when I handed over a pizza crust or hot yummy from McDonalds I was under NO pretense that it was somehow good for him.  I knew exactly what I was doing.  It was pizza.  It was a deep fried fat filled french fry.  It wasn't neatly packaged up with a guideline of age limitations and cartoon characters gracing it's cover to make me think that somehow I might be doing some good.

Give your kids chocolate.  Let them get it all over their face.  Let them love it!  Take pictures.  But be under NO false assumptions that what you are doing is nutrionally good for your children.  The 'good' is in the fun you are showing them.  And the LOVE you are giving them.  Not in the commercially packaged treat. 

END RANT. 

:P

We're good!

Blaine makes me laugh everyday.  I tell people this, and their immediate response is usually, "like what?" and of course, almost every time, I am at a loss for what to say.  It's one of the MAIN reasons I started this blog.  So I can refer to it and remember why I'm so blissfully happy soaking in my boys each and every day!

Just two minutes ago, Blaine came to me with an action figure (known as "a guy" to my boys) and very concerned asked, "Mom, can Kiefer swallow this?"  While it was on the small side, the 'guy' in question had his arms outstretched to the sides making him a small concern in terms of choking hazzard. 

"No I don't think so" I reply, and Blaine returns to playing with Kiefer. 

I should have sounded more certain.  The next thing I hear is this:

"Kiefer open your mouth"

I quickly poke my head around the corner to find Blaine gingerly placing the small 'guy' in Kiefers mouth, and as I had thought, the outstretched arms couldn't get past Kiefers lips.

Blaine hearing me turns and says,

"We're good Mom"

LOL

"You can still breath..."

This morning Blaine crawled into bed with us and just as he did Kiefer woke up ready for the day.  I dragged myself out of bed to go tend to him and Paul cuddled up with Blaine.  Well, I guess as Blaine lie quietly, Paul fell back asleep and started snoring...

Blaine: DAD!!  DAD!!!  (hand on his arm shaking him a bit)
Paul: (a groggy) ...yes....
Blaine: Stop making that noise! 
 - after a minute -
Blaine: You can still breath. 

Too funny! 

Introducing...US!

Iron Man and Wolverine

Mommy and Stinker a.k.a Kiefer

Blaine and Daddy

Parker

Derek, Mommy and Kiefer

First Entry

So here I am starting up yet ANOTHER blog.  Hopefully this one will stick.  I've tried to make it something that won't change over time.  I've been "blondie2bmd", I've been "mommy2b" and I've been "ThorntonMom".  All of which no longer apply. 

I AM a dynamic Mom.  And I always will be.  The title of my blog I thought about long and hard.  And finally I gave up.  Was there NOTHING that could define me in one simple phrase?  I sew, I run, I dance, I'm a mom, I'm a sister, I'm a wife, I scrapbook, I facebook, I procrastinate!  So FINALLY, just yesterday it came to me.

One of Many.  Everything I do is "one of many".  One of many meals, one of many friends, one of many runs, one of many KIDS!  LOL  So here it is.  Blog entry number one.  And yes, it is One of MANY.

Thanks for reading and I'll try to make it interesting.  God knows my life is somedays! 
*^_^*