Bright Star Kids Clothing

I'm always on the look out for cute clothes, so when I got the opportunity to look through Bright Star Kids' clothing I was pretty excited! I'm not so great with the whole making decisions thing (just ask my husband) and I had such a hard time deciding the perfect shirt to have shipped, they are all so stinking cute! Finally though I decided on this adorable puff sleeve shirt. 

I will admit, I was expecting a rather cheap iron on item. I mean sure they looked cute on the site, but typically my experiences with personalized designs on shirts included me getting a low quality iron on.  I was completely surprised at the quality! Not only is the shirt super soft but the emblem is far from a cheap sticky iron on. The design is smoothly printed directly on the shirt and isn't going to fade away with washes as far as I can tell. 

So if I'm even more honest, I was expecting the product to take quite a while to get to me seeing as they are based in Australia, and well... I'm not :) Again I was pretty surprised when it arrived quickly. I was more than a little excited to see a package for me from Australia.... I get excited about things like that ;) Speaking of the company being in Australia, their clothing sizes are different than ours here in the US. Thankfully they have a handy dandy size chart. I got my small 2 year old and size 2 puff shirt and it fits with room to grow. So just be aware that you will likely need to break out a measuring tape before ordering. 

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One Day

One Day...

If you walk into my house at 6am there won't be a screaming baby, barking dog and toddler repeatedly asking for yogurt and pancakes. 
There won't be a million little hand prints on every window in my house that I need to wipe off.
I won't get peanut butter smeared all over my clean shirt right as we are walking out the door.
I will be able to walk in and out of a store without some sort of meltdown. 
I will sleep all night.
The shows that I have recorded on DVR will get watched before the next week's episode airs.
I won't have a child have a diaper blow out in public leaving me trying to use a wipe to clean off my shirt. 
I will go to the bathroom by myself and without a child knocking on the door/putting their hands under the door/yelling at me. 
My kids won't wake up at 4am wanting to get in bed with us, taking up the entire bed, poking me in the face, kicking me in the back and wanting to have their face .15 of an inch from mine. 
We won't inturrupt everyone at a restaurant when my child suddenly stands up and starts singing loudly.
I won't have to wipe a snotty nose.
We won't have to pay for a babysitter.
My house will be quiet and clean.
And I will be sad and want it all back. 

SOURCE

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Thankful Thursday

Often my "Thankful Thursdays" are filled materialistic things so I wanted to change it up today.

5 non material things I am thankful for (in no particular order):
1. My children. As I've shared before, there was a time when I wasn't sure if I would be able to carry a child. I feel so incredibly blessed that I am on this side of my infertility battle and that I get these moments with them - all of them, from the cranky, snot nosed, no sleeping, time out taking times to the hugs, cuddles, kisses, first times.
2. My faith. I'm continually growing. I'm thankful that I have a God that is patient with me, that is willing to guide me and comfort me. I'm thankful I know God.
3. My parents. We loved living in Florida, absolutely loved it. In fact most days I'm ready to pack up and head back down. I miss it to my very core and if I could I would most certainly live the rest of my life there. But I can't. My family is up here in boring ole Indiana and unless they get the memo on the fantasticness of my "home" in Florida, we'll be here to stay. 
4. Health. None of my immediate family has major health issues. I'm not in and out of the hospital myself nor am I in an out of the hospital visiting loved ones. My children are healthy and I don't have to watch them being poked and prodded. I know just how lucky I am to have seen the inside of a hospital very few times.
5. My education. I never decided to go to college. It wasn't really something I decided it just happened. I always just assumed that came after high school. I often complain about the six digit amount of college debt we have but I'm thankful that I even had the opportunity to get a degree... even if I will be paying for it long after my children are adults most likely. 
So what non-material things are you thankful for today? Have a "Thankful Thursday" post? Share it in the comments!
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Developing the Meaning of No

First off, I do not pretend to know all of the parenting answers, I only know my personal ideal parenting style and I'm secure enough to know that my idea of an ideal parenting style could change drastically and quickly depending on experience, further knowledge and situation. I also know that my preferred way of parenting is not anyone else's and I fully believe that is okay. I am no way judging the parent I'm writing about, and instead using it as an example of how I want to do things differently in my family. 

With that said... 
Last night we attended a high school football game here in town. It was a nice night and while I'm not a big football fan, I do enjoy the atmosphere. There were four parents sitting a row behind us - I don't know if they were parents of a player or not but at least one of the two couples had two younger daughters with them. The girls were probably 7 and 9 and they kept going down onto the track and doing cartwheels and such. The cheerleaders were in a different spot so I think they assumed it was fine to be there. The dad yelled down at them a few times to get off the track and get back in the bleachers. Each time they would but it wasn't long before they were back down there. 
At one point I overheard the two couples talking and I heard the dad of the girls saying something along the lines of "I'm always having to tell them, 'I've already told you no twice and you still are doing it' I don't know why they won't listen."
I'm not a parenting expert, but maybe it's because they know that you will simply keep saying stop, or no while you sit there just shaking your head wondering why they aren't listening. 
Now I realize my daughter isn't at the age where we've had this battle yet, so I cannot say for sure how I will respond when she is not listening to instructions. Currently telling her no and distracting her does the trick. She might throw a mini fit where she throws herself on the floor for a second, and I leave her be to let her have a moment and then she's on to something else. My hope though, is that I can teach her that if I've asked her to do or not do something I'm not going to just keep saying it until I give up and leave her alone about it. My hope is that if she's doing something I do not approve of and I tell her to stop and she doesn't, that I will get off my butt and remove her from the situation - and that she knows that if I have to drag my lazy butt up that it means she's in trouble. If I don't why would she ever respond to my requests? "Oh mom is throwing out her random suggestions again..."
I do not want to be the type of parent that throws out empty threats of discipline and never follows through because I don't feel like it. (Huge pet peeve is when I hear parents say, "If you don't come here right now I am throwing your _____ away when we get home." When they know they won't actually be throwing away that expensive game they bought - or a threat of "If you don't stop we're leaving" when the parent knows they aren't going to leave... threats are fine as long as they are a realistic threat that you are actually able/willing to follow through on - but that's a whole different post)
In real life if we repeatedly speed pass a police officer every morning on the way to work he isn't going to keep flashing his headlights at us telling us to slow down while he sits in his car shaking his head thinking, "I keep asking you to slow down and I don't know why you won't". We might get one or two warnings but then he's going to pull us over and give us a ticket. I want our children to know that I realize they are children and that I will reiterate my expectations to them in the event they have forgotten, but once they've been reminded if they continue to do the said behavior I will follow through on removing them from the situation, even it inconveniences me (such as having to get up where I was comfy and have them come sit next to me if they are unable to come sit by me if I've asked them to).  Now if I can just remember this post in a few years so that I don't just sit repeatedly saying no for the 6th time without reacting to the situation...

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Veggies vs. Junk Food

Apparently teenagers and children will eat fruits and veggies. Now I know this might seem mind blowing to you, but I swear to you it is true! They just need to be offered them. 
I made an observation this weekend that might be obvious but it really got me thinking. We had a pool party with some of the kids in Matt's youth group this weekend and it was a ton of fun! Typically stuff like this is crawling with Doritos, candy and any type of junk you can think of. The host of the party didn't have any of that usual stuff out, instead she had carrots, celery, apples, watermelon, kiwi, cantaloupe, bananas and grapes. Guess what? Not one kid complained. They chowed down on it. The carrots were gone very quickly as was the watermelon and bananas. Not one kid seemed disappointed that there was no chips or candy. 
So it might sound obvious that our kids (even teens!) will eat what is offered, but I think we forget that. We assume they will just let healthy food go to waste. Even with our one year old daughter, she certainly perfers juicy watermelon to dry crunchy chips. If I offer her Doritos (which I don't think she's ever actually had) she would eat them. If I offer her cantaloupe she will eat it. Hopefully by offering her healthy foods and not junk food when she is little will develop a taste for the healthier stuff and maybe in the end she won't even care very much about eating the junk (sadly... I do like the junk... ugh). 
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School Shooting

I was in 6th grade when the Columbine shooting happened. I only vaguely remember the actual event but what I do remember of the shooting was students filing and running out of the school. This was the same thing I remember most about watching the news yesterday morning following the Chardon High School shooting.

Students running out of a school. Students running away from a place that is suppose to be safe.

It's terribly sad that kids not only have to be subjected to such a tragedy but for it to be somewhere that is suppose to be safe... well it sucks. I realize school may not always be a safe haven for everyone (because of things like bullying) but as far as physical safety goes, I never once walked into my high school and wondered if I would walk out alive.