:: positive discipline ::

I have been working through some parenting shifts & picked out some random books from the library last week to browse. I wanted to share one of the gems that I found in case you were interested.

Positive Discipline A - Z by Nelson, Lott & Glenn shares some great ideas around parenting in a "kind but firm" way that is still respectful & focused on teaching life skills to your kids. They offer lots of real life examples, a planning ahead to prevent future problems section, life skills children can learn & parenting pointers for many different situations that parents are confronted with as their children grow. They address the differences in age for most topics as well which can be very helpful. 

Some of their resources are also available as an E-download if you are interested. 

I hope that you find it as helpful as I have!

:: some old friends ::

Photo courtesy of Linda Moes - Oregan, U.S.A.

I have been feeling a little, no a lot, homesick in the last month or so. But I have gathered some very loved & cherished old friends around me to fill up the quieter hours of the day.

Can you guess who or what...?

Books.

Yes, books are my old cherished friends who warm my life up, even as I read the stories for the fourth, sixth & for some, the twelfth time. 

So are you interested to know which books I turn to when life is feeling a little grey & lonely?

Here's the list.

The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon

The Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich

The Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer

The Belgariad & Mallorean Series by David Eddings

Can you share some of your favourite books to read over & over again?
They may just help these last few months over here pass a little faster...

+ vegetarian success! +

I am always on the look out for good vegetarian recipes that my meat loving boys may actually enjoy. While back in Australia I bought the 'A Taste of Vegetarian' Thermomix cookbook. Since being back in the U.S. I have browsing through it & this week settled on making the 'Tomato Pasta with Vegetables and Feta' (on page 72 for those of you with this recipe book). 

It came out looking quite gourmet, was easy to make & best of all, combines plenty of vegetables to make a great flavour. Danny & the boys gave it the tick of approval which is all I need to put it on the permanent rotation in my meal planning. 

It looks great!

I like it, Mum.

A messy Thermomix but it gives you the idea of how it came together. 

The best thing about this recipe is that it can be done on the stove as long as you have a few pots & pans & a steamer. I have found the recipe on the web here but for some reason they seem to have mixed up the Feta cheese with Parmesan. That might be worth trying too if you are feeling adventurous. 

Let me know how it goes!

:: character first ::

This post is not a lesson in how messy my house is (note dust above & untidy toy room below). It's actually about a great resource that I finally got around to ordering a couple of weeks ago after about 2 years of good intentions. I found out about Character First through my sister-in-law, Ainsley, and saw the value in it straight away. It is basically a very well planned curriculum/teaching resource that parents can use to teach their kids character traits that we feel are very important to their lives. There is an animal to represent the trait, stories, colouring pages, crafts, songs, definitions, posters & activity cards to help flesh out & create meaningful understanding of what a particular character is.  

I have started with the Obedience trait because it is something that we have been struggling with a lot lately. Although the work book is focused on elementary/grade 1 aged children, there are still a lot of the activities that I can do with Jamin. We have read & acted out a story about a circus elephant that is obedient to his master, made a craft with the 5 keys to Obedience (quickly, completely, go the extra mile, cheerfully & do the right thing) & talked about situations & people to whom Jamin needs to be obedient (those that are responsible for him). This is also great from a stranger danger perspective & who not to be obedient to. 

I also ordered the posters & have put it on the wall in the play room. I overheard Jamin telling Kael about the poster this morning when I was out of the room. Yay! I can really see that he is internalising what it means to be obedient rather than just hearing Danny & I asking him to be obedient. The more these traits become a part of our everyday life & language, the easier it will be for the boys to choose to display them.  

So I am happy to be embarking on some more intentional parenting for my boys. If you would like to look specifically at the page where I ordered the Series 1 & 2 workbooks click here. I have been told that you can order the books in Australia through Growing Families but it is a lot cheaper to get them here in the U.S. so if anybody desperately wants them then let me know. 

:: what i've been reading ::

This was another random find at the library but I really enjoyed the story & the writing style of the author, Allegra Goodman. She has written a number of other books that I think I will search out if my cherubs give me a moment to search for my own books on our next library visit.

The basic storyline is of 2 sisters who lost their mother in their early childhood. They are polar opposites, think motivated & sophisticated verses arty & philosophical but are drawn together in their sisterhood & lack of other family attachments. The story follows Jessamine & Emily as they negotiate adulthood & try to find some middle ground between their very different personalities. 

I found the glimpses into the girls lives interesting. Jess works at a rare bookshop & is involved with Save the Trees foundation and Emily is a graduate of MIT & has her own internet startup company, complete with rich entrepreneurial boyfriend.

If you are interested in reading the New York Times review, click here.

Definately recommended reading - 3 out of 5 stars.

:: an afternoon at the movies ::

Danny & I traded time to ourselves yesterday. He went snowboarding in the morning & I got to escape to the movies in the afternoon. I feel pretty excited to have discovered that our local cinema, 5 minutes down the road, charges $1.50 for a ticket! How crazy is that? I couldn't help comparing it to the Toowoomba cinema which charges something like $13. I will definately be going back!

I went to see Life as We Know it, which is a chick flick about two Godparents who end up having to take on a 1 year old girl when their friends die in a car accident. See the trailer here. It was just the girly escape that I needed yesterday afternoon - I laughed, cried, envied clothes & may even have appreciated the male leads physique just a little bit (but only because he reminds me so much of my husband :) It was pretty funny to see all the challenging parts of parenthood so well portrayed in a movie.

I returned home in a good mood for having taken some time out. It is amazing how you appreciate being able to sit down & watch a movie uninterrupted for 2 hours when you have little kids. What a phase of life this is!?

:: what i've been reading ::

I read the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood last year & was suprised by how much I enjoyed it. So when I saw the latest offering from the same author, Rebecca Wells, at the library last week I snapped it up. This story has the same small town, soul connected community feel as Ya-Ya but the main character, Calla Lily Ponder, is a much more down to earth character. The author follows her life from a young girl , through her teenage years & into her life's calling as a beautician. That may sound like its frivolous but this book has a depth of story telling that makes you feel like you are gently floating down the La Luna River whilst reading it. 

It gets a lazy 4 stars from me. 

< what i've been reading >

A number of years ago I read the memoir by Ayaan Hirsi Ali 'Infidel' and found it to be one of those books which stretch and enlighten you in ways you can never imagine. You can read a short biography of Hirsi Ali here which gives a excellent background on her amazing life story.

I found this second book to be just as disconcerting as the first, giving me a personal take on the current state of Islam and its affect on the everyday family, woman and child. A review of her second book 'Nomad' that you can find here describes her writing style perfectly in stating that "she writes with a clear eye for detail and narrative flair of a novelist". Even though I did finish the book feeling very informed I didn't feel like I had read a paper or textbook, rather a letter from a friend about her worries and concerns about a really important topic in our world at this time.

You may also be interested in the AHA Foundation, which Hirsi Ali started in 2007 as a charitable organisation to help protect and defend the rights of women in the West against militant Islam. She is an amazing woman who is doing something to change both the larger culture and personal lives of women and children - something I find overwhelmingly inspiring!