ColoradoBennett--Entschuldigung

Bevor wir geboren wurden, lebten wir alle bei unseren himmlischen Eltern im Himmel. Der Himmlische Vater wollte, dass wire ihm ahnlicher werden, und deswegen stellte er uns einen Plan vor.
That's for you, Brooke, a little Sunday School lesson in German for you. I've been called to repentance on the blog and I'm very sorry. My excuse isn't that I've been writing birthday cards, Geof., because only Lydia has a January birthday. Rather my excuses are that both hands have been cut off at the wrists, our computer has been over at the Tillimann-Dick household where Shiloh has been working his magic, and my favorite excuse of all....we've been very busy getting ready for the Saudi Arabians that are moving in upstairs. We are not housing terrorists, I've been very prayerful that such is not the case, but we are taking in Muhammad and Ali, two exchange students who are here to learn English and attend the School of Mines where they will learn how to make nuclear weapons, or study petroleum or computer science or something like that. We have to provide furniture, breakfast and dinner during the week, and all meals on the weekends. They say they like staying with Mormon families because we don't smoke or drink, we are honest, and we don't eat pork. Adam quickly corrected them on the pork and the honest part. Our intentions for taking in exchange students is supposed to be (according to the paper work we have signed) to help them learn English and make them a part of our family, but really we are just in it for the money. $600/month per student and we figure we can fit about 14 kids in the apartment upstairs. Just kidding, it should be a really fun experience, and we only have 2 students, for now. Except the feeding them everyday part. I'm a human-stress-ball just thinking about it. I've looked up Saudi Arabian recipes online and they are full of crazy things like black lemons and spices I've never seen before. Plus, Muslims only eat meat that has been prepared a specific way so we can't feed them anything but Tyson chicken and seafood. There are a few Arab markets downtown that I guess we could take them to, but I'm afraid that means we blow the food budget. I mean these are two hungry, 17 and 19 year-old boys that could potentially eat us out of house and home and that is downright the scarriest thing imaginable. Plus, I'm pretty well useless in the evenings. I feel so dang sick I just want to sit in a big heap on the couch and do nothing. WHAT HAVE WE GOTTEN OURSELVES INTO? No, it'll be great, and I'm sure that I'll be blogging soon enough that this is one of the best choices we've ever made. I can't wait to post pictures of our new family.
And now I'll quote the Dalai Lama who has the best attitude about living with Muslims: "Whenever I meet people I always approach them from the standpoint of the most basic things we have in common. We each have a physical structure, a mind, emotions. We are all born in the same way, and we all die. All of us want happiness and do not want to suffer. Looking at others from this standpoint rather than emphasizing secondary differences such as the fact that I am Tibetan, or a different color, religion, or cultural background, allows me to have a feeling that I'm meeting someone just the same as me. I find that relating to others on that level makes it much easier to exchange and communicate with one another."
Now, Alicia, let's talk about beating children. I've spanked Sierra, but the only time I've done so was in a moment of pure anger. The result was: I scared the crap out of myself and started to cry, and Sierra was apparently unaffected and kept doing what ever she was doing. So I can't spank because it doesn't work for me and I can't control my anger problem if I do. The Dalai Lama would say....no just kidding, he doesn't have any kids and people who don't have any kids have terrible parenting advice. I would suggest to continue hoping that you are on Candid Camera and to get some new parenting books from the library like: "Raising Your Spirited Child", "Redirecting Your Child's Behavior", "Parenting the Strong-Willed Child" or "8 Weeks to a Well-Behaved Child" or go to http://good-child-guide.com where you can get free emails instead of having to read a book. We've been having a terrible time getting Sierra to take naps. After our trip to WA and seeing that Meagan and Brooke get all their kids to take a nap with them every day, I decided that it was necessary for my survival to implement the same program. It was working fine and dandy, until I got pregnant and naps suddenly seem like a life-and-death situation. Life to me and death to Sierra. Adam was telling a guy who was over at our house this weekend (and this guy is in a masters program in Social Work) that the only way we can get Sierra to take a nap is to hold her down while she freaks out and screams and eventually she gets so worn out that we can let go and she goes right to sleep. Well, this guy was like 'uh, I'll just pretend that I didn't hear that.' And for a moment it was a very awkward situation because I thought he might be planning on turning us in to the authorities. So, I've decided that it is sick and wrong to get Sierra to take a nap that way, plus it really hasn't been working for me lately anyway. Sierra just yells and wakes up Kaia and then none of us get a nap. So I really don't know what I'm going to do. Threatening to take away Dora or Diego used to work, but now she says that she doesn't care if I don't let her watch tv. Awesome, I'm feeling powerless to a 3 year-old with pig-tails. But I'm convinced with parenting there are a lot of books out there, some with information applicable to your child, but most are a waste of time. The only real success I've had is to prayerfully ask for help and do the best I can while I wait for inspiration.
Well, I've almost been here and hour and it is down right amazing that my family is still asleep. So I'm going to go do some prego yoga. Blog out...