Today was "fun Friday family day" Shad started calling it that and we love it. We went to Orlando to the Bass Pro Shop. It was crowded and overwhelming but Shad got a real child's size cross bow. He is very happy with it. He had gotten Steve's bow & arrow and is quite good with it. This one has about 30 pounds on the string so he has to work it, it has a sight too. We had been promising him one, but we just didn't have time to go over and get it till now. I think it was well worth the wait.
I STILL haven't taken any pictures of the gang since their haircuts but here are a couple from today....
Henry the cat, in the collards this morning.
Shad and a gator at Bass Pro Shop
You can see Shad has no hair LOL
One things we are really trying to do with the boys is to help them stay away from electronics (says the Mother as she is on her laptop) But we just see how hard it is for them to balance electronics and we are committed to giving them alternatives. Yearly we buy a membership to the State parks and we've bought kayaks for them to go on the river with their dad. We are encouraging archery too as that is a very skilled sport. We also shoot guns and target practice, believe it or not, I am a really good shooter. No one can believe it as I am half blind myself LOL. Actually my husband and I had a quick "date" at the shooting range tonight:) Betcha this surprised some of you! I grew up around guns and hunting so it's common to me. I don't hunt, my husband did when he was younger and our oldest wants to start hunting....I'm not against hunting....my thing is you have to skin, cook and eat anything you bring home. My family supplemented our meat supply by hunting. I didn't skin anything!!!! And I'm too old to start! I can barely pull the plastic bag out of the turkey's butt at Thanksgiving without gagging! You know I'm not about to skin something!
But the "battle of the electronics" is the biggest one we fight in our home. With the electronics (tv, computer, video games, phones) come attitudes we do not like. I say we brought this upon ourselves and some of it we did actually buy, some things were given to our boys over the years.... We believe in BALANCE and do not want to be parents who say no to everything, but on the other hand, electronics take the place of real relationships and we see that so clearly in the younger (and even our) generation. Hopefully we can keep the balance by keeping them outside and busy. During our time in NY after the accident, the electronics WON as we were at the hospital so much, the boys were with the little ones at the Ronald McD House and things were so stressful. Now we are back to fighting that monster! But the monster can be tamed, there is a place for electronics, we just have to keep it in its place!
Thank you for praying for Selah, please continue!!!!!
I love your approach! Too many people try to impose limits without alternatives (i.e., "you can only play games for one hour per week!"), and they end up creating forbidden fruit and unhealthy obsessions in the process. I strongly believe that if someone finds that their kids are spending too much time doing one activity, then they need to fill the time with something better! It's important to keep in mind that kids only have as much unstructured free time as their parents permit them (and some time each day is good!) ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat news about the medicine working and Selah
ReplyDeletefinally starting to get better...
Love the pic of Henry in your garden....
Have a blessed weekend with the kids and
your church family.
Love from NC
OH I am so happy the meds working!!! It is wonderful when the right doctor is put into your life. The path there--well that can be hard! But I am thankful she is doing better :)
ReplyDeleteShad's haircut is cute :) I would love to trim my son's hair down alot more but he says no lol. When he starts looking like a hobbit, I draw the line lol.
I do not like the idea of hunting--BUT I think you are very smart about that reasoning. I have no problem with people hunting to help feed their family. I do love fishing, haven't been in ages. I am a bit jealous of the archery--I was very good when I was younger. I wish I had kept up with it!
And yes I totally hear you and agree about electronics. We have a Wii and the kids have Gameboys, but that's where we draw the line for our son. We have to watch him like a hawk when he gets into the computer (and his friends have NO parental supervision so we've had to limit where he is allowed to play). But it is a a constant presence so we try to balance that with reading, school and sports. It's a bit different with our daughter--she is much better about "self-regulating" and loves to be outside, gardening, etc.
They are useful, but just about like everything else in life, all things in moderation ;)
Hope you have a good weekend and that Selah (and Sam too) continue to feel better!
So pleased to hear that Selah is finally getting better. I love your approach to electronic gadgets , i also limit the time my sons have them and we spend a lot of time outdoors instead.
ReplyDeleteIf you figure out how to set limits to the "electrons" (as we call them here) let me know. We have Net Nanny, which I can't figure out how to install, and 2 BOBs (timer devices) but I'm sure we're losing the battle.
ReplyDeleteAlso glad that Selah is improving!