I had some really helpful advice from Mom this week on child-rearing. I'm not sure where the conversation started or where it ended up but we were talking about catching the children doing something bad. She said when you see them doing something bad why ask them if they did it. You know the answer and you're just setting them up to lie which is bad upon bad. Just skip the question and work on the original problem.

Mom also sent me a link to a blog of a doctor in Albany. The doctor was talking about her parents creating a positive thought environment for her as a child and how she has found those positive thoughts going through her head as an adult. Things like "you can do it!" or "I knew you could!" I've been thinking about it some. I think by working with the boys through encouragement, it may give more weight to my lectures when they are bad. I have good little boys but some days all I feel like I've done is lecture.

Thomas and I leaned over the railing to say good morning to his Daddy. Thomas said don't drop me and I assured him I certainly would not. He told me it made him nervous.

Last night, Nathan had a bag of cranberries that he was eating from. Thomas came by to ask him for some and Nathan told him "no, can't ruin your supper."

Nathan told me this morning that his warm milk "hit the spot"

Yesterday morning, I was quick getting a recipe off the computer and Nathan was with me. I did notice Thomas was mighty quiet. I found him sprawled out on the rug looking through the JcPenny catalog....the lingerie section! I'm really helping it was just belly buttons he was noticing.