HELP NEEDED!!!!

I am posting this on BOTH of my blogs...

When I try to upload pictures now, GOOGLE tells me that I have exceeded my limit!!! I am going to go crazy!!!

Please let me know if you've ever encountered this before!!

saturday at the park

Both boys ready for take off!
Laurie in her new ride.

Cheesy smile & blank stare!

JP got brave and climbed the tree pretty high...

...and then of course we have to pet a dog!

And now we're stuck!

My precious-ness.

Handsome.

"Hmm, what's this thing and how can I get it into my mouth..."

JP always finding friends to play with.

Mercy! Look at those eyes!

Me and my favorite.

Flowers from my sweet boy.

Taking it all in.

Kool Kicks!

monitoring tv

*GUEST POST*

Contributed by Alec Bates

I think it’s important to monitor what your kids watch on Cable TV even when you’re not around. The more you teach them what’s appropriate and what’s not the less they’re going to want to go behind your back and watch something you know they shouldn’t. My kids, for example, know they’re not allowed to watch Beavis and Butthead or The Simpsons. I don’t think either of the shows (even though they’re cartoons) have good messages for kids and I just don’t want them learning anything from them that I’m not already teaching them. I try to stick to educational program but basically as long as it doesn’t have cursing or drugs or sex or anything like that it’s fair game for my kids. Their favorite show is actually jeopardy which is about as harmless as it gets and I’m fine with that. At least they’re learning at the same time they’re watching TV – not many shows can say that they allow your kids that kind of double duty!

sleep deprived

I am seriously lacking in the sleep department! It's no one's fault but my own. I have been staying up WAY past my bedtime to write. I am quickly wearing down. Right now, I'm sure you're thinking, " boo hoo! Go to bed earlier, idiot!" While that certainly would be a quick fix, it is much easier said than done! Trust me!

I get up early, get myself AND JP ready for school. We come home, do homework, make dinner, take baths and then it's time for bed. I am choosing to change my career at this stage in my life. I do not want JP to suffer because of it. Meaning, I am NOT going to use my afternoon time with him to write. He does not understand what I doing. To him, it would just be mommy fixated on her laptop all day. I REFUSE to be THAT mom! Therefore, Andrea loses MUCH sleep!! My prayer is that the reward will be great!

The class we are taking has FAR exceeded what little expectations I had. It is more than wonderful! Last night, we had a critique group. We shared the outline of our book and sat while the other students AND the professor gave their opinions and feedback. It was very insightful and a lot of fun - definitely a humbling experience. You find out that you really do not know as much as you think you do! Everyone seemed to really like our story. The professor, ( I keep calling him a professor...he's an author/illustrator), loved it and gave us some really great ideas. Mom and I came home and changed a lot of what we had written. I will keep you updated.

Nothing too exciting is taking place around here. As always, we're working/going to school and then home and bed. Pretty repetitious.

I hope everyone has a FABULOUS Thursday!!

gatlinburg @ random

Here is a picture of Scott's new truck. (Or it's new to him, at least!) I meant to post this picture before now. As I mentioned a MONTH ago, I took over 200 pictures in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Here are a few from our trip...I hope to post the remainder of them over the next several days.

Silly faces at the Apple Barn!

We went to visit Santa at his workshop.

JP LOVES the Wizard of OZ movie, so he really enjoyed this store.

supernanny

This is my son's new favorite show. In the beginning, I was torn. Do I let him watch it? I certainly do not want him to pick up the horrible behaviors of the children on the show. So, for the first time, I allowed him to watch it.

JP has some "junk" in his left eye. I do not think it's pink eye, but rather a cold of some kind. Because of this, we didn't go to church this morning. Scott and I watched the service live on the Internet while JP laid in my bed and watched two episodes of Supper Nanny. I actually think it is going to be a positive thing! All morning long, he's been reciting to us all of the things "wrong" with the way the kids are acting. I have used this as a platform to talk with him about the way his voice sounds sometimes. Maybe watching this show will help JP to recognize when he is not making "good choices."

We'll see....

(FYI, we are having family pictures taken today with Scott's whole family. Hopefully I will be able to post a few in the near future.)

i need your input!!

As I've mentioned before, JP is doing pretty well in school. His biggest issue is TALKING TOO MUCH and REFUSING TO WRITE! Scott and I have implemented several different types of discipline.

• Spanking (Not beating, just spanking)
• Time out ( Sitting in a secluded area of the house for a period of time)
• No TV or games (We've taken away television and video games)
• Simply talking to him. (Explaining to him what is expected and "talking about his feelings."

Obviously, NONE of the above have proven too effective. Well, today his teacher WALKED HIM OUT TO THE CAR and told me that he was on RED! Red is one step before you're sent to the Principal's office. Basically, during instruction he was plugging his ears, playing with fuzz on the carpet, distracting his classmates and refused to write his sentences!

I was so mad!! I first told him that I missed him very much and I loved him. I told him that we, including his teacher, were very disappointed in him because we KNOW how smart he is. After telling him that, I brought him home, sat him at the kitchen table and gave him ice water and blue berries for a snack. While he was eating, I made THREE pages of sentences for him to write.

1. "I will obey in class."
2. "I will listen at school."
3. "I will write at school."

I am making him write EACH sentence 8 times each. I have told him NO TV, NO video games for the rest of the night. I told him that since he chose to play and goof around during class, he had to work at home. He's been sitting at the table for an hour and has written ONE sentence. He's been crying, bargaining with me etc. I do not plan on letting him up until he's done.

This is where you come in: Am I being too harsh on him? Do you have any other ideas for punishment? I would REALLY appreciate your suggestions/input. I do not want to send him the message that he can not work at school and come home and everything be okay. He loves school and I want it to stay that way, but he is not working the way he should.

Okay.....NOW COMMENT!

out of the archives

Seriously? Look at these two! How gorgeous...and look how tiny and chubby JP is! I could just pinch those cheeks!

I was looking through some of my old photos and I thought I'd share this one again. I love it! It's been a LOOONG day. I am really tired. I have some homework to do from class and I have a few things that I need to finish writing tonight. The house is so quiet. This is rapidly becoming my favorite part of the day. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE spending time with my men. There is just rarely a time in my day when there is no noise. Except now. All I hear are my fingers tapping away on the keys.

Heavenly.

As I sit here in my TENNESSEE snuggie, (yes, you heard me right!), I am able to clear my head from all of the clutter that has polluted it throughout the day.

I hope that all of you find a time during the day when you can be alone with your thoughts. It is very therapeutic.

Well, not too much is going on this weekend. Tomorrow, we will probably have our Family Fun Night. I still have a Regal gift card...maybe we'll see a movie. I am hoping that Saturday will be nice, I'd like to take JP on a picnic. I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Friday!!

catch up

I could get used to typing on my computer in my bed! I'm so much more comfortable in here. I guess it could turn out to be a bad thing though...I may never go to sleep! And boy do I need sleep these days.

Well, now that we are officially in the "swing of things" around here, it's almost time for another weekend. However, I am NOT complaining! I thought I would try and play a little catch up and update you on the "happenings" around the Beam home. Try not to fall asleep...they are not all that interesting.

• JP is working on writing sentences in school. He does not find this all that interesting, so he usually chooses to RUN HIS MOUTH instead! His big, brown, beautiful eyes are only going to get him so far! He is working DOUBLE time at home each night!
• Scott has actually been doing pretty well lately, (hang on...let me find a piece of wood to knock on). Okay, I'm back! He is still having trouble performing the day to day responsibilities required of him at his job. We're praying through that.
• Speaking of prayer, we have been consistently making it to church now since the new year began. It has been SO NICE to jump back in and be an active participant in the service! JP loves it so much!
• My mom and I are taking a writing class at Furman University for aspiring children's authors/illustrators. Our first class was this past Tuesday night - it was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! We got our money's worth within the first 30 minutes. The goal is to have an actual manuscript written by the end of the class. I am beyond excited!
• I received a letter in the mail today letting me know that a poem I had submitted had been selected to be published in a book that will be released in March of this year! That was a surprise...I didn't even remember submitting it! (You can read, The Waiting Room, on my devotional blog.)
• Preston said, "thank you" the other day and today he signed the word "more" for me twice. He's really growing up fast.
• Laurie continues to train at her new job.

I guess that's it for now. I mainly wanted to update family members and I also use this as my little "journal" so I can always remember what was taking place at this time in my life.

Thanks for joining me! Have a great night!

our last day off...

You guys just hang with me while I play "catch up" with my pics. I normally do not post twice in one day! Our day began with a little water painting...the above book is really cool - it has paint on every page for you to cut out and use with each picture. REALLY neat!

We tried to wait on it to warm up before we went out, but that didn't happen....so, we headed out for a little scooter ride anyway!

We, of course, did have to park the scooter long enough to throw gumballs into the water.

Silly face!

Handsome face!

I LOVE this little guy!

JP thought it was so funny that the duck was beside our car. He wanted me to take a picture of it.

And this is my new favorite friend - my new laptop!!

This is where I spend a LOT of late nights writing. Thank you again, Santa!

Well, we go back to work tomorrow. UGH! It's not that I mind going back to work, really, it's just that I TOTALLY MIND getting up early. I am so sad about that. Tomorrow night, is my first night of my writing class. I am SO EXCITED!! My mom is going with me...that makes it even better!

I hope everyone had a nice long weekend. I will post again SOON!