Watery Bliss

How is everyone enjoying their weekend?? We are having an absolute blast with this hot weather (literally!!) The kids and I headed out to the spray park yesterday- along with daddy- to cool off, and it was soo much fun! The absolute favourite (not necessarily amongst my children, mind you) is this giant tub that fills with water and when it reaches a certain level, it tips spilling water onto a mock roof. Everyone would wait anxiously underneath it for it to fill with water and spill onto them. If you wanted to get wet, that was the way to do it!

Rotary Park was a chaotic zoo yesterday. Everyone was out enjoying the rapids, the pond, the spray park, and getting annoyed with the construction that's also going on at the gates to the park. Oi. But, your reward, once you make it through construction and find a parking space is pure, watery bliss! 

I got a tiny bit of sun yesterday- not as much as I felt like I had, but I am happy. I'm slowly roasting to perfection! 

We will be heading out again this afternoon, I think, with daddy in tow, and the girls' little playmate P. We've (her mama and I) been trying to coordinate a play date for over a month, but with P's mama's work schedule, it just wouldn't cooperate! Now that her busy month is over, and her routine should settle into something a little more human, they'll get the chance to play, and we'll finally have the chance to visit. Yay!

I've got a layout to share with you today:

One of the joys trials of sibling hood is fighting. Fighting over toys, over daddy, over mama, over anything and everything they feel is unjust and unfair. Its also one of my banes of existence! Their screeching- even if its playfully- and not intended to be due to frustration- always makes me hold my breath and wait- for crying, or the sound of skin slapping skin. Not usually in that order, either. 

Before this picture was taken, Maren and Addison were playing in their swimming pool in the backyard. I don't know what they wound up fighting over, but Maren had something in her hand that she ended up using as a weapon against her sister. Yup, that's right. She hit Addison with whatever item it was. 

I don't always think of it- and I'm trying to get better at it-, but I always try to affirm to my kids that its ok to get angry over something. But, its never ok to let your anger get to the point where it boils over and you feel as though physical force is the answer. In other words, hitting is very bad. Especially if its with something that isn't your hand. Also, getting that angry isn't good, either. 

So, as a result, Miss Maren got a time out. I sat her down in one of her Adirondack chairs on the deck, and told her not to move until I said so. I feel bad, because I feel like I kind of missed something when I punished Maren and gave her a time out, and not her sister. I think that's what the tears in this picture are really about. She feels like what I did wasn't fair. I didn't see what caused the fight to begin with; I explained to Maren after her time out that the reason she got it wasn't for fighting with her sister. It was for hitting her. 

And, it breaks my heart when she does this, but when she's mad at me for giving her a hecking, she won't hug me or let me give her a kiss. I've found that if I just let it be for a bit (after her hecking), she's more willing to let me hug her and reaffirm to her that I love her. Probably because she's forgotten about it, and what I say then is kind of mute. Or, is it? Is that just a natural part of parenthood, or am I really a big, mean ogre? 

The journalling in this layout is pretty mushy. I think if you click on the picture, it will appear bigger, but I'm not sure how easy it is to read it:

"My original plan for this layout was to highlight the "mom-isms" you'll encounter as you grow, but instead, I just want to affirm that you are TRULY and INCREDIBLY loved- no matter what happens, whether discipline, disagreements and otherwise. There will always be love, trust, forgiveness, hugs and kisses. I am learning, just like you are. I just hope you never doubt our (my) love for you and how crazy proud of you we are!"

Growing up, my sister and I never heard our parents tell us how proud of us they were (I know of only once that dad told that to me). They say that we, as humans are more prone to remember the negative over the positive, and I believe that with every fibre of my being. We didn't hear much positive stuff from our parents; I am trying to change that with my own children. I tell them often how proud I am of them; how beautiful, how sweet, how wonderful they really are. I will not call my children names, and I will try my hardest to do everything in my power to build up their self esteem rather than destroy it. 

(That paragraph could be its own post- multitude of posts- detailing our childhood and how its affected me as a child and now as an adult- and a married adult at that, too. Maybe one day I will, but not now). But, every time I try and write something positive for my children, my own upbringing is always in the back of my mind. I hope I don't fail my children as a parent!

There is also hidden journalling on my layout. I pulled it out and snapped a picture of it so you could see. On this journalling spot is the story behind the picture. Its a personal little note to Maren,:

"In this particular case, Mommy gave you a time out for hitting Addison- with another object. I want you to learn that hitting is never ok- even if you're upset."

I kept the papers natural and earthy because first of all, the kids were playing outside, so it just seemed right to use papers that reflected that, and secondly, I liked how muted and soft the colours were. I felt as though the picture would take centre stage then, because of Maren's brightly coloured bathing suit. I didn't want too much to compete with it. 

Maren and butterflies are synonymous. I've mentioned her love of butterflies before, and if you've been following me for a while, you'll know that! So, it only seemed natural to add butterflies to her layout. I think they work beautifully here! (They're K & Co). 

The inspiration for my layout is for July's Monthly Sketch Challenge at Scrapbook.com (week one). To see where I posted it, and everyone else's' beautiful work, come over here.

Meet me back here tomorrow to see another layout I completed recently. Hope you enjoy what's left of your weekend!

**

341* the spray park
342* not burning
343* improving my 'tanning' skills
344* having the opportunity to head over there again this afternoon
345* play dates!
346* that the spray park opened (officially) on Canada Day
347* the beautiful country I live in (speaking of Canada Day...)
348* Rotary Park
349* time to chill as a family
350* a babysitter for next weekend