Testing my blogger app

I need to start blogging again but I know I don't sit in front of the computer for personal stuff very much these days. So Blogger finally gave us an app so I'm hopeful I'll start using it more.

Here's a pic of the kids yesterday on Go Texan day. And one of Jenna this morning...my little black and white jailbird. :)

I'm interested to see how this publishes because I've selected the pics but it isn't letting me place them...

Happy New Year

I know I haven't blogged lately (ok, not since April...wow) but I've allowed Facebook to take its place and keep everyone apprised of my life and the progression of my children. But the new year has inspired me to blog, not about kids or family or events, but my advice to you and yours for the new year. My advice can cover many aspects of your life and many different kinds of relationships. It covers your home life and your work life, your appearance and health, maybe your resolutions for the new year.

Encouragement. It's the key to everything in my opinion. I read an article yesterday talking about new year's resolutions, specifically weight loss goals which are so common this time of year. It discussed a study done last year with 3 groups of obese Americans - one tracked their food and goals manually in a log, one tracked electronically (an app on your iPhone, for example, or a spreadsheet), and the last and most successful group tracked their progress on an app that gave them encouragement after they entered their info each day. "Great job" or "you're more than halfway to your goal, good work" or even "you still have time for a 10 minute walk before bed."

I've seen this in my life. Some people know I did Quick Weight Loss Center last year and lost about 15 lbs in a couple months. I believe part of the reason their program works (when it does work, that is) is the visits to the counselors 2 or 3 times a week. If you have a good center (mine was Cypress) they take your measurements, weight, etc. and look at your food log. They tell you how great you're doing or tips to get more protein or curb your appetite certain times of the day. But mostly, they encourage you to do more. They don't criticize you for failures. They recognize your successes. There's a bell by the scale to ring when you have lost weight, not a gong they klunk when you gained a pound or two. :)

If you think about it, I'm sure you can think of a handful of situations or relationships that you are drawn to due to positive encouragement. A friend who consistently lifts you up, not blowing smoke at you but sincerely encouraging you to be the better you. A peer or boss at work who praises an achievement and makes you crave that praise some more by consistently improving your work. Your spouse throwing a term of endearment into a text or telling you they like the way that shirt looks. Even Facebook feeds the beast, whether its runkeeper posts (I know a lot of you hide them and I'm okay with that :)) and the praise that ensues when you knock out a good run, to encourage you to do better next time, or a picture you post of yourself and your best friends tell you how great you're looking after losing weight or getting a new hairdo. Encouragement makes you want to continue good behavior, be a better you, excel at what you're good at.

My advice is not only to appreciate the encouragement you're already getting from the people in your life. It's more critical than that. Look at yourself and think about how encouraging you are in your key relationships. Are you telling that employee how grateful you are that they stayed late to finish that project and that their time was well spent on a good work product? Are you telling your girlfriend how much you love her new shoes or that she made the right decision about this or that? Are you reminding your spouse that he looks fabulous in that sweater and he should wear it more often? How much more action comes from encouragement versus criticism? "I really appreciate what you did for me" versus "that was a stupid thing to say." Life's not perfect and you have to criticize in some situations in order to correct behavior, but encouragement of the good behavior will usually get you further faster.

Parents out there are saying "duh Kristi, pretty common knowledge when rearing children" even though we may not always follow the advice. But it works in your other relationships too. Regarding children, I do have a recent example. Hunter has always HATED blowing his nose. Last week, he was fighting it but somehow I convinced him to try. He blew (barely) and I went wild and crazy about how well he did it. He proceeded to blow his nose with all his might, succeeding more and more with practice, even asking me to help him blow his nose last night (for the first time ever). I continue to praise him like a crazy woman every time he does it. I know, silly example, but it works.

So a resolution...if you make one, say diet and/or exercise...find a good, positive accountability partner. Someone you know means well when they ask "what did you eat for lunch?" or "did you get your run in today?" And ask them to remain positive or have them read this blog entry so they know the encouragement you're looking for. Better yet, find someone with similar goals so that you can encourage them as well.

And my resolutions...I will be a more encouraging person, particularly with my kiddos as I'm not as consistent with this as I should be. And also, I will appreciate more...be thankful for what I have, for what people do for me, even if it's their job to do it. I will take encouragement and praise graciously ("thanks for saying that" or a simple "thank you" versus "shut up, that's silly" or "naw, you're just saying that" or various other things I normally say when people try to encourage or compliment me).

Lastly, and somewhat related but distant, I will be open about issues that are troubling me because being encouraging does not mean bottling up anything that isn't positive. If I have a problem with work, for example, the answer isn't to talk about it with my buddies and get everyone worked up about it but instead go to the person responsible and address the issue or find another solution. (You can substitute "work" in previous sentence with anything that fits - family, spouse, kids school, neighborhood, and then substitute "buddies" with spouse, coworkers, neighbors, family, etc.)

Happy New Year to you and yours. I hope 2012 is even better than 2011 was for you. Count your blessings and encourage the people who mean the most to you - I guarantee that it will come back to you in response.

Random videos from 2010

I started this post nearly a month ago…finally figured out how best to use You Tube and Blogger together.

Forgive me for the wind sound in this first video.  I would have put music behind it, but I wanted some of the reactions.  This was both Hunter’s and Jenna’s first visit to the beach. We went to Port Aransas last August and they has such a great time!!

Halloween 2010

What a difference one season makes!!! Here is a video montage from Hunter’s first season of soccer at the YMCA.  Shyness abounds!!! 

Hunter’s Christmas program at school.

And here is Spring Soccer, season 2.  What a difference!!!!

San Antonio 2011

We had a wonderful vacation last week in San Antonio.  We took both kids this year and I’m so glad we did because they both had a blast.  We stayed at the Hyatt Wild Oak Ranch again this year and loved it.  Hunter was excited because he got his own bedroom and it had TWO beds!!!  As usual, he was up early every morning and we had to pry Jenna out of bed every morning so that we didn’t waste the day away.

We arrived Tuesday, got settled into the hotel and then headed to the Magic Time Machine for dinner.  Cinderella was our waitress but Woody, Zoro and the Pirate dude were never far away.  Jenna and Hunter LOVED watching all the characters, but mainly from a distance.  They were very hesitant to get side-by-side pictures, but we managed to get a few keepers.  :)

 

Wednesday, we woke up and headed to the zoo.  What a gorgeous day we had!  Every day was actually perfect – we were blessed with wonderful weather all week.  The pool was a little too chilly that afternoon though, so we only stayed long enough for Jenna’s teeth to start chattering.

 

Thursday was all about Sea World.  Last year, we missed the Shamu show, so we made sure to plan our day around the noon Believe show and it worked out great.  We got to feed the dolphins and both kiddos loved the aquarium.  If Hunter had his way, we would have stayed on the rides all day long!  He loved them!!!  We rode the Shamu “roller coaster” and the Abby Cadabby twirly thing (see picture).  Jenna got to ride the carousel too.  And Daddy and Hunter topped the day off with Journey to Atlantis, which is a VERY large version of Splash Mountain.  Hunter took it all in stride and loved every second.

    

I’m a real sap because the Shamu show, Believe, made me teary eyed.  The whales were amazing and even the baby whale performed (on the left in the first picture below).  Keep in mind while watching the video that I had a child in my lap as well as a bucket of popcorn that she was protecting with her life, while videoing with one hand.  Hence, very few pictures that weren’t too blurry to post here. :)

 

 

 

 

If you look really close, you can see Daddy and Hunter in the next to last row, behind the person with their arms up in the air.  :)

 

 

 

 

 

After Sea World (and a long nap), we headed back to the pool for another try.  The water heater was back up to snuff, especially in the lazy river, which Jenna and Mommy enjoyed thoroughly while Daddy and Hunter swam around the hot tub.  We joined them after a lazy float around, but Jenna had her heart set on the splash pad.  The girl is fearless, making us incredibly antsy when she would head straight for the pool!!!  Oh – Hunter SAID he wanted to try the water slide this year, but once again, we got to the top and the very fast rushing water scared him away.  Maybe next year.  The pic below shows the indoor part of the pool (and “small” water slide tower) – there is a bigger slide outside, which we didn’t even attempt.

              

Last but not least, a random video of Jenna eating breakfast (or should I call it brunch) one morning before starting our day.