What's up with that?

It is always amazing to me how some people think they have all the parenting answers. I wonder at the gall of parents to think that they have it so mastered that they are the ultimate source of knowledge and unsolicited advice for everyone else. Recently there has been a bit of controversy on Youtube about a video of parents giving they 4 month old 1 little PopRock candy piece. SO WHAT! It's one little piece and the kid clearly enjoyed it after the initial shock of the pop. It is not something to get all nuclear about. Where these people giving the kid a piece of crack rock or a taste of hydrochloric acid? No, it was a piece of candy.

Many people think that just because they are a parent it gives one the right to comment on everyone else's parenting decisions. Well no it doesn't. I don't remember reading that in the parenting handbook I received when my daughter was born. Oh wait, I didn't get a handbook! That could be because there are as many different parenting styles as there are children. If you are not feeding your child Draino or copious amounts of table salt, baking soda, or sugar straight from the bowl and they kid looks other wise happy and healthy then leave it be. We gave our daughter tastes of really sour dill pickles and lemons at that age and she is perfectly fine at the ripe old age of 3.

Sometimes it is much more well advised to take a look at the way you parent your child before you start pointing fingers at others. Parting is neither easy nor always rewarding and to have your abilities denigrated by another person is humiliating and disheartening. We need to stick together and worry about the people who actually are harming their children. Why don't we focus on the neglectful parents, the parents who abuse their children both emotionally and physically. How about the parent's that ignore and or degrade their children? Int he grand scheme of things a few PopRocks are really not that big of a deal.

Life and all it offers

These last few months have been crazy busy around the Babcock house. It seems every week we have been going someplace for overnight trips or very long day trips. We have been having company and play dates, swimming and trips to park or library. It has been non stop. Even I have been ready to say "lets just stay home for a while". Which is crazy because I am almost always up for anything.

Yesterday we went to Port Canaveral to watch the Shuttle launch. It was pretty cool. There are thousands of people who go to watch so I would suggest getting there very early so you can get closer. We were 6 miles away. bring chairs and sunblock too. It is a trip worthwhile if you ever get the chance.

We also spent time at the Nickelodeon Hotel which I previously mentioned in another post. Sofie was in heaven there.

We went to Blizzard Beach water park at Walt Disney World about 2 weeks ago and met up with some friends from Michigan. That was fun and Sofie had a great time hanging out with their girls.

You can just barely see the top of Sofie's head but trust me  she is having fun.

We are also planning a trip to Universal Studios sometime in the next 2 weeks. Ken is on a 12 week leave of absence due to his back problems and back surgery he is having in 2 weeks so we are taking advantage of all the opportunity we have for adventure before he has surgery. He can walk but he can't run or lift Sofie too much or do any extended walking. We have to take a lot of breaks but we are still having fun.

We are so blessed to be able to do all these things as a family. God is very good to us for some reason. We have not figured out what we did or do that makes him bless us in this way but hey, just go with it right? We figure we may not live in Florida forever so we want to explore as much of what it has to offer as possible.

The Nick Hotel

We just got back from an excursion to the Nickelodeon Hotel in Orlando. That place is a kids paradise. Adults, not so much. It has the potential to be awesome for adults AND kids but they really need to work on a few things.

First of all, the pools always have this cloudy, the chemicals are not quite right super dirty appearance. There has got to be a way to fix it. I know many many people are in their pools everyday, but Disney has just as many people if not more and their pools are always crystal clear. I just know I am gonna get some kind of rash from being in that pool!

Also, their staff is not the friendliest. Especially being that this place caters to kids, you would think they would just be acting slap happy and super excited all the time. That is not the case. I know that ignorant, disrespectful, loud mouthed tourists are annoying(I grew up in a tourist town after all) but this is your job so plaster that fake smile on your face and pretend like you love your job! Having repeat customers depends on it people.

Finally, their lobby lacks a certain punch! Its brightly light and has great colors but it is small, the people are not overly excited to see you when you walk through the door and the area where kids can play and wait while parents check in is small and looks like an after thought. They could take a lesson or two from Disney. When you walk in a Disney resort they have an enthusiastic greater who gives kids stickers, they have a large nicely decorated kids area with crayons, coloring pages, and a flat screen TV showing old Disney cartoons. It also has a nice seating area for kids and adults. The whole lobby is spacious and there is a lot going on. Checking in is an event in itself that helps to get people pumped up for their visit to Disney.

Now on to the Good stuff. the rooms are large with 2 bedrooms and a very nice bath. The pools both have a water park area with slides and all the bells and whistles. they have shows going on at different times all day at the main lagoon pool. They have a central "mall" area with sit down and quick service restaurants. They have a coffee shop, and sundries store and a souvenir shop. Then to top it off Nickelodeon has a 4D movie theater and a stage show with nightly shows and movies going on all day.

the food was decent, the characters running around were very nice with kids and the decor was really fun to look at, not to mention the location in Orland was convenient for everything you might want to do while there.

All in all it was a fun experience for our daughter but not one we need to do more than once a year.

Lots to do

I have been an ebay'in fool. I realized that I have way too much clutter and way too many old baby clothes laying around the house. I also have begun the adventure of couping and obtaining as many free samples and other free things that I can via many websites and blogs from wonderful people who basically do all the work for me and find all the deals. It is actually very fun and a great challenge to see how much you can save or get for free.

I love checking my mail box every day in anticipation of what may be in there. It is a little like Christmas every day or a small birthday celebration every time I walk down there to check. My daughter also loves to find out what "fun stuff' we may have gotten. She alway asks me "did we get anything fun momma?"

I also feel it is my duty as a christian to be a good steward of all the many monetary blessings God has given our family. I am not good with creating a budget or figuring out stuff like that but finding ways to save money on food and other items is something that I am finding I have a knack for. I also really enjoy it so that makes it easier.

In this same regard, as we have been getting better at being good stewards and because of our regular tithing and gifts to the church and to friends and family less fortunate than, God has chosen to bless us with a very large insurance settlement from our homeowners insurance for a large amount of water damage we had back in December of 2009. We were not counting on nor expecting this money and it is a great blessing to be getting it. God is good all the time.

So stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

You just have to laugh!

My little Sofie keeps me laughing that is for sure. She is such a comedian and Ken and I are constantly amazed at her grasp of the English language for being only 3 years old. At dinner the other night we were all sitting around the table and Sofie didn't really want to eat (mom had let her have too much junk too close to dinner. Oops) so we were trying to cut a deal with her about how much she had to eat before she could run around. As we are all quietly sitting there contemplating our food Sofie says "I was really pissed off that I have to eat this." No granted the tenses that she used were a little mixed up but the idea was correct. So can and I both shoot our heads up at the same time and look at her. I asked her if she actually said that (while at the same time trying not to crack up) and she said that she did say that. Well....OK. Thus ensued a conversation about what words she should actually use and yes thank you for sharing your feelings with us but you still have to eat what we told you to eat.

A couple of weeks ago I had went to the movie and Sofie and Ken were at home sitting on the couch watching iCarly before bed. There was a scene where one of the character's mom drove her car through a wall. Sofie was eating popcorn and leaning on her Daddy's arm as she matter of factly said "iCarly's mom is a dumb ass for driving her car through that wall." Ken said he was so shocked he wasn't sure what she said at first. So he asked Sofie and yep she did say that.

So I guess there is a lesson her for us. Kids hear and take in WAY more than we think or realize. And I need to watch my mouth.