Raising Sucessful Children

Let me just say up front that I think both my grandchildren are being raised very well in warm loving environments. Since they are still babies articles on parenting catch my eye. This article was linked to by a Christian blogger that I respect greatly, she thought it was thought provoking and so do I. Give it a read.
If my adult children want to say anything about how they were raised good or bad, have at it. I admit parenting is kind of experimental and we tried to back ours up with hefty doses of prayer. I know we missed the mark many times and I particularly lament now my frequent lack of patience and displays of anger along the way.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/opinion/sunday/raising-successful-children.html?src=me&ref=general
From the article (but read it all as it explains some of the testing in the research.)

Parental involvement has a long and rich history of being studied. Decades of studies, many of them by Diana Baumrind, a clinical and developmental psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, have found that the optimal parent is one who is involved and responsive, who sets high expectations but respects her child’s autonomy. These “authoritative parents” appear to hit the sweet spot of parental involvement and generally raise children who do better academically, psychologically and socially than children whose parents are either permissive and less involved, or controlling and more involved.

I still do not think formulas work in raising children because each child is unique but it does help to read up on what the research is saying. It is mostly talking about parenting styles.

Pool party and offroading in the backyard

The birthday party continued in the backyard with Maverick and Callie in the pool. Callie is pretty confident in the water now after her swimming lessons this summer, she can also walk around in the water which helps. Maverick likes to drink from the water that spouts from the sides of the pool.

Maverick got a Little Tikes truck similar to the car that Callie got on her birthday a few months earlier. He was in the driver's seat checking it out when Callie decided she'd better drive and proceeded to climb right in on top of him and then sat down. He was a bit outraged by that. Uncle Phil figured out a compromise wherein she rode on the roof while Maverick rode inside. Ha ha.

Maverick is One!

Well, that was certainly fun! Mom planned a Dr. Seuss party for him and Auntie E#2 made a bunch of cute drawings including Horton, one fish two fish and Thing one and Thing two. The house was full of people including friends and cousins, aunts and one uncle, all the grandparents and even one set of great grandparents! 

Maverick helped to open presents for a while then got extra help from Jarrett and Callie. He disassembled and ate the special smash cake that grandma O. carefully decorated for him. Then after awhile the party moved outside on the hot summer day for some swimming in his new pool and some truck riding in the backyard.

Frontier Fun

Our grand daughter and her parents came to visit recently and we all got to spend one evening up at the Park walking through Wild Horse Gulch and riding rides at the carnival. We saw chuck wagon cooking over open fires and various shopkeepers and characters at the Gulch and lots of blinking lights and noises at the carnival with the concert going on in the stadium.

Miss Callie and her Mom wore their boots, the perfect footwear for avoiding the horse sh-t that one finds in the parking lots. Dad “won” Callie a big ball that she carried around. We all rode the big Ferris wheel and Callie keep a death grip around Daddy’s neck up at the top when we were stopped to load additional riders down below, but she never cried. She loved the cotton candy Mommy bought her. Maybe next year we can get to a parade or something.

Off to the 10 year High School Reunion!

E #1 and our son in law posed for a quick photo before heading off to the reunion last Saturday. We got to babysit for our grandson and had a great time with him. E#1 was surprised that many of her classmates who live in the area did not attend.

Our son in law attended high school in California and said that his graduating class also from 2002 was not even having a reunion at all. Oh well, I only attended one of mine and that satisfied my curiosity and was enough for me.

Stunning Photographs of Norway

This is a random post to share a link to a site with truly stunning photographs of Norway.  I am sure most/all of my immediate family have never been there. As a little girl I remember being fascinated by the fjords and for some reason the pictures captured my imagination. I guess it looked like a fairy tale setting or a magical place to me. This site has it all including the northern lights. Enjoy! Just click on the link. Scroll through all 50 photographs. http://www.pxleyes.com/blog/2012/07/norway-photography/

Best on a big screen.

The Terry Bison Ranch

The Terry Bison Ranch

S. and I checked out the ranch south of town on Saturday to see if maybe we might want to take the grand kids out there this year or next. Not that it is a classy place but it does have opportunities to see animals and get a western experience. There is a large RV park there that gets heavy traffic during the annual rodeo week. There is also a tourist store and a restaurant to get bison steaks and burgers. Probably the best thing there are the areas to view animals for free. There are camels and llamas and the usual goats, chickens, and horses. There were three mares with their young in a special area for viewing when we went. There is a bird house with chickens, ducks and peacocks. 

A “train” (a home-made bus sort of vehicle that rides the rails) takes groups out to see the bison herd on the ranch property. The bison gather all around it (we watched from afar) so they must be giving the bison some food or treats. It was full of adults and kids who were all part of a birthday celebration when we were there.

It is a working ranch and the fences and buildings are functional but somewhat dilapidated. The stables smell like stables, but it is an authentic western experience with dust and all, should you decide to check it out.