The Gold Girls

The Milkman


My three daughters Posted by Hello

As you can see, our girls all have their own distinct features. We always tell people that Abigail is a mix of both of us, Sophia is just like her Dad, and Bella is a spittin image of me. The people that know us well definitely agree when we say genetics can be crazy.

It is when I tell complete strangers this that I have a problem. Whenever they approach me it is the same routine, “Are they ALL yours?” I say, “Yes.” Then they look at me like they don’t believe me or they look away and whisper, which to me, means that they obviouslly think they all have different daddies.

Because I am me, I can’t let people think what they want. I ALWAYS have to explain myself. Something that I am trying to work on (don’t think this blog is really helping). So, it isn’t uncommon for me to say to complete strangers…”And, if you are wondering, they all have the same mom and dad…there is no milkman involved.” It is fun to see the strangers’ reactions to my boldness. They usually don’t know what to say. What can they say when they know I have just read their minds?

This could be very interesting in a few years down the road. My girls are probably getting subliminal messages that the milkman is very much involved in the baby- making process. I will certainly have some explaining to do.

Wal-Mart Proposal


Boys, you gotta have the flowers

Alright, it’s about time that I tell on myself again. Here’s the latest episode of brain lapse or “talk b4 think”.

I went to Wal-Mart late Saturday night. While I was checking out I noticed a cute young couple behind me in line. Of course, I had a LOAD of groceries, and so my check-out took a while. I was brought up to be TOO friendly to strangers and of course I decided to strike up a conversation with these two.

The young girl had a dozen roses in her hand. She was standing behind the guy. I said to her, “Are those for you?” She replied with a yes. I chuckled a bit and looked at the guy and said,”Is she showing you what kind she likes?” She said, “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

I said, “Funny, I just called my husband on the phone and told him that roses were finally coming down in price after Valentine’s Day. I asked him if I should buy some for myself.” I continued,”Now you shouldn’t have to buy flowers for yourself until AFTER you are married.” They laughed.

I then looked at the guy, elbowed him, and said, “you know what that means for you, huh? Guess you might be married real soon.”

The girl then decides to pipe up again. I think that she was trying to save her new fiance from my torture. She said,”Actually, he just proposed tonight.”

Everyone in line gave the oo’s and the aw’s….all I could think about is how absolutely crappy I had just made this poor guy feel. He proposed and then his new fiance had to go and buy herself some flowers to remember the night by.

Moral of the story: Never propose without flowers. Just do like my husband and don’t propose at all; then you won’t have to worry about it.

Bedtime and Parenting



Here are the girls. They are finally asleep. Notice that they all sleep on their stomachs. (they want to be like their Mom)

Bedtime is easy for us. The girls go to sleep pretty good most of the time. After watching Super Nanny, I have learned that this is not the case for many parents. I would like to give some really good parenting advice here (even if yougottawanna thinks that I don’t know what I am doing):

I read this yesterday in a book that my sister recommended. I wish that I could photocopy it and give it to some of the ladies at church. 🙂

Parenting Young Children
There are three main styles of parenting. The three that are most common are giving orders, giving in, and giving choices.

Giving Orders: This Style of parenting is often called authoritarian. The parents are strict. They set a lot of rules. The children are expected to obey the rules exactly. Often strict parents reward of punish children to keep them in line.Rewards lead the children to expect payment for ‘being good’. When children are punished for ‘being bad’, they may learn to fear and resent parents. Children need freedom to grow and learn. They also need the chance to make choices [all you homeschoolers who are afraid to let your kids out of your sight]. This lets them learn limits and responsibility.

Giving In: Giving in is also called permissive parenting. Permissive paretns set no limits. Children grow up without guidelines. The parents give in to whatever the children may want. We often say that these children are ‘spoiled’. Without limits, children will have trouble getting along with others. These children usually learn to do as they please. They don’t learn to care about the feelings and rights of others. Society sets limits. Children with no limits on their behavior will have difficulty learning how to behave in society. [so, all you parents who think that you are letting your children be creative and do whatever they want, you aren’t doing them any favors.]

Giving choices: ….the democratic method of giving choices is the most effective.Democratic parenting is based on equality and respect. We all have different abilities, responsibilites, and experiences. But we are still worthwhile as humans.Does this mean that your child has the same privileges as you do? No. It means that you recognize the importance of your child’s wishes. It also means that you involve your child in decision making when appropriate. Democratic parents give a child choices that fit the child’s age and development. Young children’s ablility to make choices is limited. They can’t yet depend on themselves to keep the rules. They need adults to set limits for them. When children go past the limits, they need parents to follow through with consequences. The democratic method helps children become responsible. It does this by giving choices within set limits.A democratic parenting style gives young children freedom within limits. Children learn that their choices count and carry responsibility. They learn respect.

The Messes


This is the mess that the kids made this morning
while I was half asleep on the couch. Posted by Hello

It didn’t phase me at all.
I have seen hundreds if not thousands exactly like this.

The funny twist today is this:

My husband came home for a quick lunck break this afternoon; he walked in on me when I was loudly persuading (alright…maybe, yelling)Abigail and Sophia to pick up the mess. You see, we have a problem at our house; probably the same problem in most households with children. The problem: my kids love to MAKE the MESS, but the absoultely loathe cleaning them up.

Well, we decided to try something new. We gave them a half hour to pick up the mess. We told them if they cleaned it up they would get 50 cents [that is the reason I needed that 50 cents from Wendy’s so bad…(read on if you don’t get it)] and if they didn’t, we would put their toys in a trashbag and they couldn’t have them for a whole week.

Well, you can guess how that turned out….yes, I will be the one tortured all week as they beg for their toys. LG says it will be better for me in the long run. Why is it that children can punish their mothers more than their fathers?

Nightgowns


Abigail, Bella, and Sophia
Sophia is wearing one of her new nightgownsPosted by Hello

All little girls love nightgowns. Why didn’t I know this before I bought so many pairs of cotton pants and tops? Between my three daughters, we probably own 50 pairs of pajamas. [25 are being stored waiting for someone to fit into them] I rotate according to size and yes, the poor younger two get mostly hand-be-downs.

Well, about two months ago Sophia decided that she would wear nothing to bed but the one nightgown that she owned. After about three weeks of “Mommy torture”. Sophia would beg for her nightgown every night. I would explain it was dirty. It would have to be washed sometime. Sophia would cry and cry and sometimes throw temper tantrums (she is 3). I would try and convince her to wear one of dad’s cool T-shirts or her pretty p’j’s with the flowers or, better yet, her new ones from Christmas. Usually, nothing would work.

After dad witnessed this enough times, he gave me permission to buy her another nightgown. I was elated. We went to Wal-Mart that day to see what we could find. I tried to sell Sophia on the $5 after -Chrismas-specials, but she wanted nothing but the pretty Princess and the Pauper one. I told her that she could have the P&P nightgown or 2 TWO 2 of the other ones that were on sale. She only wanted the P&P. So, I let her get it. Well, now Abigail was jealous and she wanted a P&P. I caved and let her have one of the $5 deals, thinking I was pretty nice, since she already had three nightgowns at home and we weren’t even shopping for her.

Well, on with the saga, that night, Abigail starts having a coniption fit because she doesn’t have the nightgown. We sat her down and explained that she was lucky to have a new nightgown at all and that it was Sophia’s turn to have something new. We can’t afford to buy all the girls a nightgown. [this may sound mean, but trust me when I say that our girls have plenty]. We told Abigail that she could do extra chores around the house and buy herself a nightgown. Did she ever pick up one toy, NO! And to this day, I am still reminding her that if she will pick up some toys she could get a nightgown.

The saga continues….LG has been encouraging me for quite some time to become familiar with E-bay. He wants us to start a business there. I thought that this was a perfect oppportunity. I bought Sophia a few more gowns, and when they started coming in the mail, Abigail was crushed. Then I bought Abigail a few and when they were delivered Sophia was crushed. Maybe I am doing something wrong, but I think that kids will be kids.

When it comes to nightgowns….we just can’t WIN!

The Love of My Life


Dollywood’s newest roller coaster
left to right: logan, tyler, jordan, & LG

This is a great pic. of LG. I thought that I better put a picture of him up here because I haven’t yet. Isn’t he so cute? I love his smile and I love this picture because you can tell that he really is having the time of his life…..having any kind of fun is a considerable accomplishment when you are in law school with a wife and three kids. This was taken at one of the best attractions in East TN, Dollywood.

LG took this picture at Christmastime ’04. In the back are his brothers. Logan and Jordan, and our brother-in-law, Tyler, he is a pilot in the AirForce; he flies the F-16 (cool huh?)…Tyler also clogs like you can’t believe, even though he is from Utah. I don’t think that his airforce buddies know about his clogging talent. Flying an F-16 is probably the more amazing talent of the two…depending on who you talk to, I guess.

Well, if I can get my stupid digital camera to download to my PC, I have some more jewels for you later.

News through IM


He’s in!

lgee_97: hey

lgee_97: I’m in class

alice_goldenchild: hi…we got a letter from the mba program. would you like me to open it now

lgee_97: yeah

alice_goldenchild: it isn’t big, but kind of thick

lgee_97: open it

alice_goldenchild: so far, a leather UT MBA coaster…..looking promising

alice_goldenchild: first word…..CONGRATULATIONS!

lgee_97: cool

alice_goldenchild: in hand writing at the bottom….CONGRATS LEGRAND…SEE YOU HERE NEXT FALL DONNA

alice_goldenchild: I am SO PROUD OF YOU

lgee_97: she’s who I interviewed with

lgee_97: Donna

lgee_97: yeah, yeah

alice_goldenchild: what a relief…i thought that you would bottom out, if you didn’t make it

alice_goldenchild: really…that is awesome…other peopel can’t even get in and you got in while attending law school

alice_goldenchild: i have to take credit for my essays though

alice_goldenchild: did you tell jeremy already

lgee_97: yes you do

lgee_97: he’s not in this class

alice_goldenchild: YOu have to go

alice_goldenchild: I want you to

alice_goldenchild: so, you could still IM

lgee_97: we’ll talk about it

alice_goldenchild: alright..i am blogging about penelope…check it out in a few

lgee_97: he’s not online right now

alice_goldenchild: did you know that the perkins paid $750 for their wills to be written

alice_goldenchild: man, we could have made some money

alice_goldenchild: I LOVE YOU>>>>>>CONGRATS HON>>>>NO one deserves it more

lgee_97: thanks

alice_goldenchild: news over IM….this could be an entry on my blog i should cut and paste

alice_goldenchild: except I would have to take out the part about ….. (which I did)

lgee_97: you’re so funny

alice_goldenchild: i’m going to do it

Open mouth, insert Penelope


Who names their daughter Penelope?

Shortly after my husband and I were married, he was fortunate to get a glimpse at the excitement that he would have the rest of his life…and I am not talking about the honeymoon. I am talking about a most entertaining encounter we had with a few old guy friends of mine.

We went into an ice-cream joint with my brother and his wife. As we were about to sit down, I spotted these three friends of mine. They were sitting at the table with another guy that I didn’t know and his wife and baby. She was just a few months old. Now, for the background, you have to know that these guys were the biggest jokesters…..i like hanging out with people of my own kind.

I introduced my husband, they introduced their friend, his wife, and then one of them said, “And this is their daughter, Penelope.” I instantly started cracking up, thinking that they had come up with a pretty good joke on the spot. I said, “Yeah right, who would name their daughter Penelope.” The joke was on me; her name really was Penelope. Poor LG, he could have died right there on the spot.