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Another post! I've been quite pensive lately, I guess. This is my way of putting a wand to my head and extracting memories, like good ole' Dumbledore. His way is much cooler. I think in Heaven when we get to see a replay of our life it might feel like diving headfirst into our memories. Maybe.

ANYWAY.

5 things.

1. Mackenzi is singing to herself. I LOVE WHEN SHE SINGS! She sings primary songs a lot, but mostly she sings whatever floats into her cute little head. She makes up the most random songs! I love it. So much. Even though she should be sound asleep, she kind of makes me want to go in and snuggle her while she serenades me. Another thing that's awesome about her singing is she's not ashamed AT ALL. She won't bat an eye even if you make eye contact with her while she's belting out the tunes. Brooklin will stop singing and giggle incessantly out of embarrassment if she catches you watching her sing. So I know that if i DID go snuggle Mackenz, she would just go right on singing - probably about being awake to prove to me that she's up and doesn't need to be in bed. Just a guess.

2. Having expectations of your kids makes such a huge difference in their behavior! It's ludicrous to think that actually attempting to parent your children will be effective, I know. But it's the truth. I don't want to offend anyone by citing examples, because I don't know how you parent and I don't care - meaning, I'm happy that you're happy with what you're doing, I don't want to change you! I don't want to judge you and I don't claim to have superior parenting skills. So we'll just leave it at that! Expect things, explain the expectation and consequence, and let life happen! Follow through is just as huge as having expectations, by the way. It's SO HARD to ALWAYS do what you say (or threaten as the case may be), but it's necessary.

3. I wish that EVERYBODY that I went to school with would read this one!

I apologize for every time I treated you poorly. I was a brat for a few years (4th grade through freshman year in high school - some of you might think longer - if so SORRY!). During my bratty years I excluded people, I was openly mean to people, I participated in laughing at and making fun of people, I lied about doing all of those things to adults, and I was two faced. I can't even BEGIN to think about making a list of people who I wronged, partially because it would be embarrassing for everyone to see how many people I KNOW I hurt, but mostly because I know that I hurt more people than I realize. 

Sometimes I think about different things that happened where I felt that I was the victim of someone's brattiness, and how I really feel like I was changed because of those actions - not always for the better. I've realized over the years that those people who I felt wronged me probably don't have ANY IDEA that they effected me so poorly so many years ago. But it made me really start to think about all the people who might think about me and only associate bad feelings or memories, and it really made me want to smack my younger self, and give those people big hugs and genuinely apologize. I mostly just want them to know that I wish I was different, and that they didn't have to suffer AT ALL because of how I acted towards or treated them.

4. I feel SO SAD when I see kids getting left out. I wish that I was everyone's peers so that I could wrap my arms around those kids and include them in MY circle, even if the people they WANT to hang out with won't include them. What can an adult do to help a situation where kids are excluding someone so obviously in the open? Breaks my heart, it really does. Any suggestions are MORE THAN WELCOME!

5. BJ and Camille sent me a cheesecake recipe that I'm going to make for book club and I'm SUPER EXCITED to try it out. But, for those of you who read this who ARE in book club, if you come on Thursday and there's no cheesecake - it's because I failed. But I'm excited to try it and I HOPE it works! THanks my baby sibs!

5.5 That wasn't really my 5, but I wanted to share anyway. 

5.6 I'm re-reading Les Miserables (thanks to Holly for introducing me - via book club - to that lovely book!) and I am LOVING it! A lot of times when I re-read a book I don't have patience to sit through it. The only exceptions I've had so far have been the Harry Potter series and Les Mis. Well, I re-read the Hunger Games also, but when I tried reading it for a third time I couldn't get past the 2nd chapter. ANYWAY I even love Les Mis even MORE this time around than the first time. I think there is just so much meat in the book that it really does feel like the first time, or at least a lot of the details are ones that I'd completely forgotten about. I'm hoping to get it finished before I see the movie. We'll see. Oh, the version I'm reading is abridged but only minimally so. (ISBN 13: 978-1-59308-066-2 ISBN 10: 1-59308-066-2 eISBN: 978-1-411-43255-0)

If you haven't read it, I recommend it! Highly. My version especially. :)

5.7 LASTLY - all this mention of book club - if you haven't been invited to our book club and would like to join (in the Auburn area) send me a message on facebook and I'll add you to the group so you can be updated about what we're reading and where we're meeting each month. This month the book is Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly and we're meeting at my house (message me for the address if needed) this Thursday at 7:30. Come even if you don't get a chance to read the book, if want an easy girls' night out, or for whatever reason! We love new people! The more the merrier :)

5.just kidding. Done.