Temptation

It has been a while since I've written and there are so many events that have taken place that it will take me a while to update you family event wise. But just now I was sitting in the chair at my in-laws home and GZ found one of the doors that did not have a safety lock, the door that encloses the entertainment equipment of all things, so I asked her to close the door which she did, and with encouragement left that area to play with her toys. A few minutes later she was back in the same place and that time I had to take the extra measure necessary to understand that no means no. She whined a little but after a few seconds she was back at having fun with everything else that's available to her. More minutes go by this time and I look up from what I was reading to see her standing at a distance from the entertainment center, staring at it. I really believe she was contemplating going there again. "Mommy is busy" maybe was her thought "she won't notice" When I saw that she continued to stand in front of it and looking I gave her a simple whistle ( not a real one...it was just enough so that she hears me) She turned around looked at me and turned her back at that entertainment center.
That picture reminded me of the verse "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it" 1 Corinthians 10:13--NIV
"...All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come throught it" --The Message (my new favorite translation)
Now I am an imperfect parent that maybe I would not have noticed my daughter's dillema and not have warned her, or 'coax' her to continued obedience, but God ALWAYS is there to help me/you/us through it. He is good!

Spanking in Public!!!!!!!?????

Ok this is not a venting blog but my strong thoughts on the matter may sound like it :o)
Since when is it ok to spank in public a misbehaving parent who will not allow their little boss to run in the street and get killed? Yes funny way to phrase it. This is what happened about an hour ago, a parent run after their out of control child and brought him back to safety after the 1-2 year old had run into the street. What the child did? He hit his mom in a rampage. What did the mom do? "We do not hit mommy" Let's say that those words meant nothing to the child because as they were passing me he was still hitting her on the face as she was trying to find her car. I wish I could have helped her but there was someone there that had a free hand to help her with wheeling the cart.
Now more than once different people have told me it is not good to spank children in public. I do have this consideration when I do spank my child in public, I try to be as discreet as possible and I believe that only someone is very close proximity would be able to tell that I spanked her. The spanking or smacking of the hand does not cause physical damage...many times it does not even produce tears but it sends a clear message "you need to stop that now"
So what if I do not spank in public then I let my child spank me in public...unfortunately sometimes is the predicament a parent finds herself in. At age 1 or 2 my daughter will not even remotely remember that she misbehaved 10 minutes ago. So for me to say 'I will deal with you when we get home' means nothing. Now if I was to go home 10 minutes later and take my happily smilling child and tell her 'now I will spank you for what you did 10 minutes ago' and I go ahead and spank her. She will think 'what happened 10 minutes ago...or what is 10 minutes?' I prersonally think that is irrational...so most parents don't follow through with that warning. Therefore, if I don't deal with it immediately (at the 1-2yrs age) the I can't deal with it at all. And when the child is old enough to recollect the misdemeanor and attitude the words 'I'll deal with you when we get home' may hold as much weight as a feather blown by the wind. But when there is established a way of dealing with issues at the appropriate time for the appropriate age then every way of dealing with a child's discipline will be effective. That is what I have to say about that :o)

Daddy Time

So I have wanted to keep a diary kind of log titled 'sleeping mysteries' because we have gone through so many stages in the sleeping habits of our preciosa hija! It was a Friday and she had a busy morning in the nursery and then we had to wait so I could go to the doctor (not enough time to go home). She was getting a little cranky so I gave her her pacifier and held her...about 10 minutes later the world and its interest started fading and she was fast asleep. Daddy went to get some blankets so we laid her down on the floor while he (daddy) kept working. I could not resist and took pictures...so precious!

L. A. Arboretum

I believe it was last week we met up with auntie Jodi and uncle Dan at the L.A. Arboretum to give them some things for the wedding...and since we were already there...and I've always wanted to see the place we decided to pay the $5 and $7 to get in. It was a gorgeous day and we got to see multiple wedding parties taking pictures in the beautiful sceneries available at the garden! It is a low key place...has awful bathrooms...but oh well. I really like the old cottage by the lake and barn....sometimes I wish I lived in those days with the beautiful dresses, tea time etc. Of coarse one never knows what class I would belong to so it does not necessarily mean that I would have all that....I guess what I meant to say is: I wish that I lived back then and was rich :o) The house had several 'living rooms' and one of them was the music room...there was a harp, four upright pianos, a baby grand, harpsichord and I don't remember what else. It was a fun change of pace for an otherwise typically uneventfull Saturday.

California Adenture with Grandpa

In March we went to Disneyland to celebrate Grandma's birthday and Papa joined us with a 2fer ticket. He had a month to visit California Adventure so right before it expired we went there to hang out. It was a super hot day but because of it we got to discover the Bug's Life area that has tons of water...and other fun stuff. We got the baby and us soaked and the heat became surprisingly more bearable :o) We actually got to do quite a bit because the crowds were smaller than Disneyland and the we finished our day with some dinner at the Rainforest Cafe....GZ for the second time in a row that we go there slept through....the storm and the screaming gorillas and elephants!!! Well there is always next time...

Easter Video

Gabriela Zoe had fun cracking the eggs and getting her hands red from the dye (I added some american food coloring which proved not a good idea because it got everyone's hands red!) Oh well...I'll know next year :o)

Easter

Oooooooooo

Stephen: Christ is Risen GZ: He is Risen Indeed
Enjoying the treats from her Easter Basket
At church with daddy and his helper/friends

Tsoureki

(Since we got engaged Stephen and i have celebrated two Easters...the American with the church and american family and the Greek with our Greek family. Let me say that Easter is my favorite time of the year...beats Christmas in some ways, so I savor the fact that we celebrate twice. Last year on American easter I had just given birth so I was in bed and not feeling super...so I really enjoyed having some lamb and hanging out with Greeks for the Greek Easter a couple of weeks later. This year Stephen got home on American Easter Sunday somewhere between 5:30-6 p.m. it was a little embarrasing for me to walk down our street and have our neighbor's kids give GZ their Easter eggs because she didn't have any...very sweet of them by the way! Anyhow, so we had already decided to do Greek Easter at our home...and even though in my traditions there are no such things as Easter baskets and eggs filled with candy I decided to make a basket for GZ and go all out, bought some Easter decorations...dirt cheap because they were on clearance 'after the fact' and let the house fill with the sights and smells of Easter. So now that I sort of vented my frustration and explained why Greek Easter was so important for me this year, I'll talk about the day of, and our Greek traditions.)

During 'both' Holy Weeks we watched Easter movies (in fact we are still watching them because we just do not have too much time for TV) we watched Jesus of Nazareth, The Robe, a few days ago we finished Ben Hur and we are waiting for Quo Vadis and then we are going to watch The Ten Commandents musical (as oppposed to the really long Charton Heston version), and finish the Easter movies with The Passion. See in Greece some people greet each other with 'Christ is Risen' 'He is Risen Indeed' until the day of the Pentecost...so we are still on schedule :o)

On Good Friday I colored our eggs as tradition calls for because we color the eggs red to remember the blood of Jesus that was shed for our sins on a day like that....both Good Fridays were gloomy days. I also made the traditional tsoureki with the red egg in the middle, its a sweet bread and by far my favorite bread of the season...and I make a really good one...no bragging i just have a great recipe.

On Sunday we got dressed up, went to church and remembered and celebrated that on a day like that Jesus Christ was risen...awesome thing our pastor did something I don't remember him doing before...he greeted the congragation with 'Christ is Risen' How special for us :o) When we got home our house was filled with the aroma of the lamb slow cooking!!!! We eat lamb on Easter because yes its Greek tradition but the tradition has rich meaning...we remember how Jesus was the sacrificial lamb through whom we are forgiven. This Sevi came first and brought us more yummy tsoureki and some amazing spanakopita!!! It was so much fun that she was able to join us so that we can see her and she was able to enjoy some time with GZ. A little bit later Papa and Grandma joined us and we had our 'drunch' (lunch and dinner combined) Hmmm all the food was really tasty...and the lamb was just so delicious...if you think you don't like lamb you have to let me make you some...and you may change your mind. I had chicked in case someone didn't like the lamb but noone touched it!
After we ate our food we cracked 'tsougrisame' our eggs. One person says 'Christ is Risen' and the other person says 'He is Risen Indeed' as the hit their eggs together. Now the cracking of the eggs I believe I heard that it symbolized the opening of the tomb. The game that accompanies this fun tradition is that the person whose egg is the last one standing uncracked is the winner (of nothing in particular) and we say 'ahh your egg is wooden' :o) And then we eat our eggs!

The food was good our tummies were full so we decided to go for a walk in the hot hot sun...I do not know how good this idea was but besides the heat it was fun to get out of the house and walk, look at the flowers. When we got back we just hang out and played a movie game and when it was time to put the baby to sleep our guests also headed home. It was a fun fun day...thank You Jesus, for dying of the cross for our sins, rising from the dead so we can have eternal life too and telling us to remember and celebrate!