Walking Dead -Mid Season Finale.... CODA

Now what?

I mean, we wait and wait...build up the anticipation of the next season and it seems like it is here and gone in the BLINK of an eye.


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SPOILER ALERT!  If you have NOT watched AMC's Walking Dead episode last night- DO NOT READ any further- go to your TV, turn on your DVR and WATCH IT!


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Last nights episode had me on my toes. My Hubby had heard that whatever was going to happen made Daryl cry...He immediately thought the loss of Carol...I called Beth.  How it happened was crazy, but along the lines I was thinking.  I feel that everyone thought the Carol would die.  I mean, she was still in a Coma state and not doing well...then TWIST!  That whole situation was great.  I mean Rick is ruthless and I literally YELL at the screen and tell him to kill...how terrible of a person does that make me?  He makes the play and immediately it is a Game Changer..right!


When they entered the hospital, I had a feeling something was going to change.  You could feel it in the characters.  How Beth passed was terrible.  I mean, eye for an eye happened because Daryl's was reeling, but that it even happened was nothing more than a tragedy.  I just immediately thought of Maggie and watching her relive the experience of losing her sister...again.  Watching the closing scenes was really sad for the group and I think the best left impact was Daryl carrying Beth away from the hospital.


Who would of thought that the crazy cop lady, who I immediately DID NOT TRUST (of the three that Rick was holding) would call a cease fire.  I mean, I was not expecting any good to come from her, she was sneaky almost.  It was nice to see them leave at their own free will and surprising...but not.. to see that not one of the patients from the Hospital left with the Rick Grimes crew.

‘Walking Dead’ Fans Take to Twitter to Mourn Series Regular's Death in Midseason Finale

I included the link from Yahoo about last nights episode.  It was an episode that I wish was LONGER...You know, to keep us going until they come back..but I can honestly say that I can NOT wait for next season.

And Talking Dead was so hard to watch.  I mean, Emily Kinney...you are so adorable!  Seeing her emotions and tears was so heartbreaking.  Realizing that the family they had was being broken was so sad and a side that we really do not think of in the real world.

Emily Kinney

Until February.. fellow Walking Dead fans!

~Kel

Day 30 of our MOM Challenge- WE DID IT! (almost)

Today is all about L O V E

Love your kids, show them love, teach them love and most importantly Love them and be loved by them!

Thanks for taking the MOM challenge with me!  

Today starts a NEW month and lots of fun stuff going on as we start the countdown for Christmas!  I can't share TOO much- but we will talk great gifts, stocking stuffers, crafts and wish lists!

We will also talk about his little Elf named Elfrick who comes back every year on December 1st. Of course, he made his debut today and is already causing all sorts of trouble in Old Gray Gables!

Don't forget to check me out on Twitter  @KelleyAmstutz

and I am also on Pinterest: Kel Amstutz

Thanks all!

~Kel

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

From ~Kel  at Life at Gray Gables!

Day 29- Technology POWERED OFF

It is time to TURN IT OFF, I tell you.  Put it down and watch, listen, talk to your kids.  

Unfortunately I had to talk to my Hubby about this the other day.  It hurts to know that I am hurting him by blabbering on about his short comings, but it really needed to be said. When you truly LOVE someone, I feel like you tell them when they are coming up short and hopefully instead of being angry, they use that KNOWLEDGE to change their actions.  

(This is what I have learned to do with my criticisms)

Anyways, it became apparent that, since Hubby has been HOME more, with his Vacation days and eating dinner with us, that all through dinner he is on his phone.  He is not engaged with us at all, and when he is...he wants QUIET.  (sorry Honey)

I kind of feel like I am in some 1950s TV Sitcom when he is present, because our table is stone cold quiet and when he is not home, we have fun, we eat, we laugh, we talk and we connect.  This is always how my table was growing up.  We always ate together and unloaded our days, which Hubby is not used to- so I try to cut him some slack. 

Yes, the talking does get out of hand and more talking happens then eating- but with some help on FOCUS, I manage to put it right.  It is important and I am NEVER on my phone during this time- it is SACRED.

So, I had to bring it up. IT wasn't even dinner time that I was referencing- but my youngest adores her Dad, she wants to sit on or by him at all times when he is around.  She wanted to sit on his lap and READ to him.  While she was reading, he was disengaged- COMPLETELY.  I was responding to her because he was ignoring her.  It hurt me.  I don't even know if she noticed, but I did.

I think it is kind of powerful to go up against your spouse, I mean to basically "Call him out" about his behavior and it is even more powerful that the usual reaction that I get....I did not get this time around.  Stress is ugly.  I get it.  I know that my Hubby is a hard working guy, he works hard at his job, he works hard on our house and he tries. I totally get that.  I guess for me, it is showing him how Proud I am of him, showing him how much I appreciate all he does for US, but also trying to get him to STOP and enjoy LIFE too- because I just feel like he is missing it.  This life that we are building is sucking the life out of him and it hurts me to see it happening.  I know there is always something to be done in this old house, and I get it that he is trying to do this, that and the other thing...but I try so hard to get time with him and our family and just relieve him of the stress.  

Obviously, I am failing! 

So, we had  a talk. It was not intense, it was not an argument, it was a talk.  Shows how much we have grown.  He listened. I listened.  We were one and all was good. 

Guess what happened the day after this talk- he slowed down.  He smiled. He stopped yelling at the kids all the time and took a breath.  It is so important to remember that they are kids, something that I stress a lot between us both, so we don't forget!  He sat on the couch with my youngest on his lap and they talked, they watched Wall-E and it was calm, relaxed and they were both beaming!

Funny how we can lose sight of things so quick!  Now, it is time for me to tell the girls to power down their devices!

What ways do you turn off the electronics and come together as a family?  

Share on Twitter!  @KelleyAmstutz

~Kel

Day 28 of our 30 Day Mom Challenge...Let's learn a new word

Challenge Day 28:

Teach your child a new word.

Since my oldest is all about learning new words and reading and understanding sight words, we are going to work on vocabulary.  

Today has been full of teaching moments.  

We have been reading books and comprehending words that she did not even know existed and essentially becoming her own little book of knowledge. 

What better word to teach than Knowledge.  

Especially since I told her that she was full of knowledge and she said, "What?" 

knowl·edge

ˈnäləj/

noun

1. 1.

   facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.

   "a thirst for knowledge"

   synonyms:

   understanding, comprehension, grasp, command, mastery; More
2. 2.

   awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation.

   "the program had been developed without his knowledge"

   synonyms:

   awareness, consciousness, realization, cognition, apprehension,perception, appreciation;  formalcognizance "he slipped away without my knowledge"

First we talked about what she thought Knowledge was?  

Her answer was a fun one.  She said she wasn't sure but she liked it because it started with the Letter K.  (OH boy!)

We defined it by saying that knowledge is what she is learning from school.  That they are facts, not stories and that they let her know things by trigger words- which she understands because she often will interrupt when she hears a word that reminds her of something else.

My youngest tried and tried again to say Knowledge- but it is going to need some more work. 

It was really fun to teach them, to see their faces light up when they understood what it meant and my oldest even used it in a sentence, which was impressive!

Try to teach your kids a new word!  I think next time we are just going to grab the old Webster and pick at random!

Let me know how it went with your kids!

Tweet on my Twitter Account @KelleyAmstutz

~Kel

1. 
   

27- Let's Get HEALTHY...for our kids

What do you do to encourage Healthy 

Decisions?

Challenge Day #27

Do one thing that is good for your health:  walk, 10 minutes; eat a piece of fruit; or get a good nights sleep.

Think about it, setting a good example for your kids in regards to health.  It is something that I have personally been trying to promote in my household since my kids birth.  

It is important. 

I work out, they see me put my fitness clothes on and push PLAY, they see me drink my Shakeo - and they see me run around the house, cleaning, going up and down the stairs, doing my sit ups and crunches.  They even help me, join me and we talk about it.

We eat OK.  I know that we could always do better, but we make sure to have at least 4 servings of fruit a day and we get our yogurt in, and veggies are a tough one, but we get 1 serving a day in these crazy, picky girls!

We honestly believe that "An Apple a day, keeps the Doctor away" and work hard to get some form of apple in our diets.

Today, we are going to eat an extra fruit- Apples and Oranges with lunch today and we are going to do 25 jumping jacks, jog in place for 2 minutes and get a good nights sleep.  We are recovering from the BIG Turkey Day, after all!

What are you plans?  How do you encourage good health in your house?  Are you children active? 

Please share!

@KelleyAmstutz

~Kel

26- Encourage your Child Today (Happy Turkey Day!)

Children are likely to live up to

what you believe in them.

~Lady Bird Johnson

The old adage is so true, when we believe in our kids, when we push them to do better they will be better.  I think that it is important to let your kids dream, let them dream big and educate them to know that it takes hard work but anything is possible. 

So many times you hear about grown ups who are not expected to be anything more than what they are.  A friend was struggling with her decisions to educate herself, to invest in herself to have a career, not just a job and was met at home with so much indecisiveness and discretion.  She was expected to stay in the job she had been in for ten years, to retire from that job, even in our weakened economy and she had nothing to fall back on.  The job was stale, the position expired and the clock, essentially...ticking.  Her push had to come from herself and even then, she was met with discouragement.  It was painful to watch.  

The thing is, she pushed herself when her family wouldn't and what she is doing is nothing short of her calling.  She is great at it and in the end I think she will be glad she chose the path that she was led to and proud of her accomplishments, as will her family, who can not be held at fault, they were just "get by" achievers.  They didn't try to push themselves or educate themselves to be better.

I will not parent in this way. I was not raised in this way, either.  I want my kids to do whatever they want, to push themselves and never settle. (I also want them to marry rich, but even then, there is a poisonous apple that can appear!)

My oldest wants to be a Singer...well.. I should say she wants to be Taylor Swift or Ariana Grande.  She knows the songs by heart, she tried to do the dance and she LOVES being on her stage, performing for her family.  She sings all the time, morning, noon and night she is always making up some song in her tiny voice and expelling it from her little self!

My 5 year old singing Ariana

Do I break her dreams?  

No.  If that is what she wants..guess what, she will have to work at it!  I will not stand in her way, I will push her when needed, encourage her, even at five, and enjoy her voice!

I think that I encourage regularly. I get excited and I mean genuinely excited and push when I am supposed to and help when they are struggling and still can not help themselves. I know that it is important in the grand scheme of L I F E.

Our Challenge for today is:

Encourage your Child Today.

From Google Search- Love this!

Do you think you can handle this one?  What is one thing you have encourage your child with today? 

I have helped...yes, even in this early hour..with my youngest and letting her Get Dressed by herself.  She tried to say she could not do it, which is her standby!  I told her she could, she just needed to believe she could and try.  She struggled and we sang..."Try...Try..again." (Thanks Nick Jr. Kai lan) It took some tough talk and some tears on her end but then guess  what happened?  

She DID IT!

She got dressed all by herself and did a GREAT job!  I was so proud of her and she pushed herself, proving to herself that she CAN do it!

With my Oldest, it is all about reading right now.  Last night we worked no Amelia Bedeila and it has some larger, more difficult words than the sight words that Biscuit is using (our usually night time read by my Five year old) and she struggled.  We sounded some out together, others she did by herself and she did great!  By the end of the book she was sounding out by herself and figuring out the words with no help.  

She smiled and I could tell, felt good!

It is little steps, but they mean something down the road, I know they do! 

Don't forget to Encourage your Kids! ;)

Just another crazy night at Gray Gables!

~Kel