Momma Mia!!!

So it's summer break everyhthing is glowing in the sunshine, and all should be well right. Well not so much.
I've always been basically a stay at home mom, every once in a while I'd have a part-time job in the evenings, but for the most part I'm the one dealing with the day to day with my children. Alot of people say when kids are babies and toddlers is the hardest age because they require so much attention, to those people I say HA!!!! To me thats the easy part, I know what to do with a toddler and baby. My kids are now 9 and 7 years old and I'm finding I need to take a psychology class to be able to keep them straight.

I love them both dearly and they both have their good qualities, my son Ryan is so smart and just picks up on things so quickly, but the boy also has a temper on him that won't quit. And in that anger there is no reasoning with him. My daughter is the sweetest thing since cherry pie, but shes getting to that age where I can tell her to do something 3 or 4 times before getting thru to her. I know alot of mom deal with this kind of behavior but for me its getting to the point to where I feel the level of disrespect has reached a peak.
I am guilty of creating this. I spoil my kids as much as I can. They have cool toys, and the lastest electronic gadgets, anything a kid could want, I try to give them. I am also guilty of not following thru as far as punishment goes. Letting them off if they promise to be good. As any mother knows when your kids are grounded so are you. So I have caved.
Not this time. Memorial day there was an incident, Ryan was mad because we said he couldn't swim at his friends house, so he started pouting and my daughter called him a crybaby, well that set him off and he took off after her and chase her around the yard, she tripped and he went up to her and kicked her in the back. Yeah, I know. So I am dealing with the situation, explaining to him what could have happened, and trying to get thru to him. He has no privledges what so ever and basically is confined to his room.
But I'm sitting here wondering has he crossed a line? Should I get him proffesional help for his issues? Or is this something I have the power to nip in the bud. I can not have him hurting her.
I remember fighting like cat and dogs with my sister, so I don't think it's so abnormal. I feel like a warrior right now wielding swords, fighting battles, trying to win the war. I battle my son's temper, my daughter's teasing and instigating, my husband wanting to cave, and my own fears that everything has gotten way out of control.
I just have to keep swinging my swords and hope I'm doing the right thing, I can only raise these kids the best way I know how. I am trying my hardest to keep them in line, teach them the values I think are important and try to steer them in the right direction. The battle continues......

O garden of mine

      
       So its that time of year again. The time we spend more time in the yard making the outside of our homes as beautiful as the inside. I personally love being in the yard, working and tending to the earth. Allowing nature to flourish, basking in the beauty that is created with a little sweat and determination. My favorite part is walking around the plant stores and waiting for a plant to jump out at you. Then you take it home and find the perfect little spot to make its new home. 

    
  Seems every year I discover a new project. This year is my dreaded hill. One word Blah. I really wanted to put in a retaining wall, maybe pushing the hill back a few feet, but alas thats not in the cards. I just want to break up the grassy hill, I think some depth and color will go a long way.

    This is something that jumped out at me the other day. I love it!! Its my favorite plant in the yard right now. I love the color. It called Calibrachoa aka Aloha Tiki Orange. It now sits above the herb garden, looking lovely.

   These lillies decided to pop open and say hello today as well. I have had these lillies in the garden for 3 years now. They are simply beautiful and make me smile. I think they scream spring!
    I been working so hard to create an oasis in my yard. A place I can go to relax and cast out the woes of my day. A place where I can sit under the mulberry tree and just smell and listen to nature as she works all around me. A place to lose yourself in. I want to be able to sit back there and forget for just a minute about the hustle and bustle of the city, and absorb every little living thing. For a minute to just pretend I'm somewhere out in the country deep in a beautiful secluded secret garden. A place to just exist.