I love that there are times when I know exactly what the kids are thinking. Being a mom and spending day in and day out with the kids, I know what makes them tick, and sometimes I know what they are going to say before they say it.
This has proven helpful in preventing what could be very embarrassing situations. Other times, when we are at home and in a safe place to make corrections or talk about what they have just said, I just let it fly on out of their mouths. It's at those times, in my head, I just do a little count down to see how long it takes before it is actually said.
Tonight, as we were working on our devotional together, Delanie was learning about perseverance. We talked about not giving up, and how sometimes in life things aren't easy, but that you should keep trying. She gave some examples of riding her bike and learning to read new words. I could tell she was uncomfortable with only using examples of herself and her own shortfalls. This is usually when she'll want to bring up something that her brother did that she feels is much worse than what she has done. Before that happened though I went ahead and read tonight's verse:
Even if good people fall seven times, they will get back up.
But when trouble strikes the wicked, that's the end of them.
Proverbs 24:16, CEV
Delanie listened closely to the verse, and I saw her little motor running. She was deep in thought when I started the countdown in my head...3, 2, 1...
"Mom, you know what? Paxton is so wicked when he tries to ride his bike. He always gives up and cries"
Nice.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Cycles
Sometimes I feel like I struggle with the same things over and over again. I feel embarrassed at times going to God with the same re-occurring issues. What's even more silly, is I think that if I don't bring it up God might not know that I am struggling...again...as if He doesn't know what's going on in my heart. Then, today, I was encouraged by a few verses during my Bible study.
These verses helped me to realize that He is all powerful yet tender-hearted, and sovereign. While cycles in life can seem so repetitive, He is still here watching over me until he feels as though the season is complete.
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.
How gracious he will be when you cry for help!
As soon as he hears, he will answer you.
Although the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction,
your teachers will be hidden no more;
with your own eyes you will see them.
Whether you turn to the right or to the left,
your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This the way, walk in it."
Isaiah 30:18-21 (emphasis mine)
I am so comforted in the fact that as soon as he hears me he answers. And although I may be discouraged at times, I have hope in the fact that one day my ears will hear a voice say "This is the way, walk in it."
These verses helped me to realize that He is all powerful yet tender-hearted, and sovereign. While cycles in life can seem so repetitive, He is still here watching over me until he feels as though the season is complete.
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!
O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.
How gracious he will be when you cry for help!
As soon as he hears, he will answer you.
Although the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction,
your teachers will be hidden no more;
with your own eyes you will see them.
Whether you turn to the right or to the left,
your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This the way, walk in it."
Isaiah 30:18-21 (emphasis mine)
I am so comforted in the fact that as soon as he hears me he answers. And although I may be discouraged at times, I have hope in the fact that one day my ears will hear a voice say "This is the way, walk in it."
Monday, April 28, 2008
Swimsuits on Parade
It's that time of year again. Time to assess the damage that occurred all winter long and try on bathing suits. I know, I know, I already had a vacation this year, in which I LIVED in my bathing suit for approximately 4 days straight, but I just slapped on last year's model and went with the whole "I will never see any of these people again" theory. It worked pretty well with the exception of the 3 friends I went with, who I see all the time.
They are a pretty forgiving bunch though.
It became very clear this weekend that I needed to re-evaluate the choices I made last year on my suits when I was forced to really look at myself in the mirror a few hundred times at the health club while taking the kids swimming. In the locker rooms there are mirrors just about every direction you turn, and let me tell you, my choices last year, weren't so good.
Last year was a pivotal year for me in the swimsuit department though, so in my defense I had WAY to much to consider when making my choices. This year, I am a bit more experienced in the Tankini department and I feel as though I have a good solid idea as to what works for me and what doesn't. The sad part about this is: next year, I will have a whole new outlook on this situation, and will have to start all over again with a whole new set of rules, and I will be horrified (just like I am this year) that I prance around all summer in the suit I thought was perfect.
That is why this year, I am doing a fashion show, not for my kids, and not for my friends, but for the hubby. He will tell me straight-up if what I have on is working or is a joke.
The kids they just want to go swimming when I try on suits. So although they are brutley honest and comment on things that I don't even ask for comments on, they are way too easily distracted by the swimsuit and the idea that swimming season is coming soon (if not today in their brains) to really take the time that a complete analysis requires.
My girlfriends, man I love them, they take the time that a complete analysis takes, but then I am not too sure about the honesty piece. I can't say that I don't blame them. I mean, no one wants to tell their friends, "Wow, I didn't think your chest could look any flatter than it already is, and somehow your behind is wider!"
It's just a bit uncomfortable at lunch afterwards.
I feel like I have to take smaller bites and order a salad.
I think in the name of Responsible Friendship, it's better for your friends to see the finished product.
In the swimsuit department that is.
Goodness knows that they see anything but the finished product in all the other areas my life so this year, this is my gift to them.
So after spending an obscene amount of money on all the swimsuits that fit, tonight I will be doing a fashion show at home with the hubby who will do a complete analysis on all suits, and since he is already quite aware of what the unfinished product looks like, there is no explaining or hiding anything.
The rules have been stated beforehand that: 1. I will return some of these bathing suits no matter if all of them are so stinkin' cute I can't handle it (I am positive I don't even need this rule.). 2. Scott has to thoroughly look over each suit for any flaws that either the suit or I am displaying, and 3. He has permission to be BRUTALLY HONEST with me on my appearance in each suit with out it effecting our relationship.
With that said, I am now ready for the hardest part of spring. It will be difficult, long, and tedious, but in the end, I am hoping that this year I will have a suit that I can wear proudly for maybe more than just this summer.
Just wait until Scott finds out that he may have to do this again next year.
I won't tell him that right now...it'll ruin the night.
They are a pretty forgiving bunch though.
It became very clear this weekend that I needed to re-evaluate the choices I made last year on my suits when I was forced to really look at myself in the mirror a few hundred times at the health club while taking the kids swimming. In the locker rooms there are mirrors just about every direction you turn, and let me tell you, my choices last year, weren't so good.
Last year was a pivotal year for me in the swimsuit department though, so in my defense I had WAY to much to consider when making my choices. This year, I am a bit more experienced in the Tankini department and I feel as though I have a good solid idea as to what works for me and what doesn't. The sad part about this is: next year, I will have a whole new outlook on this situation, and will have to start all over again with a whole new set of rules, and I will be horrified (just like I am this year) that I prance around all summer in the suit I thought was perfect.
That is why this year, I am doing a fashion show, not for my kids, and not for my friends, but for the hubby. He will tell me straight-up if what I have on is working or is a joke.
The kids they just want to go swimming when I try on suits. So although they are brutley honest and comment on things that I don't even ask for comments on, they are way too easily distracted by the swimsuit and the idea that swimming season is coming soon (if not today in their brains) to really take the time that a complete analysis requires.
My girlfriends, man I love them, they take the time that a complete analysis takes, but then I am not too sure about the honesty piece. I can't say that I don't blame them. I mean, no one wants to tell their friends, "Wow, I didn't think your chest could look any flatter than it already is, and somehow your behind is wider!"
It's just a bit uncomfortable at lunch afterwards.
I feel like I have to take smaller bites and order a salad.
I think in the name of Responsible Friendship, it's better for your friends to see the finished product.
In the swimsuit department that is.
Goodness knows that they see anything but the finished product in all the other areas my life so this year, this is my gift to them.
So after spending an obscene amount of money on all the swimsuits that fit, tonight I will be doing a fashion show at home with the hubby who will do a complete analysis on all suits, and since he is already quite aware of what the unfinished product looks like, there is no explaining or hiding anything.
The rules have been stated beforehand that: 1. I will return some of these bathing suits no matter if all of them are so stinkin' cute I can't handle it (I am positive I don't even need this rule.). 2. Scott has to thoroughly look over each suit for any flaws that either the suit or I am displaying, and 3. He has permission to be BRUTALLY HONEST with me on my appearance in each suit with out it effecting our relationship.
With that said, I am now ready for the hardest part of spring. It will be difficult, long, and tedious, but in the end, I am hoping that this year I will have a suit that I can wear proudly for maybe more than just this summer.
Just wait until Scott finds out that he may have to do this again next year.
I won't tell him that right now...it'll ruin the night.
Friday, April 25, 2008
And We Still Were Able to Eat Our Lunch
As we were about to sit down to a scrumptious lunch of Tuna salad sandwiches and apples, Paxton decided he would delight us with some info he'd been tucking away in his brain for just the right moment.
Pax: Hey Daddy...know what?
Scott: What's that little man?
Pax: Pee pee is wewow and poo poo is brown.
Scott: Hmmm...yup, you're right
me: (trying not to die laughing) Interesting, son.
Pax: Yup, and poo poo really is stinky, but mostly it's brown.
Scott: Wow! Ok...
It's the little things that let you know they are learning...
Pax: Hey Daddy...know what?
Scott: What's that little man?
Pax: Pee pee is wewow and poo poo is brown.
Scott: Hmmm...yup, you're right
me: (trying not to die laughing) Interesting, son.
Pax: Yup, and poo poo really is stinky, but mostly it's brown.
Scott: Wow! Ok...
It's the little things that let you know they are learning...
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Workin' the System
There are few things here at the home front that we are working on simultaneously with Pax. First and foremost is the dreaded potty training, which on any given day, can go from fantastic to horrible. Potty training has got to be one of the worst parts of parenting a child before the teenage years.
Then a whole new can of worms opens, and I am not sure if I will ever be able to brace myself enough for what is to come. If that old adage "You reap what you sow" is true, than Scott and I are in a heap of trouble.
Besides potty training, we are also in the midst of trying to lose a sweet tooth in our boy that sprouted sometime around Halloween last year, and has only grown into monstrous proportions now as we have gone through the holiday season, Valentines day, and then Easter. Throw a few birthday parties in between, and sugar has now become an actual food group in our home.
Delanie, although she loves her some sugar, hasn't seemed to protest losing the daily addiction to the beast. She actually longs to eat healthy, and will choose stuff to eat based on whether she thinks it might be too sugary for her. This is unbelievable to me. Since I can't understand it, I just go with it and pretend that it's totally normal.
Pax, not so much.
His game to get the sweets has really evolved over the last few months. At first he wasn't so slick. He would just flat out ask for more. We'd of course say no, and then he would throw a tantrum that made Mt Vesuvius look like a minor eruption. Sometimes, I have to admit it would work, but we were always on to his little game. It was just a matter of trying to keep the peace in a sticky situation.
When that stopped working, he stepped it up a notch. At first we thought he was on some huge growth spurt. Constantly he was stating, "I hungry, momma." After every meal, big or small, he was always hungry. It took us about a week before we figured out that he thought by telling us all the time he was hungry, that at some point we would turn to him and say "Oh my, Pax, you're hungry! Well, I can't have that! Goodness sakes sweet boy, let me get you a cookie." He is still often caught saying this phrase especially right after he has already been given something sweet.
Because we all know that after an almost 3 year old polishes off a brownie, if he is still hungry we should automatically just offer up another....riiiiiiiight.
Nice try, pal.
In the last few days he has really got Scott and I at our breaking points. At this point it will be a battle of the wills... I just hope I have the strength to endure. He has now stopped eating complete meals in hopes that with his hunger at its highest point, his behavior will become so erratic that we will say "Good heavens, this child's behavior is so poor is must be because he is so hungry! Quick get him several cookies to eat so at least he's got something in his system."
Obviously, we're on to him.
Since all his plots have been foiled up to this point, he has now taken it so far, he may just have us with this one: With the potty training in full force we have been rewarding all accomplishments with candy. So yesterday, when Pax refused to eat breakfast and dinner, and was baffled by me not allowing him to eat cookies until the next meal was ready, he first relied on the tantrum method.
Shot down.
Next up, the "Mommy, I am still hungry" technique. With that I responded with the meal he refused to eat fresh from the fridge.
Foiled again.
What he thought may seal the deal (sadly enough, it almost worked too), the erratic behavior. Thankfully, daddy swooped in and stayed strong when mommy wanted to crumble.
Got'cha!
Then it came...
Pax: Mommy, I think I have to go pee-pee.
me: OK! Let's quick get to the potty! (I am so excited at this point! He has told me that he needs to go! He actually knows when it's time!)
Pax: Ya, and when I go, you have to feed me a Sweet Tart. Big boys who go pee pee in the potty get to eat candy!
DANG IT!
So Pax lived on a glass of milk, lunch, and a few Sweet Tarts yesterday.
It's parenting at it's finest!
Then a whole new can of worms opens, and I am not sure if I will ever be able to brace myself enough for what is to come. If that old adage "You reap what you sow" is true, than Scott and I are in a heap of trouble.
Besides potty training, we are also in the midst of trying to lose a sweet tooth in our boy that sprouted sometime around Halloween last year, and has only grown into monstrous proportions now as we have gone through the holiday season, Valentines day, and then Easter. Throw a few birthday parties in between, and sugar has now become an actual food group in our home.
Delanie, although she loves her some sugar, hasn't seemed to protest losing the daily addiction to the beast. She actually longs to eat healthy, and will choose stuff to eat based on whether she thinks it might be too sugary for her. This is unbelievable to me. Since I can't understand it, I just go with it and pretend that it's totally normal.
Pax, not so much.
His game to get the sweets has really evolved over the last few months. At first he wasn't so slick. He would just flat out ask for more. We'd of course say no, and then he would throw a tantrum that made Mt Vesuvius look like a minor eruption. Sometimes, I have to admit it would work, but we were always on to his little game. It was just a matter of trying to keep the peace in a sticky situation.
When that stopped working, he stepped it up a notch. At first we thought he was on some huge growth spurt. Constantly he was stating, "I hungry, momma." After every meal, big or small, he was always hungry. It took us about a week before we figured out that he thought by telling us all the time he was hungry, that at some point we would turn to him and say "Oh my, Pax, you're hungry! Well, I can't have that! Goodness sakes sweet boy, let me get you a cookie." He is still often caught saying this phrase especially right after he has already been given something sweet.
Because we all know that after an almost 3 year old polishes off a brownie, if he is still hungry we should automatically just offer up another....riiiiiiiight.
Nice try, pal.
In the last few days he has really got Scott and I at our breaking points. At this point it will be a battle of the wills... I just hope I have the strength to endure. He has now stopped eating complete meals in hopes that with his hunger at its highest point, his behavior will become so erratic that we will say "Good heavens, this child's behavior is so poor is must be because he is so hungry! Quick get him several cookies to eat so at least he's got something in his system."
Obviously, we're on to him.
Since all his plots have been foiled up to this point, he has now taken it so far, he may just have us with this one: With the potty training in full force we have been rewarding all accomplishments with candy. So yesterday, when Pax refused to eat breakfast and dinner, and was baffled by me not allowing him to eat cookies until the next meal was ready, he first relied on the tantrum method.
Shot down.
Next up, the "Mommy, I am still hungry" technique. With that I responded with the meal he refused to eat fresh from the fridge.
Foiled again.
What he thought may seal the deal (sadly enough, it almost worked too), the erratic behavior. Thankfully, daddy swooped in and stayed strong when mommy wanted to crumble.
Got'cha!
Then it came...
Pax: Mommy, I think I have to go pee-pee.
me: OK! Let's quick get to the potty! (I am so excited at this point! He has told me that he needs to go! He actually knows when it's time!)
Pax: Ya, and when I go, you have to feed me a Sweet Tart. Big boys who go pee pee in the potty get to eat candy!
DANG IT!
So Pax lived on a glass of milk, lunch, and a few Sweet Tarts yesterday.
It's parenting at it's finest!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Small Accomplishments
We've recently accomplished a few things in our home. If a bragging mother annoys you, then WARNING: YOU ARE GOING TO GET ANNOYED. There, now you can't say I didn't let you have an out before getting too far into this.
Because you could get so lost in the writing that you may not even realize what's going on before BAM! There you are reading some gushing mother's tale about her two perfect little cherubs and you are feeling sick to your stomach.
Now that we have that out of the way, here we go.
First up, Delanie. My little smarty pants. Her brain can not possibly soak up more information than it already does daily. She lives to learn, and has been that way since day one. I realize that many of her accomplishments aren't too out there fabulous, but they are HER accomplishments, and I am her mother, and I can't get enough. I just get so proud of her. Just wait until she starts Kindergarten next Fall...oh, someone help me!
And really, someone help you because you will get to hear every gory detail via this here blawg o' mine.
Delanie finished her reading program yesterday! She and I started it in January and plugged away everyday (missing a few days here and there) until she was done. I am so proud of her perseverance with this program. There were times when it got tough and I...I mean SHE stuck with it. She often was the one reminding me that we needed to get a lesson in. While she learned to read, I learned that I could NEVER home-school, and the people who do are saints.
Seriously though, I love my daughter, and I loved being able to be there with her as she learned the gift of reading. I loved watching her learn and grasp things. I loved seeing her enthusiasm and her drive to get things just right. I think we had bumpy roads just about everyday but 1, but hey, we did it!!
Here is where she started:
Just learning some sounds
Because you could get so lost in the writing that you may not even realize what's going on before BAM! There you are reading some gushing mother's tale about her two perfect little cherubs and you are feeling sick to your stomach.
Now that we have that out of the way, here we go.
First up, Delanie. My little smarty pants. Her brain can not possibly soak up more information than it already does daily. She lives to learn, and has been that way since day one. I realize that many of her accomplishments aren't too out there fabulous, but they are HER accomplishments, and I am her mother, and I can't get enough. I just get so proud of her. Just wait until she starts Kindergarten next Fall...oh, someone help me!
And really, someone help you because you will get to hear every gory detail via this here blawg o' mine.
Delanie finished her reading program yesterday! She and I started it in January and plugged away everyday (missing a few days here and there) until she was done. I am so proud of her perseverance with this program. There were times when it got tough and I...I mean SHE stuck with it. She often was the one reminding me that we needed to get a lesson in. While she learned to read, I learned that I could NEVER home-school, and the people who do are saints.
Seriously though, I love my daughter, and I loved being able to be there with her as she learned the gift of reading. I loved watching her learn and grasp things. I loved seeing her enthusiasm and her drive to get things just right. I think we had bumpy roads just about everyday but 1, but hey, we did it!!
Here is where she started:
Just learning some sounds
Making words:
And this is where she ended yesterday! I can't believe it!
As for Paxton, there will be no pictures.
Trust me, you are very thankful.
My sweet boy is finally having some success in the potty department. I wouldn't say we have "turned the corner" per se, but we are definitely making progress. He is earning all kinds of treats and rewards, and we are hoping that one day he will treat and reward us by never making us need to change a dirty diaper again.
Just what, oh what, will I do with myself when I am not changing dirty diapers all day? Well, hosing down and scrubbing the bathroom daily will take up a good chunk of that time.
It's progress, and that is all that matters.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Picture Palooza
This is a continuation of the "Freedom" post I had a couple of days ago. As the weather gets nicer, we are experiencing much more freedom from the indoors...It's been liberating!
Flying a kite at the park:
And who can go to a park without swinging?
Dude's got on some funky glasses and won't take them off...sound familiar? Season's change, but fashion habits stay the same.
Feel free?
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