Parenting ~ that you will not find in the books

I'm in trouble. Tonight at dinner I did something crazy. Totally crazy. Before I did it thoughts ran through my head "No! Don't!.... ok, just do it!"

On the menu: sweet and sour meatballs over rice.

Nehemiah had some rice on his plate that he was playing with. It shaped nicely over his apple and he enjoyed swooshing it all over his plate. He hadn't taken even one bite but he was asking for more. Apparently he had some sort of rice covered apple goal. I took some rice and (gently) popped some in his mouth. He laughed and it all came back out. I did it again. So did he.

This is where it gets ugly.

I threw rice at him. The laughter that followed was contagious. So was the throwing of rice. Before I knew it there was a full blown rice throwing food fight in my dining room.

The laughter was priceless.

(And I am so counting it as an ab work out.)

It only took a few minutes to clean up. I vacuumed the floor (and the table) and it was all back to normal. I found a piece of rice in my hair at the grocery store later this evening, but it's a small price to pay for the amount of fun we had.

Please pray for my children. Tomorrow is spaghetti night and I'm afraid they'll think this is the new norm.

It's in the Bible

Proverbs 27: ¹⁴ A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning
will be taken as a curse


Amen.

There you have it. A biblical response for the morning person.

Projects

It's one thing after another these days. We have lived in this house for something like 3 years. It's not a house that we love. It's barely a house that we like. We just dealt with all of it's ugliness while holding onto the "we'll move soon" card. I don't think that card is going to be played for awhile.

So now we work on the house.

A lot.

Well, as much as we can work on a rental. :)

Roger built a deck box to hold all of the kids outdoor junk-ola. It still needs a coat of paint. But he did a great job on the box.

Our living room has the ugliest lighting fixtures I have ever seen in my life. My mom gave me 2 sconces that she no longer needed (you should see her garage!) and I painted them black. (They were brass) They would look so lovely in my living room. Unfortunately the wiring in this house is prehistoric and we can't make it work.

I painted our mailbox and the numbers on the front door. I discovered today when I was mowing the yard that I can also paint the one lonely fence piece on our front "yard" as well. (We don't really have a front yard. It goes House - sidewalk - street. But right even with the front of the house is a piece of fence. Just one 3ish ft section of fence. I have no idea why it's there. It serves no purpose. But it will get painted)

A company next to Roger's work had a PILE of 2 x 4's for free. We took a bunch. I had no idea what we were going to do with them all but it was free! So after a few days in the driveway I decided that I would like a bridge. yup, a bridge! :) We have a walkway in the back that leads to the garage door. The garage is not ours. So we walk from the sidewalk to the grass to the driveway. A bridge will go from the driveway to the walkway and leave out the muddy mess of walking in the grass over the fall/winter months.
We're waiting for the stain to dry on the wood. (stain found in my parents garage = free!)

Hannah's dresser is finally all painted. All I have to do now is sew a curtain for the front. It is supposed to have a door w/ a mirror on it. But it was too warped to fix. So for now it will just get a pretty curtain on the opening. (dresser was my older brothers, found in my parents garage! free!)

That's our projecting to-do list for now. We have a lot of things going at once here. Hoping to stamp a "finished!" on something soon. Need to get some more painting done. It's not the easiest task when the kids want to help. What are you working on? And HOW do you do it with the kids around?!

A letter to a murderer

It's been 8 months since I found out a close high school friend of mine commit murder. Very few days have passed where I have not thought about it.

I decided it was time to do something, so I wrote a letter. I looked up all of the information on-line. It shook me a little to see their name with a cell block number next to it. I am always thinking that I should be able to wake up from this horrible dream. Seeing the name there on the prison's web site only further confirmed that this was certainly not a dream. Google searches turned up a few articles I hadn't read yet... along with some comments from local readers who had their 2 cents to throw in about the murderer. It made me nauseous to read the comments, but I couldn't stop myself. "They don't even know the person! How can they say that?!" My heart was defending a murderer.

So I wrote a letter to an old friend that resides in cell block C. It took awhile. I prayed that God would guide my pen and help me to say the right words. I really wanted it to be just right.

My thoughts lead to the accounts of the day (as described by local papers). My heart is so heavy, as it's been since I heard about it that first time. I must say that my view of a murderer has changed drastically. I've gone from being disgusted by them (not their actions, because no matter how you look at it the actions are disgusting, but by them) to having compassion and a deep sadness. I can only imagine our Father's heart that day. The day one of his children was murdered. Weather they knew Him or not, they were His. Was he angry? Was he screaming and shaking the Heavens in anger as guns are fired and knives are turned to weapons? Or is he weeping. Crying out to his children "No! Don't you see it? I left you an out. There is another choice. There is always another choice. The door is open, get out! What you really want is me. I will fill that void in your life." and through tears of sadness and great loss God witnesses a horrific act.

The devil won.

But the victory isn't all his. God's heart is bigger than anything the devil can throw at him. And he offers this thing called forgiveness. I've seen the effects of prisoners who's hearts have been surrendered to the Lord. I've seen the changes that they have made in the maximum security homes (cells) that they live in. I've seen men, with hearts harder than rocks turn soft in the presence of our Lord. He can change lives. That life might be spent behind bars here on earth, but will know the warmth of Jesus' embrace for eternity.

And now I sit, praying. Praying that Jesus would show up in cell block C and prove himself real to my high school friend. Praying that a hard heart would turn soft and words of repentance would be spoken.


Matthew 9:13 For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.

You'll never look at chocolate the same way again

In case there were ever a thought as to where the "crazy gene" comes from in my family, let me tell you a little story.

The kids and I were doing some grocery shopping today. We happened to be at Walmart. I don't shop there often anymore, but I needed some non-grocery items. Anyway, that has not much of a thing to do with the rest of the story.

Rounding the aisle that holds the Hershey's chocolate syrup I ran into my dad. The kids all shouted "Grandpa!" and began telling him about every item that was placed into our cart. Joseph might have sang part of a song he learned in school. There was a lot of commotion. It's not every day we run into Grandpa at the store. :)

My dad: (holding a bottle of magic shell) "Hey, I'm glad I ran into you. Listen, um, what kind of chocolate would you use if you wanted to dip something in it and have the chocolate get hard?"

Me: "Well it depends what you want to dip. What you have in your hands is for ice cream. It has to be on something cold"

My dad: "Oh that won't work then"

Me: "What is it you want to dip?"

My dad: (with a mischievous look he surely learned from Nehemiah) "Um, well, bacon. But listen! We were watching this tv show and everyone loved it".... blah blah blah... excuses excuses excuses.



Me: After I fought the urge to throw up, I let him know that 1) That is NASTY and 2) melted chocolate chips should do the job.

We quickly parted ways after that.

The story however does not end here. For this evening I was talking to my mother. I wanted to make sure she knew what my father's intentions were with this chocolate and bacon. I was thinking she should have poison control's 800 number handy.

My mom: "Yeah I know. I saw the show. I thought it sounded a little weird at first but everyone on the show loved it! And it did look really pretty when it was all done."

Me: "I'm sure grasshoppers look good covered in chocolate too, but some things were just not meant to be"

I'm not sure if she plans on being present during the chocolate covered bacon feast but she apparently isn't bothered that the concoction is taking place in her kitchen.

My brother (15) is, I'm pretty sure, on cloud 9 about the whole idea. For a few years he lived off of bacon alone. Ok, maybe there was some mayo involved, but mostly bacon. My parents microwave holds the smell to prove it.

It all kinda reminds me of the one Friends episode where Rachel decided she's going to cook Thanksgiving dessert, by herself, from scratch! (Did you see that one?) She mixed two recipes together by accident and came up with a sheperds pie trifle. As everyone else was gagging on the combo Joey was like "whats not to like? Custard? Good. Jam ? Good. Meat? Gooood ."


So I suppose, looking at my parents, I had no chance to survive the crazy gene. It was passed down in full force.

Lord, help my children.

7 year anniversary

Well, as you may already know we have this silly tradition of taking our picture every year on our anniversary. Me in my veil and Roger in his top hat. (we were stylin' on our wedding day) :)

This year I took things a little too far.



















Yes, that's me. In my wedding gown. I'm all kinds of crazy.
Roger's stuck with me though. Wedding gown crazies and all.



And here we are. Blurry, but here. Joseph was manning the camera, all 5 years of him. The flash is broken so the slightest movement and things are all a blur. Did I mention that he's 5? I haven't seen him sit still since he was, well, I've never seen him sit still.

Joseph instructed us "Do that thing where you kiss" Who's to argue with the photographer? :)


Happy Anniversary honey! You're my favorite.

More on Parenting

This is Nehemiah, using his spare time at VBS. This would fall under the "He's not hurting anyone, it's not gonna kill him" category of (my) parenting. I told him multiple times to remember this moment. I might have even made him chant " you ARE a fun Mommy!" a few times just for fun.

Don't let the 5 second video fool you. He splashed in puddles for close to an hour. Yes. One whole hour. Hannah joined him but the camera battery died. This is the only picture I have before we put the dirty wet children in the van to go home.



I AM a fun Mommy! :)

Day at the Dentist

Today was a long day. I was so nervous waking up this morning. Hannah threw up twice. She knew what the day held for her.
I dropped Hannah and Roger off at the dentists office and the boys and I went out to kill some time. We wound up swinging by the dollar store and getting Hannah some presents for when she was done.
We got back to the dentists office before she was finished and I could hear her screaming from the waiting room. I wanted to run back to her little room, but I knew Roger was with her, and I knew screaming would be involved. So I waited.
It was only a few minutes and she was done. I cried.

Roger said she did really well. She cried worse when they called her name out in the waiting room saying that the Dr was ready for her. She didn't like it, but she did really well. Roger was a trooper too. The dentist even complimented him on how well he did. He said most parents aren't as calm as he was. Roger's good like that. Thank the Lord for one of us with the ability to be calm. :)

Anyway, Hannah is doing well. Mushy foods for a day or two. Tylenol every so often.
I'll post pictures of her new pearly whites when she's feeling a little more up for a photo shoot. :)

Thanks to all who prayed for us!

Racoon eyes

Tell me, how do you explain to a dentist, that you have only ever met once before, that your daughter is really just a klutz and we in fact do not beat our children?
(sorry, that was a doozy of a run-on sentence)

Do you see her eye? She fell off her chair. I caught her by the foot. So I saved her head from crashing on the floor, but not from smacking the table.
This is a day after she took a tumble that gave her two black lines under her eyes. (think bad eyeliner)


Ugh.

Hannah and the Dentist

Well, I mentioned that Hannah was ordered to stop nursing by the Dentist. Normally I would have told the Dentist where to stick his 2 cents with such a comment, but this time, he was right. She has cavities from nursing at night. A chipped tooth, that is part due to a fall and part due to brittle teeth.
I found a new dentist, because even though I knew the first one was right, I didn't like it there.
This new dentist is very nice. He was able to explain everything that was wrong with her teeth and everything that he would need to do to fix it.
Dentist #1 wanted to do the procedure at the hospital. Because of her age they wanted to put her under to make the whole thing run smoothly. I didn't like the sound of that but they gave me no other option.
Dentist #2 prefers to do it in his office. He personally doesn't like the side effects of putting such a little one under. He has two little girls of his own. They are the same age as my boys. Something about that is comforting. So we agreed to doing the whole thing there in his office - with Novocaine.

I am a nervous wreck. He said we are welcome to be back there the whole time, but he recommends that we wait in the waiting room. It's sometimes harder on all to have the parents back there. At first I agreed. I thought it would just be too hard on Hannah seeing me there not doing anything to help her. I've been thinking about it A LOT and think that she would be so much more panicked if I leave the room. I never leave her. She doesn't like it. I don't do it. Having the first time be with a Dentist, probably not the best idea.


The whole thing should only take 20ish minutes. Please, if you think about us pray for Hannah. Wednesday at 11:40 is her appointment.

When we eventually have more children they are going straight to the cup. Womb ---> cup. I sigh the slightest little sigh of relief just thinking about it.

Parenting With A Twist

I've decided to write a book. I think I'll call it "Raising Godly children: with duct tape and a sharpie"

or something like that.

Here's a preview of some topics that will be covered in the book.

Chapter One: The Sharpie, every mother should have one.
We were with some friends, having a good time. Joseph was attempting to give me a puppy kiss. (aka, lick my arm) I had no desire to be licked. I asked him not to. He wasn't listening. So, I threatened. "If you lick me I'm going to give you a mustache" He ran away. I was pleased.
A mother was sitting next to me whose children are younger than mine. Her jaw was kinda on the floor. "A mustache?" she said. "Yes" I replied. "It works. If he isn't listening I threaten to draw a mustache on his face with a sharpie (permanent marker) while he's sleeping" Her expression slowly softened as she realized my genius mothering skills. "I'll have to remember that" she said.

Oh, I have more where that came from my friend. I have more.

Chapter 2: God used nails, I use duct tape
Hannah has taken quite the liking to undressing lately. Down to the bare bottom. She can take everything off. By herself. Though I am strongly FOR her using the potty, I am strongly AGAINST poop on my living room carpet. After a few long weeks of tackling the girl every ten minutes to re-diaper we decided that duct tape, it's our friend. Really. It fixes everything. I am pleased to announce that she does not know how to take the duct tape off. My floor has not been peed on all day.

Chapter 3: A healthy fear of the public school system
Homeschooling. That will surely have a chapter in my book. When Joseph doesn't want to pay attention. When he wants to crawl under the table and play with the fallen cereal from breakfast instead of doing phonics drills I say "do you want to go to public school?" It's sure to get a quick response. I suddenly have an obedient eager to learn student on my hands.


Oh, but don't let all of that fool you. We are a God loving family. We pray together. We sing "Bible" songs. We even act out various Bible stories. David and Goliath is a favorite.
(I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that someone gets hit in the head and falls to his death.)

Ah yes, my book would be sure to stand out on the bookshelf. My parenting style is, well, unique. My children seem to be happy, healthy, and thriving. Joseph has asked Jesus to be in his life, and speaks to Him regularly. So even in my "unique-ness" there must be something that we are doing right.

And if you want the book, I'll let you know when I find a publisher. ;)

Too Much Information

Ok, blogging break. I know. I just took one. Another is needed.

I have a UTI and today, after 31(ish) months of not having my period.... I have my period. The combo is not fun.

I'm calling a time out.

Family Night ~ week 2

Week 2 of our themed family night was "tree's". Joseph decided on the theme. I didn't quite know what to do with it but we had a few themed things for our evening.

Dinner was broccoli casserole. (broccoli. trees. get it?) :) Um, no the kids did not eat it. They had chicken nuggets and corn. They thought the idea of our dinner looking like trees was neat though.
After dinner while I finished preparing dessert the kids colored a picture of a tree. I was surprised at how excited they all were to color. They did some of their best work.

For dessert we had trees! Well, ok it was brownies with ice cream but while using your imagination you can picture this being a tree, right?
Then we painted trees using our hands. This was messy. I'm so glad Roger was actually home for a painting project.

We had to use the side of our hand to make the tree trunk.
Then we used our finger tips to make the leaves and apples.

Ta-da!

After we were all cleaned up we went to Lowe's and checked out some wood. :) Ok, so it really wasn't for family night but we had some things we needed to do. Wood comes from tree's, right?

First day of SCHOOL!

Well we did it. We survived the first day of school! I'm sure if I was actually dropping Joseph off at an actual school building I would have cried my eyes out. Since we were only at the dining room table, I did ok. :)

Joseph was SO excited to start school he could barely stand it. Before breakfast he was asking if we could start school.

Let's eat and get dressed first please.
Mommy needs some caffeine.

We finally were all dressed. He didn't really see why Hannah and Nehemiah had to be ready for the day. It wasn't like they were doing school work.

We started our day with the Bible. He has a memory verse for every week. And this week he is learning the first 5 books of the Bible. His favorite is "Dude!eronomy" :) The rest he still stumbles over... but he likes that Deuteronomy one. :)
(updated to add. Day 2: He now knows his memory verse (Genesis1:1) and the first 5 books of the Bible. Deuteronomy is still his favorite part though)

Then we did some math. I say some.... I read the lesson plan wrong. We did 3 days worth of math.

oops.

A tiny bit of phonics and our school day was over. Next week we will add some more subjects to the mix, but week one we are taking it slow.

I wasn't sure if Joseph was enjoying school by the end of our "day". I dared to ask, totally expecting him to say that he doesn't want to do school tomorrow. He surprised me and nodded his head with a big ol' grin "Yes Mommy! I loved it!" (whew! that was a close one.)

Maybe tomorrow I will know what I'm doing and I won't make the poor kid do more than 1 day of work.

I wouldn't count on it.

To make up for torturing him with Math we had a special first day of school snack after lunch. It's all good.

Though you can't tell from this picture, Joseph does in fact have eyes.

Hannah likes to play with the dry erase markers for her school time.

Oh, It. Is. ALL. Good. :)


When do you start school?

Family Night

We have family night every Wednesday night.

And honestly it was dull.

We wanted to do something special but what do you do with a 1, 3, and 5 year old? Interests and abilities are different, Candy Land is out. One likes to play with the little gingerbread men and another likes to throw the cards all over the floor while shouting "weee!" So, family nights were usually only detectable by a sometimes special dessert. oooh.

THEN! 2 weeks ago (with a little help from Whittaker Woman) we began themed family nights. It was beyond fun!!! I had only thought up our theme a few hours before Roger was due to come home from work, so we had to work fast.

Our theme was "Under the Sea"
On the menu:
octopus hot dogs
blue mac n' cheese (to look like water)
goldfish crackers

You'll notice the mac n' cheese turned green. I didn't take into consideration that adding yellow cheese to blue noodles would turn everything green. oops. And the eyes? It's not a dying octopus, it was just having some eye issues. ;)

for dessert: sand cake

Doesn't it look like a pail of sand? A little bit? Well, the kids thought so anyway! :)

Then after dinner we learned a bit about sharks, and played a game similar to hide and seek. Each team got a noise maker (we used water bottles with a few dry noodles in the bottom). One team counted while the other found the perfect hiding spot. Then the counters shook their noise maker. The hiders shook theirs back. You had to listen carefully and follow the sound. It was a lot of fun. The kids were giggling like crazy. (no pictures, we were having too much fun)

We ended our evening with some water balloon fun.

Joseph asks every day if it's family night.
I think it was a hit. :)

Nehemiah's Native Tongue

I'm beginning to wonder if God is preparing Nehemiah to be a missionary in a far off land. He's preparing him early with the gift of speaking in tongues.

If only I could get a translator.