Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Luke's Losing It

I have no idea what Luke was thinking or why he did this to himself, but he did. He was very intense and quiet about it too, that's why he got as far as he did before I noticed what he was doing.



It was wall anchors and screws. After grabbing the nearest camera and snapping a few shots while trying to contain any smiles or laughter, I did take the screws and anchors away and discuss with him that we don't put things in our ears or mouth it is dangerous. Looking back at the pictures though he did look hilarious.
Beau and Anna didn't want to be left out so I snapped a quick shot of each of them too, all ready for bed.

Tantrums, Tirades and Tears

Today was a busy day, Bible study in the morning, the bank, Wal-Mart, stop at a friends, Anna from school, drop her and Luke at another friend's house and back to school to get Beau to take him to the dentist.
Luke will not attend childcare at Bible study the tears start before we even pull into the parking lot. Today I didn't even bother taking him down to the room. We had packed some toys and he sat at my feet (and Stephanie's feet, she gave him candy, and he loves her) and played with them. He also poked holes in paper and did general three-year-old things while a bunch of women talked around him. Tears weren't so bad for what was coming my way.
Picking Beau up from school, I wasn't prepared for his reaction about the dentist. Beau needs to prepare mentally for anything out of the ordinary from his regularly scheduled program. I swear I told him yesterday, but maybe I just thought about telling him, I'm not perfect and sometimes I don't say what I am thinking. He either didn't hear me or didn't remember because the tirade that began when I said "hurry, we've got to get to the dentist" was just short of an all out meltdown, but it was short of it. The gloves went flying, literally, he took them off and threw them. He stomped his way to the van and knowing that the dentist was going to be highly unpleasant with this attitude and feeling the need to protect the dentist from seeing an all out meltdown. I laid out the wager. If the tears ended this instant and did not return I would get him another power miner to go with his one he got yesterday, a small one. We shook on it, he held up his end of the bargain and was a regular perfect kid in the dentist chair, now I have to hold up my end. It just may not happen for a few days or weeks. I have this shipping issue working to my advantage.
And then my lovely Anna, easy-going, pleasant, fair weathered child....WHAT HAPPENED?!?
I went to pick her up from our friend's house and oh my when it was time to go she threw a tantrum the likes I have never seen from this child. I had to make sure it was my daugter in all pink and not one of the boys. I wanted to cry with her, kick my feet, swing my arms madly, but we were in front of others and I refrained from acting like her. I did manage to pick up my screaming, kicking, crying child without her winter clothes on but carrying them and drag her to the van, I mad her stand in her socks on the snow while I opened the door and I tried not to completely lose it on her. I forcefully buckled her in and gave her the sternest warning in the world about unbuckling. I pulled out the big guns, "you don't want to know what will happen if you even think about unbuckling this seatbelt." I then went back in for a few left behind items apologized profusely and made my friend feel better about the times her kids act up in public, always happy to oblige. Anna will most likely never act like that again, but then again I apparently am not prepared for what my children can dish out.
Tomorrow is another day, I didn't completely lose it today, I never screamed or even yelled looking back at it I survived without succumbing to their level. Maybe this Bible study is sinking in deeper than I thought. Rejoicing even through their loss of control.
God Bless,

Monday, January 26, 2009

Not Me Monday...#11

Welcome to Not me Monday, the wonderful blog carnival started by MckMama over at my charming kids. Just click the above link to get there and read others not mes and join in the fun.

1. I do not have an obsession with chocolate milk, I did not use up the last of the hershey bottle by pouring the milk into the bottle and shaking and then squeezing it into the glass. I do not really enjoy the slight layer of foam that doing it this way leaves. I've never done this before so I had no idea about the foamy layer.

2. Beau did not help me work at the concession stand for the high school hockey game Sunday after church. He most certainly didn't have a pretzel and twix for lunch with a Dr. Pepper while we weren't there. He is not allowed caffiene and I haven't been allowing him little bits now and then. He most certainly didn't say to me after a friend from school came down from the stands again, "Mom, those M&M's he ate are now digesting and turning into poop." I did not shush that conversation quickly and make sure no one was looking or listening.
He most certainly did not say to a lady "you are back again, I know, I know, coffee and hot water please, Mom she's back." The lady was certainly not amuse and proceed to give him a feather from her down jacket and tell him all about down, the lady was also most certainly not a teacher.

3. Anna did not suffer from serious lack of sleep this week with having an extra child in the house and in her room, I didn't threaten serious reprecussions if she didn't stop whining and crying about everything. I wasn't most certainly the one to create the situation by offering to keep the extra child and extra dog for five days and she didn't have a lot of fun when she was playing and not whining.

4. We most certainly did not get our elliptical this year and I didn't take a slight bit of offense to the delivery truck driver calling it our new year's resolution, I didn't resolve anything, Ben wanted the contraption. I also did not enjoy putting it together with Ben, I was so helpful I never walked away or forgot what I was supposed to be doing while he was cussing out the manufacturer for holes that didn't line up.

5. I most certainly love the negative temperatures that returned. I am not glad the mud is refrozen and we have a skating rink in our front yard from the melt and freeze routine. We like walking with trepidation every time we leave the safety of the front porch.

6. I most certainly did not completely bite it ice skating on Friday night. I am always careful, I never try to teach my son new moves, and in the process of not teaching him I would never completely hit the ground with barely enough time to blink, my neck and back don't still hurt from it. Nor did Beau have a generous laugh at my expense after he saw that I wasn't broken.

7. I wasn't the proudest mom on planet earth when Beau scored his first goal in his hockey scrimmage yesterday. I wasn't even prouder when they moved him to the more experienced side of the ice and although he didn't score he also played with no hesitation and held his own out there.

8. I am not letting Luke skip his nap while I post this.




Friday, January 23, 2009

Friday Fun Times

Two boys, a box of k'nex and a little imagination can take you places you never dreamed of going. At least places I never dreamed of going. Who knew an ordinary afternoon would turn into blood, guts and gore with Ninja's around every corner. Ninjas with weapons meant to deconstruct but constructed with great fortitude and ingenuity. Beau started with just the axe, or chopper, you can call it what you will. He had instructions for that. But that weapon alone isn't enough to make you a true Ninja, you need more and you need to be stealthy. So Beau came up with the sword, Luke loves the sword. He has two or three sitting around just in case one is needed. Again though swords are not enough for these red shirted Ninjas we must have more. Beau designed a gun. He made each of them one or two and now they were ready to attack. They hid behind corners, made the girls scream when they jumped out to attack, and made their mom roll her eyes more than once at their anics. Until I finally pulled out a camera and captured them in their moments of glory.
You will notice Luke is only brandishing his sword in his pictures, but look closely at the first one and you will see his make-shift holster as his gun is stuck in the waste band of his pants. Don't look too closely though or you will notice his pants are on backwards. A common practice in Luke's world, he starts the day out with them on correctly but invariably at some point during the day after he strips to go to the bathroom (another Luke oddity) he puts them back on backwards. He gets very embarrassed when someone points it out so on days it doesn't matter I don't point it out. I just noticed as I got him out of the van from picking the kids up from school, his pants are on backwards again. Doesn't his face frighten you.



Beau was a bit more of a serious poser, with gun drawn, axe held high and sword down the back of his shirt for easy use once the gun runs out of ammo. Although that idea came from Luke, Luke will use anything as a sword, paper towel roll, a stick, and he always tucks it down his shirt. Beau was much stealthier than Luke in playing ninja and surprised me several times although I did have to put an end to him terrorizing the girls.




And they ended with a duel...


Thursday, January 22, 2009

At The Bus Stop


Every morning we go to the bus stop. My favorite part of it is the sunrise, it is different every day. I usually forget my camera, well I always do, but I did use my cell phone to grab one shot yesterday, it was unbelievable, like God had painted the sky just for me. The kids have found that the snow is frozen on top and great for sliding down. We get to the bus stop five minutes early so they can slide down the hill and enjoy themselves before getting on the bus. I had really intended on taking a picture of Beau and Anna walking across the road to the bus together, but they didn't get off the hill quite as fast as usual so I was putting Beau's backpack on while Anna headed across, only she didn't know what to do because she always follows Beau so after she spun around a couple times and almost fell Beau caught up they made it safely across and got on the bus, in the meantime there was no way to get the camera up for a shot. So I took a couple of the mountains in the pink sunrise in the distance. Today we walked to the bus stop, I don't know why we haven't done that all week while the weather was warm because tomorrow morning we'll be below zero again and I'm not walking. We'll have plenty of more days to walk and one of those days I will get that picture that warms my heart every morning brother and sister embarking on their day together.


Rejoicing

Part of glorifying God in all I do is being joyful in everything. In the first chapter of Phillippians, the author Paul is thought to be imprisoned yet he writes with joy in his heart. He continues to praise God, love God and follow God within the confinements of his situation. That message really spoke to me. Do I remember to love God, praise God and follow God in everything I do. Especially in the mornings when I'm on a timeline that the kids don't care to follow. Yesterday I found it so easy to be in joyful in the little things. Scrubbing the wood floor I felt full of praise and rejoiced in my spirit. This is the floor Ben painstakingly laid piece by piece. He picked each one to lay in each spot, and now as I scrub I think of him diligently working on it. Sometimes I worked with him and he'd wait for me to finish before he could do what he needed but he was always patient. The floor took days and days to lay, but now we will enjoy years of it. At first every little mark bothered me, now they bring me joy because we are living life here, making memories, and finding comfort in our home. Joy is so much easier to find when you are aware of it, when you are thinking about the good and not the negatives. Even cleaning the fridge today was done with joy in my heart, thankful to have food to eat when so many people are skimping by. So I will continue to rejoice. Rejoice with me, it isn't always easy, there have been moments today when I cried from missing good friends, but I rejoice that they are there to miss. That a text message can make me feel so loved even to the point of bringing me to tears.
Thank you heavenly Father for allowing me to rejoice because I have so much to be joyful about.


Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Glorifying Him in All I Do

I started a new Bible study today. It is called Enjoy, it is a study on Phillipians. The theme of the study is to Glorify God in everything you do. It was so nice to be out and about and to socialize with other women. I also like doing something that makes me open up the Bible and read God's Word. I've felt more compelled than ever recently to keep the Bible close by, to open it daily, and to find Bible verses that are pertinent to every day life as I live it. Making breakfast, packing lunches, getting to the bus, kids to school, dogs out and taken care of, Luke happy, house picked up, dinner planned, kids picked up, working on my medical transcription course. It seems like so much but I've forgot to keep the importance on doing it all to glorify Him. In thinking about doing it all to glorify God, I do it with more joy, with more patience and love, and with more smiles on my face. The love I put into the ham sandwiches is just a portion of the love I have for my children and a mere bit of the love God has for me.
My coursework has taken a back seat to building the house, being mom and wife, but now I have stepped back into it and I can see even there how I can do it to glorify God. By doing my best, by stretching myself, going outside my comfort zone, I can glorify God in it all. Last year in Kentucky my friend Kristi reminded me always of the fact everything we did was a prayer from our heart as long as we did it with love. It helped make the daily tasks easier especially when Ben was gone for weeks at a time. Since I moved, and Kristi moved I've missed her greatly and have had a hard time finding someone to have those deep Catholic heart to hearts with, but I have also found myself turning more and more to God's Word to find the encouragement I need in the daily. At the moment I've started this new Bible study, I'm aslo going through The Power of a Praying wife via e-mail with a friend, and I'm reading How to Calm an Anxious Heart, about finding contentment in all life's circumstances. I feel a little overwhelmed at times with all the information I'm inputting yet I crave more and signed up for St. Jude's (our church) Lenten Bible study. I'm looking forward to it starting up when Lent begins at the end of February, by then I will be almost done with the Enjoy 6-week study and have finished Power of a Praying Wife so I won't to doing too much at once.
Power of a Praying Wife is my way to prepare myself for the marriage retreat Ben and I are going on over Valentine's Day weekend. The retreat was my Christmas present from Ben this year and I am really looking forward to the weekend alone with him and the weekend to really focus on what God wants for our marriage. Feel free to add us to our prayer list for our upcoming retreat. The more prayers the more power God has to really help us use our marriage for His purposes.
God Bless, and remember to glorify Him in all you do.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Signature

Just checking to see if another new trick I learned worked.
If you want to make your own signature, go here.
http://www.mylivesignature.com/
After you create your signature you have to click on I want to use my signature, and then create and HTML code.
Once that code is created you go to customize...settings...formatting...scroll down to post template and paste in the HTML code. Then after your post you will have your name.



Not Me Monday...#10?

I'm posting this before MckMama has put her link up because I have a lot to do today so I am not allowing myself any more computer time after this morning. Enjoy my not me's, oh I will allow myself to link it after Mr. Linky is up on my charming kids. Click the link below to get there.

I did not contemplate for over two hours about bringing my son to the emergency room after he didn't hit his head falling off the stool, and after not going I didn't spend less time in the ER to find out he was completely fine than I did not worrying about whether or not I should go.

I did not accept the responsibility of one more child and one more dog for the better part of five days, I mean we don't already have three dogs and three children and two cats I don't even notice the extra. I am not enjoying a few extra hugs from the not extra kiddo.

My daughter did not stay awake way later than normal not because of the extra child in her room. It was not a bear getting her out the door for school this morning.

I was not completely upset about my children dumping every organized bin in their new playroom on the floor after I didn't spend all night the night before organizing it.

I do not take enjoyment out of my husband getting all worked up over a football game when he only watches football during the playoffs and the Super Bowl. It doesn't make me smile at him since when we met and married he really didn't know all the rules until I taught them to him when I made him watch the games with me.

I am not enjoying the balmy temperatures here in Montana now that we have made it above freezing. I have not allowed my children to go outside without hats on, nor have the cats received more attention now that it isn't bitter cold outside.

We did not celebrate my mom's birthday with brownies and ice cream sundaes, because that would be silly since my Mom is in Michigan and we are in Montana. We don't treat ourselves to special treats to celebrate people's birthdays that aren't even here, that is just a silly notion.

Ha, Don't I Feel Smart

Like my new header. I love when I try something and it works better than I planned. So thus I am really enjoying my new header and officially said good-bye to Christmas. We still have a little bit of winter left, but that's okay.
A few things have bothered me today, the Ravens lost, didn't want them to do that not that I care much since this is the only day all season I've watched almost two complete games. As a certified athletic trainer the things I cared more about were the injuries. There were several major ones today and I am still very interested in what happened, how it happened, and I get upset if they don't replay it enough for me to figure it out.
Did you know the Inauguration is costing $15o Million, yep that's what yahoo news said, I know probably not the most accurate news source but still that is crazy. We are in a recession people and I know this is a huge event in our country but so big of event that we are spending again more money than necessary. Insanity I tell you, but it's the government they'll make more before they have to bail someone else out.
The kids playroom in the basement is set up. I organized and sorted all their toys after they went to bed yesterday. I barely saw them today because they were downstairs playing. But when it was time to clean up, I thought I might blow up, every toy was dumped. Every organized bin on the floor. You can bet they got a quick lesson in the area of the new playroom and it won't happen again, at least not this week.
Beau got his k'nex out yesterday. He hasn't played with them since we moved here and last year in Kentucky Ben always had to help him build. Wow, what a year can change. He built anything he had plans for and then he created a couple of his own masterpieces. His imagination never ceases to amaze me and he stayed busy ALL day.
We have an extra child for most of the week, a little girl Anna's age. Thus Anna is very busy and doesn't need much entertaining.
Luke went all weekend with no nap. I am slightly scared, he can't give his nap up yet, I'm not ready. He went to bed easily tonight because he was exhausted.
Tomorrow is another day of getting a lot done with Ben off work for the day. I think we are going to work on the front porch and the van, the two areas that were dumping zones during the move from the rental to home.
Random wrap up of our weekend, hope yours was as exciting.

Princess for A Day

I picked up a princess make-up kit after Halloween for 22 cents (well I pick up several), and today I let Anna and her friend dress as princesses. They had so much fun putting the make-up on and the glitter, and the jewels, Anna calls them dimes (short for diamonds). Here are pictures of Anna from today, now she is outside playing in the dirty snow, she's shed her princess clothes but her make-up remains. It just goes to show it is what's on the inside that counts. She can be a princess one minute and a tomboy the next.





Friday, January 16, 2009

Note Worthy Events

Beau pulled his tooth, yeah. His first tooth was such a chore to get out, he would never let anyone touch much less even come close to pulling it himself. And tonight, he just pop pulled it out like it was an everyday occurrence. I think Anna was more excited than Beau.

The great thing about being me, I start one job and then move to another and sometimes when I go to put the laundry in the dryer because it is the sheets from my bed, I realize I never started the washer. Dang it! I hate it when I do that. This morning I did the exact same thing with the dishwasher but luckily Ben noticed and started it. Now I'm waiting for the washer to finish so I can get it in the dryer and go to bed sometime tonight.

I forgot to buy pull-ups at the grocery store today. Luke was not happy about wearing underwear to bed because he would pee in them and you can't pee in underwear. I told him to just get up and go, but yeah right, he said Mom, tomorrow get me some pull-ups. We put rubber pants over underwear, he calls them a diaper but we survived it.

Tonight was movie night, we watched MeeShee, it is getting harder and harder to find a movie that will entertain all three kids. Also all three of the have a propensity to ask questions during a movie so someone is always talking. We made it through, all are in bed, and now I get to wait for my sheets.

I hope the tooth fairy doesn't forget to come, that's happened before too, that darn tooth fairy, falling asleep on the job. Beau wants to know what the tooth fairy does with all the teeth, someone please tell me why his tooth fairy took the tooth when he lost the first one. I don't know what the tooth fairy does with them, honestly can't remember what happened to the last one. Maybe I'm the one that needs a few x-rays of my brain.

Caution: Moon Sand Explosion Causes Minor Catastrophe

We finally made our first trip to the ER yesterday for one of the children.

Luke was having a fantastic time in make-believe land with moon sand, the only present he wanted from Santa. He must have forgotten he was playing though and when the explosion occurred from the dynamite that was buried in the mountain of Moon Sand it blew him right off his stool and he landed on his head with quite a thud. Moon Sand was everywhere, in his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and all over his clothes and the floor. It really looked like an explosion had occurred.
After he fell, he calmed down and fell asleep for about 20 minutes. He woke up watched some cartoons, and then he went to the trash can and threw up. He was so proud of himself for getting to the trash can. He said "I puke in the trash I don't have to go to the doctor" Apparently last time he was sick I told him we had to go to the doctor because he was puking everywhere but the trash. I'd put the trash in front of him and he'd turn his head and puke on the floor. This time he was certain to hit the trash every time and he did. However, after he had puked about 4 times I started to worry. So I called the grandmothers and the nurse friends and the consesus was take him to be seen. After 5 x-rays and only a 15 minute wait it was determined he was fine and home we came. We were only there about an hour, the fastest ER trip of all time. A good reason to be thankful for a small town.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Peace and Quiet

An event occurred in our house the other day while Beau and Anna were at school. All three dogs and Luke were asleep and their was quiet throughout the house. It was strange and it didn't last long but it lasted long enough to get proof.






Get Your Kids to Eat Their Vegetables

My children do not like vegetables, I offer them every meal and force them to take so many bites, well Ben forces them too, it works better that way. But the last two nights have been magical, or almost magical. I added dip to the equation, the dip is garlic salt (okay salt may not be the best choice but it is the only time we add it at the table). Green beans dipped in garlic salt and their plates our empty.
I decided to step it up a notch and try some California medley, but I put a cheese sauce over it (I know mother's have been doing it for years, but I didn't think it would work so I hadn't tried it). I made my from scratch cheese sauce, started with rue (at which point Ben looks in the pan and thinks I have created a mess) slowly add the milk and then the cheese.

Luke and his green beans.
Anna's green beans are gone already and now she is diving into the cheesy vegetables.


They actually ate some of them, they still couldn't eat the cooked carrots, they only like them raw. Even Ben had some vegetables coated with cheese. I don't think in our 9+ years he has ever had anything but green beans or corn, salad or the occasional raw veges dipped in ranch.

You will notice there are no pictures of Beau and vegetables. If it doesn't start with "c" he doesn't eat it. Corn, carrots (raw of course), cucumbers that's it. Green beans in garlic salt = gag for Beau, and he wasn't even about to try vegetables covered with something. Maybe I can get him to eat some cauliflower this year, any other "c" suggestions.

Sidenote-someday Anna is going to hate these pictures, but oh well, that someday is still years from now.

Wal-Mart Wonders

Many thanks to Uncle Fr. Richard for a frolicking fun time at Wal-Mart. We went from the toy aisle to the clearance aisle and back many times before decisions were made. Anna and Luke were fairly quick about their purchases, however, it was very hard for mom to mind her own business and not nix a purchase. I must admit all three have spent an abundant amount of playing time with not only their own toys but also their siblings toys...that is except Beau has not played with the baby dolls and would be extremely angry with me if he ever read this and I had insinuated such madness. So just wanted to be clear on that point, Beau doesn't play with babies or princess stuff. He did play with Luke's power ranger and ball though.
Beau chose an Indiana Jones lego set because the bionicle section was sorry, he didn't like his options and we ended up having a little trade session I get some of his card and he spent a little bit of my cash at K-Mart so that he didn't go home empty handed. He learned about ordering on the internet, but the problem is you don't get it instantly so he is practicing patience, which is very difficult. His second choice is this lego set below, they are a brand new product line that he has read all about so he is very excited. Now, his mom just needs to get on-line and get it ordered, oops don't tell him that. I'm very excited because he didn't spend his money on another bionicle even though all the new line for 2009 just came out, he passed them up for something different. This was a huge decision for Beau and I'd better get this ordered before he changes his mind (although that was why I've waited to just to be sure there are no regrets.) He only asked three times this morning how many more days he had to wait until Claw Digger was here. Hmm?
Anna was so excited to get to go to the girl aisle and get whatever she wanted. She was very adamant about me not having an opinion and got upset if I offered any. I quickly learned to just stay quiet and let her do what she wanted. She chose twin baby dolls, so Luke could play with the boy and she could have the girl, I finally had to let her in on the fact they were both girls, but with Anna stuff like that doesn't matter. She is content with her babies and her princess camera. Which I really bit my tongue on, because she just got a real camera for Christmas. But she was thinking that she could use the bag for her other camera and that influenced her purchase. Her real camera is in the bag (I noticed last night) so it is easier to find and with all my creativity I am going to come up with a way to add a little padding to that princess case.

Luke loves his purchases. He got the wolf power ranger which is purple, even though he'd talked all week about wanting the blue one. He loves the purple one and takes it everywhere with him. I think he was most happy with the ball, the ones mom and dad always say no to, well it was his money so I could'nt say no. He thought he had hit the jackpot, he was all smiles for the rest of the day about that ball. I however think the ball needs to be hidden away. It bounces too high and knocks stuff off tables when thrown in the house. It is too cold to take it outside and although the basement is getting there it isn't where I want it to be for their playroom. Plus, Luke has to be within a few feet of me at all times anyway so the furthest he'll go is to Anna's room to play by himself during the day. Although, that is further than he went before Christmas so maybe by March he will be downstairs.
Thank you so much Great Uncle Fr. Richard. They couldn't have been happier with such a great after Christmas adventure. It wasn't only the gifts, but the memories in choosing them, and the lessons we all learned along the way.