10 Days and Counting down...

Today is day 10 on our countdown, and boy, am I ever feeling the time crunch!  Kiera's birthday is this weekend, along with the Kiddie Parade.  We are trying to make a co-birthday happen with Isabel's birthday on Sunday (Izzy's is Tuesday).  I need to schedule a day for my painting helps to come and climb the ladder for me in the boys' room.  I'd really like to fit in a pedicure (a VERY rare treat, my third ever!), plus my massage and ob appt's next week, then Apple Blossom festivities... and the norms- CoOp, karate, Awana, schooling.... OI!  At least I don't have to work next week; that will really help!

And I haven't shared this here yet, but we are attempting to bring a new option to C-section moms here at CWH.  If everything goes smoothly (healthy mom- healthy baby) we will be the first "gentle" cesarean!  This would change the practice of taking the baby away to the warming table for the Apgar tests and cleaning process to placing baby on mom's chest and making available this option for a more "natural" experience (if so desired).  But for this to happen, Dr P had to get the right head nursery nurse and anesthesiologist to be on board... and that means baby boy may NOT come early!  So your prayers for a "planned" birth would be appreciated.  And that planned birth is Monday May 7th, 7:30am.

Whew- one day at a time, right?  One day at a time!

What is THAT!!!

This morning I told Isaac to go get his sandals so I could help him put them on.  He hem-hawed around, then told me to "go get them."

I looked at him and said, "Are you obeying Momma?"

He looked at me and smiled a sweet smile, "You go get them please Mom?"

(And yes, I did make him go get his own sandals...!)

An Isaac Lesson

If Isaac goes without a nap, he will sleep for 12 hours straight. 

However, if he crashes on his own at 5:45 pm, guess what time he'll be up in the morning? 

Yep.  Me too.  Ugh....

Sorry Lady... And a Christmas Prayer funny

I think we bothered a lady at the store today...

She was a nice, grandmotherly type, and she asked my kids if Santa was going to visit our house very soon.  Kiera told her right up front "Santa's not real!" 

I tried to soften it a little by saying "But Mommy and Daddy put presents under the tree..."  But she was already disturbed.  She said "Oh, well... Happy Holidays," with a not-so-happy look on her face.   I made sure to say "Merry Christmas!" as she walked away.

Just another moment feeling awkward because we choose to do our parenting thing differently.  

Oh well~  Merry Christmas!!  *grin*
********************************************

The other night, while praying...
Melia:  "And Jesus, thank you that we just don't celebrate a tree at Christmas, or presents, or Rudolph, or Santa, or Satan, but we celebrate how you came to earth to die for our sins..."

And Kiera:  "Jesus, thank you that you came and died for our sins on Christmas..."

We were really having to hold in the giggles that night!  But at least they're getting it, right?!!

Carving Fun

Kiera's Butterfly... That Daddy carved :-)

I guess raw pumpkin isn't so bad... At least for an almost one year old :-)

Oh Alden- you will enjoy these pictures someday, I promise!  :-)

 

Melia's Dolphin jumping out of the water.  She worked very diligently on this, and it turned out great!

Another Homeschool Encourager

I love running into veteran homeschoolers!  People in general are pretty nice when they ask (and they always do!) "What grade are you in? Where do you go to school?"  Some are even sweet, saying "bless your heart momma!"  or "good for you, I could never do that!" (like it's not overwhelming for me! Ha!)
But homeschoolers who have been there and done that are SO encouraging!  I met one today while waiting for my bountiful basket.  She said something that brought me to the verge of tears right there in line..  "You will never regret homeschooling your kids.  No matter how much they learn, or how hard it is to teach each one individually, or how endless the days may seem..  You will never regret that YOU were the one to spend that time with them, and that you were there to see the light bulbs turn on.  No one can take that from you." 

Wow!  (Sob!)   It was like she had a message sent especially for me, here as we struggle to "find our groove."  Thank You Lord, for Your encouragement :-)

Sharing the Homeschool Love

I loved the gold nuggets found in this blog post at the Pioneer Woman the other day... Not in the article itself, but reading through the comments was SO encouraging and uplifting!

So I thought for myself and my homeschool friends, I will post things here that I find encouraging so I can reference them on days that somehow aren't going as planned... :-)

Melia Without Training Wheels, Isaac Rides His Bike

Monday night, the girls wanted to ride.  Isaac amazingly also wanted to ride.  I say amazingly because before now, he's ridden a little bit in the yard, but didn't really care about it.  Oh, but now!  Bike riding has become VERY SERIOUS.  He stoicly rides along.  The smiles in these pictures are only because he was being photographed- they are not due to his "having fun."

 Esther and Kerzon getting in on the fun :-)

 What??  Off-roading already?

We decided it was time... Time to take off the training wheels.  Monday night with Daddy was full of lots of frustration, lack of balance, and heavy huffing and puffing. 

But Tuesday and Wednesday, she got the hang of it and was cruising around like she'd been doing it for weeks!  (The hardest part is getting started!)

Even after a crash, she's all smiles!

(Note:  There's no pictures of Kiera because she wasn't on her bike at this time.  She was in time out because she rode on the road before Mommy got outside, even after being reminded by Sissy... Lots of tears, but an important lesson!)

Isaac sure is blessed...

He has fabulous big sisters!

Answered Prayer!

I pray for wisdom in parenting a LOT. Probably a dozen times a day. Today, God really gave me a couple opportunities to exercise wisdom with Kiera, for which I am SO grateful. ******************************************************** **1. Kiera had asked for a Spree candy, to which I said no. She walked away without complaint, but as she passed the table, something fell out of her hand on the linoleum. I looked at her, asking what it was. She held up a Spree candy... So besides a little training, I also had her throw the whole box into the garbage. ********************************************************** 2. She had poured out a box of Jello into a bowl and was waiting for the teapot to heat up. A few minutes later, she ran over and volunteered to help Melia with whatever task I had just given her, but I noticed her lips were extremely orange! She'd been helping herself to the spoon! Not only did she not get to help Melia, she also was not allowed to help stir or pour the Jello. ********************************************************** Isn't that awesome? Both totally random ways that God allowed me to see her disobedience. Thank you Lord!!! :-)

Boys sure are different...

Just today, I was reminded of that fact by the insanity (according to me, a female!) of Isaac's actions.... He belly-flopped off the couch, then seemed genuinely suprised that it hurt. He took one look at his sister, then took off running... with her shoe. He doesn't just play with toys... he takes them apart. And consequently gets mad when they don't work. :-) Such fun!

Melia's Future Plans

After visiting the dentist (again) for her lastest cavities... (again- this made EIGHT- but that's the last of them- on her BABY teeth...)

Melia: I'm just so confused about what to do.
Me: What do you mean?
Her: Well, I really want to be a dentist. But there's three things I really want to do. I want to work at Costco. AND I want to have an animal shelter.
Me: It takes several years of college to become a dentist. You could think about being one of those girls who helps the dentist, like a hygienist or an assistant, because lots of them only work part time, like mommy does.
Her: Ooooh, that's a good idea. 'Cause then I could spend more time with my kids. Plus it would be good when I'm pregnant because sometimes that really hurts.

(Me-thinking: how do you know? :-)

Later...
Melia: I really don't want to go to college.
Me: Why?
Her: I don't want to go away.
My heart smiles :-)

This kid just won't give my heart a break. She has such a sweet spirit... most of the time. Until Kiera stomps on her a little. Then she's not quite as sweet.

Danger Danger... Isaac's got a softball...

Isaac's been playing a bit with a real softball... first we rolled it across the ground..

Then he threw it at the fireplace...

Then he chucked it at my head, point blank, nailing me in the forehead.
(Instant migraine I tell ya!)
(And yes, Daddy got a little upset about that... :-)

Grapefruit Results

Well, you can see how you all voted over on the side :-) Isaac had the overwhelming win, which is not terribly suprising...

But the truth is, they all liked it :-) Even Gabe tried a piece and said it was ok, so he deserves a half vote. But all the kids liked it so much that I bought a box of those red grapefruit cups at Costco... and have been having to say "no" to the constant begging ever since.

Cleanse and Leftovers

I did another liver/gall bladder cleanse, and I think it went well. I was feeling pretty down, so that made it harder... but now that it's done I'm hoping that the stomach pain I'd been feeling the past few days will stop. Every time I'd eat, I'd feel like curling up in a ball, or stretching out backwards to try to get away from the pain... So then I'd just not eat, and that's always so helpful for a hypoglycemic leaning person...

Anyways, I had Gabe stop at the store for the grapefruits I didn't have on hand, and he picked out the most beautiful juicy ones... which meant I only needed one for the cleanse, and had one left over! We ate it yesterday and this morning, making sure everyone had a chance to try it's lovely goodness! I was eager to see who would react positively, and who negatively to the suprise bite it held-- so I added a poll to see who you think would have liked the sweet&sourness of grapefruit! Vote for as many as you'd like... but it's only going for two days, so don't forget!

Do YOU like grapefruit? And how do you eat it? It sparked interesting discussions about who taught me how to eat grapefruit...

Interesting Night

Melia came into our room last night a little before 1 am. She was on the verge of breaking down, but she said "Daddy, I needed to tell you that I just can't sleep because something is hurting me inside my ear.... sobbbbbb" She was obviously in a LOT of pain, writhing and sobbing. She didn't have a fever, but we gave her some Tylenol right off. I put some oil around her ear and tried to get her to settle down, but it just wasn't happening. We had one ear candle left, having used the second of the pair on my own ear just the night prior. I was glad we hadn't used both!

It helped immediately. By the time it was done, she was in zero pain! Thank you LORD! What a change, from crying and writhing in pain to able to go straight to sleep~ amazing. I took her in this morning, and sure enough, her ear drum is bulging. I'm calling Gabe to have him pick up more candles on his way home from work! (yes, she did get some antibiotics as well)

If you want to know what I'm talking about... check these. You stick them in your ear, light it on fire, and hopefully it'll suck out any nasties. For Melia and I, it not only pulled out the wax, but also relieved the pressure somehow. We love them.

I think I actually found it...

For those of you who know how much I love the Created to be His Helpmeet book, you also know how I've desired to see one written for men. Because marriage is a journey of growing together and we always both have issues that God wants to fine tune with us. Plus, in raising children, I always want to have in mind that I am training little wives, husbands, mommies and daddies. Boy, is that a daunting thought!

Anyway, I think I found it. All along, I've expect Mike Pearl to write one, but it still hasn't come out, and I haven't read anything more about their plans for it. (He had a heart attack, so that certainly is a good reason for slowing up production!) If it does get finished, I will of course read it, but for now I'm pleased with this resource.

I heard Voddie Baucham Jr. on Family Life Today's radio program along with his daughter. The show was about how he and his wife are very involved in their daughter's consideration of potential husbands. And how she deeply desires this! I thought, now that's what I'd like to accomplish- working together as a team to produce the best possible result! They inspired me as to what a father/daughter relationship should look like. And, like most FMT shows, the guests had a book I could order. So I did.

It's called What He Must Be... if He wants to Marry my Daughter.

In one word: Fabulous. Inspiring. Encouraging. Daunting. Overwhelming. Terrifying.

Does that make you want to read it? I understand if not! But trust me- I've been reading this book for about 2-3 weeks, and several times Gabe's heard me say "I think everyone should have this book!!!" It's a guide for what we should train our daughters to look for in a potential suitor. It's a guide for men on what the Bible says about husbands and fathers. It's a guide for parents raising those young suitors. Plus, it's also a guide for men who are blessed with the opportunity to mentor young men.

I loved it. It's definitely one I'm encouraging Gabe to read, and one I will have my girls read when they are at an appropriate age. And I'm encouraging you to read it too!

Another Amazing Kiera Moment...

I know! Two in one day! Not long after the math moment, I was writing words on the white board for Melia to read. I tried to stump her by writing "Kerzon, Esther, Ziva, Isaac." I had to help with Kerzon and Esther, but pushed her to sound out Ziva. KIERA piped up and said "Ziva!"

I thought "OK, she got that one by guessing, but she'll never get Isaac."

Guess what she did... I know- long shot, but yes...

she said Isaac.

Wow.

So, I erased all of them and just wrote Ziva on the board. I showed it to her and asked her to read it. She guessed Leo, (I'm assuming because he's another pet) and then wouldn't give it another shot. I told her it said Ziva and she says "I thought that was it, but..." So she is really paying attention to more than I thought...

Just to test me I'm sure, not long after that episode, her work was to trace the alphabet and write each letter one time. We had TEARS people! Because, in her words, "she's just a little four year old who can't write her letters yet!" HA!

(And yes, she did get around to writing those very letters because the only way she was going to get to paint was if she finished her schoolwork!)

A Real Laugh Out Loud Moment

Today, while doing school:

Me: Melia, you got one wrong.

Melia: What!?! Which one? (she's not often wrong with math :-)

Me: 23+4 is not 26

Kiera: It's 27, I think.


I couldn't believe she knew that. Although, I have noticed that she is definitely picking up what we are teaching Melia, but math? That suprised me!

Important Parenting Lessons

Don't just go whippin' the diaper off for a bath, no matter how good the kid smells.