I'm Back
11 years ago
Today was fabulous! God tells us He will never give us more than we can handle and yesterday I learned that THAT was all I could handle. We woke up this morning and everyone was happy... once we ate. There was a little fighting over who was going to sit in my lap, so I decided we just needed to eat. That worked. Who could say no to chocolate chip banana bread? Ok, so I can. Never liked the stuff, but everyone else loves it along with sweet tea and cheese straws. (that was for you Lauren!) I'm weird about my fruit. I prefer it in it's original form, not in bread or ice cream or yogurt. Just give me the real stuff and I'm a happy girl.
Ok, I'm side tracked now. (focus, girl, focus!) We had Bible study this morning and I wasn't sure if we were going to make it b/c I needed to get some groceries and Sophie's had a funny runny nose the last few days. You know the kind, it's there and then it's not. Then, wait, it's back again. All in the same day. I thought I'd try anyway and gave her a really good wipe before dropping her off. This week's lesson was exactly what I needed. Last night when Brandon got home at 9:00 I told him what the kids needed and I was going to bed. I wasn't mad at him, just way beyond the day. I had two days of study left to complete and could not have been more fitting. Isn't it funny how God works that way? I realized that when you decided to study something specific about His Word that He is going to use that as an opportunity to teach you about it really well.
The first week was great! I loved the study and felt happy b/c I was using my peaceful communication skills I'd learned. Then the next few weeks became much more challenging. I really felt tested and was not pleased with myself or the study. (probably b/c of guilt or that things weren't really clicking. i'm slow sometimes.) But after last night's catch up I really felt God was trying to nail the info into my brain the best way He knew how. Well, don't you know, it worked!
Christopher, Sophie and I were walking to the nursery and he had been very sweet (since breakfast) and I told him how much I appreciated his manners and kind words and being so helpful. I asked him if he thought yesterday was a bad day and he agreed. I then asked if he thought today was going to be a good one and he smiled saying, "yes!" My heart is actually hurting and bursting just thinking about all I (and he) learned. That's not to say we will no longer have our challenges. Geez, I'm not that slow! We'll have them the rest of our lives. But someone said something today that Beth Moore said in a video (promoting her video conference the church is having in April on insecurities). We all have insecurities, but what we don't realize is that God gives us those insecurities so that we will have to rely on Him to deal with them. The Man is brilliant I tell you! That's why HE'S God and we aren't. (hello????)
Now I'm not sure that fighting with a 3 year old has much to do with being insecure, but facing challenges like trying to reason with a 3 year old does. Everything we face that is difficult is given to us so we have to rely on Him. Wouldn't it be easier if we could just always remember that? Yeah, well, we are human after all! (ha! not the only one that's slow now, sucka!)
So, I'm going to end my little soap box and show you some delightful little things that happened this evening to round out my very good day. And here they are:
These sweet little puppies arrived on my doorstep as I was heading out to the commissary. Yippeeeee!!!!!! (Thanks Mom and Dad for the early birthday present!) They will be worn on my date this weekend... if it's not raining.
We ate these yummy puppies (with a side of bacon) for supper tonight. Thought I'd try throwing a little butter on the griddle first and it gave them a little bit of a crust. Oh so good!!
And these precious pups got to spend some much needed time with the big dog of the house. I love these three like you wouldn't believe!
Well guys, thanks for sticking with me on this lengthy post here. I'm curled up in my bed, kiddos are out and my man headed back to the office to try to finish some things up so he can come home early tomorrow. I'm off to read more in my latest book. I counted this afternoon and this is my 9th, that's right NINTH, book since the year started. I think it took me a few years to read that many before now. Ha! (Starnes, I think I'm going to join you in your little book quest you have going!) Wait, did I forget to tell you that we have a chance of snow tomorrow? Yup, never thought it would happen. And I still don't, but just to let you know how cold it is........ again! I kind of hope it doesn't b/c C-dawg will be heartbroken if it won't stick. He wants snow so bad!!! Good night everyone!
It's been a very rough day for Christopher and I today. Sophie has been cute as can be. He has been pushing buttons I don't think even God knew I had. Ok, I know that isn't true, but I really wish that He would test me so much. I don't think I can handle much more.
He has been going through a challenging phase which involves the following:
- one word commands/baby talk (looking at me and saying things like, "milk!")
- whining because he doesn't know how to put any article of clothing on. He's lying. (Sophie has been dressing herself for weeks now. You are about to see just how much!)
- strongly refusing to do anything we ask him to (whether we use a nice voice or not he either ignores us or just says, "no," or whines uncontrollably)
- throwing many fits a day b/c of anything and everything
- dumps toys all over the house and won't clean them up (I'd hide them, but I have nowhere to put them, trust me, I've thought about it!)
- I tell him not to do something and he flat out ignores me and then does it. (It's a good thing he doesn't look at me with that "what are you going to do about it?" look. Deadly.)
Now don't get me wrong, we've had a few good moments every now and then. Like last night, he temporarily figured out that when he uses a nice, polite voice that Mommy will do things with a smile and be happy. When he doesn't, Mommy is a "mean girl." (His words.) He also told me numerous times how much he loved the supper that I made and how yummy it was. He even wanted me to sit by him and was upset when I forgot. I quickly moved and things were better. ((And right now he just brought me a bag of toy groceries and said something sweet.))
This is so frustrating b/c of several reasons. He is my sweet precious little boy and has turned into this child that I want to sell at a yard sale on Saturday. I'm sure a lot of this is built up b/c Brandon has been on call the last two weekends and will be again this weekend, so the kids and I are spending entirely too much time together without him. I think the other slap in the face is that when a friend watches him they tell me how sweet and polite he was while I was gone. I finally started asking him, after a rude comment was made by him, "Is that how you would speak to Miss Wendi?" And then he would say whatever again in a much nicer and happier voice. ((And now he just took the toy food bag back and dumped it on the floor as he walked back to Sophie's room where they came from. He just looked at them like he could care less.))
I think the other reason that this is so frustrating is b/c the Bible study I'm doing is called Conversation Peace and I did great at first, but now not so much. I feel like I'm yelling all the time. And you know you are when one of you kids puts his hands over his ears half the time you are talking to him. As Wendi said on her blog today, "UGH!!!!!!!!" (her's was for different reasons than mine.)
I want to end this post with some photos of today though to be happy about the two kids that I am very blessed to have in my life. Then I'm going to see if I can get them to start cleaning up b/c as I was writing this I could hear all the baskets in Sophie's room being dumped out on her floor and they paraded around in my shoes again. Brandon and I have a date coming up on Saturday and I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing him again. We need to go out more often, but just haven't been able to due to schedule conflicts. Hope you had a good day today and that we do tomorrow! : )
(lucky dog!)
Sophie in outfit #2 taking care of her babies. We started out in a very cute running suit.
What I found when I got out of the shower. You can't see the water covering the counter. Christopher has already stripped b/c he was getting so wet. Sophie in outfit #3.
Finally, Sophie in outfit #4 (all were worn within 2 1/2 hours). The babies are awake and she uses this bin of clothes for Anne Morgan as a changing table.
After lunch I went to get the mail and the kids had valentine's from Nana, each holding a dollar. I told them we could go to the Dollar Tree and these are the items they chose:
Sophie - a "barbie" doll that lost her leg while we were waiting at the light leaving the store. She took her dress off too (which do you notice that a $1 doll has more clothing than a $20 one?) When we got home I noticed that one of her boobs is cracked too. Yup! Top to bottom. She's in serious need of some plastic surgery!
Christopher - Did I even need to bother showing you?
Not even going to post about what today is going like so far. I'm just going to say that there was NO Calgon the shower with me this morning and it should have been. Just going to have to rely on "Naptime, take me away!" today. I'm out.
Here's a glimpse at what happened at our house last weekend:
Sophie trying to go potty and Christopher was so sweet and read books to her. I so wish I had the video cam on. The conversation went kind of like this..
C - holding a truck book "Sophie can you count the trucks on this page?"
S - "Wum, shoe...."
C - "This is a mixer truck... this is...."
Sophie took clothes off and went straight to Chrisotpher's room, opened his drawers and pulled out these clothes on all by herself. I could see her from the kitchen and stopped doing dishes so I could watch her. She's so darn cute! When she came down the hall she was beaming with pride. She insists on putting her clothes on by herself. Her brother refuses to.
The kids became obsessed with trying my shoes on and would walk into the kitchen to hear the different sounds they made on the "tile" floor. They giggled and giggled more than I think I've heard in a long time. They were so silly! Of course there were a lot of shoes to put back, but they had fun. Christopher would walk out and tell me that he was trying to be like me, which I thought was very sweet. Please, no jokes about my son wearing heels (Kyle, Lisa, etc.), he thought it was funny that the shoes he had on were wobbly and made noises.
They even tried posing for me. Not sure where they'd seen this before. They said they were copying me, but I don't pose. I don't even take decent photos, much less have any clue how to "pose" for one!!
Don't you want to just chomp on those thighs???? LOVE THEM!!!!!
Christopher pulled his pant legs up to show me his boots and told me that they looked just like fireman boots. See? He has no idea it's women's shoes! To him he's a fireman! I lost it.
I have some funny videos to upload too, but need to put the kiddos down for naps. I'll do it later.The kids have said some shockingly funny things lately. Please know that you are warned if you are offended very easily.
First, Christopher needs to go to the bathroom and wants Brandon to join him. They go in there and take their places (Brandon on the step stool in front of Christopher) and is playing Brandon's iPod touch while trying to go. He has been warned numerous time that he needs to hold the iPod with two hands at all time. But this makes things a little difficult at the moment since he is trying to go to the bathroom. He asks Brandon, "Will you hold my pee pee down so I can keep playing?" Brandon told him no.
WHAT????
Last Sunday Brandon decided he wanted to head up to Montgomery for the night since he was off on Monday. We hurried to pack and get ourselves dressed. Sophie comes running to our room, trying to put her belt on at the same time, (Brandon following behind her) shouting, "Daddy, hump Mommy, Daddy hump, hump Mommy."
WHAT???
In case you have forgotten from a previous post, this is her word for "help." You can only imagine how Brandon and I looked at each other and completely lost it!!
There was one other funny thing that happened, but I can't remember what it was now. I'm sure those two are enough for now anyway.
How cute are these piggy tails?
I haven't done them in a really long time and thought I'd try again yesterday since her hair is even longer now. (If you straighten it, it will almost reach to the middle of her back! And for those of you who are worried about your own little girl, Sophie's hair was barely a curl on her neck a year ago.) I LOVE them!!!!!!!!
And how awesome is this?
Christopher came home from school the other day (Tiffany and I take turns taking/picking up the boys on Fridays) with a picture of an 18 wheeler that he said he drew. I wasn't sure whether to believe him or not, even Tiffany seemed to be unsure about it. His teacher told her he had done it, but we didn't know if she was just saying that. Well, the other day he drew another one, but it was with a yellow marker on green paper and you couldn't see it well. I could make out the lines when it was wet, but once it dried, no luck.
He drew two more on white paper and I was so surprised to see that he'd actually done it! I put them on the fridge for Brandon to see when he got home. Later that day he was outside playing with Sophie and found some sidewalk chalk. He came into the house to tell me to come see what he'd done and this is what I'd found. He pointed to the line in the middle between the two boxes and said he drew that part so it could turn easier. How cute is that??? Just two weeks ago he would just scribble as fast as he could all over whatever picture they gave him at church not caring one bit what it looked like. I'm so proud of his drawing skills and hope he keeps going!
You know those people that you see out in public and you think, "Why, I would never....!" Yup, we are now those people you would say that about. Last night my friend Joia call to see if we'd like to join her and the kids at the mall for dinner. (Tuesday night is kids eat free at Chick-fil-a and they ride the carousel for free.) We'd never been before and keep meaning to go. We immediately jumped in the car and headed on over. Brandon was going to be a while and didn't mind us abandoning him for dinner. Now, picture what we look like... no makeup, old jeans, old sweatshirt, Sophie wearing one of Christopher truck shirts that's 2 sizes too big and her hair is everywhere... I was just glad I didn't have to fix dinner so I didn't care. (We fit right in at the mall at night.)
We get there and it's crazy! People everywhere. Thankfully the kids were a little intimidated and stuck to me like glue. We get in line for food and then find Joia and get a table. Once we are finished the kids can't wait to ride the carousel. Throw food away, get our stuff together and I turn around to see both of my children lying on the mall food court floor dragging themselves along it. I almost vomited right there!!! To say I was mortified is an understatement. Joia said, "Do you need a wipe?" I was thinking that a blowtorch was needed to kill all of those germs. I yell at them to get up and off the floor, to NOT touch anything and slather hand sanitizer all over them. How gross is that?
Then we head over to get in line for the ride. I've got my two kids and Keenan with me and they were perfect little angels and waited very patiently. (So proud!) We get all the way up to the gate and are first in line for the next ride. I start asking the kids what they would like to ride on and Christopher says, "I like the orange tiger!" I told him it was his. Keenan wanted a horse and thankfully that was right next to the tiger.
The sweet lady opens the gate and two little boys behind us dart in front. One to the left, the other to the right, the same direction the tiger is in. He tries to climb up. Now, normally I would stop and help him because he's too little to do it himself. BUT he's cut in front of us AND is getting the one thing my child wants and waited very patiently for. I sternly (and gently) told him that my child was waiting to ride on the tiger and that he had cut in front of us. He thought about it for a minute, got down and walked to try to find something just as exciting. No luck. I put the kids up on their rides and look up to see that the little boy is sobbing. SOBBING!!! I made a little boy cry. He sobbed throughout the entire ride!! His mom comes up and asks him what's wrong (while the carousel is going around) and he yells, "Somebody made me get down!!", he turns around to point to the tiger and I'm just praying he doesn't point to me for the long line of parents to see who had done this to him. I see Joia, next to the boy's mom, and she makes a sad face, until I mouth that I'm the one who did it. She dies out laughing and points at me. Thankfully the boy's mom was very sweet and told him he was fine and could ride it next time.
We didn't ride it anymore. We distracted the kids by getting a free ice cream (if you don't open your kids toy you can return it for a free ice cream-- ask for the cone, you get more ice cream!) and then we parted ways. It was time to go home. I'm not sure if I will go back. We might. I'm not a fan of the mall at night anyway, the crowd is, how to I put it, a little different than the day crowd. But we had a lot of fun and it was nice to get out and do something with a friend. Thanks Joia!!
I'm totally thrown off as to what day it is. Brandon was on call all day Saturday and when he got home Sunday morning he wanted to go up to Montgomery to spend the night. I had my whole Monday morning planned out because it's the only day I don't have both kids with me, but I never do things spur of the moment like this so I agreed. We were packed (in one bag, yeah!!) and on the road in an hour.
The kids played, Sophie napped, we went shopping and had supper. Played some more, went to bed, woke up, had breakfast, played some more, went to Target, had lunch, played some more, went home. It was crazy and fun, but the change of scenery was welcome. And the extra help. Christopher has been extremely chatty lately and we tried skipping most of our naps last week as an experiment to make bed time easier. It didn't really help any. I had less patience and time to do what I needed so we will go back to napping more or strictly enforce play time in our room with a timer.
This morning Wendi watched the kids so I could sign Christopher up for preschool for next year and then I was going to run another errand but was able to squeeze in haircuts for Christopher and I, so I ran home to get the kids so we could make it. I wanted some side bangs, but don't have the hair for it. So, it's still long and straight with some layers. Boring. Oh well! Christopher got a fabulous haircut and Sophie made a new friend because she didn't want to sit still and screamed when I locked her in the stroller. An older lady at the salon who either loves kids or hates a screaming one was very kind to bring Sophie a sucker and some books. (Why I always plan haircuts when the kids are at "school.")
Tomorrow we get to watch Isaac for Wendi and we are looking forward to it. The weather has been perfectly cool and makes playing outside lots of fun. I'm looking forward to naps today and catching up on my Bible study and my book. Sorry, didn't take any photos. Crying child, gotta run!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
