Praises after the venting!

There were praises before but do to rantings of a Mama and several dramatic weeping episodes of a preteen (I do apologize if you live close enough to me that you had the privilege of hearing one of these fits flow from our open windows.) These praises were put on the back burner till all little people went to bed!

It was a glorious day outside again! This little boy finally understood why wearing green today was a good thing and short sleeves even better after his little old man out burst before preschool this morning. It went a little something like this, "I hate green shirts! And I hate short sleeves! I can't wear short sleeves, I'll freeze, I'll just freeze!" How old is he, 98? In the end it was all good and my little preschool cowboy came home and had a wonderful afternoon!

We had a picnic on the side porch for lunch. It wasn't too exciting, a little peanut butter, some water, and messy orange chips (doritos, nutritious, I know) but it played to raves reviews. I can't get enough of "Thank you for this picnic, Mommy. Thank you for letting us have messy orange chips, Mommy. I just love our picnic, Mommy" Yeah, so I I'm a sucker for little boys who kiss up, what can I say?

After lunch their were moments of brotherly love writing names in the dirt.

We discovered our noon day shadows!

Then we introduced them to each other! It's amazing how such little things can be so much fun!

We decided we should put play time on hold until after a good rest! (we did take him inside, I promise!)

Everyone was bathed, fed, and done whining by the time American Idol started! Made for the perfect cuddle up evening!

Ahh...sweet spring!

Momentary Venting!

I'm stopping in the middle of the most gorgeous day, which I will return to blog about later, to vent a major frustration. I'm sure when I read back over this years from now I will laugh, since I'm sure at that point, these particular devices will in fact be somehow implanted in all children at birth. I know this, because after deep conversation with Mike we have decided that these devices are indeed the Mark of the Beast and no one is having to force anyone to be marked because we are going willingly from a very young age, far, far too young an age!

What am I talking about, you ask? Oh, you may think it's silly, mundane really, but watch, it's sucking out the brains of our youth, and our adults for that matter, I'm watching them go down at a maddening rate. I know, you're growing impatient.

Cell Phones

I hate them. Yes, you can boo, you can hiss. It's not the concept. I like them for their original purpose, emergency use. Great thought. Like most things in this world it just sort of blew up after that. I won't deny that I have one. I do, but guess what? I use it for emergencies and quick questions, simple convenience. In all honesty, I don't even give the number out very often. Why? Why you ask? Because I like to go to Walmart and walk around without talking to people. I like to not have the world be able to track me down for stuff that doesn't really matter. If it really is important, please, don't hesitate to call. Important though, is not a meeting reminder. I will admit that I am enamoured with those cool touch screen phones that do everything under the sun. Also with the idea of being cool enough to actually text, and not be totally out of the loop all the time, feeling like the "outcast" because I did not receive that mass text. Oh yes, it's tempting. Although I'm sure like Facebook, it would just suck you in, draw you to it with it's little camera, music, and net surfing ability. I could be easily taken.

Even if I could be convinced to mark myself with this evil mark, what I will never be convinced of is that my 5th grader should! For the love of all things holy, people stop! Stop giving your elementary school kids, and God forbid, younger children cell phones. It would make my life oh so much easier!! They are immediate gratification oriented enough. Now there seems to be no such thing as a plan. They call you after school from their friend's phones and ask if they can go here or there. They get irate when you are the one and only mom who says no. What is wrong with deciding on Tuesday that on Friday there is going to be a sleepover? Why is it Friday after school that someone calls on their cell phone on the way home? Am I that old? Do I really have to make decisions at that moment with no consult with the other parents? With my spouse? Why is this? Why if I let my child go to a friend's house does she insist on calling from their cell phone and and asking if she can stay longer, or telling me she's running late? Whatever happened to just being home within a minute or two of when I said to be home? Yes, I know I'm rambling...venting, let's call it the venting of an uncool mom!

I'm posting a couple of polls on parenting a 5th grader. I may not listen to you, because really, according to Lily I only do what I want anyway (like mother like daughter, I guess), but I would be very interested to see your opinions! So even if you read and never comment, vote!

Praises on a beautiful day!

Lily finally mad it home on time from a friend's house! It was close, but she booked it into the driveway just in time!


It was warm and sunny, the light was perfect for warm, sun kissed, hair glowing picture taking! (and I finally remembered to charge my battery!)

Finn has decided this new hair cut not only makes him look grown up but feel grown up too! He thought for the first time he could tackle his brother's tricycle.

Daddy came home in time to play! Or at least pull little people out of bushes!

It was so nice, two little boys couldn't help but do the happy dance! They even got so excited they were getting a little air with those jumps for joy!

Some of us felt like it was warm enough to kick off our shoes!

There were birdies flying all over, and airplanes in the sky too! What a beautiful blue sky!

We found that a volley ball will fit nicely through the Little Tikes basketball hoop. This made one almost 2 year old very happy.

He's actually a pretty good shot...although it looks like it's more of a shoot and pray technique...don't hit me don't hit me....can I open my eyes yet?

Perfect day for scooter tricks by a 3 year old Super Dax waiting to rescue his next victim!

It was wonderful just to feel the warmth! It seems like it's been too long! Today brought the feel of spring with birds singing and babies being born!

Favorite conversation of the day...

I need to preface this by stating for the record that Mike is not overly hairy and Dax is as unhairy as they come. Just didn't want anyone to think Mike was hiding some deep secret under his shirt! =)

Tonight at dinner, Dax pulled up his shirt and started talking about how his belly was getting bigger. Finn then pulled up his shirt and yelled, "bigger!". Dax then said that Daddy's was really big, and hairy! He told us his was getting hairy too, just like his Dad's! Mike then pretended to find hair on Dax's belly and tell him just how amazingly hairy he was. Dax then turned around and said "look at my back daddy!! It's really hairy too!! " He then reached for his waist line and started pulling down his pants. Yeah, we were scared as he said... "look at my really hairy Knees! Whew. Let's just say we giggled about that one for a while! That boy, he's just a gorilla! =)

Fun & Praise

A quiet Friday morning where no one got into anything, spilled anything, or broke anything (well, at least that I'm aware of...)

My kids are still healthy. I need to go find some wood to knock on! They've been exposed to some sickies in the last few days and with the water in the basement I'm holding on to healthy prayers right now! Let's just say this is a big praise!

New faces. Seems since we've changed buildings there have been a lot of new faces at church. It's nice to have an influx of new voices now and then, makes life more interesting!

A certain three year old boy who has a way with saying "thank you" and "I love you" at all the right times.

Mike getting to have a big boys night out, even if it was a bad movie. He said he would have rather stayed home and watched "Spectacular" with us. Love this guy, and I know he loves us, but it must have been a really bad movie!

Finn breaking into some very familiar looking dance moves during our movie night. Let's just say Dan Page would have been proud. It's amazing to me that this is the one child my dad did not teach to dance. Are dance moves genetic?

Finding a husband and wife who blog through American Idol with such humor that I just wanted to roll on the floor! If you are a fan of the show, they are well worth the read! If you're not a fan of the show, it probably wouldn't do you much good to visit them, although from what I see thus far, their blogs look like they might be fun! Still His Girl and Honey, I fed the kids!

Finn told me he had to "poopy" today (sorry for the graphic nature of this praise! =)
Nothing happened, but he sat on the potty for a long while. He seems to have the tearing of the toilet paper, wiping of the booty, and reading of the book parts down. Maybe this means he won't reinstitute our jail sentences once the time comes that something does happen on the potty! We did get some grand picture! I bee these would be showstoppers at his rehearsal dinner! Confirmation slide show? Maybe year book baby picture...priceless!

Praises...

American Idol. I know, I know, it's a TV show. We've been through this before, it brings me joy, I like joy! I really really like Danny. There are others I like, but right now he's totally my fav.

*I guess AI has decided to get harsh this year with the youtubing of these videos! They pulled the good one I orginally had, so I am adding one that is still up, but not nearly as good! Sorry about that!
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and for the record, I think my Dad would have liked him too.

8th graders. Ok, well maybe not all of them, but the ones I know. Our confirmation class is winding up in the next couple of months. I feel so blessed to have been able to share this with some great people!

5th grade science experiments. I'll have to post a few pictures when Lily finishes her data collection. It's funny watching her put it all together!

Healthy children at this moment. Even with lots of water in the basement this week Finn is holding his own. Thank you Lord! And thank you for Flovent! We've been doctor free for 2 months! That's the best we've done since September!

Babies. This week seems to be chock full of new births and seems talk of new babies abounds. I am grateful to God for each of these beautiful little people. It is hard sometimes, thinking of little ones lost. I think I struggle the most with those for who it all comes so easy or those who take for granted the ease at which it comes. I always appreciate when someone recognizes their gift of easily becoming pregnant, and staying pregnant! I know that each life is part of God's plan and the are exactly where they are supposed to be at the time they are supposed to be there!

God's whispers to me. His not so slight nudges that kept me up till the weee hours of the morning this morning working on a devotion for a women's meeting this morning which led to me mildly overhauling my sadly neglected other blog.

Hearing just the right song at just the right time.



Making it through that women's meeting rather smoothly even if I was shaking through the whole thing and never made eye contact with anyone.

Those amazing little ladies who didn't mind!

Kids that help pick up.

Boys who went to be after giving hugs and kisses to moms, dads, and visitors.

A husband who loves me and my friends enough to not only let them come hang out on occasion but will make them appetizers and serve them. This is why I keep this guy! =)

Thursday nights. A little George Clooney, a little snacks, a little drinks, a little chat.

Friends who will kiss my kids good night.

My warm fuzzy blankie that is waiting for me next to my warm fuzzy husband.

On being Transparent and Thank Yous

So, you know how some moms are one way in public and another way at home? Some have their "church faces"? That was one thing I appreciated about my mom. Authenticity. I don't ever remember her being two different people. Now there are others in the family, I won't mention names, but there are others that I learned had great Sunday game face. A smile that said "we're a perfect family" but the truth was when the doors closed it was far from perfection.

I think when I had Lily I had a bit more of a "game face". I was so worried that people would think she was anything other than the perfect princess she was and I was anything other than the perfect doting mother. I bought books like Teach your baby to Read, Teach Your Baby Math. I had read Charlotte's Web and Little Women to her by the time she was 2 1/2. We read all the time. She knew all of her relatives full names before she was two. By that age, she could tell you her phone number and address, the capitol of most of the 50 states, and could hear a song on the radio, name the song and the singer, and if we had the flash cards made(which we had about fifty 2000ish popular country singers) she could hear a song, tell you the song name, find the singers picture, then find their name on a separate card and bring them to me. Yes, I worked hard with that one. She was reading at three, she was quite amazing!

What I didn't know then that I know now is that no matter how hard I worked and how much I read, I could not create a child God did not create. She had those capabilities because He gave them to her. She was not perfect. I was not even close to perfect. For some reason though, I felt that I must show the world that I was, in fact, the perfect mother.

Fast forward 8 or so years to a spring ahead rainy Sunday morning. That mother I was 8 years ago, oh, that poor girl would have been horrified! Dax, he has an addiction. Candy. Any kind really will do. This is why we don't keep it in the house. Today, I'm sure everyone inside the church building heard the wrath of this addiction. His friend, who he calls , "Little Sarah" had some candy hearts, a baggie full. He, being the great detective that he is, figured out they must have come from her Sunday School class. I told him I would ask, but that if they did he could not have any because she is in a different class than he is. His sweet teacher from last year offered him a handful that she had left over. He began to thrash, to turn red, to scream that "I want the whole bag!!!!". Quickly, horribly embarrassed at his rudeness we tried to duck out.

He screamed loud enough that I'm sure he disrupted the service going on right outside the classroom door.

So, for transparencies sake, those of you in the church building, I apologize for interrupting your service. My son is not perfect and his deep addiction to candy causes him to be rude and uncaring to all those around him. We are trying to find a 12 step program for this....

Maybe if I made him some flash cards with pictures of candy and the the candymakers names. Hmmm...really, I'm kidding. I have lost all enthusiam for flashcards these days.

Moving on to the parking lot scene. For those of you who were leaving after Sunday School or entering the building for the third service I would like, to note that I was not beating or torturing my youngest son. I was however, extremely annoyed with him for continuously going limp as I was trying to walk him to the car holding his hand while my other hand was very full. I used words like "stop it, quit, you're going to hurt yourself, Finn Patrick" in a very stern, raised tone. I even dropped my Bible and picked him up under one arm to escort him the rest of the way (this was when I noticed other people around). I was not patient. I was up too early. I was flustered that Dax was acting like a heathen and I was annoyed. And there you have it people, I snap at my kids. I do this at home, and just as often in public, sometimes even at church. I wish I was better at this but truth be told, that's me, still far from perfect, but not really caring anymore if the world knows it.

God knew it with Lily. God knows it with my boys, and well so does everyone in or around our church at 10:45 this morning. Oh yes, that girl, the one from 8 or so years ago, she would have been horrified!

I'm so glad He loved her then and He loves me now. I have to be confident in th fact that He has a sense of humor, and even on our bad days he gets a little amusment!

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Thank Yous & blessings!

Mike and I went out last night. Really out! We have not been out alone together since sometime early in November. It was so nice to see a movie, have some dinner, just be. The night may not have gone according to plan exactly but it was so nice to have it!

Last night would not have been possible without two of my favorite girls stepping in and taking care of my kids! Abbey and Hayley, thank you. All three of my kids were asleep when I returned. What a nice way to come home. I've never before walked out of my house after kissing all three of my children and my two babysitters goodbye. I love you guys. I hope you'll come back soon. I'm going to have to open a savings account for you . =) PS Super Dax says you can come back and play anytime!

A special thank you to their Mamas for not killing us for being a tad later than planned and for letting us borrow these girls!

We actually made it to church almost on time and saw both of Lily's performances! This hasn't happened in a while. I was afraid that Lily might call DCFS if we missed another early morning performance. 8 is early, especially when it was really 7. But there we were, all four of us (Lily was there at 7:20), fully dressed, sitting in church by 8:05. Thank God for little miracles!

Thank you to my husband for hanging in there with me over the last couple of month. I couldn't have made it without you!

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The Story of the "Grabber Nabber"

My aunt and uncle are some of the best people you might meet. They'd do just about anything for those they love. One day they read this girl's blog about how she could not get up and down to pick up her floors after her surgery. They saw horrific pictures of messes made by boys who might just take over the house. They felt bad. They had a solution. It came in the mail this week...

Dax immediately deemed it the grabber nabber. He has a million uses for it. Reaching high things, pinching his siblings from a distance, and driving the dog nuts. Lily was mesmerized when she came home and laid eyes upon the grabber nabber. She found she could use it to empty the dishwasher. Putting away high glasses did make me a bit nervous, but for some things, it works. She used it to pick up dirty laundry, dirty diapers, and of course to pinch her siblings. Finn has learned to pick up legos, it's great for hand eye coordination. He can't quite get the pinching thing down, but it does give him a good poking range. He can get them and have a good start before they chase him down and take it from him. The grabber nabber has had several "time outs" and I did have to refuse the request to take it in the bathtub. I must admit though, I do wish I had had this a few weeks ago. Even though I now can reach the floor over and over this thing lets me get behind and under without gymnastics moves and twister positions. I can reach higher, I can throw farther, I can pinch my children! =)

Thanks Aunt Lynda & Uncle Steve. We are finding oh so many things to do with one grabber nabber! Who knew it could be so much fun!

Sunny Days and Tantrums always make me smile...

*These were supposed to be in order, but some how that didn't happen*

There is no place like Gymboree...There is no place like Gymboree...

There is no place like Gymboree...

If I click my heals while doing this do you think Lily will still be able to fit in their clothes? I know, I know, she's growing up. Last night we had a much overdue girl's night out. We had haircuts, well, I had a haircut. Somehow we had the times wrong again (this is the third or fourth time we've had the day or time wrong). This seems odd to me being that I don't have this problem anywhere else. Don't get me wrong, I love my hairdresser and so do my little people, it just seems like if I only have this issue there than maybe the issue isn't mine... Ok so I could totally screw it up, but after that first mix up I have been extra careful to listen very closely and write it all down right away. Totally off on a tangent there, sorry. Reeling it back in...

Lily and I have different tastes. This wasn't always the case. I remember beautiful days of matching dresses and hats. Wonderful little ensembles that screamed "cute little girl". Even now, we still both like Gymboree, but alas, she no longer fits. We stopped into GapKids, it is at least a good middle ground at the moment. We did Children's Place, she can do that for a few more months, maybe. We did find some Easter hopefuls there. We went into Icing and Claire's. We are talking about ear piercing. This is fine. We ventured for the first time into Aeropostle and she eyed American Eagle. The clothes here were cute, but oh My Lily, she is not built like that. She is not 7 feet tall and toothpick thin. I honestly don't even understand the sizing. I felt overwhelmed, and totally uncool. I so wanted to curl into the fetal position in the corner of Gymboree, you know where ~ under the clearance rack, where you can hear the singing on the TV, but you can't push a stroller through. The thought of sending her out with friends of mine that have older girls crossed my mind, the thought of how much I'd love to have another baby girl to dress crossed my mind too!

I'll be honest, I was relieved when we left the mall. It was then, in the car, that it hit me. She was talking, it was interesting, we were relating on a pretty grown up level. She thinks deeply, we're gonna have some good talks! She's not my baby . I can't stick a cute hat on her head and watch her do party tricks that amaze the grown ups. She's gonna wear her hair in ways that make me shake my head, she's going to like lots of things I don't. I will be out of my comfort zone in many shoe stores of the future (pumas...really? are they still around or back or what? made me laugh). I may not get spending money I don't have on accessories (ok, so if someone would accessorize me and give me a fund for this I might change my mind). I will never and I mean never respond to the following statement "Man, I wish I could find some black nail polish" (uttered last night at Claire's) with anything other than a slight gag and and "Oh, God, please no! (not that I have any prejudice against people wearing black nail polish I just think it's hideously unattractive, ok, and the idea of Lily "going goth" has been my biggest fashion fear since I put her in her first smocked, frilly, pink dress)]

Bottom line, the '80s are back, we are totally loving discussing it in depth even if she's more Cyndi Lauper and I'm more Debbie Gibson. Let's be honest, Cyndi Lauper was cooler anyway!

While we're talking about growing up...

This may be a little too much information (for my txt readers TMI), let me set the stage for Dax's usually #2 potty routine.

• Jump wildly around the house
• after several minutes of this start yelling "I have to poop!!"
• find nearest older person, demand they come with you because "I can't poop by myself!!"
• Have said older person, while lecturing about you being almost 4, attach potty seat and lift you onto it.
• Have deep conversation for a good 15 minutes with older family member that you've imprisoned in the bathroom.
• Insist on help dismounting, stand teepee style with hands and feet on ground, booty in air so potty slave can wipe your cute little behind.
• Wash hands after questioning "why, when I didn't touch my bottom?"
• Go back to playing

Today I was having "God time" (this tends to be when pooping is best) when the jumping and yelling began. I simply asked (like I do every day) if he could go put the potty seat on. He said yes... I asked if he could use the stool to get himself up. He said he'd try it... He sat in there, alone!! When the yell came that he was done I greatly praised him. I asked to try to wipe himself. He said ok! He took the seat off and put it away. He then washed his hands with a smile on his face after only one prompting that he did, in fact, touch his bottom.

Miraculous!! It's amazing how the things that excite you change when you have small people! I was so proud of my guy! First thing he said to Lily when she walked in the door was "I pooped all by myself! Are you proud of me??" She clapped, she gave hi-5s, she was genuinely proud, well, that and totally relieved that she may get a reprieve from her prison time in stinko penitentiary!

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In another room(aren't you glad?), later this same day, another kind of growing up occurred.

I bumped Dax in the kitchen, I apologized. He didn't say anything at that moment, but when I left the room he followed.

"Mom, I really didn't like you when you bumped me. It made me not like you. I wanted to say mean words like hate, stupid, or blah blah blah."

He didn't. He didn't say mean words, he didn't yell. He processed that that was how he wanted to react but instead shared his thoughts with me in a very grown up way. I smiled. I told him it was ok to feel that way but the fact that he knew not to act that way made me feel very proud. He grinned from ear to ear and told me "I just really love you, Mom".

I may be missing my babies, but boy I'm loving the big people they are getting to be!

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Just so you don't get carried away, thinking my house is now some sort of utopia, Dax did pour honey all over Finn's head this morning...

"The Strange Guys are stupid!"

And other inappropriate words and actions from playgroup!


Our church has started a Friday morning open gym playtime. We have been a few times. The crowd has usually been rather small and calm with my boys knowing at least 75% of the other kids. They have greatly enjoyed this free running, large motor playtime. Thy have gotten along well with others and overall had a grand time. Today, wow, today was a bit different. Today was crowded! Today was loud! There were lots of boys! This was the kind of group that when I just had a daughter I might have turned around and left, because those boys are just nothing but loud, rough, trouble makers! And now, I am their mom. I am the mom that I'm sure at one point I wanted to tsk and shake my head at. This doesn't happen when you have girls, or even 1 boy. It happens when you have your second. I'm guessing it amplifies with each additional boy. Begone the days of sweet princess dress up, temper tantrums that involved weeping at the unfairness of the world, and adorable hats. Now it's all "booty", throwing things, lego guns, and "fire hands" (hands that shoot fire). Granted, they are brimming over with comedy and their messy little faces and sweet "I love yous" melt any momma's heart, that doesn't change the fact that they are still loud and rowdy.


Today Finn stood in the middle of the room and held a ball. Seems he just wondered around with his ball and watched people. He knocked down his brother's block tower once, but mostly he just played the observer. Dax on the other hand had some real issues with all these "strange guys'. Strange guys included anyone he didn't know or anyone he might know but doesn't usually go to our church. At first they were just intimidating. Then he started to play "Super Dax" (his new favorite past time). I did have to intervene when I noticed another child beating him with a folded jump rope. It's hard for a mom to know what is truly in the spirit of the play and when her kid is going to get welts. I guess I should have taken the rope away because I turned around seconds later and someone was trying to capture "Super Dax" by roping him around the neck. This time the rope was taken.


I guess all the rope play got him wound up, or maybe it was the lack of oxygen to his brain from the noose...I'm not sure...but the next time I turned around he was shoving a little boy to the ground because he knocked down his tower. He refused to apologize. He spent the rest of his time at the "mommy table". I thought we were safe. Clean up time came, he volunteered to help clean up. I then see him standing in front of a little boy he doesn't know. I hear his sweet little voice "These strange guys are Stupid, Mama! They just keep breaking my toys!!"

Sigh...what happened to hats, tights, dresses, and coordinating shoes? What about that little three year old girl too timid to peek out from behind my legs?


Just for extra measure at that moment, Finn came over and knocked down the whole stack of "cleaned up" blocks.

Tsk Tsk, what is that mom doing? Hasn't she taught those kids anything about sharing? respect for the church? kindness? The word stupid? Maybe she should stop spending so much time at the mom table chatting and harness those heathens! Tsk...


***pictures below are from a calmer, more successful play gym day***