A day and a half....

#2 had a streak of tyrant in him this morning. He decided that he is the boss. He is, of course, wrong. And he did not accept that easily. He wasn't being outright disobedient, but he was defiantely determined that he would do things in his own timing - which was just this side of never.

For instance:

"#2, in a few minutes it will be time to get dressed to go to Mimi's house."

(A few minutes pass).

"#2, it's time to get dressed." (I hand him his shorts and t-shirt and return to Mt. St. Laundry, which I was folding laundry in my bedroom.)

A few minutes later, he is in my room in his pajama shorts, no shirt. "Mom, did you know....?"

"No. I didn't know that. Where are your clothes? I asked you to dress."

"I'm gonna."

Now, he's almost five years old. He's been taking his pants off and putting them back on at lest 10 times a day for the past two years. He can dress himself - occasionally he needs help with a shirt (tangled or backwards) but that is all. However, his knee is still bandaged and sore and I thought that might be making things difficult, so I said, "If you need help, bring me your clothes, and I'll help you."

He went back to his room - and didn't return, so I went hunting for him. He was playing with cars and wearing his underwear.

I could write out the rest of the story, but suffice it to say that it took nearly AN HOUR for him to dress himself. And the only reason he finished was because he heard the garage door go up and knew I was loading the car. If he'd protested further, he'd be going with me to the meeting I was going to in whatever he was wearing instead of going to play at Gram's house while I went to the meeting alone.

I know that he was 10 days late for his own birthday, but I didn't expect the trend to continue.

I'm tired. I'm going to bed. I have, by the way, done two of the six weeks of Bible study homework that I needed to do. I'll tackle week seven in the morning.

About that sermon on fasting....

A few days ago, I while was complaining in my blog post about being HOT in the middle of the night, I mentioned a sermon I heard at LifeChurch on fasting. It was rather convicting, but I'm very pregnant, and hungry pregnant women are rather unpleasent - and in my case, rather sick - so I can't fast from food right now.

I can, however, limit my computer time.

Since I was also rather convicted yesterday at Bible study by my nearly blank workbook at the end of Beth Moore's study on David, I also need to step up my Bible study time. My confession: for the past five weeks, I have ignored the homework in the workbook because it is easier to read blogs and forums with one hand while holding a cranky baby than it is to work on a Bible study with one hand or give the cranky baby the snuggles he really wants or the active boy the attention he craves. So, I've been rather present at The Homeschool Library, Moms of Grace, the Chatterbox, and ChattyChicks when I should have been spending time with my boys or my God.

So, if you've hopped over from the forums to make sure that all is well here, I'll be back to them in a week or so - I'm taking a forum fast for my spiritual health. And the spare time that isn't devoted to my husband or children will be spent catching up on the Bible study.

WFMW: When the bandage needs pizazz

#2 had a huge bike wreck yesterday, and no bandaid in the house - or in Walgreens for that matter - was quite big enough for the initial mess. We had to resort to a nonstick pad and some tape. Big, white, and boring - he is use to Incredibles bandaids, so that wasn't going to go over very well. However, next to the nonstick pads, I saw a box of Little Einsteins bandaids, and I had a brainstorm. Here's what we came up with:

My mother would say I wasted a bandaid. I disagree. Leo and Rocket brought quite the smile - and they look upside down to the rest of the world, but they are right side up for #2.

The Great Bike Wreck

The King of Bookworms took #2 and #3 on a walk around the neighborhood. #3 rode in the stroller and #2 pedaled along on his bicycle. He is riding well with training wheels - we'll probably try taking them off after his birthday - if we ever get him on his bike again.

The King isn't quite sure what happened. #2 was crossing a driveway, and he toppled over. One knee is slightly scratched, his hands are scraped, and his other knee is banged up pretty good. It's going to take an extra large bandaid in the morning, and a non-stick gauze pad and some tape tonight. Poor guy. It would H.U.R.T.

After much trauma and drama, #2 is tucked safely into his bed (after several stories) and is asleep.

#2 prays.

I thought it was amazing to be the one to hear #2 read for the first time.

BUT I have come upon an experience more wonderful than that. This morning, I was blessed to hear him offer his first spontaneous prayer.

You see, he's still grieving the loss of his big brother, and he has seemed to be kind of mad at or afraid of Jesus since #1 died. But this morning, he was asking me if Jesus had a telephone so that he could call and talk to #1. I told him that Jesus doesn't need a telephone - we can talk to him any time just by praying. He pondered that for a moment.

Then he says, "How do I start?"

I said, "Say, 'Dear Jesus' and ask what you want to ask."

He said, "OK. 'Dear Jesus, I miss my Danny. I want to talk to him. Is he coming back? Bye.'"

Then he was quiet for a moment before he said, "Mama! Jesus! Heard! Me!"

It was just a nifty moment. I had to share - and record it for all posterity.

Right now, he's out in the backyard singing "I've got Joy in the Lord and He is my strength! Hallawoo! Hallawoo! Praise the Lord."

HOT.

It's 2am. I'm up, thanks to the two hour nap I took in the recliner from 9-11pm and #3, who managed to wiggle his t-shirt down into his cloth diaper and wind up a little soggy and #4, for whom the relatively large amount of space between my ribs and my pelvis is rapidly becoming too small.

It is hot in here. If it were cool, sleep would be more forthcoming. It's been in the upper 70s here for days - warm enough to allow houses to heat up over days, but not so warm that air conditioners feel obligated to run. I'll be opening the windows later on this lovely Monday morning to let the breeze blow through - in spite of the air being thick with pollen. It's supposed to rain today, and if it does, a rainstorm will be a good, pollen-free time to have the windows open. (Big IF - this is Oklahoma, and rain was forecasted, which automatically means that it will be really humid and sprinkle a few drops - or there will be a fantastic crash-bang thunderstorm complete with hail and tornado warnings. Here, weather is nothing if not extreme.)

There also is the thought and blog fodder rolling around in my head and keeping me up. I heard a sermon on fasting this evening. Talk about something to make you think. If you are curious, you can go watch here.

It is a Biblically-sound take on fasting - and doesn't just include food (not good for a very pregnant woman) but also fasting from the unnecessary things that fill our time and occupy our minds. Television. Movies. Music. The Internet. Unnecessary telephone use. Unessential spending. All these things are fine in moderation, but they do prevent us from focusing on the important. At least, I'm guilty of allowing them to prevent me from focusing on the Important. For instance, it's perfectly acceptable for me to be thinking on my blog - that is after all, why Thoughfulmom's blog exists. It's a place for me to think without bothering anyone - to get things out of my head so that my brain gets a rest once in a while. It's also for sharing what is going on in our backyard - which is wild and crazy under the best of circumstances. What IS goofy is that while I've been writing this post, I've also hit "new posts" at The Homeschool Library three times, done three BlogThing quizzes, commented on several other blogs, including my husbands, and put #3 back to bed twice. Both the HSLibrary and the BlogThings were timewasters, and one of the blogs I commented on just because I felt obligated - not because I had anything to say. So, the Internet, while it can be useful, is also a source of time-wasting in my life.

What am I going to do with this information? I haven't decided yet. But it's now after 3am, #3 is finally back to sleep, and I'm going to try to get back to sleep. #2 will be up in three hours, and he has no television privileges today so my day may start sooner rather than later.

Quirky quote qontest entry #1

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure.

--Helen Keller

It's someone's Birth Day!

But not at our house. We have another eight to ten weeks to wait - oh my! possibly as little as six weeks? I had better get busy!

However, Nurturing Mommy is currently at the hospital, and hopefully she's already moved on to pushing her third Little One out! If you think of it, pray for her to have an easy time of it and complete healthy for mommy and baby - and an easy and very productive breastfeeding experience.

Later that day.... The new baby has safely and healthily arrived. He is a boy - 7#8oz, 19 in. long, and C.U.T.E. NM is doing great, and the delivery went quickly (almost too quickly - the OB almost didn't get there) and was as easy as they get.

In which Boomama goes to the beach and I find myself insanely jealous

Boomama is going to the beach.

I want to go to climb in her suitcase.

I haven't seen the ocean since August 9, 1998 - it's been almost 10 years! I know the date, because that is the day I left the Mediterrean Coast of Spain and flew back to land-locked Oklahoma, where my husband met me at the airport, proposed, and begged me to never go that far away from him again. While I am thrilled to comply, I miss the ocean.

Of course, I've reached the point in this pregnancy that animal rescue would probably show up to free Willy if I was sighted on the beach. And then there's the matter of getting up and down to keep my children from going in the drink. And then there the fact that there are not usually real bathrooms at the beach, and I need one every 36 seconds. And that there are no airlines that would allow me to fly to Florida this week, lest I deliver at 35000 feet.

So, I guess it's Oklahoma for me - but folks, I plan to see the ocean again sometime in the next 10 years!

Foggy day in the backyard...

Not literally foggy (that is pretty rare in our neck of the woods) - but sleep-deprived foggy. I'm going to bed as soon as I finish typing this. My day wore me out - or maybe it was the night before - I'm not sure.

#3 is feeling much, much better. We've actually gotten past the 24 hour mark since the last time something was violently expelled from one end of him or the other. He drank a lot today, and he had some cheerios. I'll give him real food tomorrow and see how it goes. Eggs for breakfast, I think.

#2 was wild today. I think he made a mental list of the household rules and set out to break each one - he was testing in a major way. The annoying part was that he would, for instance, start to play with the lamp - and when I told him to take his hands off the lamp, he would touch it with his forearm instead. I probably should have delivered appropriate discipline for that, but I was rocking a cranky baby and I didn't - and so he kept waiting for me to be unable to deal with him and then bending the rules. When Mimi called and asked him to come help her in the flower bed, I said "Sure." I had just said, "Don't touch the lamp." for the 42 time in 15 minutes, and I had just about had it. He went, behaved well for her, and had a good time. In the morning, we'll be reviewing the rules, for now, he's sweetly sleeping in his little bed.

We were glad to have the Bookworm King with us today - cough and fever and all. He worked from home today in order to NOT pass his germs around to his co-workers. He'll be doing the same tomorrow. Ironically, he gets more actual work done at home with all of our noise than he does in his office.

A #2 funny for the day:

He was unlocking the backdoor with a key so that he could go outside, and he started making boy noises. He was imitating starting a car - sounded pretty close to a race car roaring to life, too. Kept him occupied for 10 minutes or so.

#3 is waking up. Better go check that out.

Works for Me Wednesday - plain ole' vinegar

One of my favorite cleaning agents is VINEGAR. Yup - quite the multi-purpose invention: makes pickles, cleans floors, combine with oil for salad dressing, sanitizes kitchen cabinets, softens laundry, gives windows and mirrors a streakfree shine.... It's safe enough to let my four-year old squirt it on the windows and wipe them down, and it's nearly as effective at sanitizing as bleach - and a whole lot less stinky and toxic.

Best of all - at $1.50 a gallon, it's cheap!

Believe it or not...

I try to blog daily. But life does take precedence. It's been a full week since I managed to get anything up - and I missed the Blog Party entirely. Life happened and I never even got a post up. Oh well. :)

I've been busy writing curriculum for next year, cleaning my house, doing some nesting, correcting behavior, and cleaning up barf. Poor #3 has caught a nasty virus and was so kind to share with his big brother, who came down with it this evening. And my sweet Bookworm King fell while playing basketball at the Y yesterday morning and badly sprained both his right ankle and his left shoulder. Yes, it's been an interesting weekend.

I was blessed by one friend who listened to me whine Saturday night and another who taught Sunday School for me this morning so that I could take the King and #3 to the walk-in clinic. Plus, my MIL borrowed #2 for a bit yesterday and my mom did today (I was thrilled to not have to take him with us to the doctor because he has trouble waiting - and I knew that we would find a long wait on a Sunday morning.

I've had my snack, and I'm going to get back to curriculum writing until either the laundry is ready to switch over again or #3 wakes up and needs a drink, a diaper, more tylenol and a short snuggle - whichever comes first.

Well, THAT was a busy weekend!

I can't even really tell you what we did. I just was busy! I did some shopping - bought
a new vacuum and some used books and groceries. We went to church. We had Sunday lunch with my parents (spaghetti and meatballs, yum yum). Overall, we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

We had brunch on Saturday with NurturingMommy and her kids. That was a blast (as always) - both of our households and our gatherings will be changing in the next few weeks as we each give birth to another baby. It's kind of funny. We grew up together, NM and I, and four years ago we each gave birth to a boy - eight weeks apart. The boys are the best of friends. We are about to repeat the event - we know mine's a boy and we think her's is, too, and we are due exactly eight weeks apart. God's kind of funny, isn't he?


I still haven't gotten my Blog Party post up. I'll try to get to it tomorrow. Maybe I'll be able to stay awake during quiet time and get that done - today, I napped.

A Crockpot Recipe for Heather (and the rest of you)

Heather requested some crockpot recipes.

Here's one of our favorites:

Creamy Salsa Chicken

boneless skinless chicken (frozen or thawed - obviously, frozen takes longer to cook)
jar of salsa - about 12-16 oz.
4oz-8oz cream cheese (you decide how creamy - we use reduced fat, and it works - that fat free stuff does NOT)

Put the chicken in the crockpot. Pour the salsa on top. Cover it. Plug it in and turn it on low for 6-8 hours. When the chicken is done, remove it and cut into pieces. Cube the cream cheese and stir it into the salsa. Put the chicken chunks back in. Stir. Ignore until the cream cheese is melted. Cook some rice on the stove. Nuke a veggie. Serve the chicken and creamy salsa on the rice with the veggies on the side.

Actually, that is sounding pretty good. I might have to make it this weekend. :)

Thankful Thursday: Bookworm#3

Today is Bookworm#3's first birthday! I'm thankful for all my children, but I'll take a moment to be extremely thankful for him. :)

March 2006


March 2007