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