Field Trip

I got the pleasure of going on Monkey's field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry in downtown Chicago. One thing I love about his teacher is she always allows as many chaperons as parents who want to go. Most of the parents had two kids their kid and one more. One dad just had his kid. I like going on field trips for two reasons, I love spending that time with my one kid and their friends and two I always wanted my parents to go on field trip growing up, my dad went on one. It was the best one ever!!! I know that if I go on all of them it doesn't really make it special but I stay home and I don't want them to feel like I did as a kid. Also my oldest had a field trip that she told me not to come on and she explained her reasons. I didn't go because of her wishes and other factors. Back on topic...I really LOVE this museum out of all the ones downtown I think this is the most educational with hands on stuff to do. Our group consisted of 3 moms, one dad and the teacher and a total of 8 boys. We took them to the coal mine. I haven't been to that exhibit in years and I have to tell you it is WAY better than I remember it. We did the storm exhibit with the tsunami and tornado that was pretty cool. Went to the hatchery with the baby chicks. We did the water room which was a big hit. We got to see everything the boys wanted to see and do. It was just a really fun day. I also got to see my boy interact with the kids in his class. He is a very independent little boy and I am just so proud of him for being his own person. I love that boy with all my heart and I was so glad I was able to spend the whole day with him. I owe a HUGE thank you to my wonderful sister-in-law who came over and had some very special quality time with my little Peanut. The other three kids were pretty jealous that she got Auntie Liz all to herself and they have no idea that David spent most of the day with them. It would only add insult to injury ;)

A day for the record!

It was absolutely gorgeous outside today and tomorrow is suppose to be the same great weather! I packed a picnic lunch for the kids and we ate at the park and played for a little over an hour with some friends. Then down for a quick nap and then to get the kids from school. Then it was a quick dinner and off to drop Monkey off at his baseball game and GG at soccer practice. Then we headed over to the game. I let the little kids play at the park while we wait for the game to start. As I was getting the kids ready to head over I noticed something was up with Peanut's shorts. I asked her to come here because I wanted to see what it was she told me she pooped in her pants. I looked and she sure did. SO GROSS. This kid has been potty trained since she was 18 months old and I can't even tell you the last time she has had an accident. I was not happy. I had to take her home, clean her up and get GG from practice so we could get back to the game to see Monkey pitch. He was on the schedule to pitch the 3rd inning. We only missed seeing the very first pitch he threw out. He got the first batter out. Then the second batter out. The third batter hit a ground ball right to Monkey he scooped it up and threw it to first getting the 3rd guy out! I was so proud of him. I was so nervous he would be one of those kids that walked a bunch of batters but he didn't! YAY. Then the second time he was up to bat (I wasn't there for the first) they switched pitchers right when he got up because that pitcher had walked 4 guys. They put in their best pitcher and he struck Monkey out. But he did get a few good swings in there!!! I'm just so proud of him for trying. When I went to pick GG up at practice her coach walked over and told me how she had picked up a hot pepper off the ground and ended up touching her face which caused it to sting. I will NEVER understand what would possess my 10 year old to pick up some random food item off the ground. REALLY? When do they out grow that nastiness??? Well that was pretty much all our excitement for the day.

I did it!

I am so excited to say that I finally after years of wanting to go I registered myself for the Hearts at Home conference! I am so excited. I am going with a few girls from church and we are going to have a BLAST because these girls are FUN! I looked over the sessions for the conference and I am really happy with their selection and had a hard time just picking my top 10 :) You know it is a good conference when you want to do it ALL. This is what I am choosing to use my Christmas money on and I think it is a very well use of my money! I will have to let you know how it was once I get back...

Parenting...

Tonight was Mom's night at boys truth in training (TNT). The things we do for our kids I tell ya. It was a theme night of western so I carried a toy gun in my pocket and wore a cowgirl hat and pig tails. Then they had us peel apples in a game...oy was that messy ;) I got to sing with my Monkey which I LOVE doing. Then we played games in the gym! That was interesting to say the least. This is the first year Monkey is in TNT so I had no idea what to expect from this night. The games are NOTHING like the Mom's night in GIRLS TNT! I actually got hot from playing the game. Though I will say it was a really fun game. It was a human version of foose ball. I heard something tonight during the devotion that I really think is quiet important. Wendy talked about how she knew that her mom loved her no matter what. I really hope and pray that my kidlets know that I love them no matter what silly or stupid things they do. I want to be their hero. Though I think role model would be a better term but this year in the boys TNT they are talking about heros. I hope Monkey knows I love him because I could of told him I wasn't coming because I am a JAM leader. Actions speak louder than words and I want them to know they are my first priority after God.

Up in the Air

So since Peanut has been born we have talked about putting her in school so that she is 2 years apart from Red. I have a good friend that really wants me to keep her back a year so our girls will be the same grade. She says that they won't be as good of friends if she is a year older in school. They are only 2 months apart in age. If I move her ahead it will be her and two little boys at church if I keep her back there will be her with 2 boys and 6 girls. Then I start thinking about my Monkey and how he is one of the youngest kids in his class. I wanted to hold him back so he could be the oldest in his class but J said has the same birthday and was the youngest and he turned out fine. Now seeing Monkey as one of the smallest kids in his class I'm wondering if we did the right thing. It also doesn't help that at least two boys age wise should be in the grade above but their parents held them back so they could be the oldest. He isn't really struggling academically he gets As and Bs for the most part, though he did get one C the last quarter of 2nd grade. The only way to fix his situation is to put him in public school and hold him back because no one there would know him or homeschool him a year and when he tests in he tests for the lower grade and then he can blame me ;) He is my issue what do I do with Peanut??? Her birthday is 6 weeks after Monkey's making her even younger than him in school. Though she is a girl and the youngest of 4. I just don't want to make the same mistake with her but I also don't want her to feel left out at church. I also don't know if I want Red and her 3 years apart in school. I didn't like the idea of having the boys 3 years apart which is another reason I wanted to hold Monkey back so that he and Red would only be 2 years apart. I guess in the grand scheme of things it really isn't a big deal they just get out of our house a year earlier, which kind of makes me sad. Oh I think we should of held him back :( I hate second guessing myself and having all this guilt. I really didn't sleep well last night thinking about this. What are your thoughts? What would you do with Peanut? How about Monkey?

Frustration

I have really been slacking on this blog. I really don't only think about food...haha. Though you would think I do. Anyway, I am really struggling right now with my youngest offspring. I know I mentioned in a previous post how she is with eating but it doesn't stop there with her. The last two days she fights me on naps. She is 2 1/2 years old and she IS going to take a nap. I need the break from her for my sanity and her well being. Yesterday she laid in the bed for over an hour and a half sucking on her arm so that she wouldn't fall asleep. She had the biggest hickey. I practically had to lay on her to go to sleep 2 hours after I had put her to bed. Today she didn't take a nap for me. I finally had to let her up so we could go get the kids from school. Then she fell asleep in the car on the way home at 4pm. People this is NOT a good time for a toddler to be napping. But we had church tonight and I knew she would be beyond bearable if I didn't let her sleep so she got about an hour nap. Now it is 9:20pm and she is laying next to me in the bed talking. At least she is laying down though. I just really don't know what to do with her. It is driving me CRAZY. I just don't know how much more of this I can take before I loss all sanity. How do you get a 2 year old to take naps without basically strapping them to the bed and gluing their eye lids shut?! I would never do either one of those things but I feel like that is my only hope of getting her to sleep. I just have to keep telling myself that I have to be consistent and stay on top of her with this testing her boundaries and it will get better but man is she really sticking it out for the long haul. I really truly do not remember my other children being this strong willed. Well tomorrow is a new day and hopefully one of a nap for a 2 year old. Please pray for me. Oh Lord give me the patience and strength to deal with this stubborn 2 year old in all areas. Ok I feel somewhat better...

Modesty and my almost 9 year old.

A few weeks ago I noticed that my almost 9 year old daughter had started doing these goofy poses with her body where she kind of sticks out her butt. I was not liking this so last night I took her out just the two of us to have a talk about modesty. Things I brought with were a Bible, a People Magazine, and a necklace. I started the conversation talking about some of the things I noticed her doing and that is why I felt it was important to have this talk. I gave her the definition of modesty from the dictionary which states; Modesty: behavior, manner or appearance intended to avoid impropriety or indecency. I then expounded on this definition with the definition of impropriety and indecency. I talked to her about what modesty looks like in each of the three areas stated above and how it pertains to her as a girl. Then I had her open the Bible to 1 Timothy 2:9-10 which says, “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.” I’m sure there are other verses that talk about this subject but I choose to go with just this one. We then talked about what this verse says and how to live it out. Then I gave her the People and told her to find 5 people dressed modestly and circle them and find 5 that were not dressed modestly and cross them out. She had so much fun doing this she went way above finding 5 of each. Then we kind of went through the rest and talked about why some of the clothing was not modest. Then I briefly touched on only her husband seeing her naked body didn’t want to go too far into THAT subject just yet. Then I pulled out a mother and daughter matching necklaces and asked her if she was willing to commit to being modest in all these areas. When she did I gave her the necklace to wear. She was so excited. This necklace will be a reminder to her that in all things to be modest. I also told her that she was my daughter but above all things she was God’s daughter and now she knows what her heavenly father says about this subject. When we got home I told her to go take a shower. Before our talk she would forget her towel in another room and walk through the house naked to get it. Last night she made sure she had her towel with her and then wrapped it around her to come ask me a question before she showered. I praised her for being modest. I know she understands the concept so I pray she is able to be successful at continuing to be a modest girl in all areas. I just pray for her so much in this area because she is a really cute and loving girl and I don’t want to squash that but I do want to protect her from any bad people that might take her the wrong way, you know. But for now we are working on modesty mostly in appearance and behavior but manners too.

No flogging me

I know that I promised Disney pictures this post but they are in the house and I am not going back in there! We ended up going to look at the new place on Tuesday night and everything checked out fine. On Wednesday I grabbed a bunch of clothes and washed them at the laundry mat, went shopping for some new things and then we moved it all over to the new place. I order to really see if this new place will be a safe place for me to stay I have decided that I am not going back into the house for at least a week if not longer. J has really been a trooper and just getting a TON of stuff done since I can't do any of it...cause it is all in the house. He goes into the house and grabs things to pack then cleaned them and then packs them. He really wants to get everything moving right away and get this house on the market. As for the new house we slept there last night and it was so nice to be in a house and be warm. You really have no idea how good you have it until it gets taken away unexpectedly. Though we are still adjusting to the whole 20 minute drive as apposed to the 5 minutes drive to school in the mornings. It is only temporary. That is my quick update on what is going on in our crazy lives...off to go talk to the assistant principle about an incident that happened at school yesterday. Oy, I really don't need to deal with this right now but it is something that has to be dealt with.

I don't even know where to begin....

These past few days have been jammed packed with activities I feel like I am spinning. I want to get the recap of what we have done then I will talk about some other things. Friday night was the movie on the big screen at the church two blocks away. We walked with our neighbors and had a great time but we didn't get home until 10:30pm. Saturday morning I ran around the house doing last minute prep for Monkey's party. We left for our small group pool party/potluck lunch we got there at noon and left at 4pm. Ran home and grabbed the rest of the stuff for Monkey's party and went to the school to set it up. It was a good stress free party. The park was great entertainment for the kids! Then we got home and Grandpa K and 4 of my brothers came over Monkey opened his presents and then they headed out to see another one of my brothers they left at 9:30pm and then it was to bed for everyone. He got some really cool presents but I am too tired to list them all. Sunday we got up for church and did the normal Sunday thing. J left for work and the kids and I got out the water guns and water balloons and they had a water fight. It was a lot of fun especially for me at the end because I hosed them off before going into the house! The joys of being the mom...you get the soul use of the HOSE :) Then we met J for dinner and walked around a festival next to the restaurant, there was a live band and some rides but we didn't ride anything I had no money. Then we went to a park where a different band was playing and I got to listen to the music while the kids played at the park it worked out good then it was home for some lightning bug catching! Fun filled days of summer. But with everything that we have been doing the house was suffering a little so today was my cleaning day so the older two are playing the new playstation 2 and game Monkey just got.

So those are the highlights of our days but I just want to say how amazed I am at how disrespectful kids are, at the party Saturday we were on private property and this group of about 6 kids started coming into the gated play area. Shocked and realizing that they should not be there I said, "You guys can't be here." Then they proceeded to argue with me about how they were just going to play ball. Then J stepped in and they started to argue with him but of course he won and they left. I was just floored at the fact that these kids would argue with adults so disrespectful I would hate to be their parents.

Red has started this new thing that when ever I say anything to him he answers with "What?" For a while I was repeating myself thinking he must not of heard me then I realized it is because when I don't understand him I say "what". I have taught him to respond with the word what. He is talking so much lately but some of the words I just can't make out and that is when I say what or ask him to repeat it. I bet he is just as frustrated as I was at having to repeat but I really want to know what he is saying, if I didn't care I wouldn't have him repeat it.

The last thing is I think I have hit the stage of my pregnancy that I dislike the most, the irritated and annoyed at everything stage. The things people say and do that would normally just roll off my back are driving me nuts. Please pray for me to get through this stage in tack with my emotions.

Neighbors

I try to live peaceably with my neighbors since almost all of us are outside in the summer. But I just need to vent for a second, there is one lady that has a 3 1/2 year old. SHE. DRIVES. ME. CRAZY. She hovers over her son and then she does that to my children, not to mention last summer she spanked Monkey right in front of me. Yeah I was steaming about that but that is a different story for another time. Anyways, my kids know they aren't to go to into the street even my 2 yr old knows that. When he gets close to the street we tell him to stay back and he listens and if he doesn't then he has to sit on our lap for a time out or we take him inside. Well her almost 3 1/2 year old (he will be 4 in Oct) hasn't grasped this concept yet because she runs after him every time he gets near the street and so he thinks its a game and most of the time runs into the street. It's really nerve racking to watch. Well today I was blowing bubbles and Red was getting close to the street and just as I was telling him to come back she starts running after him, which he thought was funny and then takes off, not into the street but away from her. I couldn't take it and asked her not to chase my children and that they know not to go in the street. I wanted to say, "I am their parent not you so please let me parent them they way I want and you parent your child they way you have been and let me know how that goes in about 10 years when he doesn't know how to handle himself without you around." Of course, I would never really say this to her but I *really* wanted to. It just frustrates me to no end. I just want to know what would you do if she was your neighbor? I think we will be purchasing pool passes this summer and so that we won't be home much!

My little Army Men!

They were looking so cute with their matching pants I had to take some pictures! They are certainly two of my favorite men...J being the other one, for those who may wonder. Today has been a day to recover from the start of school. It is the first time the kids have gotten to watch tv, which I am totally ok with! Tomorrow starts Awana Clubs and GG moves up to Sparks, so exciting! We have started a new form of discipline with the children. They get a warning unless it is physical bad behavior, which doesn't happen often. If they don't listen and do what was requested they go to bed 15 minutes earlier. I figure they must be tired if they are having a hard time obeying. Last night they each went to bed 30 minutes early and we had to wake them up this morning at 7:45 so I think I was right about them needing the sleep. They have done pretty good today listening and behaving! I also want to say we don't focus on just the negative we also encourage and praise them too. They really are good kids, at least I think so.

Disappointed

A few of you thought that my email was going to heed news to us expecting another baby. Sorry that is not the case. I AM NOT PREGNANT!! I am however disappointed in the new movie Cars we took the kids to see it this morning and twice it used the word Hell, not in the biblical sense either. Totally inappropriate for a rated G movie. Red got bored about 30 minutes into the movie...he isn't ready for the big screen yet. I think the other two liked it but they really didn't say much about it so I suspect they didn't love it. Well that is it for now J and I are going to play Sequences...love that game.

Life Saver!

I discovered a technique that has proven to be very effective. It has saved us twice now. The first time with Monkey and the second time with Red. I'll explain...I have realized that nighttime parenting can be very stressful when an accident/throwing up is involved. Just night waking is fine but when you have to strip down a bed and then put new covers on, it can be a lot for someone who isn't completely awake. So this is what I have come up with, I put a fitted sheet on the bed with a towel in the spot of the most likely problem area (Red would be up by his mouth and Monkey in the middle where he might pee) then the mattress pad and then another sheet over top of that. The reason for this is when the first sheet gets soiled you just have to remove it and the mattress pad and the bed is still made! You simply lay the child back down on the towel that is already there! Then if they soil the towel, it is much easier to change then a fitted sheet. At first I was just using the towel on top of the sheet but it would get messed up to easy and so I figured this way would be better, plus you never know when they will get sick or have an accident, this way you are prepared always. J called last night, the calm before the storm! Yes, early this morning after Red slept so good until about 5:30am when he then threw up all over the bed. I changed him while J ripped off the bedding then we went back to sleep. It was great. I got the most sleep in one night than I have in about 5 days last night. So today has been major cleaning and sorting through things that we don't need anymore. Feels good to finally get to that stuff.

My family is all asleep right now. We all laid down to take a family nap I just couldn't fall asleep. So here I am updating while they sleep! This morning we got up and had french toast for breakfast before church. It was good. J made it ;) J is going to be going back to the academy today. I hate that. I guess it is only four more times he will have to leave us. I do want to mention how blessed I have been lately. I am apart of an egroup that just rocks. The ladies are wise, wonderful Christian ladies. I'll explain...just recently a friend of mine brought to my attention that the way I parent my babies is called attachment parenting. I had never heard about it. So I asked these ladies about it and most of them are aps but the great thing is that they were able to caution me about a few areas of the ap to be careful with. One is the discipline area. In ap they practice *positive discipline* which is fine but there needs to be a balance between the positive and so called negative consequences to your children's behavior. Balance is a good thing. The other thing they brought to my attention was that we as humans have a sin nature and the parent is responsible for training a child in how to act in certain ways. Most apers let the children have whatever they request. Making the parent compliant. We are the adults and we need to have some form of authority/control. So what I am saying ap is good but with every style of parenting there is negative parts to be careful about. So as for me I am simply going to say that I am not of a particular style because I use many different parenting tools to train my child in the way they should go. So as I parent my children I will remember the true parenting book, the BIBLE! Not that there aren't other good authors but you can't argue with God's word. This is my own thoughts and they are not to condemn or make anyone feel bad. I just wanted to share this wonderful knowledge these ladies helped me find!