Calgon....

won’t you take me away? Please? Pretty please?

What?! That is a statement you use on your commercials but don’t mean literally?

Oh.

Scotty? Beam me up?

No can do either, huh? Bummer.

Yeah, I could use a little taking away or beaming up. That Katie girl, you know the sweet minx I spoke of recently? Well, I took the notion in my silly little head to go ahead and give the potty training a try.

Big mistake. What on earth was I thinking?

My husband coined the phrase “intestinal fortitude” with regard to Kiersten back in her potty training days. Let me just say I am not sure Kiersten has anything on Katie. The jury is still out on that one, but that is my contention anyway.

We started yesterday. I use a timer to help give me as a gauge for when the next time is to sit that little hinder on the toilet. Oh, we had a few accidents here and there. To be expected.

Today, however, that child wised up and thought she would give me a run for my money. I kid you not she sat on the toilet for 2 hours. She had had her morning juice, was watching a little Dora and did nothing. Not one little tinkle did she make.

She got off the toilet. Within a few minutes she has tinkled (that word is not cute when it isn’t paired up with the word toilet) upstairs in Kiersten’s room.

So she has to go…she just doesn’t want to go in the toilet. She is holding it until she gets off and within minutes goes somewhere in the house potty most certainly does not belong.

The one up?

She sits on the toilet for a while, makes a little tinkle, we rejoice, she gets her chocolate treat and then with the treat still in her mouth makes a ‘tinkle’ on my dining room floor! While still eating her reward! Can I tell you how much I wanted to snatch that chocolate from her hand and eat it myself?

She had gone on the toilet, released a little, because the dam was full, but didn’t give full vent to all that was behind the dam. She waited until she was off the toilet for that full release.

Wonderful.

Where is Calgon or Scotty when you really need them? Better yet why is there no potty training fairy who swoops in and saves the poor mother whose task it is to teach her child this most necessary of things? Somebody please tell me!

*(I am being dramatic-allowed to a mother of many children every now and again. :) If you don't laugh, which my mother did a little too long and loudly when I shared this with her yesterday, how do you keep sane? And sanity is key. :) )*

"Good Ni-iiight!"

I wish there was some way to better convey to you what kind of child Miss Katie is since you cannot see or hear her. She is a minx, an imp, a pixie. Her eyes twinkle and she has this mischievous air about her. It is funny because she can be so fun and yet so naughty. Everything she does is done with force. A pistol, my mom calls her and she isn’t far off the mark there. Katie is just something else.  I love her so.

Here is her in fine form a few nights ago.

Everyone had been in their beds, teeth brushed and stories read for some time. They, Kiersten and Isaiah, get 15 minutes or so after alls said and done to look at books in their bed or play quietly in their rooms. While this goes on the hall light remains on. Our hall up there cannot be more than 6 feet long so the hall light shines adequately in all the rooms. So although Katie’s light is off she still has some luminescence with which to look at books or play a little herself.

After the said 15 minutes are up either I or my Beloved calls up the stairs, “Lights off! We shut the hall light off and wait for the other 2 lights to blink off as well. Once they do I say, “Good night.”

That night the littlest of voices calls back, “Good Night, Mommy!”

“Sweet Dreams!” she adds having had this said to her on more than one occasion.

“Sweet Dreams,” I mimic.

“See you in the morning!” she chimes in. Again something I’ve said as I tuck her in good night.

“See you in the morning,” I reply as my Beloved and I share a secret smile.

“Good Ni-iiiight!” she says again.

We repeat the whole conversation over and I add, “All Do-ooone.”

Well, she isn’t done because I hear once again, “Good Ni-iiiiight!”

Silence.

30 seconds later a little louder this time, because maybe I didn’t hear her correctly, “GOOD NI-IIIIIIIGHT, MOMMY!!”

I stay the course and say nothing although I am ever so glad she is upstairs and I am downstairs so that she cannot see me grinning to beat the band.

Katie is nothing if not persistent. Several more times she tries to get me to respond by calling out, “Good Ni-iiight, Mommy!”

My Beloved calls up to her, “Good Night, Katie-girl. We’re all done.”

“NO. Good Ni-iiiight, Mommy!”

After that we both held our tongues so as not to drag out this game all night. We held our tongues but nothing could hold back our smiles.

Oh that girl, she is something else alright. Something sweet and special and such a handful! : )

Retreat

After a rough start to school I was in no way disappointed to cut the week short and take a drive to see my Grandparents and Mom.

The cabin has long been a place of rest, fun, laughter, solitude and family for as far back in my memory as I can go. I wish I had before and after pictures to show you how much the place has changed (inside) over the years. It is truly a special place and as my grandparents get older the reality has set in that there will come a day when I can no longer retreat there. This post might be a little nostalgic and so you’ll just have to bear with me!

This time around our trip, as apposed to the one taken in the Spring, was not based around the lake. The weather was simply too cold to allow for water time. Instead there were many walks in the woods collecting things and having good conversations as well as games to be played.

Kiersten picked up a ton of acorns. The baby ones were the cutest. She also grabbed a few red leaves that had fallen here and there. The tops of the trees were just starting to change so we didn’t get to enjoy the fullness of God showing off his magnificent artist’s hand. We weren’t hugely disappointed as we have plenty of trees here that will soon grow most beautiful in color.

Back to the trip- taking walks in the woods. Here is Isaiah out on a gander. The older two took several walks with Grandma (my mom), Kiersten more so than Isaiah.

I tried to get a picture of Mom with the kids’ on one of their walks. Katie was throwing a fit and had sat down on the hillside (mostly in protest) so I had the others join her there. No one really looked at the camera save my mom and usually she avoids it! That alone made the picture a keeper. What is memorable about it is that when Katie stood up we found she had sat on an ants nest. And not just any ants, red ants! Her pants were covered with them and she grabbed a few bites on her ankles. She needed a distraction (or was it me who needed the distraction?) to allow me an excuse to send the others on ahead and have her and I turn back. No nap = no mood for a decent walk to be had by others.

She did enjoy the boat ride though, all the kids did. Isaiah and Kiersten both got a chance to be captain and drive us around. Does it scare you that Isaiah is driving here and is looking down and not out? It certainly did explain a few things on our trip, I’ll say that much! : ) Kiersten isn’t really all that much better. They’re young yet. (My Beloved says that a crazy driver is synonymous with a woman driver. And yet I am the one with no tickets to her name. Hmmm…whose the crazy driver? : ) )

Kiersten and Isaiah both got a taste of some different games while we were there. When I was younger we always seemed to play cribbage. Both are still a bit young to play…the rules a bit more than they can handle. So instead of cribbage what did they play? Isaiah played “Whacky Blaster” (a game that has been there since I was a kid) and “Battleship”. I have to say I was most impressed by him. We have played this game, or rather attempted to, a time or two at a local coffee shop. He just couldn’t get the gist of the upper and lower boards and how each recorded different things and what to do with the different colored pegs. Things were too complicated for him. This time around however he just got it. I have to give a little help the first 5 minutes or so and then it was all him. He did fabulous and even sunk all my ships! (Ok, he peaked around my board for the last ship’s location. The game was getting long and Zeke needing nursing soon. Excuses, excuses.)

Kiersten on the other hand played some dominos with my Grandma. Here they are with my mom. My sweet Grandpa is in the background on the left. I didn’t manage to get any good pictures of him. He is so near and dear to me. Quite the teaser. It is funny to watch him pull Kiersten’s leg and hear her giggle at his antics. She tells her Dad he is a teaser just like Grandpa is all with a big grin on her face. I just love that my kids love my Grandparents too.
I haven’t said much about Zeke because he was loved on and held by his Grandma, Great Grandma and two Great Aunts. Grandpa gave him plenty of lovin’ too. I really only saw/held him when it came time to nurse him. Would you believe that little bugger let out TWO laughs there? And that neither of them was in my presence? Honestly, where is the love? : ) Ah well, I won’t begrudge my other family members when I know I bound to hear it too and more often then they will.

And Katie? She didn’t play any of the games the other two did (with an adult) nor did she get held by all my relatives. She rode on the chicken swing, walked up and down to the dock naming all the bird statues my Grandma has placed along the steps, took laps up the big hill and attempted a walk or two. It definitely took her a day or so to get used to everybody. She hung out a lot with Daddy there at the start and would have no one else. Then she gave a little sugar to my uncle and took a big shine to my Grandpa. Once she gets going she is a ham and a half!

A good summation of our trip is that everyone had a wondeful time despite the fact that it was cooler this time around and as result no one got to play in the water. : )

Day 2

Who would have thought? Surely not I.

I would never have imagined Isaiah would take to school like a duck to water. Never.

I thought I would be telling him constantly to sit, stay focused, stop playing- something along those lines. He is so focused and surprisingly just cannot seem to get enough. We do some math…just a little to get us going and he is ready to do more pages. We did handwriting, trying out a few letters, and he is ready to do more. (This is going to be his weak area as even holding the pencil correctly poses a problem for him. We have some grips to help him place his hand properly on the pencil so hopefully that will help.) We also did a little reading. He is flying through and ready to do more.

Funny. It just isn’t how I thought it would be with him.

But then it isn’t how I thought it would be with Kiersten either. I didn’t imagine that I would be struggling with her on day 2 of school. Day 2!!!! *Sigh.*

Let me just tell you that math is our stumbling block. Has been from the get go. I am confident my lack of patience and her lack of listening skills are BIG contributing factors. We even switched math programs this year to see if that would help. And here I am on day 2 (oh, the irony) of school telling you it isn’t the program that is the issue.

It is us.

We just don’t seem to mesh well. Our chemistry is bumpy and we butt heads, often.

Knowing this I set out today to make sure I spent more time with her on her math. (More importantly I committed it to the Lord before my feet hit the floor.) I think I expect too much of her and how she learns. She is a quick learner and a smart girl. This tends to make me think she should just get it from reading the book and seeing the examples contained within. Not unlike a college student sometimes has to do. Did I mention she is only 8? My bad.

Long story short even after spending close to 30 minutes doing some examples and trying to make things more concrete for her she still wasn’t wanting to meet me half-way. She even went so far as to say, “I hate school.”

And that my friends was the last straw.

I did mention this was only the second day of school, didn’t I?

I looked over at her and said something to the effect of, “This isn’t going to work. It just isn’t. We are only on the second day of school and this is your attitude? Do you want me to send you away for school? That is my only option if you won’t work with me and at least try.”

I didn’t say it as a means to manipulate or scare her into doing what I wanted her to do. I said it because it was and is the truth. I don’t have it in me to fight her. This isn’t a season I am willing to or can take on a fight simply to fight. There are others to consider and at the end of the day I don’t want school to be why we don’t like one another. It isn’t worth it.

After our candid little talk she did come around to at least trying. I’ll give her that. And would you believe I think I even saw her smile a time or two while she finished up her math?!

We’ll have to wait and see what tomorrow brings because surely it has to be better than today.

How many days are left in the school year? *Sigh.*

"He's so Fweet!"

That is a direct quote from Katie. It is something she has been saying since the day Zeke arrived in our lives. And I have to say I agree with her whole heartedly!

Ezekiel is a joy and truly a sweet baby. He isn’t much of a crier except when hungry, getting beyond himself with tiredness or when his drawers are in need of refreshing. Those few things only amount to a very few short bouts of crying each day. I couldn’t be more thankful that he is such a good baby.

It doesn’t hurt that he is adorable in all his little self!

Would you just get a look at the adorable grin? How is one to resist someone so bright eyed with a rock star smile and dimples? It just isn’t possible.

Zeke has turned out to be quite the cooer. He does it in the softest of voices with a little half grin on his face. Oh, he holds conversations with me here and there but he has these marathon discussions with his Father. Must be some man talk that I just wouldn’t understand and therefore he feels he must confide such things to Dad. : ) Here he is just a talking away.

And he is on the brink of letting out the belly laughter. There have been a few teasers in there. It is like when you turn the key in the ignition of your car and you can tell it wants to turn over but it isn’t fully starting up. That is exactly how his little giggle thing is. You can tell he is working up to the laugh but he isn’t quite ready to let it out.

So how do the others feel about him?

Well, it is no lie that Katie is smitten with him. He is her, “Baby Brudder.” She seeks the two of us out and when she sees him it is, “Hi Zeke-ie!” She gives him kisses and lovin’ and if his binks (pacifier) is sitting somewhere she brings it to you and tries to put it in his mouth (even if he is nursing just then). She is a riot where Zeke is concerned and will be his great defender and friend as time passes by. It is refreshing to have her be this way as Kiersten was less than thrilled with Isaiah as a baby and Isaiah is just passive about babies and new family members in general.

I guess that answers how Isaiah is taking to him. He isn’t. Just like with Katie he isn’t mean or nice to Zeke. He kind of acts like he isn’t really there and just goes about his business same as before he came. I don’t know if you would exactly call it ignoring the baby or just indifferent. Time will tell how the two will end up interacting with one another. I hope they’ll be buddies and that he’ll take Zeke under his wing as they older.

And Kiersten, well, she definitely loves him. She likes holding him and talking to him. Now that he smiles she is out to win every smile for herself that she can. Zeke seems only too happy to oblige her need for lovin’ with smiling at her. She also wants to have him ‘talk’ to her as he does to Mom and Dad and tries for that just as hard as she does for the smiles. When Zeke first came home Kiersten described him as a “cup of cuteness”. Suffice it to say she still feels that way.

Beloved? He adores the little guy. As I mentioned they have their ‘man talks’ and then he knows full well I don’t get near the smiles and such that he does. That puffs him up a bit…and warms his heart in all the right places. I think there is something there for him too, knowing that this is to be our last baby, that makes him different this time around. Things we had rushed through before or simply taken for granted are being seen and time is marked. This stage will pass all too quickly so both he and I are enjoying and soaking it in as best we can.

My little clan of 4 complete now with this ‘fweet’ little boy!