Dodged a Bullet

Boy did I luck out the other day.

Isaiah lost his second tooth. It had been hanging on by a thread and while playing he wiggled it out with his tongue. So tooth out means a visit from the Tooth Fairy. He seemed to have the idea that so long as he put the tooth under his pillow, no matter the time of day, the Tooth Fairy would come. When lunch time hit and nothing happened he made a comment.

We reviewed what we knew to be true of the Tooth Fairy: she makes no appearance until all are asleep and in dreamland. It is only then that she comes and then that she makes the trade of some treat from the tooth.

That is what she does if she doesn’t FORGET!

The next day Isaiah and I are by the dining room table and it hits me. I did not make a nighttime trip to his room to deposit a ‘gold coin and a lollipop’. How could I have forgotten? (I know how, I won’t bore you with the details.)

The funny thing is Isaiah didn’t say a thing. Not one word.

I needed to get some clean, dry clothes for Ezekiel so I had good reason to be near their bedrooms. As any good Mom can, I gathered together a ‘gold coin and a lollipop’, without any little people taking notice, and made my way to his room. Sure enough there lay the littlest tooth under his pillow waiting patiently to be taken. I made the swap and headed downstairs.

Of course I couldn’t say anything to him right away lest I appear the culprit. I waited for an hour or so and then asked him about his tooth is some sly way. THEN he mentions that she didn’t come.

“Are you sure?” I asked him. “You’re sure she didn’t come? Let’s go upstairs and look. I cannot believe she didn’t show up!”

Up we went. He lifts up his pillow…”She came!” he shouts. The coin went in the piggy bank and the lollipop in the mouth. All was well and right with the world.

My excuse? I told him there must have been an awful lot of teeth she needed to collect in the night. She was busy. She didn’t forget him, she just hadn’t made it here yet. (Good thing he didn’t remind me about what I had shared with him only the day before regarding when the Tooth Fairy comes!)

Whew! That was a close call.

Life

I fear life has kept me busy enough that right now I am just counting blessings here. : ) Not a bad thing to be doing, mind you, but I know some dear ones (Hi Mom!) are missing seeing the little people with whom I dwell and hearing about their shenanigans. I'll get there again soon, promise. I definitely need to do a post all on the wee littlest man of the house.

To be honest one of the things that has kept my time occupied is laundry. I believe it to be related to bunnies - seems to breed at an alarming rate! I don't water or fertilize my laundry and yet it blooms and grows. It is amazing! If Zeke ever stops being one who cannot hold down his milk or Katie doesn't have any more 'accidents' in her bed (mostly my fault for giving a try at no diaper for rest time and forgetting it one night when I put her to bed) I think I might gain ground. Until then....

So enough with the excuses let's get to counting some of our blessings shall we?

31.  a dentist who is amazingly good with children

32.  a haircut given by a dear sister that is both cute and a nice change

33.  a warm, quiet (non child interrupted) shower : )

34.  Friday dates with Isaiah at the coffee shop

35.  the game of Sorry

36.  the smell of newly bathed children

37.  the sound of baby squeals as his neck is kissed

38.  a gracious husband (more on that another day)

39.  floors that were cleaned by a hand other than my own

40.  listening to Scottish friends talk (I love accents!)

41. having friends over for a meal

42.  an upgrade to my cell phone (I snatched my Beloved's old phone. This is my old phone 6+yrs of faithful service)

43.  catching a good sale on clothes for the kids

44.  getting time to read for pleasure several times a day while meeting the needs of the littlest person here

45.  laughter

Still honing that eye, training it to see things to be thankful for and rejoice over. Slowly but surely we are learning. (A good night's sleep goes a long way to helping the learning curve I've discovered. I know, I should have been a rocket scientist. : ) ) All kidding aside Miss Ann had a lovely post today and it is worth a read if you have the time. She is the dear lady with whom this 1000 gifts, the art of seeking blessings in the everyday, was prompted. Anyhow she blessed her Mom with a sweet gift.  Something like that would be a dear gift for any family member for Christmas. Can't put a price on something that feeds the heart. You'll have to jump over there and see what I am talking about! : ) 

Alright, I hope to be back before we count blessings again. I'll try, that is all I can guarantee just now. Hope you have a blessed day. Keep counting!

Blessed

I am tired today so we'll keep it short and sweet. I know you won't mind. :) If you've a mind to see what is blessing others jump on over here. The links are at the end of the post.

We are continuing on our journey to count our blessings...all the way to 1000.


15. Zeke's thrush seems to be gone : )

16. babies who have a snort mixed in their laugh every now and again

17. a husband who readily laughs...makes me smile when I hear it

18. gift cards

19. baby announcements in the mail

20. a boy who dances during church worship

21. sweet girl who looks precious with her hair in a bun for ballet

22. Dora sheets and underwear (making transitions easier and more fun for the Katie girl)

23. a laundromat mere minutes from the house

24. white chocolate mocha's (a weakness of mine to be sure!)

25. little toes on little feet (really all things little)

26. shared recipes to add to my arsenal

27. naps

28. a dent made in the laundry

29. bunk beds

30. Grapevine Bible studies for kids

A Small Smile

That is what I had on my face a few times at church this morning. Each of the children brought one to my face and all for different reasons.

After my Beloved and I had dropped all but Ezekiel off in their rooms we headed across the fellowship area towards the sanctuary. As we walked I noticed a cute young boy heading our way.

“Look,” I said as I nudged my Beloved.

He looked up but not where I wanted him to.

“Look!” I said again. “It’s him.”

This time he noticed to whom I was directing his attention.

“That’s Ian.”

“Oh!” a dawning realization then of what I was wanting him to see came over him.

Ian.

Kiersten’s crush. Her first crush.

I had a feeling my Beloved hadn’t yet known who the young boy was that had captured his daughter’s attention. Now he knows and now I won’t be alone in my secret smiles each time I see him at church or the dance studio.

Isaiah. I didn’t witness this but a dear friend of mine who helps run our children’s ministry made it known our biggest man was dancing for joy to the Lord during their worship time.

If you had only seen this boy when he was in the room with the 2,3, 4 & 5 year olds during their worship time you would know why this was such a surprise but a delight to know. I honestly never would have imagined my boy enjoying worship at church let alone dancing.

When he was in the other rooms, the 2, 3 or 4&5 year old rooms, he was a totally different person. See they crammed all those kids together in a cordoned off area within one of those rooms. He is not one to be in a crowded room and function well. He would slump to the wall and there he would sit. All the other kids would be dancing, singing or following the motions of the teenager leading them in worship. Not Isaiah. Never did he participate although he would sing the songs on the way home in car. Go figure.

So my point…my boy was enjoying worship so much so he was dancing. : ) What a sweetie that boy is.

Katie girl. She’s at the age/stage where a lot of what she does makes me grin. I’m not complaining. But what she did this morning at church that made me smile was grab my hand, follow me to the bathroom and proceed to use the toilet. This was the first Sunday we let her leave home in her Dora underwear (sorry if that is too much info!). She does a fabulous job whether we are at home or out and about of letting us know it is ‘time’.

She does play this little game when she goes and you are watching.

“I made some tank-le, tank-les Mommy!”

“Make some more tinkle, tinkles.”

“I’m all done.”

“Make some more tinkle, tinkles.”

She does.

“I’m all done.”

We go through this a few times before she says in a different tone, “I’m all done.” And all this is always said with a grin. She knows she is teasing you. Mark my words…she is going to be the ‘fun’ one (and a handful!).

Lastly Ezekiel. This morning was child dedication. This is simply where we dedicate ourselves to live for the Lord, promising to do our best to raise him in the love and knowledge of the Lord with the support of our church family.

Zeke is just such a sweetie. He has the most precious smile. When he flashes it your way, which he will often (he’s not stingy with them), it makes you feel like a million bucks.

As it the usual Sunday morning routine he fell asleep in my arms not 10 minutes after we were up front. I got to hold him and enjoy his little sleeping self. It is a rare thing to do that at home but at church it is a blessing and joy to be able to.

It was just one of those days that I could help but smile over each of these dear ones. Am I blessed or what?

Thankful

I have decided to try to be intentional about seeing the goodness of God and giving thanks to him in the big and the small.

I find I can find fault easily. That bugs me. I know my perspective needs a different vantage point. In changing how I look at everyday things and in even taking the time to ponder the everyday things I figure to find more that I am pleased with than I am displeased with. And yes, I mean mostly in regards to my family.

Please don’t get me wrong. It isn’t them it’s me. : ) Ok sometimes it is them.

The point is I am with them day in and day out. They school at home so we are never apart. Living life together all day every day helps magnify those things that do get on your nerves…but only if you are looking for them.

So instead of looking for things that bug me I am going to try to look for things that bless me. To get an attitude of gratitude as Miss Ann would say. : ) The eyes of my heart need a new vantage point, a refocusing, to one of thankfulness. So here we go on our journey to counting 1000 blessings.

Let the thankfulness commence!

#1-15
1. a baby who sleeps through the night


2. a husband who supports homeschooling


3. a husband whose job supports my being at home full-time


4. four healthy, happy children


5. a little girl who cries out as we near church, “Friends! I’m coming Friends!”


6. some serious progress on the potty training front


7. all things pumpkin (pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins…..)


8. a big man who gets right down to business with his school time


9. a daughter who has come around in her attitude towards school, math in particular


10. the sweetest smile an my baby boy’s face


11. dimples


12. Fall, the beautiful colors of leaves


13. a warm cup of something each morning (coffee, tea, hot chocolate)


14. quiet, the sound of all sleeping peacefully


15. a soft pillow on which to rest my head

Here’s to our journey of gratitude, being thankful in the everday- cheers!

Family Entertainment

(Since we’ve been immersed in all things potty training I thought a change of pace would be nice. You’re welcome. : ))

As the summer ended and Fall began we started to see more and more large spiders around the house. I say we, but I mean they (Beloved + children). Until I went out to take pictures I had not laid my eyes on the little, or not so little, buggers I knew to be infesting our yard.

To be sure I had been beckoned, “Mom! Come see the huge spider!”

 “Thanks so much. But I’ll pass.”

I leave all that spidery stuff, especially ones still out of doors, to my Beloved. (A spider inside the house? Different story altogether. I wouldn’t be able to rest until I knew I had done all I could to get it. Make no mistake, get it I would.)

Anyhow, what my Beloved decided to do once the spider was pointed out to him was catch a moth or some other small bug or insect and toss it into the web so the kids could watch the spider come down, sting its victim and wrap it up nicely.

That is some serious free family entertainment let me tell you! I’m not much amused by the whole display but then it isn’t me my honey was out to impress. The funny thing is that even though I avoided these ‘shows’ my Beloved would induce by throwing things into webs I recently ended up seeing that very thing. However it wasn't a spider in my backyard I was watching. (Thankfully.)

We are using Sonlight Core 3 as well as their science program this year for school. Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution is a DVD that is built into the curriculum. I am thankful the topic of evolution has come up. We’ve chatted a bit about it now and again but I think it is hard for Kiersten to understand what all evolution means, entails. (She’s still little. : )) What I am even more thankful for is how this DVD shows time and time again that all these different creatures (us included) are so complexly made and have such individualized tasks our bodies perform that there is just no way we evolved from some other type of animal. We have a creator, who is God, and in His awesome power and glory made all things unique…especially man, his most beloved creation, formed in his image, loved deeply and created to have a relationship with him.

But I am getting off topic.

The point is in this video there is section that shows a spider, a rather nasty looking bugger, catching something in his web, going in for the sting and then spinning his prey up in a nice neat and tidy package!

This same spider, or at least it looks a lot like the same spider (the big ones all start to look the same to me, scary and in need of killing), showed up in a library book Isaiah just adored that same week. This is it…

It is a picture book of letters found in nature. For the letter “X” wouldn’t you know the creepy crawly guy from the DVD would make an appearance. The kids just giggled when I would act grossed out and not even want to look at it. They would cover it, I would sigh with relief, they would uncover and I would cringe. Isn’t it a blessing kids are so easily prone to giggle? And in return make you giggle? : )

Nothing like spiders to keep a family entertained.

Beggars can't be choosers

I might have begged to have my third child do her business on the toilet, but I most certainly do not get to choose the time at which she does it.

Beggars cannot be choosers.

Why might I ask, can't they?

I'd like to be.

Is too much to hope at 8:30, when your child has called out from her bed for the first time that she has to go potty, when you place that little hinder on your favorite red toilet that she would succumb to the pressure and do what she said needed doing?

Guess so.

How about at 11:30, when she called out a second time that she had business to attend to, is it too much to hope she would do it then?

Apparently it is.

(By now my suspicions are confirmed. I had a feeling earlier in the evening that my sweet girl needed to make more than make potty on the toilet but just couldn't, nay, wouldn't. When I carried her down at 11:30 and her legs were stiff and she was straining there was no doubt what was going on.)

Now, finally, after her third cry out at 2 a.m. that she needs to visit the toilet it isn't too much to hope that she'll follow through. She has done what she thought she wanted to do all evening.

She is relieved and I am exhausted. : )

Good night. Sweet dreams. I'll see you in the morning!

Liar Liar

Have you ever had your child or children make a liar out of you?

For example making a doctor’s appointment because your child wasn’t feeling well or had a fever only to take them to the appointment and have them smile and act like nothing was wrong?

Or tell someone else your child ‘never’ …. (fill in the blank) only to have them do that very thing right in front of this person?

Me neither. : )

Well, that is just what Miss Katie girl has done to me after my little tirade on potty training. She has made a liar out of me. The day after I wrote this post she took to potty training like a champ! Oh, she’s had a few accidents between now and then. Let me share what else she has done between now and then.

First let me just say that I recently reclaimed a portable training toilet I had lent to another mom. I have never used it but rather trained both Kiersten and Isaiah with those insert toilet seats that fit on a regular toilet. After seeing how Katie was fairing and feeling I was in for something new I decided what could it hurt to try a training toilet?

Oh little red toilet how I LOVE YOU!

This toilet has made potty training more bearable for me and more enjoyable for the Katie girl.

Back to what all has transpired between now and then. Katie has taken to telling us she needs to use the toilet even while wearing a diaper (she was headed up to bed). The diaper was dry. She was waiting until we placed her on the toilet to do her thing. (This makes Mom VERY happy!) This ‘telling’ us she has to go has replaced setting the timer in order to ensure she sits down again to try within a reasonable amount of time.

What else? How about waking Mom up at 3:30 in the A.M. to tell her you ‘pooped’ (code for I made potty) in your diaper. I asked her if she wanted me to change her.

“Yes!” was the prompt reply.

“Would you like to sit on the toilet?”

“Yes!”

Down we went to the living room where I took off her still dry diaper and put her on the little toilet. Within a matter of seconds that sweet, headstrong little thing made her potty! We went through our little routine and we headed back upstairs with her chocolate treat in her hand. She ate it, I gave her some lovin’ and sent her back on her way to dreamland.

I must say a middle of the night potty call is a first for me! I’ll take it though, because middle of the night or middle of the day, any time she tells me she needs to make potty and waits until we are on it in order to do so…well that is some serious progress in my book!

And can I just say a little person running around half dressed in girly underwear is precious?

Thanks again little red toilet ( & Hershey’s Hugs)! Without you I am not sure how I would be fairing in this battle between diaper and toilet. GO TOILET!!! : )