Hmmm....What does it say that many of the things speaking to me are about paring down, slowing down, looking closely at the things on my "man-made" to-do list versus what God wants me to have on my "His will" to-do list? Anyone?
Here's yet another great email that I received covering this topic...Am I the only one that needs to hear...er...read this?
Choosing a Simpler Life
by Rick Warren
. . . a time to embrace and a time to refrain. Ecclesiastes 3:5 (NIV)
*** *** *** ***
You’d think that living in Southern California means I’m surrounded by people who live a laid-back lifestyle. The truth is just the opposite: Most of the people I know are trying to cram more and more into each day.
For instance, a couple of years ago, I was with a group of friends driving down the interstate. At one point, I looked around and realized most of us were engaged in some activity other than talking to each other. Two people were on their cell phones; another was working on his BlackBerry; and a fourth was focused on his laptop computer.
As a joke, I declared I felt left out. I called the driver, who was sitting right next to me, and we chatted together on our cell phones for a few minutes! The point of our traveling together in the van was so we could grab time to talk face-to-face! Yet we felt pressed to get it all done.
That’s when I realized the truth – we couldn’t get it all done, and God never intended for us to make completing a to-do list the purpose of our lives.
The fact is, there are many things we think we must do that really are not worth doing. My point is this: You won’t simplify your life by getting an electronic organizer. You won’t even find it by convincing your neighbor, who makes Martha Stewart look like a sloth, to give you tips about coordinating your activities while still wearing a perfect dress and pearls like Beaver Cleaver’s mom.
Simplifying is really about choices – prioritizing what is important – and then sticking to those choices no matter how tempting it is to add more to your to-do list. In fact, take those tempting activities and put them on a list of things not to do.
You are the only one who can assume responsibility for your time and clarify what’s really important to you.
Now maybe you’re thinking, “But I have to take care of the kids,” or “I have to get this report done by Friday.” I’m not naïve about the pressures many people feel today, but it may be that those things – your children, your work – are the priorities you keep on your to-do list, and you move other things to the not-to-do list.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Is your hut on fire?
More good stuff I got in an email a few days ago...It makes you think about striving to look at your current difficult circumstances through "eternal" eyes...Which is, I'll readily admit, very difficult to do. However, just remember...
Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good for those that love God and are called according to His purpose.
**********************
When your hut's on fire
The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smokerolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, 'God! How could you do this to me?' Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! 'How did you know I was here?' asked the weary man of his rescuers. 'We saw your smoke signal,' they replied.
The Moral of This Story:
It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.
Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good for those that love God and are called according to His purpose.
**********************
When your hut's on fire
The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smokerolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, 'God! How could you do this to me?' Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! 'How did you know I was here?' asked the weary man of his rescuers. 'We saw your smoke signal,' they replied.
The Moral of This Story:
It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Good stuff...
I received this in an email today, and thought it was so good I had to post...for everyone to read and for me to have to reference in the future...Enjoy!
Choices Control Your Calendar
by Rick Warren
We are each responsible for our own conduct. Galatians 6:5 (NLT)
*** *** *** ***
Your choices control your calendar and, as a result, your lifestyle. Your choices are far more powerful than your circumstances. You may not like how complicated your life has become yet, with very few exceptions, no one is forcing you to keep your life complicated.
You have the power to simplify your life.
The Bible teaches, “We are each responsible for our own conduct” (Galatians 6:5 NLT). To me, that means God expects us to assume responsibility for our lives and to carefully choose how we spend our time.
That’s why I’ve spent years teaching people to discover why God placed them on this planet: What is your purpose for being here?
Ultimately, it will be the donation of your life that will count far more than the duration.
In other words, it’s not how long you live – or even how much you cram into how long you live – it’s really about how you live.
Here are three essential steps to simplify your life:
· First, figure out your purpose, and then let your purpose guide the goals of your life.
· Second, organize your activities based upon your purpose.
· Finally, harmonize your schedule with your purpose; that is, bring your activities into agreement with your goals.
You have just enough time to do God's will while you’re here on earth. You’ve been given just enough time to fulfill your purpose. When you try to do more than God planned for you, it’s only natural that you’ll find yourself constantly out of time or stressed over your schedule.
If it doesn’t fit the purpose of your life, God doesn’t want you doing it. In fact, he may be overjoyed that you finally got the message and stopped doing meaningless activities. He may even want you to add “rest” or “have fun” to your to-do list.
My prayer for you is that you will find relief from stress and a new sense of satisfaction as you do only the things God created you to do.
Choices Control Your Calendar
by Rick Warren
We are each responsible for our own conduct. Galatians 6:5 (NLT)
*** *** *** ***
Your choices control your calendar and, as a result, your lifestyle. Your choices are far more powerful than your circumstances. You may not like how complicated your life has become yet, with very few exceptions, no one is forcing you to keep your life complicated.
You have the power to simplify your life.
The Bible teaches, “We are each responsible for our own conduct” (Galatians 6:5 NLT). To me, that means God expects us to assume responsibility for our lives and to carefully choose how we spend our time.
That’s why I’ve spent years teaching people to discover why God placed them on this planet: What is your purpose for being here?
Ultimately, it will be the donation of your life that will count far more than the duration.
In other words, it’s not how long you live – or even how much you cram into how long you live – it’s really about how you live.
Here are three essential steps to simplify your life:
· First, figure out your purpose, and then let your purpose guide the goals of your life.
· Second, organize your activities based upon your purpose.
· Finally, harmonize your schedule with your purpose; that is, bring your activities into agreement with your goals.
You have just enough time to do God's will while you’re here on earth. You’ve been given just enough time to fulfill your purpose. When you try to do more than God planned for you, it’s only natural that you’ll find yourself constantly out of time or stressed over your schedule.
If it doesn’t fit the purpose of your life, God doesn’t want you doing it. In fact, he may be overjoyed that you finally got the message and stopped doing meaningless activities. He may even want you to add “rest” or “have fun” to your to-do list.
My prayer for you is that you will find relief from stress and a new sense of satisfaction as you do only the things God created you to do.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Remembering the fallen
Today is the anniversary of the fall of Bonfire. I can hardly believe that it's been 9 years since that horrific day.
For those of you that knew Aggieland when Bonfire was around, take a moment to think back on those times...for those of you that didn't, I'm sorry. I feel like Aggieland is missing a little piece of itself now that Bonfire is gone...and it goes deeper than just Bonfire itself. The campus now truly isn't the same, and I don't think I'm feeling that just because I'm "staff" or because I'm "old ag" - I really just think it's different. There's a shared bonding that's missing, a..."something"...that I just can't quite put my finger on...
But anyway...
Take a few moments and say a prayer for the families of the 12 individuals that gave their lives on this day nine years ago, while they were participating in an activity that they were passionate about. Granted, these 12, nor any of those injured probably EVER thought that this would happen - goodness, did anyone? But it did, and their families have now had to live without them for all these years. Pray for their peace, their comfort...pray that the Lord allows them to feel His peace and to truly heal from this horrific incident.
Miranda Adams
Christopher Breen
Michael Ebanks
Jeremy Frampton
Jamie Hand
Christopher Heard
Timothy Kerlee
Lucas Kimmel
Bryan McClain
Chad Powell
Jerry Self
Nathan West
Aggieland truly hasn't been the same since that day...
For those of you that knew Aggieland when Bonfire was around, take a moment to think back on those times...for those of you that didn't, I'm sorry. I feel like Aggieland is missing a little piece of itself now that Bonfire is gone...and it goes deeper than just Bonfire itself. The campus now truly isn't the same, and I don't think I'm feeling that just because I'm "staff" or because I'm "old ag" - I really just think it's different. There's a shared bonding that's missing, a..."something"...that I just can't quite put my finger on...
But anyway...
Take a few moments and say a prayer for the families of the 12 individuals that gave their lives on this day nine years ago, while they were participating in an activity that they were passionate about. Granted, these 12, nor any of those injured probably EVER thought that this would happen - goodness, did anyone? But it did, and their families have now had to live without them for all these years. Pray for their peace, their comfort...pray that the Lord allows them to feel His peace and to truly heal from this horrific incident.
Miranda Adams
Christopher Breen
Michael Ebanks
Jeremy Frampton
Jamie Hand
Christopher Heard
Timothy Kerlee
Lucas Kimmel
Bryan McClain
Chad Powell
Jerry Self
Nathan West
Aggieland truly hasn't been the same since that day...
Monday, November 17, 2008
Oh, deer...
No, I didn't spell it incorrectly. I almost hit a deer on a beautiful back stretch of highway coming home from church last night and apparently Matt wasn't so lucky tonight. He left after cooking the kids and I supper to run some errands, and I just talked with him - he hit a deer on that same stretch of road. It shattered one of his headlights and banged up the front of his Tahoe pretty badly, but he's fine (the deer; however, is not). He has a grill guard on his Tahoe, but is frustrated that it doesn't seem like its done much good to protect the vehicle in skirmishes. When he takes it in to get it fixed he's going to ask if it would have been worse without it...
I'm just thankful that he's ok! (And I wish he would have got the deer in a more traditional way! If it was the one that had suicidal tendencies yesterday, it was a BEAUTIFUL rack and, by the looks of it, would have filled our freezer!!)
I'm just thankful that he's ok! (And I wish he would have got the deer in a more traditional way! If it was the one that had suicidal tendencies yesterday, it was a BEAUTIFUL rack and, by the looks of it, would have filled our freezer!!)
Family Fun Day
Saturday was just that...Family Fun Day. Matt mentioned to me how odd it seemed that it was just "us" at the house. We weren't expecting company. People weren't coming over in preparation for the game. We weren't going to the game. Nothing. It was just us.
And boy, was it NICE!
We started the day lounging in bed. Well, that's not quite true. MY day started with a Tater-tot to the head, courtesy of my dear, sweet husband, but since he had already changed her poopy diaper, I didn't mind all that much. *grin* Then we lounged in bed for a while, until we could no longer stave off the "eat" signs and sounds from our ever-hungry Tatum. It was on to breakfast for us and some additional lounging.
Then we decided to head to the movies to see Madagascar II: Escape to Africa. Note to self: when asking the ticket person how many people are in the movie theatre, get a more specific answer than, "It's not too full." We ended up sitting on the second row. Boy, that screen is REALLY large from that close! It was quite the milestone...Tatum's first ever movie that she actually could try to watch (not the first one she's been to, as I took her to quite a few while I was on maternity leave, but I don't really count those toward her "movie attendance"). She did...umm....ok. I watched quite a bit of the movie from the entrance aisle. But, in her defense, it was an 11:20 AM showing (can we say close to nap??) and she was tired. And after about 15 minutes or so of me holding her and watching, er...pacing, in the aisle, she was SOUND asleep, and we went back in and finished the movie. Kellen, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and didn't stop eating the HUGE bag of popcorn that his Daddy bought him the entire time. I'm not sure how he didn't make it through that whole bag, OR how he didn't have a tummy ache, OR how he was actually STILL HUNGRY for lunch when we got out of the movie. Seriously?!?
In case you're wondering, we liked the movie, but think the first one is better.
Back to the house we went, got the kids down for naps, then Matt went to run some errands. I tried to take a nap, but Tatum decided that her short-lived movie nap was enough for her. Fun stuff. So instead of listening to her whail, I decided to go in her room to rock her. MISTAKE. The sight of me set off her lungs, I didn't know that they had another level....wow. Try as I might, a "second" nap, continuation of her movie-nap, whatever, just wasn't happening, so we just snuggled and "rested" while Kellen was napping.
When Kellen woke up, we decided to take a walk to the park to see the ducks. (I'm telling you, we had an AWESOME Family Fun day!!!) So we bundled up, you know, it had gotten a little chilly and windy, and off we went to the park. Kellen and Tatum fed the ducks, and Kellen searched for a while for Meaniac, his favorite duck there (which, I think is odd, since this is the one that bit him this summer, but hey...), and Kellen and Daddy took periodic jaunts into the woods on their "adventures" while on our way back to the playground. We all played for a while on the playground, and then headed back home for dinner.
Daddy and I had already decided to have an inside picnic, and apparently great minds think alike, because as we got home, Kellen came up with the idea as well. So we had our picnic blanket spread in the living room and had our dinner picnic while watching Kung Fu Panda, a recent addition to our movie collection.
Shortly after the movie started, the effects of Tatum's short-lived nap were apparent, and she made her desires for night-night evident to all. After she went to bed, we all gathered to watch the movie and finish dinner, and enjoyed a nice, warm batch of chocolate chip cookies that I decided to throw in the oven to bake (it's GREAT to have cookie dough on hand - YAY!).
All-in-all, it was a glorious day! I told Matt after Kellen went to bed that THIS is the life that I want to lead with our family. And then I thought more about it...Is THIS what it's like to rest...truly rest and relax? Our Bible study had this verse as one of the verses during our daily lesson this past week:
Exodus 34:21: Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.
And what really spoke to me in this verse was the importance of actually RESTING, regardless of the overwhelming "to-do" lists that always seem to be there, waiting on me. So I'm working on it...And Saturday was just so wonderful that it confirmed how much I need that rest period in my week.
So bring on the Family Fun Days!!
And boy, was it NICE!
We started the day lounging in bed. Well, that's not quite true. MY day started with a Tater-tot to the head, courtesy of my dear, sweet husband, but since he had already changed her poopy diaper, I didn't mind all that much. *grin* Then we lounged in bed for a while, until we could no longer stave off the "eat" signs and sounds from our ever-hungry Tatum. It was on to breakfast for us and some additional lounging.
Then we decided to head to the movies to see Madagascar II: Escape to Africa. Note to self: when asking the ticket person how many people are in the movie theatre, get a more specific answer than, "It's not too full." We ended up sitting on the second row. Boy, that screen is REALLY large from that close! It was quite the milestone...Tatum's first ever movie that she actually could try to watch (not the first one she's been to, as I took her to quite a few while I was on maternity leave, but I don't really count those toward her "movie attendance"). She did...umm....ok. I watched quite a bit of the movie from the entrance aisle. But, in her defense, it was an 11:20 AM showing (can we say close to nap??) and she was tired. And after about 15 minutes or so of me holding her and watching, er...pacing, in the aisle, she was SOUND asleep, and we went back in and finished the movie. Kellen, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and didn't stop eating the HUGE bag of popcorn that his Daddy bought him the entire time. I'm not sure how he didn't make it through that whole bag, OR how he didn't have a tummy ache, OR how he was actually STILL HUNGRY for lunch when we got out of the movie. Seriously?!?
In case you're wondering, we liked the movie, but think the first one is better.
Back to the house we went, got the kids down for naps, then Matt went to run some errands. I tried to take a nap, but Tatum decided that her short-lived movie nap was enough for her. Fun stuff. So instead of listening to her whail, I decided to go in her room to rock her. MISTAKE. The sight of me set off her lungs, I didn't know that they had another level....wow. Try as I might, a "second" nap, continuation of her movie-nap, whatever, just wasn't happening, so we just snuggled and "rested" while Kellen was napping.
When Kellen woke up, we decided to take a walk to the park to see the ducks. (I'm telling you, we had an AWESOME Family Fun day!!!) So we bundled up, you know, it had gotten a little chilly and windy, and off we went to the park. Kellen and Tatum fed the ducks, and Kellen searched for a while for Meaniac, his favorite duck there (which, I think is odd, since this is the one that bit him this summer, but hey...), and Kellen and Daddy took periodic jaunts into the woods on their "adventures" while on our way back to the playground. We all played for a while on the playground, and then headed back home for dinner.
Daddy and I had already decided to have an inside picnic, and apparently great minds think alike, because as we got home, Kellen came up with the idea as well. So we had our picnic blanket spread in the living room and had our dinner picnic while watching Kung Fu Panda, a recent addition to our movie collection.
Shortly after the movie started, the effects of Tatum's short-lived nap were apparent, and she made her desires for night-night evident to all. After she went to bed, we all gathered to watch the movie and finish dinner, and enjoyed a nice, warm batch of chocolate chip cookies that I decided to throw in the oven to bake (it's GREAT to have cookie dough on hand - YAY!).
All-in-all, it was a glorious day! I told Matt after Kellen went to bed that THIS is the life that I want to lead with our family. And then I thought more about it...Is THIS what it's like to rest...truly rest and relax? Our Bible study had this verse as one of the verses during our daily lesson this past week:
Exodus 34:21: Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.
And what really spoke to me in this verse was the importance of actually RESTING, regardless of the overwhelming "to-do" lists that always seem to be there, waiting on me. So I'm working on it...And Saturday was just so wonderful that it confirmed how much I need that rest period in my week.
So bring on the Family Fun Days!!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Love and Logic
Anyone have any comments on this parenting philosophy? Have you read the book and care to share your thoughts? This was being discussed on one of my moms boards and it sounds pretty good to me...just wanted to get some other opinions...feel free to share!
It does go bad...
Stink...I thought I had read somewhere that chocolate stayed good for a year, so when I realized that we still had an Easter bunny in the pantry (yes, an Easter bunny...don't ASK me how it managed to survive that long in THIS house with ME, but hey...) I thought I would be able to have a nice chocolate snack tonight.
Nope.
If chocolate DOES stay good for that long, then this was old bunny when I bought it.
Stink.
I'm totally craving chocolate today and have already finished off the Oreos my sweetie bought me a few days ago (and no, I wasn't the only one eating them, either).
Guess I really need to hit the road. Literally. And get back on my half marathon training if I'm going to continue to have these kind of cravings!
Nope.
If chocolate DOES stay good for that long, then this was old bunny when I bought it.
Stink.
I'm totally craving chocolate today and have already finished off the Oreos my sweetie bought me a few days ago (and no, I wasn't the only one eating them, either).
Guess I really need to hit the road. Literally. And get back on my half marathon training if I'm going to continue to have these kind of cravings!
I help you, Mommy
We're now entering the world of Tatum's verbal explosion, (and several other "worlds" including sassiness, stubborness and tantrums, but lets focus on the fun one today, shall we?) and this is one of her first full sentences. I think her ACTUAL first full sentence was, "Paw Paw sit DOWN!" which was accompanied by her pointing in an incredibly animated fashion to the appropriate chair for her dearly beloved paw paw.
At any rate, I was working on getting her diaper bag ready yesterday morning, and she walked over to me and said, "I help you, Mommy," and proceeded to try and actually help me stuff inserts into her diapers. It was endearing and quite hilarious to watch, actually.
At any rate, I was working on getting her diaper bag ready yesterday morning, and she walked over to me and said, "I help you, Mommy," and proceeded to try and actually help me stuff inserts into her diapers. It was endearing and quite hilarious to watch, actually.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Teeth, teeth and MORE teeth!
Three in all, to be exact! That's how many teeth Tatum's gotten in within the past week...all incisors, too...both on the top and the bottom right one popped through yesterday. Which helps to explain her increased demand for her paci, and her recent ability to suck so hard on that thing that she sucked sores on her mouth around the edge of the paci.
I'll leave that one for you to close your eyes and imagine...paci around the mouth...imagine the top area of the paci, with sucking sores underneath the right and left "corners" - so to speak - and smaller sore areas on the top of her lip area.
I had been wondering why she had gotten those sores, and how. Then the new teeth popped through and everything just kinda' fell into place on that one.
Poor girl!
As for an update on Kellen, he's doing MUCH better in school and in Kids Klub behavior-wise. So much so, in fact, that he was able to get a toy out of the "treasure chest" on Monday in school. And apparently only kids who are well behaved are chosen to get a toy out of the treasure chest, and it's not an 'every day when they are well-behaved' occurance, so way to go Kellen! He promptly got the toy taken away from him when his Daddy caught him sneaking it into bed with him (since we don't sleep with toys here in this house), but perhaps he'll be able to get it back tomorrow - it was only taken away for a day.
He's been cracking me up lately with some of his comments, but unfortunately, I can't remember them verbatim, and I don't want to ruin them by trying to paraphrase...I'll try to jot some of them down in the midst of holding my stomach the next time he has me laughing hysterically so that you can share in the laughter via a post...
I'll leave that one for you to close your eyes and imagine...paci around the mouth...imagine the top area of the paci, with sucking sores underneath the right and left "corners" - so to speak - and smaller sore areas on the top of her lip area.
I had been wondering why she had gotten those sores, and how. Then the new teeth popped through and everything just kinda' fell into place on that one.
Poor girl!
As for an update on Kellen, he's doing MUCH better in school and in Kids Klub behavior-wise. So much so, in fact, that he was able to get a toy out of the "treasure chest" on Monday in school. And apparently only kids who are well behaved are chosen to get a toy out of the treasure chest, and it's not an 'every day when they are well-behaved' occurance, so way to go Kellen! He promptly got the toy taken away from him when his Daddy caught him sneaking it into bed with him (since we don't sleep with toys here in this house), but perhaps he'll be able to get it back tomorrow - it was only taken away for a day.
He's been cracking me up lately with some of his comments, but unfortunately, I can't remember them verbatim, and I don't want to ruin them by trying to paraphrase...I'll try to jot some of them down in the midst of holding my stomach the next time he has me laughing hysterically so that you can share in the laughter via a post...
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Admitting defeat??
Considering the football game I'm watching, I guess this is an appropriate title...(darn those Aggies this season...but I'll get there in a second...)
Do you think I made my point clear? And doesn't she look adorable?
Seriously though, I PRAY that it isn't as bad as I envision, but a co-worker of mine went in a local gun store to pick up a gun he had purchased, and he remarked to me that the store was busier than he had ever seen it...that there were probably 50 people in there. And this was on Wednesday. What does that tell you? Purely coincidence, or were these people trying to get guns while they still felt like they could? 'Cause Obama's made his stance on guns pretty clear as well, now hasn't he?
2. Back to my darling Aggies. *sigh* We're getting SPANKED by OU. And I really mean spanked. We're in the 4th quarter, and the score right now is 66 to 28. Yes, that's the score. It wasn't a typo. OUCH!
Do you think I made my point clear? And doesn't she look adorable?
Seriously though, I PRAY that it isn't as bad as I envision, but a co-worker of mine went in a local gun store to pick up a gun he had purchased, and he remarked to me that the store was busier than he had ever seen it...that there were probably 50 people in there. And this was on Wednesday. What does that tell you? Purely coincidence, or were these people trying to get guns while they still felt like they could? 'Cause Obama's made his stance on guns pretty clear as well, now hasn't he?
2. Back to my darling Aggies. *sigh* We're getting SPANKED by OU. And I really mean spanked. We're in the 4th quarter, and the score right now is 66 to 28. Yes, that's the score. It wasn't a typo. OUCH!
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Ready
Aren't you?
Just ready to know who our next President is - once and for all?
I'm watching the news...seeing the states flashing in their different colors, with some of them "too close to call" and am really just ready for the decision.
Lord, please help this country, regardless of the outcome of this election.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called together according to His purpose.
Which means that I have to trust that God can, and will, work and bring good out of the this election, even if the guy I didn't vote for and do not want elected is elected.
Just ready to know who our next President is - once and for all?
I'm watching the news...seeing the states flashing in their different colors, with some of them "too close to call" and am really just ready for the decision.
Lord, please help this country, regardless of the outcome of this election.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called together according to His purpose.
Which means that I have to trust that God can, and will, work and bring good out of the this election, even if the guy I didn't vote for and do not want elected is elected.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Unbelievable
When Matt got the phone call last night, then told me that Jill Jarvis - well, Attebery now, had passed away, my reaction was just that...disbelief.
She was too young, they had just had a baby, poor Scott. And poor Scott and Bryce is pretty much were I've stayed. I asked Matt this morning if he thought it was possible to be sad in heaven...As a mother, I was and am mourning the loss of Jill being able raise her son. But I just don't think it works like that.
Another former ABS'er had this link on her website, so I'll share it for those of you who knew Jill. Take some time and read it from beginning to end, and cry, as I did, for what Scott and those around him went and will continue to go through. And pray for him as he raises Bryce without her.
She was too young, they had just had a baby, poor Scott. And poor Scott and Bryce is pretty much were I've stayed. I asked Matt this morning if he thought it was possible to be sad in heaven...As a mother, I was and am mourning the loss of Jill being able raise her son. But I just don't think it works like that.
Another former ABS'er had this link on her website, so I'll share it for those of you who knew Jill. Take some time and read it from beginning to end, and cry, as I did, for what Scott and those around him went and will continue to go through. And pray for him as he raises Bryce without her.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Football Farewell & Fall Festival, part duex
Well, last night was the Steeler's last football game. I think, overall, that Kellen enjoyed his first adventure in the world of flag football. Generally speaking, he runs the correct way on the field, and he REALLY likes to be center and to block. Ultimately though, I think his favorite thing was the "fans" making a hand-tunnel for all of them to run through after each of the games. :)
We'll have a pizza party next Monday night to commemorate the end-of-the-season and will hand out the trophies then.
After his game last night, we did a quick-change for both kids, with this assistance of MawMaw and PawPaw, and headed over to the MSC for the Fall Festival there. We had mid-season costume adjustments for a couple of reasons. 1. MawMaw and PawPaw bought Kellen an Aggie football outfit (and wow, did we have a crisis when the shoulder pads ripped on that after trying it on maybe 3 times...wanna' guess the likelihood of finding another one in his size in this town...or in Conroe?...you guessed it. NOT! Luckily the Spring Academy had one and MawMaw and PawPaw picked it up and brought it over...WHEW!); 2. Tatum's little body had a reaction to her super-cute Cinderella costume (contact dermititis to the tulle, I guess...but I didn't know until I took the outfit off of her...it cleared up really quickly, but why do that to her again?). So...while I was wracking my brain for another costume for Tatum, along came the football outfit for Kellen and, viola' - a theme was born.
You guessed it...and no surprise coming from our family, right? Matt and I even had on our jerseys to go as "fans" and complete the theme.
The first picture shows Tatum happy, because, well, she's eating a cookie. :) The next few pictures aren't quite as great because I was actually trying to get a "cute" picture, so the cookie got taken away. What WAS I thinking, anyway? For the third picture, she got the cookie back, but wouldn't sit still and pose, so we finally just gave up. They did enter and win 2nd place in the Costume Contest...but I think they were cuter than the Little Red Riding Hood girl...but hey, perhaps I'm a little biased? Nah...just look at 'em! They're adorable!
We'll have a pizza party next Monday night to commemorate the end-of-the-season and will hand out the trophies then.
After his game last night, we did a quick-change for both kids, with this assistance of MawMaw and PawPaw, and headed over to the MSC for the Fall Festival there. We had mid-season costume adjustments for a couple of reasons. 1. MawMaw and PawPaw bought Kellen an Aggie football outfit (and wow, did we have a crisis when the shoulder pads ripped on that after trying it on maybe 3 times...wanna' guess the likelihood of finding another one in his size in this town...or in Conroe?...you guessed it. NOT! Luckily the Spring Academy had one and MawMaw and PawPaw picked it up and brought it over...WHEW!); 2. Tatum's little body had a reaction to her super-cute Cinderella costume (contact dermititis to the tulle, I guess...but I didn't know until I took the outfit off of her...it cleared up really quickly, but why do that to her again?). So...while I was wracking my brain for another costume for Tatum, along came the football outfit for Kellen and, viola' - a theme was born.
You guessed it...and no surprise coming from our family, right? Matt and I even had on our jerseys to go as "fans" and complete the theme.
The first picture shows Tatum happy, because, well, she's eating a cookie. :) The next few pictures aren't quite as great because I was actually trying to get a "cute" picture, so the cookie got taken away. What WAS I thinking, anyway? For the third picture, she got the cookie back, but wouldn't sit still and pose, so we finally just gave up. They did enter and win 2nd place in the Costume Contest...but I think they were cuter than the Little Red Riding Hood girl...but hey, perhaps I'm a little biased? Nah...just look at 'em! They're adorable!
Where is my sweet Kellen?
I will preface the next few remarks by saying that I SO FREQUENTLY get comments about how sweet, funny, and well-mannered Kellen is and can be. However, he's really starting to give us behavior problems both at school and at his Kids Klub. As is REALLY. Emails from the teacher and "marks" on an almost daily basis from Kids Klub.
It's nothing "major" but when put together on a daily basis, it's starting to add up to a problem and slippery slope that we simply don't want to go down. Things such as: not listening or following directions the first (or second, or...) time, keeping his hands to himself, climbing the concrete wall and jumping off (Kids Klub), talking when he isn't supposed to, running away from the lunch lady (today's school offense), etc.
He even PAINTED THE BATHROOM WALL TODAY during Kids Klub! They were painting shirts and he had paint on his hands, went into the bathroom, and despite being told not to, "decorated" the bathroom wall at school (hand print on the wall - he cleaned it up and had to assist with clean up of the overall paint area and was cleaning when I arrived to pick him up).
My dear sweet husband and I have been talking about this and both felt like perhaps we were being too strict at home, and that maybe Kellen felt like he ALWAYS had to be "perfect" and that there wasn't any time that he could misbehave - even a little - so we have eased up at the house on some stuff. We talk about consequences, choices, Kellen KNOWS what making these kinds of choices will lead to...talks with us about those consequences, etc. He tells us that he always feels like he's in trouble (hence us lightening up at home, 'cause that just breaks my heart to hear him say that!).
After we get home and he's had a bad day, I'll sit and talk with him about specifically what happened during each incident, asking him "why" he made those choices. I try to be sure and point out feelings associated with the consequences of those choices and confirm with him whether or not he feels that way. Ex: Are you sad that you'll have to sit out during Kids Klub tomorrow while the rest of your friends are playing the games during fall festival? [Confirm his feelings] I'm so sad that you made so many bad choices that the consequence is sitting out and watching your friends have fun. I bet that is just going to stink tomorrow!
But really, we (well, I'll just speak for myself), I'm at my wits end. Please pray for guidance and wisdom as we work through this with him.
Some suggestions that I've gotten so far (and by all means, please feel free to post words of wisdom for me/us!) are:
It's nothing "major" but when put together on a daily basis, it's starting to add up to a problem and slippery slope that we simply don't want to go down. Things such as: not listening or following directions the first (or second, or...) time, keeping his hands to himself, climbing the concrete wall and jumping off (Kids Klub), talking when he isn't supposed to, running away from the lunch lady (today's school offense), etc.
He even PAINTED THE BATHROOM WALL TODAY during Kids Klub! They were painting shirts and he had paint on his hands, went into the bathroom, and despite being told not to, "decorated" the bathroom wall at school (hand print on the wall - he cleaned it up and had to assist with clean up of the overall paint area and was cleaning when I arrived to pick him up).
My dear sweet husband and I have been talking about this and both felt like perhaps we were being too strict at home, and that maybe Kellen felt like he ALWAYS had to be "perfect" and that there wasn't any time that he could misbehave - even a little - so we have eased up at the house on some stuff. We talk about consequences, choices, Kellen KNOWS what making these kinds of choices will lead to...talks with us about those consequences, etc. He tells us that he always feels like he's in trouble (hence us lightening up at home, 'cause that just breaks my heart to hear him say that!).
After we get home and he's had a bad day, I'll sit and talk with him about specifically what happened during each incident, asking him "why" he made those choices. I try to be sure and point out feelings associated with the consequences of those choices and confirm with him whether or not he feels that way. Ex: Are you sad that you'll have to sit out during Kids Klub tomorrow while the rest of your friends are playing the games during fall festival? [Confirm his feelings] I'm so sad that you made so many bad choices that the consequence is sitting out and watching your friends have fun. I bet that is just going to stink tomorrow!
But really, we (well, I'll just speak for myself), I'm at my wits end. Please pray for guidance and wisdom as we work through this with him.
Some suggestions that I've gotten so far (and by all means, please feel free to post words of wisdom for me/us!) are:
- Give him more responsibility
- Get his bedtime back on track (I've been lax about this and he's been going to bed between 8:30-8:45ish when his bedtime is really 8 PM; Kellen actually came up with this one...Today I asked him to think about WHY he was making these choices and told him I wasn't going to accept "I don't know" as an answer. He finally told me that he was getting up to go potty at night and that meant he wasn't sleeping as much. That led to me telling him that he was right, and that I had also been letting him stay up, too...so that a solution was that he was going to start going to bed at his REAL bedtime.)
- Letting him have his own way (when it really doesn't matter...)
- Lightening up on things (again, when it really doesn't matter - no wiggle room on safety issues)
- More quality time (One-on-one and perhaps on weekends? - I feel like I give him quality time after Tatum goes to bed each night, but maybe that's my perception and not his and/or maybe it's not enough?
He was SO sweet tonight after we talked about things! I put Tatum to bed and we read a story, then watched a few YouTube videos (sing-along Disney songs) and sang together (ok, so I sang to him - whatever) and he just asked me to hold him. He got ready for bed without any fuss or grumbling (which is not new, he usually does that) and he was in bed and tucked in a few minutes before 8 PM. I'm really hopeful that a combination of the above suggestions (plus whatever new ones you guys can offer) and his continued awareness of his control over his choices will get us through this patch. That and lots of prayer.
Proverbs 29: 17 Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind and will make your heart glad.
I very much like this thought...
I had already been thinking about ways to incorporate more homemade presents into our Christmas giving this year...And I saw this on another blog and really like the thought behind it.
Take a look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU
(And I am apparently not technologically savy enough to figure out how to actually post a YouTube video directly onto my blog...technical assistance welcome in the comments section *grin*)
Take a look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU
(And I am apparently not technologically savy enough to figure out how to actually post a YouTube video directly onto my blog...technical assistance welcome in the comments section *grin*)
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Fall Fest
Well, we haven't taken them to any of the pumpkin patches, but I've made it to a Fall Festival with them!
Well, all-in-all, the kids had fun.
(sung to the tune of Old McDonald)
Central Baptist had a Fest
e-i-e-i-o
And at that Fest they had some games
e-i-e-i-o
Some games that Kellen & Tatum played
e-i-e-i-o
And at that Fest they had a zoo!
e-i-e-i-o
A petting zoo with lots to do
e-i-e-i-o
And at that Fest zoo they had a goat
e-i-e-i-o
And at that Fest zoo they had a pig
e-i-e-i-o
And at that Fest zoo they had a guinea pig
e-i-e-i-o
And at that Fest zoo they had a rabbit
e-i-e-i-o
And at that Fest zoo they had a kitten
e-i-e-i-o
And at that Fest they had a horse
e-i-e-i-o
Well, all-in-all, the kids had fun.
Kellen fell in love with his first kitten, and was immensely upset with me because I wouldn't let him bring the black and white kitten in the above video home with him. They were giving the kittens away with parental approval, which I withheld. Mean ole' Mommy! To rub salt in THAT wound, he didn't get to do everything he wanted to (darn it, we just ran out of time!), so he was upset about that, so unfortunately, he left the Fall Fest a little unhappy. Oh well, things happen....We talked about it on the way home, and I let him know that it was OK for him to be upset, and it was even OK for him to be upset towards Mommy because I didn't let him have the kitten. (Hey, I knew he was feeling that way, why not go ahead and validate those feelings, right?)
At any rate, he was doing MUCH better by the time we got home and went to bed in a better mood. He DID thoroughly enjoy himself...he was just enjoying himself SO MUCH that he didn't want the festival to end...And everyone has experience with those types of things, right?
As for Tatum, she did wonderfully! She was enjoying herself so much that it was challenging to keep her close to me. *grin* She tried her hand at a few games, and then warmed up rather nicely to the animals at the petting zoo. She didn't want anything to do with the goats (despite what the pictures may show or lead you to believe), but adored the pigs, guinea pigs and rabbits. She didn't even mind the kitten! And then, amazement of all amazements...we walked out of the petting zoo and there was a HUGE dog laying down...Kellen walked over to him and petted him and then so did Tatum! It was more of a smack on the back than a pet, but she did it twice! I was FLOORED, to say the least. Maybe seeing all of the animals is starting to work? I'm hopeful, but certainly don't think that today solved all of her puppy issues by any means. We'll just keep with our exposure to her comfort level and see what happens!
We then went and got in line to ride the horses, and this would be Tatum's first horse ride (that I'm aware of, at least). I was nervous as to whether or not she would actually get on the horse, but considering that she wanted to climb the corral to get TO the horse each time it came by, I considered that a good sign. See the video above for the majority of her first ride. She doesn't look excited, but the did enjoy it! (I know, I asked her later and she answered, 'Uh, huh!')
We have a few fall/halloween-type events this week, so I'll try to be diligent and post pictures as the events occur. (Notice that I did say "try", right?)
Friday, October 24, 2008
Field Trip Fun
Kellen's class went to Hockley Oil Ranch today, and Matt was the "official" chaperone, I was a tag-along helper. I took a TON of pictures, but because they have lots of our "team" in them, I won't post them here because they aren't our kids and I don't have their parents permission to do so. At any rate, the kids had a BLAST...and were worn out by the end of the day...So were we!
Here are some pictures and video of some of the different things that we did...
Here are some pictures and video of some of the different things that we did...
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
My little Aggies
I just had to share...this was taken in the morning late last week one of the days that it got somewhat cool here. Both kids were decked out in their Aggie gear, and yes, the both wore it to school! Now aren't they just the cutest?!?I should have know better...
All that bragging, and we were BOUND to have a day like this...
I actually sent Matt an email asking him to pray for my temper control and for my patience, because BOTH of the kids were trying my patience tonight. Ug. I really do NOT like these kind of nights. (Ok, so I'm sure there's something I'm needing to learn here...Lord, I'm trying to be open to it...)
I had a rather productive day at work, but got an email at about 2:30 from Kellen's teacher telling me that he didn't have a good day. At all. He was disobedient all day long, and then she cited some examples so I would understand the type of behavior he was exhibiting. Ok, thank you, I certainly like and need to know when he's acting up at school - and I responded to her letting her know that I would most certainly discuss this behavior with him tonight.
Fast forward to my "work" day end and I'm picking up the kids...got Tatum and then proceeded to get her into her carseat, which she's suddenly (over the last week or so) decided she wants NOTHING to do with. I hate to have to fight with her about it, but honey, I'm gonna win. You're sitting in the carseat. Period. No if, ands, or buts about it. Your butt is going into that seat, sweetie. Scream and shriek all you want, until of course, you realize you aren't getting your way (which I truly hope is soon...I'm certainly tired of the screaming and shrieking).
On to get Kellen and his fundraiser goodies, which I get to deliver to all the blessed souls that purchased items from him (THANK YOU ALL!!). Well, I walked in and was greeted by the Kids Klub counselors, asked how his day was (because of course, I was hoping that it had gotten better after school), and one of the counselors comes walking over to me and asks if we can talk. My response to the other counselor, the one to which I had originally asked the question, "Well, I guess that answers my question, huh?"
So Kellen's day didn't get any better AFTER school. He proceeded to make poor choices during Kids Klub...climbing the concrete walls, jumping off of them, and then ignoring (really ignoring - as in hands over his ears and looking away) his counselor when the counselor was trying to talk to him. ALL inappropriate behavior, poor choices, and Kellen knows it.
What was WITH him today???
To top THAT all off, he had some other issues of the bathroom variety. And I'll leave it at that. But it was intentional, and at this point in time, with as much as we've worked with him, that just infuriates me. In fact, of all of his poor choices and "not-good" behaviors, I think this one pushes my bottons the most.
So on the way home we were discussing his actions and his response to my inquiries into his behavior and choices was, "I don't know." Ug...He doesn't KNOW why he made those choices, he doesn't KNOW why he acted that way, he doesn't KNOW why he climbed the wall during Kids Klub, he doesn't KNOW why he put his hands over his ears and didn't listen to his counselor...you get the point.
After we get home, I tried to deal both with him and with Tatum, who was by this point screaming with hunger pangs. It's 6:15, later than usual for us to have not begun eating, and she's letting me know about it. And I haven't started boiling the water for the spaghetti yet. Oh boy. So she's incredibly unhappy, because she's hungry (take a look at her, I promise I feed her - really and truly - anyone can look at her and tell she's getting fed...and she'll CERTAINLY let her know when she's hungry...goodness gracious - she'll let ya' know!), so I try to appease her with some milk, which she drinks part of and then begins to play with. Milk rivers and thrown sippy cups, just what I want to cap the night off...YAY!
Arg.
Dinner went well, Kellen was the epitome of polite and turned very well-behaved for the remainder of the night. While I got Tatum ready for bed and put to sleep for the night, he wrote thank-you notes for all of the individuals that had purchased the aforementioned items from the fundraiser (and did a really good job, I think!).
So, I'm hopeful that today was just a horrible, no-good, rotten, very bad day...and that tomorrow will be better.
I actually sent Matt an email asking him to pray for my temper control and for my patience, because BOTH of the kids were trying my patience tonight. Ug. I really do NOT like these kind of nights. (Ok, so I'm sure there's something I'm needing to learn here...Lord, I'm trying to be open to it...)
I had a rather productive day at work, but got an email at about 2:30 from Kellen's teacher telling me that he didn't have a good day. At all. He was disobedient all day long, and then she cited some examples so I would understand the type of behavior he was exhibiting. Ok, thank you, I certainly like and need to know when he's acting up at school - and I responded to her letting her know that I would most certainly discuss this behavior with him tonight.
Fast forward to my "work" day end and I'm picking up the kids...got Tatum and then proceeded to get her into her carseat, which she's suddenly (over the last week or so) decided she wants NOTHING to do with. I hate to have to fight with her about it, but honey, I'm gonna win. You're sitting in the carseat. Period. No if, ands, or buts about it. Your butt is going into that seat, sweetie. Scream and shriek all you want, until of course, you realize you aren't getting your way (which I truly hope is soon...I'm certainly tired of the screaming and shrieking).
On to get Kellen and his fundraiser goodies, which I get to deliver to all the blessed souls that purchased items from him (THANK YOU ALL!!). Well, I walked in and was greeted by the Kids Klub counselors, asked how his day was (because of course, I was hoping that it had gotten better after school), and one of the counselors comes walking over to me and asks if we can talk. My response to the other counselor, the one to which I had originally asked the question, "Well, I guess that answers my question, huh?"
So Kellen's day didn't get any better AFTER school. He proceeded to make poor choices during Kids Klub...climbing the concrete walls, jumping off of them, and then ignoring (really ignoring - as in hands over his ears and looking away) his counselor when the counselor was trying to talk to him. ALL inappropriate behavior, poor choices, and Kellen knows it.
What was WITH him today???
To top THAT all off, he had some other issues of the bathroom variety. And I'll leave it at that. But it was intentional, and at this point in time, with as much as we've worked with him, that just infuriates me. In fact, of all of his poor choices and "not-good" behaviors, I think this one pushes my bottons the most.
So on the way home we were discussing his actions and his response to my inquiries into his behavior and choices was, "I don't know." Ug...He doesn't KNOW why he made those choices, he doesn't KNOW why he acted that way, he doesn't KNOW why he climbed the wall during Kids Klub, he doesn't KNOW why he put his hands over his ears and didn't listen to his counselor...you get the point.
After we get home, I tried to deal both with him and with Tatum, who was by this point screaming with hunger pangs. It's 6:15, later than usual for us to have not begun eating, and she's letting me know about it. And I haven't started boiling the water for the spaghetti yet. Oh boy. So she's incredibly unhappy, because she's hungry (take a look at her, I promise I feed her - really and truly - anyone can look at her and tell she's getting fed...and she'll CERTAINLY let her know when she's hungry...goodness gracious - she'll let ya' know!), so I try to appease her with some milk, which she drinks part of and then begins to play with. Milk rivers and thrown sippy cups, just what I want to cap the night off...YAY!
Arg.
Dinner went well, Kellen was the epitome of polite and turned very well-behaved for the remainder of the night. While I got Tatum ready for bed and put to sleep for the night, he wrote thank-you notes for all of the individuals that had purchased the aforementioned items from the fundraiser (and did a really good job, I think!).
So, I'm hopeful that today was just a horrible, no-good, rotten, very bad day...and that tomorrow will be better.
Another successful night!
YAY Kellen! He had another successful night last night...Matt and I did the same things again...I took him to the bathroom before I went to bed and then Matt did it again in the wee hours of the morning, and he made it all night long without any accidents.
Kellen reported to me this morning that he slept all night without getting up to go potty, so again, he doesn't remember our interventions and didn't wake up on his own to go (not a great sign, in my book), but he did manage to go all night without an accident, which is GREAT in our world!
Now, how do we get him to wake himself up to go?
Kellen reported to me this morning that he slept all night without getting up to go potty, so again, he doesn't remember our interventions and didn't wake up on his own to go (not a great sign, in my book), but he did manage to go all night without an accident, which is GREAT in our world!
Now, how do we get him to wake himself up to go?
Monday, October 20, 2008
Reading
Yes...Kellen is reading.
We got our first "Take Home Reader" sent home on Friday, and I remembered it when I pulled it out of the backpack today (you know, before he went BACK to school - yes, flame me now, I can handle it).
So tonight, after getting home from his McDonald's treat and putting Tatum to bed, he and I sat down to read it. I read it to him ONCE and he had it down. Completely. I think I had to 'help' him once, because he wants to say 'puppy dog' instead of just 'dog', so we're working on pointing to the words on the page as we're reading.
He's getting SO excited about reading. He's calling out the sight words, he's devouring these books, and read that particular one to me at least a half dozen times. Then we had to call Grandma Gerren and read it to her, too...Considering she specialized in reading for her masters, I thought it highly appropriate...No, she doesn't work with it now, but I got my love of reading from somewhere, now didn't I?
I am just loving watching him learn...he's like a little sponge! His explanation of a period and an exclamation point is great. He can tell you the difference and 'show' you how you need to use the exclamation point. We had to work on that one since Tatum was asleep while we were reading...he really wanted to 'show' me by shouting as loudly as possible when reading the sentence. But he's understanding and comprehending and wanting more and more....
It's the same way he is about his memory verses for Awana's...he's got them memorized within 15-20 minutes or less. It's truly remarkable! And he'll tell you the previous weeks verse without us having to go over it. For instance, when he called to read to Grandma Gerren, he also recited the memory verse from two weeks ago (we haven't worked on it or practiced it since then, other than HIM saying it as he was practicing THIS weeks verse) and the one from this past Sunday.
I love it, I love it, I love it!
We got our first "Take Home Reader" sent home on Friday, and I remembered it when I pulled it out of the backpack today (you know, before he went BACK to school - yes, flame me now, I can handle it).
So tonight, after getting home from his McDonald's treat and putting Tatum to bed, he and I sat down to read it. I read it to him ONCE and he had it down. Completely. I think I had to 'help' him once, because he wants to say 'puppy dog' instead of just 'dog', so we're working on pointing to the words on the page as we're reading.
He's getting SO excited about reading. He's calling out the sight words, he's devouring these books, and read that particular one to me at least a half dozen times. Then we had to call Grandma Gerren and read it to her, too...Considering she specialized in reading for her masters, I thought it highly appropriate...No, she doesn't work with it now, but I got my love of reading from somewhere, now didn't I?
I am just loving watching him learn...he's like a little sponge! His explanation of a period and an exclamation point is great. He can tell you the difference and 'show' you how you need to use the exclamation point. We had to work on that one since Tatum was asleep while we were reading...he really wanted to 'show' me by shouting as loudly as possible when reading the sentence. But he's understanding and comprehending and wanting more and more....
It's the same way he is about his memory verses for Awana's...he's got them memorized within 15-20 minutes or less. It's truly remarkable! And he'll tell you the previous weeks verse without us having to go over it. For instance, when he called to read to Grandma Gerren, he also recited the memory verse from two weeks ago (we haven't worked on it or practiced it since then, other than HIM saying it as he was practicing THIS weeks verse) and the one from this past Sunday.
I love it, I love it, I love it!
Atta boy!
Well, for those of you who don't know, Kellen hasn't quite made it to the completely night-trained world yet. And we're ok with that. At one point in time I was somewhat stressed about it (shocker, yes, I'm sure), but am now just really and truly letting him go at his own pace for when he's physically ready. I've discovered his issue is not a battle of wills, (well, at least not 100% of the time) it's more a physical thing...he's a fairly hard sleeper and I just don't think he's been able to know when he's going (once he's actually asleep, that is).
Back to the point of this post.
A few days ago he tells me that he doesn't have any pull-ups. *ARG* He's supposed to let me know when he's running out so I can be sure and get more, but either he forgot to tell me or I wasn't listening when he did. At any rate, it was nighttime and he didn't have pull-ups to wear to bed. So we improvised, as we sometimes have to do in a pinch, and he wore a pair of his sisters large fuzzibuns to bed that night. He was laughing about it, put his clothes on, and walked around remarking about how big his booty was.
Uh huh...It really bothered him, huh.
Well, for one reason or another I didn't get a chance to get pull-ups that next day, and we were in the same situation on night two (oh wait, it was Saturday...there's your reason right there!). So another one of his sisters diapers it was...only this time along with the remarks about how big his booty looked there were a couple about how it smushed his "man parts". Now why these smushed it and the pull-ups don't I'm not quite sure...But apparently there is a difference.
Move to night three and there's more of the same, didn't get a chance to go to the store and get pull-ups (and yes, I will say by this point in time I was wondering if I even should....), and Kellen was getting ready for bed. When I asked him what we were going to do about his pull-up, he proclaimed, "I'm just gonna wear my undies to bed tonight, Mommy."
It was the first time in a L-O-N-G time that he had JUST wanted to wear undies to bed, so he and I had a long talk about getting up and going to the bathroom, not pee peeing in the bed, etc, etc. So I decided to try it. (Sure, what's the harm, right? I had all weekend to try this and didn't, so why not try it out the night before I'm headed back to work, right? LOL)
Anyway, he went to bed around 8, and before I went to bed I took him to the bathroom and he went again (so close to 10), Matt did the same when he was through studying, and I did it again before I went running this morning (only he wasn't able to actually go then). When he woke up for good this morning, he and the bed was still dry.
HE MADE IT!!!
He says that he doesn't remember Matt nor I taking him to the potty, but that he got up himself a couple of times and went to the bathroom. So it doesn't seem like his bladder can make it all night, but if he's waking up to go, that's ok, I guess!?
Matt and I were just so stinkin' proud of him! Now, we aren't naive enough to think that we're in the clear...but we were just really happy for him for the first night that he tried it. So, as a reward (and I made it clear that he wasn't getting a reward for every night that he was dry - this was just extra special), he got to pick the dining location of his choice tonight...
Any guesses on where we went??
Yup...Ronald McDonalds...AKA McDonald's.
So we'll see how tonight goes! Wish him luck!
Back to the point of this post.
A few days ago he tells me that he doesn't have any pull-ups. *ARG* He's supposed to let me know when he's running out so I can be sure and get more, but either he forgot to tell me or I wasn't listening when he did. At any rate, it was nighttime and he didn't have pull-ups to wear to bed. So we improvised, as we sometimes have to do in a pinch, and he wore a pair of his sisters large fuzzibuns to bed that night. He was laughing about it, put his clothes on, and walked around remarking about how big his booty was.
Uh huh...It really bothered him, huh.
Well, for one reason or another I didn't get a chance to get pull-ups that next day, and we were in the same situation on night two (oh wait, it was Saturday...there's your reason right there!). So another one of his sisters diapers it was...only this time along with the remarks about how big his booty looked there were a couple about how it smushed his "man parts". Now why these smushed it and the pull-ups don't I'm not quite sure...But apparently there is a difference.
Move to night three and there's more of the same, didn't get a chance to go to the store and get pull-ups (and yes, I will say by this point in time I was wondering if I even should....), and Kellen was getting ready for bed. When I asked him what we were going to do about his pull-up, he proclaimed, "I'm just gonna wear my undies to bed tonight, Mommy."
It was the first time in a L-O-N-G time that he had JUST wanted to wear undies to bed, so he and I had a long talk about getting up and going to the bathroom, not pee peeing in the bed, etc, etc. So I decided to try it. (Sure, what's the harm, right? I had all weekend to try this and didn't, so why not try it out the night before I'm headed back to work, right? LOL)
Anyway, he went to bed around 8, and before I went to bed I took him to the bathroom and he went again (so close to 10), Matt did the same when he was through studying, and I did it again before I went running this morning (only he wasn't able to actually go then). When he woke up for good this morning, he and the bed was still dry.
HE MADE IT!!!
He says that he doesn't remember Matt nor I taking him to the potty, but that he got up himself a couple of times and went to the bathroom. So it doesn't seem like his bladder can make it all night, but if he's waking up to go, that's ok, I guess!?
Matt and I were just so stinkin' proud of him! Now, we aren't naive enough to think that we're in the clear...but we were just really happy for him for the first night that he tried it. So, as a reward (and I made it clear that he wasn't getting a reward for every night that he was dry - this was just extra special), he got to pick the dining location of his choice tonight...
Any guesses on where we went??
Yup...Ronald McDonalds...AKA McDonald's.
So we'll see how tonight goes! Wish him luck!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Them Ags....
Well, IT happened. I really thought I would NEVER see the day. Yes, I typed NEVER in reference to this occurance.
My husband left an Aggie FOOTBALL game early.
Really.
Yes, you read what I typed correctly.
Pick your jaw up off of your keyboard now.
If you watched the Aggies vs Texas Tech yesterday, you'll know the part that I'm about to mention, if not...well, then what WERE you doing on a Saturday afternoon, anyway?
4th quarter, 5 minutes left...Aggies needed two scores to win (yes, I am almost an eternal optimist). We had the ball and it was 4th and 15. What play was called???
Wait for it...
THEY PUNT THE BALL!!!
Sure, we hadn't been able to stop Tech's offense all day long, but perhaps we can make that happen in the next minutes or so...in enough time to 1. stop them; 2. take the ball down the field for a touchdown; 3. kick and recover the onside kick and; 4. score again.
Um...I don't think so.
The WORST that could have happened (well, not the absolute worst, but bear with me on my rant), is that we DIDN'T get the 4th down and we had a turnover on downs. Did I mention that we were on the 50 yard line? So BIG DEAL!!! It wasn't much different than what happened ANYWAY.
Which was.....1. My husband subsequently getting so angry at the play call that he left the stands; and 2. Tech took about 4 and a half minutes to score (yes, ANOTHER SCORE, because hey, they're ranked and need to run up that score for the rankings, right?), leaving us with a grand total of less than 30 seconds to try and make something happen.
R-I-G-H-T
So ladies and gentlemen, what does that tell us? In MY humble opinion, it tells us that our coach wasn't calling plays to win. He was calling plays to try and not lose badly.
Heads-up, Sherman. That isn't what we hired you for!
Now, if someone has an opinion on another reason as to why he called that particular play at that particular time given those circumstances, I would be happy to hear it...Feel free to leave your comments. However, none of the guys that attended the game with our group could give me another explanation, nor could the call in show when Matt called in asking about that part of the game...I believe their response was slightly more "PC" but along the lines of, 'playing the odds, but that wasn't the right time to do it.'
Thoughts?
My husband left an Aggie FOOTBALL game early.
Really.
Yes, you read what I typed correctly.
Pick your jaw up off of your keyboard now.
If you watched the Aggies vs Texas Tech yesterday, you'll know the part that I'm about to mention, if not...well, then what WERE you doing on a Saturday afternoon, anyway?
4th quarter, 5 minutes left...Aggies needed two scores to win (yes, I am almost an eternal optimist). We had the ball and it was 4th and 15. What play was called???
Wait for it...
THEY PUNT THE BALL!!!
Sure, we hadn't been able to stop Tech's offense all day long, but perhaps we can make that happen in the next minutes or so...in enough time to 1. stop them; 2. take the ball down the field for a touchdown; 3. kick and recover the onside kick and; 4. score again.
Um...I don't think so.
The WORST that could have happened (well, not the absolute worst, but bear with me on my rant), is that we DIDN'T get the 4th down and we had a turnover on downs. Did I mention that we were on the 50 yard line? So BIG DEAL!!! It wasn't much different than what happened ANYWAY.
Which was.....1. My husband subsequently getting so angry at the play call that he left the stands; and 2. Tech took about 4 and a half minutes to score (yes, ANOTHER SCORE, because hey, they're ranked and need to run up that score for the rankings, right?), leaving us with a grand total of less than 30 seconds to try and make something happen.
R-I-G-H-T
So ladies and gentlemen, what does that tell us? In MY humble opinion, it tells us that our coach wasn't calling plays to win. He was calling plays to try and not lose badly.
Heads-up, Sherman. That isn't what we hired you for!
Now, if someone has an opinion on another reason as to why he called that particular play at that particular time given those circumstances, I would be happy to hear it...Feel free to leave your comments. However, none of the guys that attended the game with our group could give me another explanation, nor could the call in show when Matt called in asking about that part of the game...I believe their response was slightly more "PC" but along the lines of, 'playing the odds, but that wasn't the right time to do it.'
Thoughts?
Friday, October 17, 2008
Randomness...
Time article re: Schoolyard Bullying: Which kids are most vulnerable?
I thought this was interesting, especially the part about the (and I'll paraphrase) parents that were overly-disciplining their children. Really? That is a CAUSE of a child BEING bullied?
Hmmm....seems to me that a LACK of discipline in the home is more of a problem now-a-days, but hey, maybe that's just my opinion....
Discipline, respect for authority, ethics, integrity...who's lining up to teach THOSE things to the youth of America?
Anywhooooo....
So the department had a picnic after work today...and I took both the kids along with me (hey, they were serving hot dogs...one of BOTH of the kids favorites!). They kids behaved remarkably well, and we only had one melt-down moment. Unfortunately, that melt-down moment came at the expense of one of my co-workers, who was desperately trying to be sweet with Tatum, who wanted NOTHING to do with him.
Really. Nothing.
She was shrinking back in the stroller away from him, and he thought he saw a small flirty smile come from her and did the whole, 'Gonna get you' gig and tried to tickle her.
Yeah, that didn't go over well.
She started screaming, and reached her arms for me while wailing, with some of the largest tears streaming from her eyes that I think I've ever seen.
I don't think I've EVER seen her do that before in her life. She's almost always warmed up to people...she's just now getting to the separation anxiety stage (see earlier post from this week)...and especially with guys, she's warmed up to them quickly because she's such a flirt!
And poor thing...he was the ONLY person there tonight that she did this to...everyone else she was smiling, waving, flirting, talking to, you name it. I was even handing her off to some of the graduate students to hold for a bit when I got tired of chasing her all over the park - you know, 'cause SHE was chasing the boys around...And all he ever wants to do is talk and be sweet with my kids...he does that when I bring them into the office, too...but neither of them have ever reacted like THIS before!
We also had another opportunity for Tatum to interact with "puppy" - several puppies, to be truthful. And we got no closer to her actually petting ANY of them. Including the small, calm, VERY well-trained poodle that was incredibly willing to allow Tatum to do whatever to her. Once again, Tatum was fascinated with the "PUPPY!", but kept her own personal space from each and every one of them. When I tried to get her closer than her comfort zone, she was having NONE of it...she tensed up, grabbed me tightly, and squeezed me for all she was worth. It's truly a physical reaction that her ENTIRE body goes into when she's too close to them. Perhaps she'll overcome this as she gets older and we continue to casually expose her to them? I certainly don't think that we need to push her - especially not based on what I continue to see as her reaction when she's around them.
Any suggestions?
I thought this was interesting, especially the part about the (and I'll paraphrase) parents that were overly-disciplining their children. Really? That is a CAUSE of a child BEING bullied?
Hmmm....seems to me that a LACK of discipline in the home is more of a problem now-a-days, but hey, maybe that's just my opinion....
Discipline, respect for authority, ethics, integrity...who's lining up to teach THOSE things to the youth of America?
Anywhooooo....
So the department had a picnic after work today...and I took both the kids along with me (hey, they were serving hot dogs...one of BOTH of the kids favorites!). They kids behaved remarkably well, and we only had one melt-down moment. Unfortunately, that melt-down moment came at the expense of one of my co-workers, who was desperately trying to be sweet with Tatum, who wanted NOTHING to do with him.
Really. Nothing.
She was shrinking back in the stroller away from him, and he thought he saw a small flirty smile come from her and did the whole, 'Gonna get you' gig and tried to tickle her.
Yeah, that didn't go over well.
She started screaming, and reached her arms for me while wailing, with some of the largest tears streaming from her eyes that I think I've ever seen.
I don't think I've EVER seen her do that before in her life. She's almost always warmed up to people...she's just now getting to the separation anxiety stage (see earlier post from this week)...and especially with guys, she's warmed up to them quickly because she's such a flirt!
And poor thing...he was the ONLY person there tonight that she did this to...everyone else she was smiling, waving, flirting, talking to, you name it. I was even handing her off to some of the graduate students to hold for a bit when I got tired of chasing her all over the park - you know, 'cause SHE was chasing the boys around...And all he ever wants to do is talk and be sweet with my kids...he does that when I bring them into the office, too...but neither of them have ever reacted like THIS before!
We also had another opportunity for Tatum to interact with "puppy" - several puppies, to be truthful. And we got no closer to her actually petting ANY of them. Including the small, calm, VERY well-trained poodle that was incredibly willing to allow Tatum to do whatever to her. Once again, Tatum was fascinated with the "PUPPY!", but kept her own personal space from each and every one of them. When I tried to get her closer than her comfort zone, she was having NONE of it...she tensed up, grabbed me tightly, and squeezed me for all she was worth. It's truly a physical reaction that her ENTIRE body goes into when she's too close to them. Perhaps she'll overcome this as she gets older and we continue to casually expose her to them? I certainly don't think that we need to push her - especially not based on what I continue to see as her reaction when she's around them.
Any suggestions?
Thursday, October 16, 2008
So what is normal, anyway?
What does "normal" look like for you and your family?
I'm not sure that I know what it looks like for ours...Matt and I were talking about that today...we've been trying to get to a "normal" schedule recently. One where we can plan to see each other on a regular basis, discuss things, spend time together, take the kids to the park or on walks after work and school, you know...all of the things that couples should be able to do on a regular basis...the "normal" things that occur in familes.
Except in our case, one thing after another has popped up in our schedule for so long that despite our attempts to grasp that so-called "normal", we seem unable to attain it.
So I'm wondering, it is just us? Or is there even such a thing as "normal" - in the way in which our brains are thinking of it, anyway? In our world that now consists of two full-time working parents - one with an alternating schedule, church and Bible study activities, one kid with football numerous time a week and the other that does best with a 7 PM bedtime, random "misc" work events and school stuff, are we striving for something that simply doesn't exist?
I'm not sure that I know what it looks like for ours...Matt and I were talking about that today...we've been trying to get to a "normal" schedule recently. One where we can plan to see each other on a regular basis, discuss things, spend time together, take the kids to the park or on walks after work and school, you know...all of the things that couples should be able to do on a regular basis...the "normal" things that occur in familes.
Except in our case, one thing after another has popped up in our schedule for so long that despite our attempts to grasp that so-called "normal", we seem unable to attain it.
So I'm wondering, it is just us? Or is there even such a thing as "normal" - in the way in which our brains are thinking of it, anyway? In our world that now consists of two full-time working parents - one with an alternating schedule, church and Bible study activities, one kid with football numerous time a week and the other that does best with a 7 PM bedtime, random "misc" work events and school stuff, are we striving for something that simply doesn't exist?
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Separation Anxiety...
Man oh man...I just LOVE this developmental stage (please note the sarcasm as it drips heavily from that statement)...Separation Anxiety.
They HAVE to go through it.
It's developmentally appropriate.
And normal.
And it makes me feel like my heart is being worn on the outside of my body and pierced with a thousand swords - heck, this is the world of TAMU, a thousand sabers - every day when I drop Tatum off at her class and she immediately cries, looks at me with tears streaming down her face, reaches her arms toward me, all the while crying out for me.
I adore the words "Mommy" coming from her lips, but the sound of her screaming "Mommy!" in that manner as I walk out the door just makes my heart break in a million pieces...and I walk over those pieces in my clunky boots on my way out the door heading to work.
*sigh*
It's a developmental stage that she MUST go through. Kellen did it and survived.
It's proving that she's realizing that she is an individual. And that I'm comfortable AND comforting to her.
And she's fine minutes after I leave.
However, many times the "head" knowledge of all of this makes every morning of this routine NO easier on me.
They HAVE to go through it.
It's developmentally appropriate.
And normal.
And it makes me feel like my heart is being worn on the outside of my body and pierced with a thousand swords - heck, this is the world of TAMU, a thousand sabers - every day when I drop Tatum off at her class and she immediately cries, looks at me with tears streaming down her face, reaches her arms toward me, all the while crying out for me.
I adore the words "Mommy" coming from her lips, but the sound of her screaming "Mommy!" in that manner as I walk out the door just makes my heart break in a million pieces...and I walk over those pieces in my clunky boots on my way out the door heading to work.
*sigh*
It's a developmental stage that she MUST go through. Kellen did it and survived.
It's proving that she's realizing that she is an individual. And that I'm comfortable AND comforting to her.
And she's fine minutes after I leave.
However, many times the "head" knowledge of all of this makes every morning of this routine NO easier on me.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Flag Football
So I don't know if I've mentioned that Kellen is playing flag football or not...Much has happened in the last couple of weeks and I simply cannot remember.
At any rate, his concentrattion on the field has been less than stellar during some of his games. He did; however, during one game find a hotwheels car on the field. And the grass has also proven very interesting for him to admire as well.
I've chalked all of this up to the fact that the games are at 6 PM after a full day of school and then Kids Klub (his after school program) where he's had to behave and pay attention, etc. With us rushing to get to practice and/or the game, eating on the way, it's just tough, to say the least. So we have just encouraged him during the games and then discussed how he can improve afterwards, without really getting onto him too much. After all, he's out there to have fun and learn the basics of football, right?
Well, he had a COMPLETE turn-around during Monday nights game...perhaps it was because he was with Daddy all day long; perhaps it was because he hadn't been in school all day; or hadn't gone to Kids Klub; or maybe it was that L-O-N-G late nap that he took after the parent-teacher conference. Who knows.
But he did FANTASTIC during the game! He paid attention, hustled, and even scored a touchdown! His team ended up losing (man, there was one kid on the other team that we're sure we'll see highlight reels of later...and some of these games will be played with the 'even as a young child...' voice-overs in the background - he was juking and was just plain ole' FAST!) but he was just spectacular on Monday night!
We don't have a game on Wednesday, have canceled practice for Saturday (practice at 1 PM with the TAMU vs Tech game at 11 AM doesn't lend itself to too many kiddos showing up), and then don't have a game the following Monday either, but are looking to schedule practice at an alternative location just so the kids don't lose their momentum totally. Because they were ALL doing really well on Monday night! We had 3 different kids score touchdowns and many of them blocking really well!
Whoo hoo! I think he's actually starting to enjoy it a lot more now that he's getting into it!
At any rate, his concentrattion on the field has been less than stellar during some of his games. He did; however, during one game find a hotwheels car on the field. And the grass has also proven very interesting for him to admire as well.
I've chalked all of this up to the fact that the games are at 6 PM after a full day of school and then Kids Klub (his after school program) where he's had to behave and pay attention, etc. With us rushing to get to practice and/or the game, eating on the way, it's just tough, to say the least. So we have just encouraged him during the games and then discussed how he can improve afterwards, without really getting onto him too much. After all, he's out there to have fun and learn the basics of football, right?
Well, he had a COMPLETE turn-around during Monday nights game...perhaps it was because he was with Daddy all day long; perhaps it was because he hadn't been in school all day; or hadn't gone to Kids Klub; or maybe it was that L-O-N-G late nap that he took after the parent-teacher conference. Who knows.
But he did FANTASTIC during the game! He paid attention, hustled, and even scored a touchdown! His team ended up losing (man, there was one kid on the other team that we're sure we'll see highlight reels of later...and some of these games will be played with the 'even as a young child...' voice-overs in the background - he was juking and was just plain ole' FAST!) but he was just spectacular on Monday night!
We don't have a game on Wednesday, have canceled practice for Saturday (practice at 1 PM with the TAMU vs Tech game at 11 AM doesn't lend itself to too many kiddos showing up), and then don't have a game the following Monday either, but are looking to schedule practice at an alternative location just so the kids don't lose their momentum totally. Because they were ALL doing really well on Monday night! We had 3 different kids score touchdowns and many of them blocking really well!
Whoo hoo! I think he's actually starting to enjoy it a lot more now that he's getting into it!
Snake?!?
So Matt and I were cleaning up outside on Sunday - we moved around our swingset, put up a basketball goal for Kellen (and Tatum, apparently, since she tried to dribble the basketball as well), picked up leaves, etc., when a small snake slithered out from the leaves I was sweeping off of our concrete sidewalk area...
I thought nothing of it as it slithered away from me and under the fence to the neighbor's yard and casually mentioned it to Matt, and was even calling the kids over to come and telling them that it had gone on the other side of the fence and everything. Matt then proceeds to get the broom, somehow gets it back on our side of the fence, and starts pounding on it...I was wondering "Why?" the whole time until I heard him mutter to me, 'It's a copperhead!' - then I immediately got the kids back - yes, at this point in time they were watching Daddy and were still WAY too close.
UG!
He finally killed it with the tail end of the broom and threw it into the trash can - poor Kellen was still asking to see the snake the entire time!
As a side note...I think Matt felt so bad about him not getting to see the snake that this incident was partially responsible for their trip on Monday to the Brazos Center and the Natural History Museum...Kellen got to play with a snake there! I had lunch with he and Matt on Monday before our parent-teacher conference and Kellen told me that the snake was wrapped around him like a necklace! Matt did take some pictures, so I'll have to post them when I get a chance.
Matt made me feel ZERO better when he told me we probably have copperheads slithering all over the backyard. Grass snakes I can handle, but...um...copperheads?? No thanks!!
So how do we get rid of these things, anyway?
I thought nothing of it as it slithered away from me and under the fence to the neighbor's yard and casually mentioned it to Matt, and was even calling the kids over to come and telling them that it had gone on the other side of the fence and everything. Matt then proceeds to get the broom, somehow gets it back on our side of the fence, and starts pounding on it...I was wondering "Why?" the whole time until I heard him mutter to me, 'It's a copperhead!' - then I immediately got the kids back - yes, at this point in time they were watching Daddy and were still WAY too close.
UG!
He finally killed it with the tail end of the broom and threw it into the trash can - poor Kellen was still asking to see the snake the entire time!
As a side note...I think Matt felt so bad about him not getting to see the snake that this incident was partially responsible for their trip on Monday to the Brazos Center and the Natural History Museum...Kellen got to play with a snake there! I had lunch with he and Matt on Monday before our parent-teacher conference and Kellen told me that the snake was wrapped around him like a necklace! Matt did take some pictures, so I'll have to post them when I get a chance.
Matt made me feel ZERO better when he told me we probably have copperheads slithering all over the backyard. Grass snakes I can handle, but...um...copperheads?? No thanks!!
So how do we get rid of these things, anyway?
Parent-Teacher Conference
In liu of the first 6-weeks grades for Kellen, we had a parent-teacher conference yesterday. All-in-all, it went really well, and it seems that Kellen is doing exceedingly well academically in kindergarten. The ONLY thing that wasn't "checked" on his list was "Listens without interrupting" - and he comes by that honestly. *sigh* I'm realizing more and more just how often I have a tendency to interrupt, so I'm sure I'm not helping him with that issue. Plus, when his brain thinks of something, he wants to say it right then. He doesn't mean any disrespect, that's just how his brain works - the teacher even recognized that and said that she hesitated in not checking that particular area...
He already knows all of the 'sight words' that they've covered in class (the kindergarten list has a total of 20 words - they haven't finished all 20 of them yet, but the teacher expects them to finish those up quickly and move on to the first grade sight word list), and LOVES to point them out while we're reading books or even in conversation. He's LOVING to read...and getting really excited when he's recognizing words and is able to sound them out. I don't think it will be too terribly long before he's able to read simple books on his own, but we'll see. I want him to enjoy reading, so I certainly don't want to pressure or push him.
We discussed a variety of things, and I'll just sum up by saying that I'm SO GLAD that Kellen has the teacher that he does this year! She's just a perfect match for him and understands his temperment and personality wonderfully!
He already knows all of the 'sight words' that they've covered in class (the kindergarten list has a total of 20 words - they haven't finished all 20 of them yet, but the teacher expects them to finish those up quickly and move on to the first grade sight word list), and LOVES to point them out while we're reading books or even in conversation. He's LOVING to read...and getting really excited when he's recognizing words and is able to sound them out. I don't think it will be too terribly long before he's able to read simple books on his own, but we'll see. I want him to enjoy reading, so I certainly don't want to pressure or push him.
We discussed a variety of things, and I'll just sum up by saying that I'm SO GLAD that Kellen has the teacher that he does this year! She's just a perfect match for him and understands his temperment and personality wonderfully!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Budding artist?
So Kellen has decided to express himself artistically lately. Only in the not-so-good way.
Saturday morning I wake up to the realization that he's found a green marker in his room and colored all of the fingers of one hand (don't ASK me how). I took a deep breath and decided to laugh that one off....then thought for a second and asked the question, "Kellen, what ELSE did you color?"
Kellen looked at me, then looked down, and sheepishly answered, "My bed."
I wasn't laughing on that one, as I worked REALLY hard with the soap and scrub brush to get the very artistic green marker off of his headboard. His ENTIRE headboard. I will say though, it was an interesting pattern.
*sigh*
He DID tell the truth, which meant he didn't get in as much trouble as he would have if he would have lied, so his discipline wasn't as bad as it could have been - a lesson which Daddy was certain to reiterate to him. Now, we don't want him to think telling the truth equates to a "get out of jail free" card, but we do want him to understand that telling us the truth means a lesser punishment than lying to us and us finding out the truth later.
Fast forward to a day later. Yes, you read that correctly - TODAY. We're back from church tonight and I'm getting Kellen ready for bed when I see some new strange markings on his headboard. I should know that they're new, since I just scrubbed that bright and fresh yesterday, right? This time they're red (and again very interesting-looking - he IS quite the artist!).
So I called Kellen to me and asked him about this newest of artwork. He proceeded to tell me that he colored on his bed during nap with a red crayon. (I REALLY thought I had gotten all of the possibly offending coloring-type items OUT of his room!! REALLY!!) We then have yet ANOTHER talk about taking care of our belongings, what we are allowed to color on and what we aren't, disobeying Mommy and Daddy, resting and sleeping vs. playing during naptime, etc.
I walk out of the room to cool down, and when I walk back in he had gone into the bathroom, gotten a washrag, and was scrubbing the bedframe - in a different spot than the one I had noticed. Apparently he had colored in TWO spots, but was taking it upon himself to try and start cleaning it up.
Atta' boy.
At any rate, thankfully crayola crayons DO come out of wood (mostly), so I was once again able to (for the most part) clean up the incident. But wow...twice in as many days. I do not know what has come over him!
Add the coloring incident to the fact that he ripped the stylus off of the string on his Leapster this evening when we got home from church - yes, ripped it off - and I'm at a loss here. When asked why he did that, his reasoning was very OCD, "I just don't like the string sticking out." I had a vague awareness that the string bothered him, but nothing to this extreme...
Do we need to allow him to act out at home so that he can maintain his good behavior at school? I can't expect him to be perfect all of the time, and would rather have him misbehave at home, but I can't let him just get away with everything at home, either.
This parenting gig...wow. So it seems like I need to provide more creative and artistic outlets for Kellen during the day and keep all possible writing utensils OUT of his room during nap and nighttime. The kicker to that idea is that I did just that - on Friday night (the night prior to incident #1) he made the two most wonderful pictures with his markers for me that I think he's ever done - and he did them right before bedtime...so it is a timing issue?
Lord, please help us with this...I can't stand for him to be in trouble with us every day...it's not good for him and it's so hard on us!
Saturday morning I wake up to the realization that he's found a green marker in his room and colored all of the fingers of one hand (don't ASK me how). I took a deep breath and decided to laugh that one off....then thought for a second and asked the question, "Kellen, what ELSE did you color?"
Kellen looked at me, then looked down, and sheepishly answered, "My bed."
I wasn't laughing on that one, as I worked REALLY hard with the soap and scrub brush to get the very artistic green marker off of his headboard. His ENTIRE headboard. I will say though, it was an interesting pattern.
*sigh*
He DID tell the truth, which meant he didn't get in as much trouble as he would have if he would have lied, so his discipline wasn't as bad as it could have been - a lesson which Daddy was certain to reiterate to him. Now, we don't want him to think telling the truth equates to a "get out of jail free" card, but we do want him to understand that telling us the truth means a lesser punishment than lying to us and us finding out the truth later.
Fast forward to a day later. Yes, you read that correctly - TODAY. We're back from church tonight and I'm getting Kellen ready for bed when I see some new strange markings on his headboard. I should know that they're new, since I just scrubbed that bright and fresh yesterday, right? This time they're red (and again very interesting-looking - he IS quite the artist!).
So I called Kellen to me and asked him about this newest of artwork. He proceeded to tell me that he colored on his bed during nap with a red crayon. (I REALLY thought I had gotten all of the possibly offending coloring-type items OUT of his room!! REALLY!!) We then have yet ANOTHER talk about taking care of our belongings, what we are allowed to color on and what we aren't, disobeying Mommy and Daddy, resting and sleeping vs. playing during naptime, etc.
I walk out of the room to cool down, and when I walk back in he had gone into the bathroom, gotten a washrag, and was scrubbing the bedframe - in a different spot than the one I had noticed. Apparently he had colored in TWO spots, but was taking it upon himself to try and start cleaning it up.
Atta' boy.
At any rate, thankfully crayola crayons DO come out of wood (mostly), so I was once again able to (for the most part) clean up the incident. But wow...twice in as many days. I do not know what has come over him!
Add the coloring incident to the fact that he ripped the stylus off of the string on his Leapster this evening when we got home from church - yes, ripped it off - and I'm at a loss here. When asked why he did that, his reasoning was very OCD, "I just don't like the string sticking out." I had a vague awareness that the string bothered him, but nothing to this extreme...
Do we need to allow him to act out at home so that he can maintain his good behavior at school? I can't expect him to be perfect all of the time, and would rather have him misbehave at home, but I can't let him just get away with everything at home, either.
This parenting gig...wow. So it seems like I need to provide more creative and artistic outlets for Kellen during the day and keep all possible writing utensils OUT of his room during nap and nighttime. The kicker to that idea is that I did just that - on Friday night (the night prior to incident #1) he made the two most wonderful pictures with his markers for me that I think he's ever done - and he did them right before bedtime...so it is a timing issue?
Lord, please help us with this...I can't stand for him to be in trouble with us every day...it's not good for him and it's so hard on us!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
2 Truths & a Lie - Not my Kellen
So I went to pick Kellen up today and the Kids Kamp counselors told me that he cracked them up (again) today. They proceed to tell me the full story, and it made me so proud.
They were playing the game 2 Truths and a Lie, and when it was Kellen's turn, he told the counselor that he wasn't going to play the game because he wasn't allowed to lie and that he got in trouble with his Mommy and Daddy for lying. They tried to use a different word for lie and explain it in a different way to convince him to play, but he stuck his ground and told them, 'No." He basically told them that if he lies he gets in trouble at home and gets a spanking.
I am just SO PROUD of him for sticking up for himself and for not doing something that he was being told by a teacher, an authority figure in his eyes, to do that went against what we had been teaching him. I can only imagine how confusing that must have been for him. We've told him to obey his teachers, yet here they were telling him to do something in direct contradiction to values we've tried to instill in him.
Now you may be reading this and thinking, 'Come on, Rebecca, it's only a game,' but I think to a 5-year old, something as simple as lying in a game setting could be potentially confusing. I think that was a tremendous lesson for Kellen and again, I'm just so proud of him!
They were playing the game 2 Truths and a Lie, and when it was Kellen's turn, he told the counselor that he wasn't going to play the game because he wasn't allowed to lie and that he got in trouble with his Mommy and Daddy for lying. They tried to use a different word for lie and explain it in a different way to convince him to play, but he stuck his ground and told them, 'No." He basically told them that if he lies he gets in trouble at home and gets a spanking.
I am just SO PROUD of him for sticking up for himself and for not doing something that he was being told by a teacher, an authority figure in his eyes, to do that went against what we had been teaching him. I can only imagine how confusing that must have been for him. We've told him to obey his teachers, yet here they were telling him to do something in direct contradiction to values we've tried to instill in him.
Now you may be reading this and thinking, 'Come on, Rebecca, it's only a game,' but I think to a 5-year old, something as simple as lying in a game setting could be potentially confusing. I think that was a tremendous lesson for Kellen and again, I'm just so proud of him!
Under attack
It's amazing when you are really and truly seeking God's will...I mean actively working to be in His will and correcting areas of your life where you've been disciplined and/or you've simply realized aren't where they need to be when you get hit - both barrels - by Satan. That's where our family is right now. I ask that you simply pray for us. I'm not going to go into details, simply understand that Satan is really coming after Matt and I in a variety of ways...at least we are both realizing what is taking place and are actively guarding against the attacks. Please pray that we both continue to realize what is happening and trust and rely on the Lord to guide us through this.
On a lighter note, Tatum decided to take her personal potty training forward in a quantum-leap manner today. We were finishing with our dinner and she says and signs "all done" to me, then says, "poo poo". Being the slow to catch on mom that I sometimes am, I repeated this back to her and asked if she needed to go poo poo on the potty, to which she replied, "uh huh". Finally taking my cue, I unbuckled her from the table and carried her into the bathroom, and proceeded to get her ready for the potty. Considering that she was fully dressed and that she's cloth diapered, this is sometimes no small feat. At any rate, she waited for me to prepare her for the potty, then sat and went. Really. And as she was in-the-process, she said, "bye bye poo poo", when she was finished, she said, "all done", then told her 'accomplishment' bye bye again as it was flushed, after she cheered herself. I have TOTAL faith that she understood what she was doing.
I still can't believe it. At 18 months old? Really?!?
On a lighter note, Tatum decided to take her personal potty training forward in a quantum-leap manner today. We were finishing with our dinner and she says and signs "all done" to me, then says, "poo poo". Being the slow to catch on mom that I sometimes am, I repeated this back to her and asked if she needed to go poo poo on the potty, to which she replied, "uh huh". Finally taking my cue, I unbuckled her from the table and carried her into the bathroom, and proceeded to get her ready for the potty. Considering that she was fully dressed and that she's cloth diapered, this is sometimes no small feat. At any rate, she waited for me to prepare her for the potty, then sat and went. Really. And as she was in-the-process, she said, "bye bye poo poo", when she was finished, she said, "all done", then told her 'accomplishment' bye bye again as it was flushed, after she cheered herself. I have TOTAL faith that she understood what she was doing.
I still can't believe it. At 18 months old? Really?!?
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Already?
I can't believe it!
Tatum was in the bath, and said pee pee, so I got her out and put her on the potty. I heard water splashing, and thought she had actually gone, so I made a really big deal about it, then put her back into the bath to finish the bath.
I was getting her ready for bed, and she was running around naked for a little bit (we have yet another rash - investigtor mommy is going to have to go into gear to find out what it was that she ate that did this to her), and she went into a crouching stance. I asked her if she needed to go pee pee, and put her on the potty. She sat there for a minute, then said all done, although she didn't actually do anything. No biggie. I certainly don't want to push, and am only doing this much because she seems interested. I have been encouraging her, as she has been showing interest in the potty - you know, when I'm on it. *lol*
A minute or so later, she walked out of her room and into the bathroom, said pee pee, walked over to the potty and patted it. I asked her if she had to go potty, she said pee pee again and I put her on the potty. Seconds later, she's peeing.
Of course, I made a HUGE deal of this, but I still can't believe it. I guess I need to go get a childs potty....
Wow. She's not even 19 months old. Where did my baby go?
Tatum was in the bath, and said pee pee, so I got her out and put her on the potty. I heard water splashing, and thought she had actually gone, so I made a really big deal about it, then put her back into the bath to finish the bath.
I was getting her ready for bed, and she was running around naked for a little bit (we have yet another rash - investigtor mommy is going to have to go into gear to find out what it was that she ate that did this to her), and she went into a crouching stance. I asked her if she needed to go pee pee, and put her on the potty. She sat there for a minute, then said all done, although she didn't actually do anything. No biggie. I certainly don't want to push, and am only doing this much because she seems interested. I have been encouraging her, as she has been showing interest in the potty - you know, when I'm on it. *lol*
A minute or so later, she walked out of her room and into the bathroom, said pee pee, walked over to the potty and patted it. I asked her if she had to go potty, she said pee pee again and I put her on the potty. Seconds later, she's peeing.
Of course, I made a HUGE deal of this, but I still can't believe it. I guess I need to go get a childs potty....
Wow. She's not even 19 months old. Where did my baby go?
New adventures
...for Kellen today.
Today was the first day for Taekwondo in Kids Klub for him today. He'll be doing this once a week for the semester (instead of Little Dragons, which was three days a week). He says he didn't like it, but that seems to be a common response to things recently, so I'm not sure if that's accurate or not.
The bonus for Mom and Dad on the Taekwondo - it occurs DURING Kids Klub hours. Translation: we don't have to exhaust extra effort to trying to make it to lessons in addition to our other activities. That is a DEFINITE bonus in MY book, at least!
After school was the first practice for his flag football team as well. He actually SAID that he had fun during practice for that, so I'll take that as a good sign. He has one of his former daycare friends in class with him, so he's not starting from scratch with making all new friends with the kids on his team. YAY!
All-in-all, he's had a VERY eventful day!
Today was the first day for Taekwondo in Kids Klub for him today. He'll be doing this once a week for the semester (instead of Little Dragons, which was three days a week). He says he didn't like it, but that seems to be a common response to things recently, so I'm not sure if that's accurate or not.
The bonus for Mom and Dad on the Taekwondo - it occurs DURING Kids Klub hours. Translation: we don't have to exhaust extra effort to trying to make it to lessons in addition to our other activities. That is a DEFINITE bonus in MY book, at least!
After school was the first practice for his flag football team as well. He actually SAID that he had fun during practice for that, so I'll take that as a good sign. He has one of his former daycare friends in class with him, so he's not starting from scratch with making all new friends with the kids on his team. YAY!
All-in-all, he's had a VERY eventful day!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
God is good and we are blessed
Once you read the entire post, you may this the title doesn't fit, but God has shown just how good He is over the last few days. Really.
I'll try to take it one day at a time and give you the update...
On Thursday morning, I got a phone call from my mom (she FINALLY reached me via my cell phone at 6:30 AM, despite trying to call us since about 3 AM) indicating that my dad had suffered a heart attack. She said that he was being transported to Providence in Waco from the ER in Mexia and that she they had just walked in the doors, she would call me with an update. A short while later, she called to tell me he was having a catherization done at noon and that they were going to repair whatever needed repairing at that time. So I headed out of town to try to make it there before the catherization.
I spoke with him before I left, so I knew he was doing ok, or as well as could be expected, considering.
Elsewhere, my sweet husband was concerned that he was going to get called into work early because of the pending hurricane...you may have heard of it...Hurricane Ike. He was scheduled to work his regular shift on Friday, and anticipated the possibility of him having to go into work early on Thursday. However, as I was getting ready to get out of town, he was making calls to find out that he most likely wasn't having to go into work early. Whew.
So, to the hospital I go, and I'll fast foward to the catherization results. The catherization went well. He has/had a total of 3 blockages. The one that caused the heart attack was a 100% blockage at the circumflex artery. They inserted a stint there and have full function and anticipate no permanent long-term damage to the heart from the blockage and subsequent heart attack. As for the other two (located in the descending portion of the left anterior artery), the doctor decided against treatment with them at this time. What they will do is a stress test in a month to determine whether they're functionally significant. If they are, then he'll go in again to have stints placed in them.
I was able to see dad both prior to and after the catherization, which I'm thankful for. Dad's nurses' name was Michael, and he was keeping an eye out for me so that he could get me in to see Dad before he went in for the catherization if I was able to get there in time, which I luckily was. Michael, huh. Isn't God good? ;) I am VERY glad that I was there, as I was able to help my mom understand some of what the doctor was saying and showing with regard to the blockages and overall meaning. She was being so strong, but when we walked out after the doctor called us in for the catherization results, she just looked at me and said, "So does all that mean that he WILL be ok?" I'm so thankful that I was able to be there for her...
He was still in ICU on Thursday, as they simply didn't have a bed for him, and he was number 10 or 12 in line to receive a room. Mom wasn't allowed to stay with him, so we both left Thursday afternoon (and the ICU nurse was kicking us out...just doing her job, but not making us really happy though...).
I made it back to College Station in time to pick up both kids, as Matt was in a slew of emergency preparedness meetings taking place all that evening. I found out, through a variety of emails throughout the day, that TAMU and Kellen's school was closed for the pending hurricane. Hello, Ike!
Thursday night was pretty rough, Kellen was incredibly scared about the hurricane, and moreso scared about his Daddy going INTO the hurricane while everyone else was going AWAY from the hurricane. He was TERRIFIED that his Daddy was going to die. So much so that Matt and I were BOTH trying to console him throughout the night as he was having multiple nightmares and waking up screaming. And one of his nightmares ended with him falling off of the bed and busting his eye open, a fact that neither Matt nor I realized it until Friday morning. Apparently it could have stood stitches, but we didn't realize it quick enough...so there's another scar on "Crash Kellen" - Ug. His eye is so swollen...it hurts me just to look at it!
So Friday we start to prepare for Ike...Matt heads off to work, and I start picking up everything that could become a projectile - or at least as much as I can pick up while trying to watch Kellen and Tatum playing in the yard. So yeah, I didn't get everything done outside. Our evacuees from the Conroe area started to arrive mid-day on Friday, and all told we ended up with an additional 7, then 5 people and 6 animals at the house. I'm so glad that they came here and escaped from Conroe! They, of course, help get the rest of the outside ready for the storm.
I'm continuing to try and touch base with mom, and she was able to get a ride to the hospital early on Friday. Dad was moved to a private room early in the day, so she had planned to spend the night in case he was moved to a private room. She called me later in the afternoon and dad was having some problems with both his blood pressure and his heart rate. His blood pressure was dropping rapidly and his heart rate was spiking, and the doctors weren't sure why...it happened while he was sleeping, so that kinda' rules out normal "I'm stressed because I'm in the hospital" stress-type stuff, at least in my book...They gave him a bag of meds and were monitoring him closely, then changed from an IV medication to an oral medication when the IV infiltrated his arm.
Friday night comes and at the house we're all just hunckerin' down and getting ready for the storm. We haven't watched much else but the weather channel.
I wonder what their ratings were last week and this weekend?
Matt sent text messages periodically updating us on the weather in Houston, and throughout the night as well. God protected him and those around him, and continued to bless us by allowing there to be an adequate number of volunteers on Saturday so that Matt was able to come home *safely* mid-day on Saturday.
Saturday rolls around and I called to check on Dad, only to be told by Mom that she was in with the doctor. I immediately called back and suggested that she suggest they keep him another night. I'm sure it had nothing to do with my suggestion, but that's what the doctors decided to do, which made me feel much better. I would MUCH rather have my parents in a hospital in Waco when the remnants of Hurricane Ike goes up I45 than in the middle of a peach orchard directly in its path.
By Saturday, the kids are going a little stir-crazy, so we decided to take them to McDonalds for dinner and let them R-U-N on the playground. Considering that they had been cooped up in a house without being able to really get their energy out too well, they had been fairly well-behaved. The two older ones act like they're siblings. I mean REALLY act like they're siblings. Wow. I can see what I have to look forward to now. We tried to keep them busy with a variety of activites, and naps were mandatory, but there's only so much you can do.
Sunday rolls around and despite my best efforts, we just weren't making it to church. The boys decided that they were going to make a trip back to Conroe to assess the damage to the houses, so they were getting ready to head out at about the time that the kids and I should have been getting ready to go to church, so I just wasn't able to make it happen. Shortly after they left, the kids and moms headed out for a walk - off to the park! We went and fed the ducks, then played on the playground, and timed it perfectly so that we were back just in time for lunch and a nap. Yay us!
During our energy-expenditure walk, I called to find out what was going on with Dad, and was told that they made the decision to release him. So they were getting ready to head out as I was talking to them.
Sunday afternoon included naps for EVERYONE - I kinda' think we all deserved them, don't you? Then I got a call from Dad at around 3 PM Sunday afternoon letting me know that he and mom were home and resting comfortably. That was a great call to get!
Although my timing was a little off for our Sunday night church activities (a whole hour off - the wrong way...) and Kellen and I missed the first night of our new fall programs, Sunday still was a good day.
Despite the seemingly endless stream of misadventures...heart attack, busted eye, working in the hurricane, the hurricane itself, God has continually blessed us. Everything could have been so much worse, and God has shown his grace and goodness through all of this.
I'll try to take it one day at a time and give you the update...
On Thursday morning, I got a phone call from my mom (she FINALLY reached me via my cell phone at 6:30 AM, despite trying to call us since about 3 AM) indicating that my dad had suffered a heart attack. She said that he was being transported to Providence in Waco from the ER in Mexia and that she they had just walked in the doors, she would call me with an update. A short while later, she called to tell me he was having a catherization done at noon and that they were going to repair whatever needed repairing at that time. So I headed out of town to try to make it there before the catherization.
I spoke with him before I left, so I knew he was doing ok, or as well as could be expected, considering.
Elsewhere, my sweet husband was concerned that he was going to get called into work early because of the pending hurricane...you may have heard of it...Hurricane Ike. He was scheduled to work his regular shift on Friday, and anticipated the possibility of him having to go into work early on Thursday. However, as I was getting ready to get out of town, he was making calls to find out that he most likely wasn't having to go into work early. Whew.
So, to the hospital I go, and I'll fast foward to the catherization results. The catherization went well. He has/had a total of 3 blockages. The one that caused the heart attack was a 100% blockage at the circumflex artery. They inserted a stint there and have full function and anticipate no permanent long-term damage to the heart from the blockage and subsequent heart attack. As for the other two (located in the descending portion of the left anterior artery), the doctor decided against treatment with them at this time. What they will do is a stress test in a month to determine whether they're functionally significant. If they are, then he'll go in again to have stints placed in them.
I was able to see dad both prior to and after the catherization, which I'm thankful for. Dad's nurses' name was Michael, and he was keeping an eye out for me so that he could get me in to see Dad before he went in for the catherization if I was able to get there in time, which I luckily was. Michael, huh. Isn't God good? ;) I am VERY glad that I was there, as I was able to help my mom understand some of what the doctor was saying and showing with regard to the blockages and overall meaning. She was being so strong, but when we walked out after the doctor called us in for the catherization results, she just looked at me and said, "So does all that mean that he WILL be ok?" I'm so thankful that I was able to be there for her...
He was still in ICU on Thursday, as they simply didn't have a bed for him, and he was number 10 or 12 in line to receive a room. Mom wasn't allowed to stay with him, so we both left Thursday afternoon (and the ICU nurse was kicking us out...just doing her job, but not making us really happy though...).
I made it back to College Station in time to pick up both kids, as Matt was in a slew of emergency preparedness meetings taking place all that evening. I found out, through a variety of emails throughout the day, that TAMU and Kellen's school was closed for the pending hurricane. Hello, Ike!
Thursday night was pretty rough, Kellen was incredibly scared about the hurricane, and moreso scared about his Daddy going INTO the hurricane while everyone else was going AWAY from the hurricane. He was TERRIFIED that his Daddy was going to die. So much so that Matt and I were BOTH trying to console him throughout the night as he was having multiple nightmares and waking up screaming. And one of his nightmares ended with him falling off of the bed and busting his eye open, a fact that neither Matt nor I realized it until Friday morning. Apparently it could have stood stitches, but we didn't realize it quick enough...so there's another scar on "Crash Kellen" - Ug. His eye is so swollen...it hurts me just to look at it!
So Friday we start to prepare for Ike...Matt heads off to work, and I start picking up everything that could become a projectile - or at least as much as I can pick up while trying to watch Kellen and Tatum playing in the yard. So yeah, I didn't get everything done outside. Our evacuees from the Conroe area started to arrive mid-day on Friday, and all told we ended up with an additional 7, then 5 people and 6 animals at the house. I'm so glad that they came here and escaped from Conroe! They, of course, help get the rest of the outside ready for the storm.
I'm continuing to try and touch base with mom, and she was able to get a ride to the hospital early on Friday. Dad was moved to a private room early in the day, so she had planned to spend the night in case he was moved to a private room. She called me later in the afternoon and dad was having some problems with both his blood pressure and his heart rate. His blood pressure was dropping rapidly and his heart rate was spiking, and the doctors weren't sure why...it happened while he was sleeping, so that kinda' rules out normal "I'm stressed because I'm in the hospital" stress-type stuff, at least in my book...They gave him a bag of meds and were monitoring him closely, then changed from an IV medication to an oral medication when the IV infiltrated his arm.
Friday night comes and at the house we're all just hunckerin' down and getting ready for the storm. We haven't watched much else but the weather channel.
I wonder what their ratings were last week and this weekend?
Matt sent text messages periodically updating us on the weather in Houston, and throughout the night as well. God protected him and those around him, and continued to bless us by allowing there to be an adequate number of volunteers on Saturday so that Matt was able to come home *safely* mid-day on Saturday.
Saturday rolls around and I called to check on Dad, only to be told by Mom that she was in with the doctor. I immediately called back and suggested that she suggest they keep him another night. I'm sure it had nothing to do with my suggestion, but that's what the doctors decided to do, which made me feel much better. I would MUCH rather have my parents in a hospital in Waco when the remnants of Hurricane Ike goes up I45 than in the middle of a peach orchard directly in its path.
By Saturday, the kids are going a little stir-crazy, so we decided to take them to McDonalds for dinner and let them R-U-N on the playground. Considering that they had been cooped up in a house without being able to really get their energy out too well, they had been fairly well-behaved. The two older ones act like they're siblings. I mean REALLY act like they're siblings. Wow. I can see what I have to look forward to now. We tried to keep them busy with a variety of activites, and naps were mandatory, but there's only so much you can do.
Sunday rolls around and despite my best efforts, we just weren't making it to church. The boys decided that they were going to make a trip back to Conroe to assess the damage to the houses, so they were getting ready to head out at about the time that the kids and I should have been getting ready to go to church, so I just wasn't able to make it happen. Shortly after they left, the kids and moms headed out for a walk - off to the park! We went and fed the ducks, then played on the playground, and timed it perfectly so that we were back just in time for lunch and a nap. Yay us!
During our energy-expenditure walk, I called to find out what was going on with Dad, and was told that they made the decision to release him. So they were getting ready to head out as I was talking to them.
Sunday afternoon included naps for EVERYONE - I kinda' think we all deserved them, don't you? Then I got a call from Dad at around 3 PM Sunday afternoon letting me know that he and mom were home and resting comfortably. That was a great call to get!
Although my timing was a little off for our Sunday night church activities (a whole hour off - the wrong way...) and Kellen and I missed the first night of our new fall programs, Sunday still was a good day.
Despite the seemingly endless stream of misadventures...heart attack, busted eye, working in the hurricane, the hurricane itself, God has continually blessed us. Everything could have been so much worse, and God has shown his grace and goodness through all of this.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Kellen the computer whiz?
Ok, well maybe whiz is too strong, but Kellen started telling me today how he liked his "old" school better than his "new" school. So I began the questions to investigate why. Come to find out, they have a longer rotation before they're able to use the computer, and he really likes playing on the computer more often than he's able to now given the number of students in his class.
Who knew?
I guess I should have realized that because he was often at the computer center when I picked him up from daycare, but I obviously never gave it a second thought.
So, we went straight to the computer, and he immediately asked me to go to playhousedisney.com, or to pbskids.com, or to noggin.com, "Whatever choice you want to make, Mommy."
Uh huh. Can you tell which channels are on the TV at our house? And can you tell we have lots of discussions about 'choices' over here as well?
Playhouse Disney it was, and he proceeded to play several games, and he did great! These weren't just your standard video games, these are of the educational variety, so bring 'em on!
I told him as he was getting ready for bed tonight that if he has good days at school, playing on the computer can be his reward.
He was so excited! I love learning more about my kids every day! I love that I can be around them every day, and STILL learn new things about them....
Who knew?
I guess I should have realized that because he was often at the computer center when I picked him up from daycare, but I obviously never gave it a second thought.
So, we went straight to the computer, and he immediately asked me to go to playhousedisney.com, or to pbskids.com, or to noggin.com, "Whatever choice you want to make, Mommy."
Uh huh. Can you tell which channels are on the TV at our house? And can you tell we have lots of discussions about 'choices' over here as well?
Playhouse Disney it was, and he proceeded to play several games, and he did great! These weren't just your standard video games, these are of the educational variety, so bring 'em on!
I told him as he was getting ready for bed tonight that if he has good days at school, playing on the computer can be his reward.
He was so excited! I love learning more about my kids every day! I love that I can be around them every day, and STILL learn new things about them....
Monday, September 08, 2008
18 month check up
Wow. Just wow...Tatum is a trooper. Really.
Her 18 month check up was today (yeah, I know, we're a few days over...but just a few!), and she did just GREAT!
First of all, it wasn't at the best time...11:15 AM for a little girl who is used to eating at that time and taking a nap immediately after doesn't bode well for a happy and peaceful doctors visit. But, being the planner I am, I entered the doctors office armed with Ritz crackers and a sippy cup, hoping beyond hope to ward off pending meltdowns with food.
(It worked, by the way.)
The first, 'Aw' moment of the visit I had was when I pulled into the parking lot, exited the car and proceeded to get her out of the car and into the stroller when I realized that she had fallen asleep en route. *sigh* Poor baby! Not only do I have to wake you and disturb your nap, but I have to do so to to take you into the doctors office, AND to have you get shots. Ug.
So into the doctors office we go, and I start pointing out the painted animals on the wall, only to realize that she CAN make the sound and arm movements of a monkey. We've been demonstrating this to her (I call her my little monkey all the time - wierd, you might say, but she's a climber...) and she does it. How utterly delightful! It was just precious! (If you're counting, 'Aw' moment number two).
Then my little girl exhibits her total girliness by throwing a semi-fit as she's getting weighed. Now, before you question my comment above, let me explain. She had her cracker, and her water, I simply had to put both down for her to get weighed, and you DO NOT take food AWAY from this child. That's a BIG NO NO in Tatum-land. Another no-no is taking OFF her shoes. Hence the exhibition of her girliness. She wanted those shoes ON HER FEET. Period.
So as for the getting weighed part...she weighed in at a whopping 25.5 pounds. Yes, you read that correctly. Somewhere in the writing down of the weight we lost a half pound, so the "official" weight is 25 pounds, but I saw the number on the scale and it was 25.5. Uh huh. No wonder my back aches some days, especially when BOTH Kellen and Tatum want me to carry them. Goodness!
So, as for stats:
Weight: 25(.5) pounds = 70%
Height: 32 1/2 " = 70-75%
Head cir: 47.5 cm = 75%
We had a few issues to discuss with the doctor, including her inability to properly digest fruits (specifically acidic fruits or anything acidic). Our conclusion = she just can't. Perhaps she'll grow out of it, he's fairly optimistic about that, but for the time being, she simply doesn't get them. So we're adding a multivitamin to her daily regime (hello Flinstones!) to be sure that she gets the vitamins and nutrients she isn't getting from that food group (specifically Vit C).
And then she got her shots, and she really did quite well with those. She tried to be a big girl, and let out one big wail after the first one, took the seond like a champ (heck, she was still in the middle of the first wail, so what could she do?), and then I gave her the paci, her lovey, and snuggled with her. And that was all it took for her to put her head on my shoulder, snuggle into my neck, settle herself down, then realize she had done something good and clap for herself. Another 'Aw' moment, and now I've lost count...
Matt and I seem to continually make comparisons between Kellen and Tatum at their different stages, and he and I both thought that Kellen was more advanced than Tatum at this age verbally. After the questions they asked to gauge her verbal development at this check-up, we've realized she's JUST FINE (can she say 6-8 words? uh huh!). So, after the appointment, I decided to come up with a list, as best I could, of the words that I've identified that Tatum has and can say, as of now. Here they are (not necessarily in the order in which they appeared in her vocabulary)
Her 18 month check up was today (yeah, I know, we're a few days over...but just a few!), and she did just GREAT!
First of all, it wasn't at the best time...11:15 AM for a little girl who is used to eating at that time and taking a nap immediately after doesn't bode well for a happy and peaceful doctors visit. But, being the planner I am, I entered the doctors office armed with Ritz crackers and a sippy cup, hoping beyond hope to ward off pending meltdowns with food.
(It worked, by the way.)
The first, 'Aw' moment of the visit I had was when I pulled into the parking lot, exited the car and proceeded to get her out of the car and into the stroller when I realized that she had fallen asleep en route. *sigh* Poor baby! Not only do I have to wake you and disturb your nap, but I have to do so to to take you into the doctors office, AND to have you get shots. Ug.
So into the doctors office we go, and I start pointing out the painted animals on the wall, only to realize that she CAN make the sound and arm movements of a monkey. We've been demonstrating this to her (I call her my little monkey all the time - wierd, you might say, but she's a climber...) and she does it. How utterly delightful! It was just precious! (If you're counting, 'Aw' moment number two).
Then my little girl exhibits her total girliness by throwing a semi-fit as she's getting weighed. Now, before you question my comment above, let me explain. She had her cracker, and her water, I simply had to put both down for her to get weighed, and you DO NOT take food AWAY from this child. That's a BIG NO NO in Tatum-land. Another no-no is taking OFF her shoes. Hence the exhibition of her girliness. She wanted those shoes ON HER FEET. Period.
So as for the getting weighed part...she weighed in at a whopping 25.5 pounds. Yes, you read that correctly. Somewhere in the writing down of the weight we lost a half pound, so the "official" weight is 25 pounds, but I saw the number on the scale and it was 25.5. Uh huh. No wonder my back aches some days, especially when BOTH Kellen and Tatum want me to carry them. Goodness!
So, as for stats:
Weight: 25(.5) pounds = 70%
Height: 32 1/2 " = 70-75%
Head cir: 47.5 cm = 75%
We had a few issues to discuss with the doctor, including her inability to properly digest fruits (specifically acidic fruits or anything acidic). Our conclusion = she just can't. Perhaps she'll grow out of it, he's fairly optimistic about that, but for the time being, she simply doesn't get them. So we're adding a multivitamin to her daily regime (hello Flinstones!) to be sure that she gets the vitamins and nutrients she isn't getting from that food group (specifically Vit C).
And then she got her shots, and she really did quite well with those. She tried to be a big girl, and let out one big wail after the first one, took the seond like a champ (heck, she was still in the middle of the first wail, so what could she do?), and then I gave her the paci, her lovey, and snuggled with her. And that was all it took for her to put her head on my shoulder, snuggle into my neck, settle herself down, then realize she had done something good and clap for herself. Another 'Aw' moment, and now I've lost count...
Matt and I seem to continually make comparisons between Kellen and Tatum at their different stages, and he and I both thought that Kellen was more advanced than Tatum at this age verbally. After the questions they asked to gauge her verbal development at this check-up, we've realized she's JUST FINE (can she say 6-8 words? uh huh!). So, after the appointment, I decided to come up with a list, as best I could, of the words that I've identified that Tatum has and can say, as of now. Here they are (not necessarily in the order in which they appeared in her vocabulary)
- Mommy
- Daddy
- Maw Maw
- Paw Paw
- Bubby (I'm working SO HARD on getting her to say Kellen, but we said brother so much that this is what that word turned into - *sigh*)
- Please
- Outside
- Night-Night
- Dolphin
- Thank you
- Cheese
- Fish
- Eat
- Shoes
- Bath
- Bye
- Baby
- Ball
- Cracker
- No
- Mine
- Door
- Puppy
- Apple
- Banana
- Sit down
- Who's that?
- Love you
- More
I'm sure I've forgotten some, because I've just thought about this list for a short while this afternoon. And this doesn't count the number of signs that she does as well. So really, she's pretty verbal, and there's no telling how verbal she would be if we could get the paci out of her mouth more...*grin* But, we're not worried about that one, yet...with blessings from the doctor (and yes, it was a discussion item as well).
So I took her back to daycare and, you guessed it, she fell asleep in the car on the way back to school. 'Aw' I walked inside carrying her and went into her classroom where they had saved her lunch, and whispered to her about lunch...it took a minute, but she finally realized there was food ready for her and she woke up long enough to sign "eat" and walk to the table to be served, while saying, "night night" and looking at her nap stuff. 'Aw'
According to her chart, she ate "some" and then did take a little nap, so her day has been a little outta whack. But again, she's been quite the trooper!
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Sunday morning sounds
(As I'm exiting the shower and getting ready for church)
Kellen: Why didn't you make MY breakfast when you made Tatum's breakfast?
(The fact hasn't quite sunken in to him that once you pour the milk onto cereal, it begins the soggification process. But whatever.)
****
Kellen: I think Tatum has a stinky!
(Which was proven true)
****
(As both children are now dressed for church, but wearing capes over their church attire)
Kellen remarks: I am a super hero and Tatum, you look like a super girl or a princess.
Now THAT'S just music to my ears!
Kellen: Why didn't you make MY breakfast when you made Tatum's breakfast?
(The fact hasn't quite sunken in to him that once you pour the milk onto cereal, it begins the soggification process. But whatever.)
****
Kellen: I think Tatum has a stinky!
(Which was proven true)
****
(As both children are now dressed for church, but wearing capes over their church attire)
Kellen remarks: I am a super hero and Tatum, you look like a super girl or a princess.
Now THAT'S just music to my ears!
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Makin' Gingi
Kellen's class, in fact all of kindergarten in his school this week, is doing a theme on gingerbread men. They're reading several versions of the book, and decorated gingerbread men on Monday. Much to their dismay, the gingerbread men ESCAPED from the oven while the lunch people were making the chicken nuggets.
Oh my!
Kellen has been oh-so-enthused about this latest adventure. He told me about how he made his gingerbread man, what he looked like - down to the last blue hair, pink shirted, rainbow pants, green shoed detail. Really.
Kellen's gingerbread man and the other gingerbread men made a break for it, they all said, "Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man." Then the baby one said, "Catch me, catch me if you can. Catch me if you can."
(I really don't do this justice...Kellen talked about NOTHING else but this for quite a while yesterday afternoon/evening. You should hear him discussing this...it's quite entertaining!)
So Kellen decided to take his net to school today to see if he could find and catch his gingerbread man, but he wasn't able to find him. He's so worried that his gingerbread man is running amuck around the school being naughty. He's also worried that the gingerbread man is going to mess up the school and that he's going to have to stay home FOREVER. Uh huh.
Kellen's teacher (and the rest of the kindergarten teachers, I'm sure) have devised a plan to lure the gingerbread men back. They've sent home paper gingerbread men so that we can all decorate them and encourage the "real" gingerbread men to come back.
Here is Kellen decorating Gingi tonight:
Please note: Gingi doesn't have any hair because he's made to look like Daddy. However, Daddy doesn't have bags or backpacks to match his shirts like Kellen had me to make for Gingi. Yes, you read that correctly. This Gingi has a matching bag with a green handle. Very chic.
Monday, September 01, 2008
Happy Labor Day!
Whatcha' doing on this holiday?
I'm taking Kellen to school (we're in charge of snacks this week for his class, so I'll get to go into his class and drop off a couple of days worth of snacks - grapes, crackers, etc) and then Tatum and I are hanging out. I took the day off of work because her daycare was closed today...
Daycare closed.
TAMU open.
Elementary school open.
Hmmmm......
I'm taking Kellen to school (we're in charge of snacks this week for his class, so I'll get to go into his class and drop off a couple of days worth of snacks - grapes, crackers, etc) and then Tatum and I are hanging out. I took the day off of work because her daycare was closed today...
Daycare closed.
TAMU open.
Elementary school open.
Hmmmm......
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