God Momments / Seeing Me

Image by ~Dezz~ via Flickr

In church this morning we were talking about the importance of hanging out with people that aren't christians. Some folks are afraid that they will be tempted into sin if they hang out with non-chriatians but I actually have found that my sinful behaviors as a young person actually increased when I chose to only hang with other christians. This may seem strange but what happens in my life is christains seem to show compasion for your sinful ways and sometimes they join right in. When I hang out with people that don't hold my same beliefs I have found that they openly question me if I am acting in a way that hipocritical. The best part is their is no hiden agenda just an honest desire to know. I remember one time when I was in college I went to a bar and was hitting on some guy and he said that he didn't think I belonged in a place like this. God was watching out for me. Our conversation turned into one all about God. Not my plan but I am sure it was God's.

Parenting / Potty Training

Image by bcostin via Flickr

I see potty training in stages. Stage 1 is training mommy/daddy to follow a schedule and get them on the potty every 30-45 minutes, track when they have accidents. This helps you to know when and how often they actually go. Then you start putting them on the potty at the times you think they will need to go, still about every 45 minutes. Stage 1 is also about making potty time fun and special with mommy/daddy. We read all our books while sitting on the potty. I reward the boys for just sitting for the whole time I read and they get an extra reward for going. The goal is for them to want to sit. If you take them this often they will go. I also try and let them run around in underwear or nothing at all when ever I can. This helps them but mostly you recognize when they go. Diapers are great but don't help much in potty training. We also have to untrain going in the diaper. I would say do this for a week or two religiously, if going well, keep it up, if not, try again in a month or so.

The other reason to work on stage 1 when they are really little is they haven't really separated themselves from you. Once they get to the: me, mine, and the, I'll do it my way, they often struggle against you in potty training and then you have a behavioral problem on top of potty training.

In this stage I don’t show any disappointment when they go potty on the floor or in their diaper. I use only positive words and encouragement. “Let’s go potty in the potty next time.”

Now stage 2 starts when they actually seem to have made a connection between being wet, what is happening in the potty and your praise. It is at this point that I use both positive and negative reinforcement. Great job when they go in the potty and just verbal encouragement and a little show of disappointment when they have an accident. "Sherman, look at the floor/your pants, they are all wet. Let's try and go next time in the potty. I know you can do it."

Now with Petra she was fully potty training after stage 2.

Now Reye needed another stage, 3. Hopefully you won't need a stage 3. He was 3 1/2 before he was potty trained. He had no interest and I didn't really use stage 1, with me consistently putting him on the potty. He wasn't responding to anything I did. He isn't motivated by praise or punishment. He loved Spiderman at the time and we had loads of Spiderman stuff. I had finally had enough one day at a park. He pooped in his pants, told me he needed to go potty where he dumped it on the floor, pulled up is dirty pants and came out. I was so motivated in my moment of clarity. All of his Spiderman stuff went in jail (laundry basket). I made him collect everything from toys, to shoes, plates, etc. He was horrified. I told him he could have one thing back if he went potty and everything back if he went a whole day.

He was potty trained in TWO weeks.

Sweet Pea Momments / Potty Time

Make a Smilebox greeting

Sweet Pea Momments / 1st Day of School

The Kids had a great day. Everyone was up and ready on time. We all walked to school together and Kay and Reye went off to breakfast while I looked into who would be putting Petra on her shuttle bus to Ed Franz. So often times I don't take pictures and I was so excited that things were going smooth enough for me to take some good shots. After I got Petra on the bus the twins and I went hope to drive over to Ed Franz to join Petra for Breakfast. Why wouldn't I just drive her? Well I want to get her trained to be able to go on the bus by herself. Eventually Kay and Reye will be walking with her to school without me.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Day to Day / No Time to Write

I have 10 minutes before I need to be out the door for football. This has been the story of my life. Everything is so scheduled that I just don't have minute to collect my thoughts and write. I can't believe that it has been so long since I posted last. I have had some ideas but no time. I hope to write about the 1st day of school, and better yet the 2nd.

Life is good. 5 minutes, babies need a diaper change, the table needs clearing and I am sure Reye can't find something.

Sweet Pea Momments / Sprinklers

Image via Wikipedia

What a joy to see the smiles and inhibition on my children's faces while they ran through the sprinklers on the baseball field. Reye had just finished football practice and he was having a blast cooling down on the field. Kay was a bit more cautious and Petra stayed only in range of the mist.

Day to Day / Cleaning

Image via Wikipedia

How do you clean your Shower? I am embarrassed to say I don't really know how. I have had someone else doing it for the past 100 years. At one point I had a sprayer for my shower head and I would wipe everything down and then hose it with the shower head. Well I can do that with what we have now so I just through a bucket of water and get very wet myself. I even take my mop into the stall for the floor. I am sure that this isn't the way it is suppose to be done, but oh well.

Now why I am rambling on about my shower? Well even though I am a SAHM and am trying to pinch every penny I just HATE house work, and how much time it take me away from the kids, so I gave in and am back to having a cleaning lady. The last two times she was to show, today included, she canceled last minute. Now this is a total aggravation at my house because we spend at least two hours getting ready for the cleaning lady. We pick up EVERY toy. Even those under the beds, and in the play room and we wash and dry all the bedding.

It just isn't worth it to not at least vacuum after doing all the prep work. So today I decided I was going to do a better job than the cleaning lady and get it all done today. Well we did it. The kids helped out a bunch.

Kay was under the kitchen table washing the legs and the sides. She found a mountain of chocolate.

Reye washed the food off the walls in the eating area. He was hilarious. "I can't believe all the food on the wall mom. Does the cleaning lady really do all of this?"

Petra washed baseboards.

And I sat and watched TV, ha, ha. I am pooped but happy in my clean, triple mopped floors.

Day to Day / Up at 5:30 AM

Image via Wikipedia

Today is going great. We are gearing up for school by getting up, dressed and fed as if everyone was going off to school. I had the house picked up and we were off to the park by 8:15. Even had Randy's tea brewing. We played and just got home at 10:00. Ran into some home school mom's. One lady had 12 children and she looked my age. Wow. My back hurts just thinking about it.

Sweet Pea Momments / Failed Penny Experiment

Image via Wikipedia

While my kids were doing dishes I overheard them trying to get a penny out of the garbage disposal.

Don't worry it was off.

I didn't think anything of it. Accidents happen. It was probably on the counter and just slipped in. Right? Just to be sure I asked how the penny got in the disposal. Reye wanted to test out whether or not the penny was heavy enough to just sit in the sink and not be pushed down the drain by the water. He thought the water would just go around the penny. When the experiment failed he tried really hard to retreave the penny before it went down the train.

Well it not only went down but it wedged itself under something and jammed the disposal for 24 hours. I told Reye he could help pay for a new one if he ended up breaking it. I got it out today and I think I am going to tape it to his forhead and let him go to church like that.

Day to Day / Flip Over Flops

Image via Wikipedia

On a whim I looked up a free activity in OurKids Magazine and boy was it a flop. It was a "free" event yet everything cost accept for the music and the bouncy house. It was farther away than I thought, 20 miles, so when we were done in 20 minutes and everyone's faces were looking rather glumly Mom needed to think fast. I told them that happiness was a choice. I told them to remember that it is better for us to have gotten out of the house risking that this event could be a flop than for mom to never risk disappointment. I told them that Mom would come up with something but they had to find their joyful faces.

Praise God for my GPS. I searched for Parks and their was an amazing one that we had never been to just 2 miles away. It was a great night, not because we did something amazing but because we choose to make what we did amazing.

Choose this day to have an amazing day what ever you do, where ever you go and make it amazing for someone else.

Writings of Old / Blessed Wife

I just posted something I wrote about being a fullfilled blessed wife that I wrote 12/8/2008.

Day to Day / Schools a Starting

Image via Wikipedia

We are gearing up for school to start. I have made a schedule with all our weekly activites once school starts. We will be running this year. We are starting the 5:45 wake-up time next week and following our schedule so that when school actually starts on the 24th my kids will be adjusted. I am probably going to be the worst of the lot trying to get up. The plan is to have everyone dressed and ready by 6:45.

Petra will be going to Pre-K. She will walk with Kay and Reye and catch a bus at 7:00 AM over to her school and they will drop her off at our house at 10:45 AM.

If I am going to get some exercise before the heat and actually get something out of my time without Petra I had better get cracking before the sun comes up. I can always nap when the twin nap.

House Rules / Cell Phones

Image by JonJon2k8 via Flickr

I am gearing up to be the most uncool parent on the block. Kay age 8 is already asking when she will get a cell phone. We decide that when she is of age to go places without adult supervision she will probably get a phone but here's the kicker. No games, no texting and the phone will only be able to call/recieve the numbers we program.

I don't want my kids being distracted from life with a phone.

Lightfoot Challenge / Day 1

My brother has challenged me to loss some weight. The one who losses the most before we see each other again wins. This give us about 10 months. We are going off % lost.

Today's Weight: 194

Day to Day / Smooth Sailing

Image by Thai Jasmine (Busy...Try to catch up later ;-)! ) via Flickr

Today has been a wonderful day. Started out with smoothies and homemade bread.

We had a great discussion at church. I really was taken with the concept that David is a man after God's own heart. I have always seen him as a great guy that is real with God about his shortcomings. The turning point for me as a leader is that I have never seen his weaknesses as a sign that he shouldn't lead or that he is a hypocrite. I have often felt that way about myself, over shortcomings in myself, that after loads of prayers, have yet to change, to my satisfaction. I am not prefect but I am certainly on my face before God seeking and praying to be more like him. Praise God that is all he asks of us.

After church the kids really came through and helped with the chores. I had been letting it go this past week. It is amazing how much more you can get done when motivated and in the right frame of mind. We were laughing, dancing in the kitchen and just having a great time.

The babies have slept almost all day it seems like. The older kids and I even got to play a game.

Tonight is date night and I have dinner in the oven along with desert all made for the kids.

Have to really enjoy a day like today it might night come again for another month.

Sweet Pea Momments / Ruff Ruffman

The older three and I went to the Children's Museum for a special day with Ruff Ruffman. The kids all really like this show and so do I. It is a neat show of problem solving and working together. We even used one of the projects on PBS kids for Kay's student lead girl scout meeting last year.

They had a few new exhits that were a lot of fun. The twins would have loved it but it was so nice to not have to try and chase after both of them while still keeping one eye on everyone else. The membership is only $55.00 and I would really like to go I just don't know if we will have time between school, housework, scouts, soccer, dance and football. Wow. It is going to be a busy year.

Sweet Pea Momments / Naked Tears

Image by Hypergurl - Tanya Ann via Flickr

I had a great chance to teach my oldest about managing her emotions. I have spent most of my life feeling trapped by the tears that want to fall every time i need to talk about something that is challenging, frustrating, makes me sad, or gives me pain. This has left me quiet when I needed to speak or feeling humiliated or embarrassed when the tears start of fall.

Randy wanted to watch a movie with me before their bedtime and the kids were not paying much attention to him till he barked out that they need to get out of the living room and go to their rooms. Kay in her surprise began to cry. Randy followed up with a rather hash conversation about how he didn't want her to cry when he told her to do something.

At 1st my sympathetic heart went out to Kay but after talking to Randy I realized that this was the time to teach her how to choose when and with whom she would let her deep emotions be shared.

It was awesome. I really hope she can internalize this concept. Don't bottle up your emotions just make a choice as to who and when you are going to share them. If you let your emotions out as soon as you feel them then you are not in control and they will end up controlling you. Our heart felt emotions should be shared on purpose after prayer and only with those that we can show the nakedness of our heart. Keeping your nakedness private made sense to her and now that she can see it in light of her emotions I pray that she will make some better stronger choices.

I also see letting your emotions out without a plan is similar to starting a boat getting it going full tilt among many boaters and then running to the back and covering your head hoping not to crash before you run back to catch the wheel. Exhilarating, freeing, dangerous and possibly deadly.

Day to Day / Football but it's 108

Image via Wikipedia

If you would have asked me before moving to Texas if I liked to be inside I would have said no way. Outdoor girl all the way. I love to hike, walk, swim, smell the roses, camp, etc. If it is outside bring it on...but NOT in weather constantly over 100. I have got to get my attitude in check. I don't complain about it being hot because the kids don't really know any different so what do I is WHINE on the inside and it is damn loud in my head. All that grumbling on the inside tends to leak out.

I am so proud of my son. He is out their working it with a smile. Can't I just get my head around that? Hopefully I will grow up some day.

Sweet Pea Momments / Except our Feet

Image by MyAngelG via Flickr

My son. What can I say, he likes to point out the obvious. We have a small galley kitchen so it is a rule in our house that toys, shoes, etc. don't belong in my kitchen. We are cleaning up after lunch and I am barking out. "Please get everything off the floor that doesn't belong in my kitchen. Why is their a life vest and a teddy bear in here. Come on, let's go everyone."

My son follows up with "exect our feet." I am sure my eyes rolled back into my head.

He is 7 years old, but how long will it take for him to get this? We talked about how these OBVIOUS statements are a form of mocking me. Big deer in the headlights on that one. How do I get this concept across? He spent a few minutes in his room and I called everyone into the kitchen to explain the concept of not saying what is OBVIOUS. I told them that mommy doesn't have time to fully explain everything. They need to be able to think it through. We had so much fun with this one. I gave the example of trying to get everyone out to the car. Petra has a doll, Reye an action figure and the twins have picked up sticks. I say "I don't want anyone to bring ANYTHING into the car." What do I mean? What are you to leave behind. Everyone got it. Then I said "except my nose," everyone laughed, and "except my shirt." Then Reye got a big smile and said "now I get it." We all then started sharing all those funny exceptions, pants, underwear, socks, hair, arms, legs, etc.

Baby May

Image by picable via Flickr

Where is my manual? How do I deal with the incredible grief and pain felt after losing my precious baby of May. After having two other children I never thought once about having a miscarriage. I was only 10 weeks along. Why does this stress me so? My husband wants to move on, my other kids need me. I have so many question, and don't get me started on how insensitive my Dr. was. I here this is so common so why don't women talk about it? One in five pregnancies that is a lot.

If you are like me and need to here another women's story please come see my blog. I don't have any ads.

I lost a baby at 10 weeks back in 2004. I wrote down my experience/healing and have recently placed it on my blog. All my posts are listed under 2004. My hearts desire is to help other women find healing and wholeness and to embrace and celebrate the life that was with them for such a short time.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Miscarriage Pregnancy Loss Memorial Keepsake Jewelry (parenting-success.com)

God Momments / Sacrifce

Image via Wikipedia

Today at church we were talking about Abraham being called to sacrifice his son. This story brought to my mind the sacrifice felt when caring a child after having had a miscarriage. The loss of baby May happened to me, without warning, I was a victim to it, left to pick up the pieces of my life, changed forever. God gave me much insight during this time and during my subsequent pregnancies.

At church three people shared their similar experiences and it is just waying on my heart just how much I need to get this story out on my blog. My heart and pray is for all women that have lost a baby, walked through a pregnancy not knowing if they would birth a child would feel and know the hand of God. I want them to see what God showed me. Loss will come, tears will fall, pain will be felt, clear to your bones yet joy, peace, love and an awe for life will also be found more deeply than ever known before.

I liken it to the birth of a flower growing under ground before the loss of a baby we only think of the beautiful flower to come from the ground, going out watering, waiting. After the loss of a baby we have been brought in at the ground level. Under ground some times suffocated and intoxicated with the fragrance of life, hoping and praying the weeds don't drown the plant out.

I made it. I have posted my power point presentation "Baby of May". Everything I wrote is under 2004. I put it is reverse order to make the entries easier to read. I couldn't get the clip art to go in but I am sure I will figure that out and add it later.