Perspective

How could this cute face....this boy that can make anyone smile....the cutie that makes friends with every checkout person....the boy that makes every older person feel special because he says, "Hi!"....this boy who is always willing to give hugs...this cuddly cutie...this child who says, 'tank you mommy' all the time...cause me so much stress?


Well, we still struggle with biting. Not all the time, but enough that it's upsetting. Last week he bit during nursery at our mom's group and this week he almost did. Now, I recognize (Dan reminds me all the time) that's it's better then last year...he was biting every day, but I want it to be over. We have tried about 110 different tactics over the course of the last year...right now, my goal is to give him huge amounts of praise every 5-10 minutes when he's playing nicely in the hopes that it will continue. Yes, I've tried this before, but he's older now and maybe, just maybe it will work this time....a mom can hope, right?!

Why am I blogging about this? Not because I enjoy letting everyone know that I'm not an amazing mom...not because I love letting people know about this struggle, but instead, it's because I trust that one day this will no longer be a struggle in my/our life...when that day comes, I want to recognize that we got through this issue so that whatever issues we're dealing with at the time...well, I can know and trust that God will get us through that issue as well.

A fun weekend with some fun gals!

Back before Christmas some friends and I blocked off a 'girls weekend'. Thankfully we had no weather issues and we were able to make the trek to the cities and we had a GREAT time. Angie and Robyn met at my house and together the 3 of us went to Siobhan's...then on Saturday morning we got up and headed to the cities where we shopped for a couple days, stayed at a hotel, enjoyed relaxing in the hot tub and just overall had a fun weekend with some great conversations...and of course some good deals! :)

We had so much we talked about making this a bi-annual event rather than just annual. :)

Siobhan and I -- we've realized we have very few pics together, so we've been trying to make a point of taking pics when we see each other. :)

Angie & Robyn -- they have been friends since they were little...Siobhan and Angie met in college, I met Angie through Siobhan and we all met Robyn through Angie. Are you confused yet?!

Going out to eat...the only time we were able to get a shot of all 4 of us together.

Ok, so when you shop together with people that have similar tastes...well, it's inevitable that you may end up with some similar purchases. Siobhan and I each found a great coat that was 80% off and so we each got one in a different color. :)

Robyn and I each got these vests for a deal at $9

There were other similar purchases, but this is all I got a picture of...since none of us live near each other or see each other often, buying the same things isn't an issue. :)

We had a great time, but it's always nice to come home too...especially when you come home to find out that you were definitely missed. I think moms need to get away once in a while so that when you come home YOU can be the one with the running welcome and bombarded with hugs! :)

Money Well Spent!

A couple weeks ago I was at Target and found 2 GREAT deals! Each was $100 off the original price...yes, I LOVE that! One is a birthday gift that will be revealed in May for a certain soon to be 8 year old, but the first one was more of a family find.

When Josiah was a baby Dan and I would often talk about what we wanted our home to look like when he (and any other kids God would bless us with) got older. We always desired for our home to be where neighborhood kids would come to play. Over the last year or so, that has become a reality. In the summer they can be found scootering, playing baseball, tag, looking for small critters or many other things at our house. There are 2 boys that are here quite often and a few others that come once in a while. If you've been in our basement lately it's all set for younger kids, but not really geared for older kids...other then our basketball hoop that is mounted on the wall.

Anyway, I like to keep my eyes open for good deals and this was one of my good deals. It was originally priced at $129 and I was able to get it for about $30...HOORAY! It has already been used MANY times. He even has a friend that has been getting off the bus with him and coming over right away (thankfully his mom is ok with that) and they have a snack and then go to the basement and play a variety of the games...it's great!

I went to Target to buy a couple necessities, but you just never know when you might find a great deal!

Flashback Friday - Be Careful Little Eyes

Josiah is like a sponge. His mind is always working on something. He's been like this for a long time. This is also a warning about what kids watch on TV...and a funny story narrated by my hubby.

One day when I was cooking in the kitchen I threw away an empty can. This is when I got some shocking words from my then 3-year-old Josiah. He said, "Dad, why did you throw away that can of possibilities?"
On another occasion, he came running up the stairs to find me like it was an emergency. He was noticeably sad. I asked what was wrong. He could hardly speak about it because he was so troubled. He finally said, "Dad, you HAVE to see this commercial." "What commercial?" "It's terrible, we have to send money." At that point I was having visions of starving children on TV. I was wrong. "Dad, the polar bears are dying, we need to save them."

Now, these incidents began a conversation about the way TV commercials aren't always entirely truthful. It was a tough topic for a three year old but now that he is 7 he gets it a bit better.

* Dan and I were reminiscing about funny kid stories the other night and I told him that he had to blog about the Josiah story for me because I didn't want to forget it. I'm not great at jotting things down in baby books (confessions of a non-scrapbooking mom) and my blog has kind of become that for me. I hope to print this out one day (if anyone has any good tips on how to do that just let me know) so each of the kids can have it.

The Last Day of Sick...we hope!

Well, sickness has now affected every person in our family. Josiah got sick Sunday afternoon and Dan got sick in the middle of the night on Sunday. Needless to say, we were all home as a family on Monday (Alayna still had a low fever too). Today, Josiah is home because he still had a low fever yesterday and you need to wait 24 hours after a fever to go to school.

Everyone is on the mend today though so I scheduled carpet cleaning for today! After a couple 'sick' accidents on the floor and a years worth of traffic, dirt, crumbs, etc. it was NEEDED. The carpets are now clean and I feel...ahhhhhhh...refreshing...my house just FEELS cleaner now. I recognize it will last for mere moments, but I will enjoy those moments!! :)

I have disinfected the bathrooms, the door knobs, the light switches, I have washed all the bedding, tons of towels, blankets, clothes, and rags...(my mom did a couple loads while she was here too and I am VERY thankful for that) I still have a few more things to clean, but after that I hope the 'sick' is OUT of this house!! I have a window open letting in fresh air and I'm hoping after today we are all back to normal again and maybe, just maybe the house will be a bit cleaner too.

Sick, Sick, Sick...

What a weekend... My mom and step-dad came up to hang out with me since Dan was going to different activities Fri., Sat. afternoon and Sat. evening. Then on Friday first Seth got sick...then later that day Alayna got sick...UGH! The flu came for a visit and it was not welcome here AT ALL! Then after putting the kids to bed I was exhausted and went to bed early (thinking I'd be up regularly with the kids)...thankfully I wasn't up because of the kids, however I was up ever few hours because I was sick too. As a mom, you know that it's not ok for us to get sick...however, if I was ever to get sick, I'm thankful my mom was here to help out. I could actually rest and take care of myself. (THANKS MOM!!!) I was out all day Sat. and now this morning I'm still weak, but MUCH better then I was. The other 2 have bounced back as well and so my hope is we're on the mend!!!

The boys went out to play in the snow this morning while us girls laid low....you can tell Mr. Seth is feeling MUCH better now!

Age 4: Flood

I have been really slow at getting these posted after we do them...but eventually they do make it on the blog. :) I have heard from a few of you that you have actually decided to do Family Time using some of the activities we've done in the past with your own families. It's great accountability for Dan and I to actually carve out the time (even when some weeks we'd rather not put forth the time and effort) and it's encouraging to know that some of you care and put some of this information to use in your own home.

This week we read about the flood. Here are some pictures we took while we were at the Creation Museum a couple months ago. These pictures don't do it justice because at the museum they have a variety of images and real life depictions of the flood and the ark...it showed it wasn't just a 'story', but that it's history.

The kids have been fascinated listening to our book and we hope and pray that as we speak Truth into their lives more and more that they will be grounded in their faith. What we talk about at Family Time doesn't just stay there, oftentimes we talk about it throughout the week as well.