Best Part of the Morning

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."
3 John 1:4

Update in pictures

Awesome photo shoot with my dear hilarious friend Amber and her family:
Lovin' those dirty knees

Two days later, the youngest of my four broke out in chicken pox:

Once-a-life illness, and I'm trying to make it memorable. We're eating spotted foods (think watermelon, yogurt with blueberries, etc) and wearing spotted clothes.

This week we'll have a Pox Party.

And last night, tornado watch & then warnings, severe storms, sirens going off and on, kids in and out of the hallway, covered by a mattress... finally outside to behold the sky.

My Jedi obviously scared the storm away.

And the crazy beautiful sunset clouds last night.

Today's agenda, while the storms rage on:

Craft, Paint, Read, watch family movies, and spend time in prayer.

This day is heavy with hope, anticipation, sadness, longing...

On Easter, Jesus defeated death

and saved us.

Berries, not blood

Fred walked in and freaked out a little. Bwaaahaaa! Blueberries. The kid is obsessed with them, just like his mama. How do you eat your berries?

Mustache Party

Welcome to the Mustache Party!! My LittleLad turns 4 on 4/4 and we had to celebrate in a big way! **edited note** look at the difference: the picture above was taken with the camera that I used Before, and the one below was taken with the new Canon EOS 60D. I bet you could go all the way through the post guessing which pictures were taken with which camera. It makes that big a difference!! Okay, continue.** I made the shirts with stiff felt & heat bonding and then stitched around the corners. My Sister/ Sidekick helped me paint mustaches on all of the kids who wanted them. Did you know that most poster paints and acrylics are non-toxic and water-based... it comes off easily with a baby wipe. :) Save your money, and skip the paints specifically for face-painting. They're also harder to remove. The bean bag toss game was made from a piece of scrap wood, some black paint and a jigsaw. I filled the beanbags with rice and beans.

Anyone who didn't want a painted mustache could opt for the band-y ones (felt and elastic) or a stick mustache. Everyone was supposed to take one home, but I forgot to announce that. oops!! I still have them, friends, if you want one. Julie, Tracy, and me

I didn't get a close-up of the cake-- shame on me-- but it was just plain white with Hershey's chocolate drops in the shape of a mustache. Store-bought, because my cakes stink. Seriously.

We met at a park for a fun, celebratory playdate, of sorts. I missed getting pics of some of the kids-- Too much going on. Wish I'd been able to capture everyone.

My Little Lad had a blast with his friends, on a beautiful day, and enjoyed the activities. It was so simple and easy, and a success. Thanks, friends, for celebrating with us!! :D

The next idol?

Okay, so I don't even watch American Idol. But this is what it's all about, right? Getting a shot to go pro?

My LittleLad has got some talent! He might even get the lyrics right next time. ;)

Body Paint

Well.
Remember the painting pics I just posted?
I got busy and forgot to bring that paint inside. My bad.

(Mistake #1)


Today we had our Family Time at the safari ~so much fun, way too expensive, so many pictures to post, and laughs that we captured~ then I went on to the store, and Fred stayed home with the boys.


Fred let LittleLad stay alone in the backyard to dig, while he played ball in the front with the older kids. Fred's bad.


(Mistake #2)


When I pulled up, Fred simply said "grab your camera and follow me."
Hmm...


My 3-year old stripped down buck-naked, except for those white socks, and painted his entire body. Yes, even his back, tush, and boy parts.


At this point, what do you do?
"Don't ever do this again," I choked out while laughing hysterically.

Where else can you...

ride virtual roller coasters

(love big sister's protective hand on her little brother)

go bowling...

ride a horse...
shoot guns...lots and lots of guns...drive monster trucks...blow out candles...
and enjoy yummies at a birthday party?

Why, Chuck E. Cheese, of course!

I know, in the past, I've been a little skeptical of Chuck E. Cheese.

In fact, I remember once saying that I was sure they had one in hell.

But we did have a great time today!

The noise, craziness, and unsupervised sugar-hyped kids were tolerable in the short-ish amount of time that we were there. Plus, free food and tokens-- can't beat that. Not to mention, friends that we adore! Yeah, it was FUN. A new Chuck E. Cheese memory for me. Good stuff. Even if my littlest did have a major meltdown and start screaming when it was time to go. SCREAMING. ;/ Ugh. But his dear Daddy whisked him out to the van, without shoes or a coat, to silence the little bugger and put an end to the fit. Apparently, LittleLad apologized immediately, upon reaching the van.

Again, good stuff. Progress.

He was removed from a situation and, instead of throwing a worse fit, he apologized.

Yes, I will take that as a lesson well-learned, even if I did suffer some brief Mommy-embarrassment in a very public place, as a result.

In other news, we've been dressing the Daddy doll, while Fred is at work.

I love a man with a great sense of humor. ;)

Awww, holding hands.

Agonizing Throes of Threes

My sweet little toddler has turned into a defiant, rascally little bugger, almost overnight. And, because of the extra energy and emotion that it's taken to deal with this astoundingly naughty little boy, I've been much snappier with the other kids, too. ;/ Bad deal.

After a week of this nonsense, I'm feeling rather discouraged, angry at myself for not consistently responding well, and more than a little ticked that he's been such a snot. Mostly mad at myself. If this is a test, it's pretty small in the grand scheme of things, and I'm already failing it.

I did some yelling out loud, more in my head, took my deep breaths, and then still proceeded to need my own "time out" on the kitchen floor (trying to breath while my teeth were grinding.) And, instead of relying on God, having quiet time, or calling for support, I threw my own little pity party. "This isn't US!" "This isn't how it's supposed to be!!" "WHY are they fighting all the time?" "What did I do wrong?" Yes, I did. Right there on the floor. I might as well have been stamping my little foot.

And I wonder where he gets it from. {sigh}

I have been praying about it, usually at night, when the kids are asleep, and I can think loving thoughts about them again. And I'm finally coming up with some tactics. Tomorrow we have a plan. A new schedule. More outside time. More Daddy Time. Firepit planned. A new spot for the time-out chair. Oh, yes, I'm on the ball.

And I have a back-up plan, too! If things turn south, I'll run away. No joke. ;) My Man is home tomorrow (hallelujah, do you hear singing??) so I can run a lap around the neighborhood if my stress level elevates too high. Oh, speaking of stress rising-- My Little Lad saw my deep-breathing today and asked, quite seriously, if my head was going to explode. Perhaps I've mentioned the possibility too often?

I'm also reinstating my late-night art times. How on earth had I let that slide? Got too busy listing books to sell, finishing furniture (my computer desk, TV table, a desk for a friend...) Redoing furniture is fun, but just finishing it isn't "artsy" in my book. I missed my creative time badly.

So, first, you can pray that my boys will not kill each other through the winter. Why must boys wrestle nonstop? Outside it's fine and dandy; go ahead, knock each other down, climb trees, play in the mud-- but when we're stuck inside, they MUST learn to deal with it in a semi-decent way. I put the pull-up bars back in the doorways, but we really need a padded "ball-pit" room, and an indoor playground, complete with climbing wall (Michele, I'm relying on you to invite me over when you finish your room!!)

Second, you can help hold me accountable for my own behavior. I need to pray, seek advice for this new stage from more experienced moms, be consistent with my art "therapy," and take enough time away from them to remember how absolutely fabulous they are. That's a biggie; Fred's shift, plus our recent sickness, have thrown my social life out the window. I miss my friends. I miss being away from the kids, for at least a few hours a week. I NEED to miss them. I hope that makes some sense.

Ah, sigh. Confession helps the soul, too, I think. I know I'm not alone. And I know that anyone who would judge me, simply hasn't walked in these shoes.

So, here's my artwork for the night. My therapy, if you will.

progress:

maybe done?

Not sure if I'll end up painting this or not.

My goal (a bit half-heartedly, maybe) is to post a new piece of artwork every night. Which means I'll HAVE to draw or paint something every day, or at least add to a picture. Fingers crossed.

The Polka Dot party

On Friday, we had a mini Polka Dot party for Little Lad's 3rd birthday.

We opted out of traditional birthday cake, to have Little Lad's favorite, strawberry shortcake, instead.

Even a Polka party needs pirate hats!


AAwww

Kids can stay entertained for hours with party hats and balloons.

One sweet friend even gave homemade polka dot crayons. :-) So thoughtful and creative.

Mmmm.... Tracy, thanks so much for bringing extra yummy desserts...

(blueberry, cream cheese, cinnamon deliciousness)

Polka dot foods: chocolate birds' nests with malt ball eggs, pretzel balls, orange and banana slices, round shortcakes with strawberries on top.

At age 2, Scarlett has perfected her hair flip.

I had a great time, with fabulous family and friends. My sweet Little Lad just ate up the attention and yummy foods. I know I'm short on descriptions, but I've been short on time and energy, so I'm trying to catch up now. :-)

That afternoon, I finally went in to the doctor, to get NatureMan checked out, and have some blood tests done. NatureMan has a sprained area in his chest, that should be fine after some Motrin for a few days. Nothing is fractured, thank goodness!!

All of my tests looked good. Blood pressure was on the low end of normal, I'm not anemic, pulse seems fine... I did have a slight fever, but nothing that would indicate an obvious problem. If I'm still funky in a week, we'll do some thyroid tests. My doc thinks I may just be getting sick.

I did notice yesterday, however, that I feel much worse if I've had much caffeine or if I wait too long to eat. I also tend to feel the worst around 2pm, for some reason.

Today I've made a point to eat little amounts every hour, and have felt much better.

Thanks for praying for us.
Hope you are enjoying this cooler weather. I'm not thrilled about it, but we did enjoy a family firepit lunch in the backyard, while playing Yahtzee. I lost. Boo.

Have a fabulous week.