Happy Thanksgiving!

It is always nice this time of year to recognize all the things we are thankful for. And today, I am thankful.

1. I am thankful for God.  As I look back over the years it amazes me that even though I decided to take control of my life and turned away from God, he still had a plan for me. Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." I think of my husband, whom I met during the time I pushed God out of my life. We made many mistakes, did things the wrong way, even the hard way sometimes. We got married, although we both believed in God, we were not followers. After I got pregnant with our first, I realized the error of my ways. I recommitted my life to the Lord and at that point on we were "unequally yoked." That made things very difficult. But guess what?! Through all the hard times, all the disagreements, and through all the trials our marriage and relationship faced, God was there, working it all for the good. Happy to say we are no longer "unequally yoked!" Almost four years ago, my husband recommitted his life to the Lord and things have certainly changed! Next year we will celebrate 10 years of marriage. The years that we have had God at the center have been by far the best! 
2. I am thankful for my husband. He is my best friend, a wonderful daddy, and a great provider. I am so grateful for the opportunity and all his hard work so that I am able to stay at home and help raise our kids. It may not be easy living on one income, but I wouldn't change a thing. 
3. I am thankful for my children. My kid are so special to me. They are fun, silly, beautiful, loving, strong, and smart. They test me, push me, and sometimes down right frustrate me. They are forgiving and full of grace. I can learn as much from them as they can learn from me. 
4. I am thankful for my family. Their love, support, time, and encouragement is always there. 
5. I am thankful for my friends. Their love and acceptance of me, a deeply flawed and imperfect person. 
6. I am thankful for my church family. For their love, fellowship, and encouragement.
7. I am thankful for my country. Although we are going through some troubling changes and times, it is still the best place on earth. Freedom comes at a cost, and I am grateful to those who have given so much that we can enjoy all that we have. 
8. I am thankful for a simple life. I am grateful for all that I have. I find myself wanting less, more and more. I am on the path to contentment.

H A P P Y    T H A N K S G I V I N G !

Getting Ready for Christmas!

Today was a busy day. I wasn't anticipating it being that way, but one thing led to another and here we are. Started off picking up the house, then decided to do school during Josie's first nap instead in the afternoon. It went really well. In fact I was blown away! When he puts his mind to it and does his best, he amazes me. We learned to write the letter "R" today. And below is his cursive capital and little "r". 

Nick and Wyatt made pipe cleaner creations the day before. Let me introduce to you, Prince Wyatt!

We were watching Rudolf earlier and Wyatt put together his chairs, added his bed pillow, and they both sat next to each other watching the show. It was a brief moment of brother sister love. A few minutes later Wyatt decided he didn't like Josie sitting on his blanket and well, she ended up on the floor...

I had this crazy idea that we would put up our Christmas Tree. We opted for the big one this year. Wyatt was a super helper with decorating. Josie sure got excited when she found the stockings. She drug them around the house on her tippie toes squealing with excitement. Oh, and yeah, we do fake here.

We have some training to do. Josie wanted to pull the bead strands and pull off some of the ornaments.

Love, love, LOVE this time of year!

12 Things You May Not Know About Me

When I try to think of a list of things people may not know about me, I have a hard time. I feel like I am pretty much an open book. I don't hide my feelings. And I don't shy away from issues just because they may be unpopular by some. It's funny in a way, that the people who have a problem with what I believe or the opinions I hold are the ones who push for tolerance and acceptability.

I guess to some I probably look a little crazy. I may go against the grain on popular opinion. I understand. We live in a society where social issues are rampant. We focus a great deal on how we feel. I feel this way, so everyone else should feel the same way. We base our opinions on emotions rather than truth. What is truth? Well, I believe the Bible to be truth, therefore, I try to align myself along with what the Bible teaches. I have a biblical worldview. I look at issues through Bible Binoculars so to speak. Or at least I try to. That is me. Others don't. Do I think badly of those who disagree. No! We are free to make our own choices, our own decisions, and form our own beliefs. God gave us that choice. I am not here to judge, I am here to love. 


So, about me? Lets see...

1. Two things have changed me and my life substantially: Having children and a relationship with God. 
2. I was deeply depressed in High School. Ninth grade was the worst. I isolated myself from my friends and family and didn't want to live. I had extremely low self esteem.  It was about the same time I turned away from God. Go figure. 
3. I am extremely shy and quiet around people I don't know. It takes a LONG time for me warm up to someone depending on how often I see them. 
4. I am talkative and outgoing once I am in my comfort zone. 
5. I will probably never let anyone else clean the bathroom. There IS a right way and a wrong way. 
6. I make my husband wash his hands after killing a spider. Even if he never actually touched it. 
7. I got an MIP when I was 19. 
8. If money wasn't an issue, I would adopt. But, do want to be a foster family in the near future.
9.  I LOVED working and even still miss it. I was torn with the decision to be a stay at home mom. {Wouldn't change a thing though.}
10. I struggle with my purpose in life outside being a mom. God gave me talents and skills, and I often wonder what He wants me to use them for. 
11. One of my biggest fears deals with public restrooms and children. Especially when they are transitioning to going on their own. 
12. One of my biggest hopes is that my kids won't succumb to the pressures/temptations of the world and loose their faith. 

I am myself and no one else. There is only one me. I am so thankful for God who never gave up on me.

Meet Crash!

Well, I will let you know up front, I am not a dog person. I am not a cat person. I am not really a "pet" person in general. Yet, here we are with a new addition to our family.

Meet Crash, our new dog. He is a lab/beagle mix and just over a year old. I think he is a nice looking dog.

Like I said, I am not a pet person let alone a dog person. It goes against my nature. I am a bit of a neat freak. I like a clean house. Having animals, well, just doesn't usually mix. Not that it can't be done. Just takes a lot more effort.

So, why do we have Crash if we aren't so into animals? Well, Wyatt is the reason. A few years ago he saw me get bit by a friends German Shepard. It was one of those freak accidents, but I had to get eight stitches and wear a bandage for over a week. It traumatized him a bit. Ever since he has been terrified of dogs. Big, tall, short, fat it doesn't matter. He freak-outs at the sight of a dog. Smaller dogs are better. He is skittish, but gets used to them faster. Big dogs, well, he can get used to them if around them long enough, but if they start barking or playing, all bets are off. To be perfectly honest, I too am more cautious around dogs.

In effort to counter his fear and eliminate it we decided it would be best to get a dog of our own. We thought that maybe by Wyatt learning to care for it and learn and understand a dogs behavior from a more personal perspective it will help him get over his fear.

A little over a week ago our friends posted online a picture of a dog that they were hoping to find a home for. I commented, thinking it would be good for us, but we should have a bigger house first before we get a dog. Then we began to pray and think about it. Asked a ton of questions. Finally, we decided. Yes. We will do it. We will do it for Wyatt.

Already in the first three hours our lives have changed. He has peed inside 6 times. Hair all over the rug. And little paw prints all over the hardwood floor. Nick has taken him out numerous times to get him to eliminate outside rather than inside, and he does go. I think it is a simple case of nervous bladder. Hopefully soon, real soon, he will get over that.

Wyatt has had a noticeable change. He is walking around comfortably, talking to Crash, petting him. Crash doesn't seem to ever bark, so that could change things after Wyatt hears that, but really so far we are doing good.

We have taken up the rug and put it away. I don't need pee on it. I don't know how we'll keep the couch from sliding all over the place, but hey, we'll figure it out. It still doesn't seem real to me. But if we have more "accidents" I'm sure the realness will set in rather quickly.

I hope this makes a big difference for Wyatt. I don't want him to be afraid of dogs his whole life. Well, here we go, we are officially dog owners!

Nearly a Year and a Half!

Josie is going to be a year and a half at the end of the month. Her personality abounds! She is quite busy through out the day which means that I am also busy. She is my troublemaker. Always into something she shouldn't be. It seems she has a sixth sense about when the bathroom door is left open. I have caught her twice playing in the toilet water... Yuck! {I about died.}

We have to be proactive about where we place things like drinks. She wants so badly to be a big girl and drink out of a cup like everyone else. She doesn't care if it is coffee or not if she can get to it and if there is anything left, she will drink it. {Well, she'll drink whatever makes it into her mouth.}

Josie loves dancing. She is self taught. Any music comes on or if you just sing she will cut loose! She'll even grab your hand and make you dance with her. Her and  Wyatt dance together a lot too.

She is getting harder to photograph. Over half the pictures I take are blurry because she can't hold still. She loves looking at the screen and laughs hysterically when she sees her picture I just took.

We are still doing two naps. She has a day here and there that she just won't go to sleep. She will play and talk to herself. She has an interesting habit of taking the clothes out of the dirty clothes hamper next to her bed. When I get her after she wakes up or when we put Wyatt to bed after she falls asleep at night we have to pull several pieces of clothing out and put them back into the hamper. She has always cried herself to sleep and cried when she woke up. Lately, however, she has been surprising us by just talking herself to sleep. At night if we say, "Josie, time to go na-night." She walks down the hall and into her room. Big difference from just saying the words bedtime she would throw herself back with a "Ehhhh" and find "something" to do to be "busy". It's cute.

She makes funny faces, imitates everyone. She will even point and yell at Wyatt if he makes her mad. {Furrowed brow and everything.} She doesn't take any gruff from anyone or anything. She'll give it right back. Although she is serious a lot of the time, she really does smile and laugh.

Josie will play with all of Wyatt's toys. Hers? Ehhh, who cares about those? I picked up a second Magna Doodle at the Mom 2 Mom sale a month ago, and I am so glad! If Wyatt is playing with his, guess what? Josie has to get hers out and draw too. I can't imagine life with only one! They draw on them all the time!

I can tell already they will be fighting tooth and nail as they get older. The signs are there. Those will not be fun times! She already pulls things close to her if she thinks you are going to take it. Of course she'll add a "Ehhh." As if she is saying, "Mine."

I have seen her a couple times now playing the sad card. I have never seen anything like it before. One day out of the blue I saw her looking down with the saddest look on her face. I asked her what was wrong and she would look at me and pout looking like she was about to cry. Then she would walk a little and pout some more, all the while looking completely sad. She would actually stop herself and make herself as sad as she could. Almost as if on purpose. So strange.

Josie hasn't broken the 20 lb. mark yet. She has weighed about the same the last six months. She seems happy at nearly 19 lbs.  She is a little peanut! She is due for a well baby checkup about now. At the last appointment I didn't schedule one in advance. I was thinking we would have sold our house and moved by now, but that hasn't happened yet. Now I am struggling with whether or not to continue her vaccinations. I am completely torn over the issue. I want to do what is best for her. Yet, I don't know what is best. I keep leaning towards not vaccinating, but then I think "What if?" I will continue to pray about it and seek Gods direction.

She is getting two more teeth in on the bottom, they will make a grand total of 12. She knows where her nose, eyes, ears, mouth, hands and feet are. Can follow basic instructions like "Please, put the book away," or "Please throw this away." Playing peek-a-boo is a lot of fun too.

So, words she can say? Well, she still has a small vocabulary but says: sock, Wyatt, mama, dada, wow, baby, cup, car, shoe. She tries to say "What's that?" She waves and gives hugs and kisses. She will throw her dirty diaper away and she loves baths! She will not keep a hair tie in, and she looks like Cousin It without one.

She is such a sweet pea, I love her so much! Can't wait to see what's next!

Josie's First Snow!

So it has snowed for the second time. This time we got a couple inches. We finally got Josie's first pair of boots the other day and were prepared. This afternoon after her nap we went outside so that she could experience snow for the first time. I'll be honest, she was kind of a girl about it. I wouldn't expect anything less. 

She wasn't quite sure about the whole thing. She especially didn't like being knocked down by her brother at the bottom of the slide. She had a hard time getting up after falling too. However, when we came back inside because my feet were fa-reezing she cried. She didn't want to come back in. I'm glad she liked it. Next time it will be daddy's turn in the cold. {I'm more of a flip-flop, sunshine, and beach kind of girl}

Slimey The Fish

Nick and Wyatt wen fishing a couple weeks ago. Pretty late into the year since we have been blessed with mild weather. Wyatt caught three fish all by himself! He was so proud. He brought one of his prize catches home.

He brings it inside and wants to put it right on the dinning room table. I told him to please hang onto it until daddy comes in to "deal" with it. He tells me his name is Slimey.

Nick grabs the cutting board and fillet knife and Wyatt comes about unglued! "Nooooo! Don't kill him! His name is Slimey!"

Evidently he forgot Slimey was already dead. We got a good laugh out of it.

Making Progress!

Things have changed some since I've last posted about our homeschooling experience. We are doing much better focusing and handling frustration. And I do mean "we". I have noticed my frustration has nearly diminished. He has even started looking forward to starting school on Mondays.

Cursive is our toughest lesson so far, but I have figured out our problem: If he doesn't see near perfect results he writes it off as impossible.

I notice this when we are just coloring or painting together. If my drawing is better. He feels he inadequate. That he won't ever measure up to what I can do. Not understanding I have years experience in the coloring/painting world. Not that I am trying to create some kind of masterpiece. I know I don't have to do much to impress, but for some reason he feels he has to be perfect to compare with me. After looking at my "picture" he more or less says, "Why bother?"

Makes me sad when he feels that way. So I give an abundance of praise when he does a good job, even if it isn't perfect I want him to know that just trying his best is worth noticing. I don't want to inflate his ego, but I don't think he has enough confidence yet that too much praise will be a problem.

But look! He is learning to write words in cursive!

I can't even begin to describe the feeling of satisfaction I get watching him work and improve. It is truly rewarding. I am so grateful for this opportunity to be such an important role in his learning!