I wouldn’t have been so tired from a LONG day in town that that particular dinner choice seemed not only reasonable, but life saving as well!

The reason that we had such a LONG day in town would not have been because I sat in a hospital bed hooked up to baby monitors for nearly 2 hours.

I would not have been in that hospital bed because I had my hubby drive me to the hospital just to “check” if things were progressing.

I did not “wonder” if things were progressing because I had been having mild contractions all morning long through church.

I do NOT have a phobia of my water breaking or something equally embarrassing happening in a public place like church or Wal-Mart!! That would put a damper on the worship service!!

After the aforementioned 2 hours in said hospital bed I would not have been informed by the very kind nurse that I was most likely dehydrated and need to drink a BUNCH of water, and that this was NOT the real deal.

I wouldn’t have been somewhat disappointed that it was not the real deal because among other reasons, there was NO ONE else on the L&D floor, and in fact they had to track down that nurse from somewhere else in the hospital to come “monitor” me.

And just FYI, really I’m not clueless about how the whole thing works, but each time it’s a different story. As one of the midwives told me I should probably head to the hospital when contractions were about 6 min apart since we do live a ways out. I figured since we were in town already I might as well stop by rather than risk going home and coming back. My parents are 3 hours away and they have to come watch the boys when it’s time for lil girl to show up because the lads aren’t allowed on the L&D part of the floor at all. SOOOOOOOOO…. just needed to make sure the main show wasn’t underway. *sigh*

My poor lads and their poor dad wouldn’t have had to sit in the vehicle in the hospital parking lot while I was sifting through a baby magazine in a climate controlled room sipping ice water. (To rehydrate of course)

We did NOT get home after 4 in the afternoon to just kind of crash out from exhaustion, oh and dehydration too of course! (Apparently I have a problem with this, but after all I don’t like to feel like a balloon all day and I don’t like spending a good 3rd of my day in the bathroom either! So there!!)

I did NOT just out of spite drink about a gallon of water and then sit like a lump in the easy chair, except when I had to get up for the bathroom….. which is about every 10 minutes, if I’m lucky!

The lads did NOT enjoy their cereal dinner so much that they even asked for seconds.

….. and of course I did NOT give it to them.

That’s where I find myself. I’ve been having contractions on and off for days now, so it’s hard for me to say it’ll be soon. Though I know it will HAVE to be sometime fairly soon. Even though right now I feel like I’m going to be hugely pregnant forever, I know there WILL be an end to it. So I’m attempting to enjoy the last little while. Enjoy the baby squiggles that keep me up at night and the hiccups that keep me humored during the day. I’m enjoying the time with my lads while I can still “hold” the baby and manage to keep room in my lap for two other wiggly ones. Enjoying the energy surges, and enjoying the sleep (such as it is) before all of our worlds change. It’ll be a good change, but I’m still enjoying the “old” before the new normal arrives.

Well, I’m off to make us some fried rice for dinner and then maybe once it cools off a bit we’ll take another family walk and see if we can get our family count up by one.

Happy Long weekend, friends!

Qade has been potty training for nearly a YEAR now, and while the older and wiser might think that’s not that long or even think that’s way TOO LONG (I’d agree with that last one for sure!) we were making great progress recently as I bragged about in this post. However the past week or week and a half we have MAJORLY digressed. This does not make me happy! Qade has been pooping in his unders on a daily basis and while he doesn’t totally soak himself, he certainly isn’t staying dry either. I’m not really sure why this is happening, but rather than get into all the psychology of it at this point, I’d like to know if anyone has experienced similar issues with their ‘training’ tots and if so what you did to get over the hurtle. PLEASE send suggestions, cause like I said I’m pretty much at the end of my resources for this one.

Some of what I’ve been doing with him is expressing my disappointment that he isn’t acting like a big boy. Making him clean up his own mess. Putting him in “plastics” with no unders as a consequence for messing his unders and taking away privileges like playing preschool games on the iPad, which he absolutely LOVES to do. I realize these are all negative consequences. I’m batting about the idea of bringing back a type of reward system (stickers/treats) for the “successes” but it still feels like we’re going backwards. I don’t know.

Thoughts???

My first fix. I cropped all of them rather than try to deal with the over exposed sky in the background. But anyway, I adjusted the colors somewhat and uh… don’t really remember what else I did to it. Ha ha! Oh well. This one isn’t my favorite.

Second fix. I like this one better. The crop helped with the sky issue, and of course the colors that I’m “famous” for muting.

And one more go. Cropped it closer, added an exposure vignette, and uh… bumped the contrast somewhat too.

Anyway, next Friday hopefully we’ll have a different sort of picture to work with. However it will be my b-day so I may not get around to it. And if I have MY way there will be a new baby in this house by then too, so we shall see.
But if you want to see more fixes you can click on this link. iheartfaces.com. I still can’t get the button to work. Oh well!

Note: Apparently some of the comments I made at the beginning were misconstrued as overly negative. If you know me, which most of you do or you wouldn’t be reading this, you know my “sarcastic style” and understand that I’m not trying to attack the photo or the photographer. I appreciate the photographer’s courage in submitting a photo to be pulled apart and critiqued by others. In no way do I want to reflect poorly on someone else’s hard work. Everyone is different in their opinions of what will make a good photo, and I’m sure that people have plenty to say on photos I take as well, as I know that many of them are lacking in a lot of ways. I will continue to work on “fix-it” photos and put my own opinions out there on my blog, but hope that they will be seen as an editing critique and not a negative attitude toward any photo/photographer. Maybe someday I’ll even be brave enough to submit one of my own photos for editing fun!

Anyway, I was trying to go for something like those crisps so here’s what I did. While the soup was on the stove reheating I grabbed some flour tortillas from the fridge and quickly sprayed each one with some veggie cooking spray. I was going to actually butter them, but I was in a hurry. Then I sprinkled them well with cinnamon and sugar. Got out my handy-dandy pizza cutter and sliced them into wedges before putting them on a baking sheet. I then left them in the oven at about 350ish for a few minutes while I dished up the soup and fixed chocolate milk for the lads.

I have to say that I was pleased with the result!! they were crispy without being TOO crispy and were very good! The perfect end to a spicyish mexicanish dish! Yum!!

I won’t bore you with a recitation of the other parts of my day. Qade had a rough one, and though I felt “lost” a couple of times, I don’t think I actually lost it like I did on Monday, so that’s progress!! Tomorrow is a new day and a Friday to boot, so this is good!!!!! I have planned for Stu to grill tomorrow, so that’ll be almost like 2 days off in a row for me. Hee hee!! Though even when we do have leftovers I still “fix” them for the fam. Can’t help myself somehow!

Now the boys are splashing away the last of their cinnamon sugar in a lavendery bath while Stu watches from the safe side of the curtain. They aren’t allowed to ’splash’ unless the curtain is closed and most of the time they do really well with that. I will admit that I’m looking forward to getting them in bed, and just putting my feet up for a little relaxification this evening. I even contemplated making some decaf and REALLY enjoying it, but I think I’m too lazy!

I was perusing the Pioneer Woman’s recipes today! Ugh!! She always takes such yummy looking pictures to go along with her recipes that I got off the computer totally craving vanilla bean scones and fried round steak!!! Ha ha ha!! Not to mention the smashed potatoes! Wow! So now I have some dinner ideas for next week depending on what meat is on sale, but believe me I will be trying those scones as soon as I can get my grubby hands on some actual vanilla beans!!

Happy Friday friends! Hope that it ends up being a fantastic, fabulous, fun, fun, fun finale to your week!

Monday was a big bummer of a day! I usually try to greet Monday with a “this is a NEW week” attitude even if I’d still rather be in bed and make it be Saturday again. This time around though, the attitude didn’t stick and I quickly found myself drowning in the circumstances of my day. The biggest being my hoodlum son #1 who picked that day to completely loose it! Regardless of what I was saying to him, whether it be telling him something, asking him to do something (oh my) or chastising him for something, the response I got was a fit or a whine or belligerent back talk. Hmmm…. At some point, not far into our oh-so-fun day I got rather tired of that and started being rather belligerent myself! Actually I was pretty ticked off! I know that in order to parent successfully and correctly I have to stay “in control” of myself most of all before I can expect to control the issues that I’m facing in my kids. So basically it was a wash as I’m sure you could figure out! I sent the sprout to his room where he continued to scream and cry for over an hour while I did what needed to be done for the other children. He then sat at the table for his solitary lunch, because the others were finished and after that had nap, which he threw another fit about. It was not a happy day! I sat at the computer and wrote to some older and wiser parent friends on FB asking for tips and ideas. And while none of what they told me was “new” to me, it was such an encouragement to hear that some of them had been there, done that, survived, and had sweet spirited kids now to show for their efforts. Yay!! The encouraging words that they sent me almost made me cry because I knew that the big I had been probably the worst of the problem all day. At least in the fact that MY own peace was considerably shattered as well as my confidence in my ability to actually be a good parent getting rumpled. And that’s okay. Sometimes I need a reminder that I really can’t do it, and I need the help and guidance from my Heavenly Father in order to be able to parent my own kids.

So, I’ve come up with somewhat of a game plan. I need to tweak it a bit and sit down with Stuart and get his input and takes on it, but I think that it’ll help for me to have a very detailed list in my head for “what to do” when these crisis strike! First, the fit-thrower will go into his room/bed to occupy himself with the screaming. This will give me time to “cool off” while the child is chilling out as well. I don’t want to be a parent who disciplines in anger. Next, once the fit has past, or majority of it has, I will calmly go into their room and discuss appropriate behavior as well as dealing out any consequences that need to be given as a result of their poor choices. Then we will go through our typical conversation where I ask some questions such as “Why did you get time-out?” they tell me, “What will happen if you do that again?” they tell me “more time-out” and then the, “What should you do next time?” and hopefully this will help them think of the appropriate behavior and then I can remind them of what they said when the next “situation” arrises.

Another part of my game plan is to really find good ways of rewarding their good behavior. I really do try to “catch” them being good and doing right and praising them for it. Yesterday was such a better day with Qade, and while I was having a conversation with him before nap I told him how proud I was of him doing so well at obeying Mommy right away. He said, “Daddy will be happy!” and he was right! Daddy had a serious talk with him that morning before he left for work and obviously Qade had thought on it some. Qade is our little “people pleaser” but I don’t want to use that to manipulate him to good behavior. That’s why we took it one step further. I told him that yes it does make mommy and daddy happy when he obeys, but that it really makes God happy when he does because God wants him to obey his mommy and daddy. It’s a daunting task for me to take heavenly truths and try to translate them into something my very young children can understand, but I know that it does sink in even if they don’t totally “get it.” So I’ll keep trying.

But beyond verbal praise I think I’m going to institute a sticker chart reward system where they can “earn” stickers by their good behavior. Not that I’m going to tell them “obey mommy and you’ll get a sticker.” But from time to time when the DO obey “right away, all the way, and with a happy heart” I’ll give them a sticker for their chart. I haven’t yet decided if they will get to “trade” in full sticker charts for a prize yet, but we’ll work all those details out. The point is, I want them to learn that while their bad choices lead to uncomfortable consequences (time-out, or seclusion in room) that good choices have pleasant “consequences.” Sometimes having something tangible like stickers or rewards can help them make that connection. I just don’t want it to be the REASON why they are behaving well which is why I probably won’t mention it much except when I’m pointing out what a good job they are doing. I still want to reinforce the concept that when they obey they are building the relationship with mommy and daddy and that it makes God happy.

So pray for us/me as we travel this sometimes bumpy road called parenting. The thing is, as I parent the lads my God is still parenting me, so we are all learning together as we go. I’m glad that God has much more patience with me than I have with the boys, that’s for sure!! I think they are much faster learners that I am by far!

Hope you all are enjoying your Wednesdays and that you can coast through the rest of the week well!

Toodle-oo

This post is to show off my brilliance with a little crafty idea I got from this post. Ha, not really that brilliant when you have to copy someone else, but I’ll bask in the borrowed brilliance as our “utility” room now looks a little more neat and organized.

This was the BEFORE picture. I try to encourage shoe removal as much as possible before entering the “house” because it really does help keep the floors clean(er) for longer, and discourages those nasty goat head stickers from finding their way onto the carpet and then into my unsuspecting feet!! Notice all that dirt on the floor that stayed in here instead of getting onto the kitchen floor or the carpet, yay!! Still, it’s very unsightly and well, dirty.

So I “built” a floor mat for the express purpose of keeping things more orderly. I used the Dollar Tree place mats that Kilika suggested. Not wild about the fact that the trim is pink, but they only had 2 of the lime green ones I was going for. Can’t get too picky with dollar stores, I suppose. Anyway, this is the back of the mat that I put together with Gorilla Tape. Notice my two helpers who were completely intrigued with the tape for some reason. Actually I didn’t let them help, I was in too much of a hurry to get it done, so their “help” consisted of not touching!

And here we have the AFTER pic. This is after I swept up all the dirt and junk and after I put the new mat down. A bonus for this floor mat is that since it’s in sections each person can have their own and keep their shoes neatly placed on it. That’s my dream anyway. It’ll take a little coaching, but I think it’ll work eventually. I also have a little contraption to hang on the wall at kid level that they can hang hats, jackets and other items that I don’t want cluttering the floor or finding it’s way to wherever in the house. Like I said, brilliant!

Anyway, there it is! A great accomplishment for this large, and rather slow moving lady these days! I thought I’d leave you with a Nutella face grin! This was the morning Myles and I had a late breakfast together because everyone went to the Great-grandparent’s house and WE slept in!! The chocolatey hazlenutty goodness is hard to resist…. and that reminds me, I’m hungry!

Later!

You can look at other laughing photos by clicking on the button below. Happy Tuesday!

We had a “play date” at the park in town and invited extra little ones to join us. It was a fun day! Here’s our crew starting out.

At the park, oodles of fun!! BTW trying to “keep track” of 6 children amongst so many can be a challenge. At least whenever I looked for mine I simply spied the Lime green! Good tip, dress them the same in a BRIGHT color!

Myles and Benton were swingin’ buddies!

I think my kids would swing the ENTIRE time if I let them. I have to work hard to convince them that something else on the playground would just be SO fun!

The aftermath of a long day of fun!

Our fun-time adventure. The boys are certainly not used to staying up that late. They had a good time though minus the drama that ensued when the lights when out and Qade started screaming at the top of his lungs. He informed me frequently through the rest of summer that “Fun-time is scary!” Ha ha!! And yes, Myles does have 2 fingers up his nose! What in the world???

Another fun “pool play date!” Woo-Hoo!! Gotta have some of that in the summertime!

Finally convinced a couple of them to actually SIT in the water! Ha ha!! Before they were just pouring it on the grass!

Buddies watching Big-Ball! It’s so fun that our kids get to be “camp kids.”

After a busy summer, isn’t this the way we ALL feel?

We’ve been digressing in our potty training on the weekends for some reason. Actually just on Saturdays! Hmmm… strange. But today has been good so far, so I’ll keep knocking on wood and maybe it’ll keep improving. Surely!

Stuart has managed to “catch” a bug and isn’t feeling so swift today. Poor guy! It’s not surprising really with him now teaching full time and coming into contact with all manner of ickies in the form of high school students. I was just hoping it wouldn’t start so soon!! Anyway, he and the lads are having a nice afternoon nap that will hopefully help him feel better. He STILL went over to Grandpa’s to cut trees and still has plans for pulling down a couple around our house that have “got dead” in the last year. Doesn’t like to cut himself any slack. I told you that he comes from a long line of “non-relaxers” after all, right?

I’m going to eat an almond snickers here soon. I just pulled in out of the freezer where I had forgotten it’s been living for awhile. But I found it today and am completely going to enjoy it!

Baby girl is causing lots of heartburn recently. Last night I woke up twice and had to take Tums. *sigh* Not fun! Supposedly that’s going to mean that she’ll have a lot of hair. I thought that was just a myth, but my mom recently told me that she was watching this show called “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant” (which totally boggles my mind that they could find enough people in that situation to actually make a show of it!) and they do pregnancy trivia questions at the breaks. Anyway, apparently the indigestion= hair myth is actually TRUE! Though it makes me wonder about where the “facts” come from, cause I can’t imagine HOW in the world there could be a connection.

Myles and I went through and organized the boy’s clothes this morning while the rest of the “men folk” were working. Grandma Noggle brought over a couple of bags for the boys with all her bargain finds! So we had fun!! I pulled out all the clothes that they will need for this Fall/Winter and put them in the drawers, still leaving plenty of the shorts and t-shirts for the rest of the hot days.

I had just an inkling of that Fall-fun feeling as I was looking at long pants and sweatshirts. It was fleeting though. Sad in a way because Autumn has ALWAYS been my favorite time of year ever since I was very young. I’m not looking forward to it this year though. Last winter and the subsequent LATE spring and LONG “mud season” was rough for me. I think it’s honestly the closest I can recall to really being depressed. Ugh! I don’t even like to think about it, and I certainly don’t want to relive it!! The short, cold days with less sun aren’t even remotely appealing right now. Our house tends to take on a “cave like” quality when I’m shut up inside for long stretches and then with the constant mud it was nearly impossible to get the lads out for even a little outside time. BUT I should be hopeful. No two years are the same, so maybe this time it won’t be SO bad. I still want to enjoy Fall, I’m just really not ready for it yet. Summer flew by far too fast for my liking.

I’m refreshing my memory on the E.A.S.Y. routine from the Baby Whisperer before our Lass shows up. I’m a huge fan of structure and routine for the health and sanity of all kids, regardless of age, and for the parents as well. I appreciate this one the best of the books I’ve read because it stresses the point of it being a routine and not a schedule. Trying to put an infant “on the clock” and make them mold to that seems rediculous to me, but hey, if it worked for you then hurray!! Whenever I ‘recommend’ any parenting book to people who are asking, I always throw a caveat in there about how there are SOME or even MANY things that are good in such-n-such a book, but that you really have to be discerning and eat the meat while throwing away the bones. And something that may be a “bone” for me, may be “meat” for you. There’s no way you can take different children from different families with different personalities and force them all to comply to the same “method” and have it work. No way, Jose!! I mean, things work differently for each of my own children even. Just a little rant there. I “take issue” though usually not outwardly, to parents who have a “we’ve got it all figured out” attitude and when asked about it they proudly produce some “miracle method” that they adopted from some HUMAN and have attributed all of the “success” they have with their children to it. I’ve seen it tried, and I’ve seen it fail, and I’ve seen “perfect” families crumble to ruins still doing their utmost to cling to the “method” that will ensure they have perfect kids. Yikes!! Parenting can be a daunting task, and I believe that we need to seek wisdom from people who’ve been there and who’s kids have “turned out” well. More importantly though is spending time in prayer for our children and for wisdom from God to know how to reach them with the truths of His Word.

And that was all totally free. I told you sometimes my fingers run away with me.

I’m sure my snickers is defrosted enough to chomp by now, and I’m equally as sure that you’re probably tired of reading this exorbitantly long blog post. So I shall go for now. I had some pics that I wanted to share to keep that summertime feeling alive, but they aren’t uploading very quickly, so you’ll have to wait. Sorry.

Happy Weekend!