Yep, I am going to implement potty training part 1 in 2 weeks. Berean is still really young, but I can see it going well. I can also see her not getting it at all.
But we are going to try.
And if it doesn't work, I will try again later.
Getting her trained before the next baby arrives seems like it would be good for morale :)
Monday, August 8, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
The Men in My Life
I am in the midst of writing some longer posts about pregnancy and homeschool curriculum (exciting, right?) but I am not sure exactly when I will get them done. Right now I am in the midst of a long stretch at work, and well, we have summer to finish up strong!
Our van is making weird clunking noises and is having trouble shifting. Ominous noises that make the money in our bank account quake with the fear that it will soon be pulled out to go hang with the mechanic. We have an appointment for Monday, but I called my dad yesterday to see if I could borrow his "spare" van a little early for driving into work. He told me that I could but that it didn't have much gas in it, etc. I said I would fill it up, after all I was the one borrowing it. When Noah and I arrived to pick it up I was informed that my dad had gone and gotten it washed and filled it with gas. I love my dad!
Noah and I got into an argument last night at Chipotle. It was the kind of argument where Noah actually said to me, "we are not going to get anywhere with this unless you approach it with SOME degree of rationality". I was trying to explain my position, and was having trouble expressing what I was thinking. He stopped me, told me "I already know your position" and then proceeded to sum up exactly what my position was. I guess that is what being married to a person for 11 years does :) Now, I am not saying that I like arguments- but it felt good. We used to argue and debate all the time, but we don't very much anymore. We have grown to agree more and more and don't often find ourselves on different sides of an issue. It was kind of fun to once again have an animated discussion. I love that boy.
I got up from sleeping today to find my whole family gone. I knew they had been gone awhile, because they are quite loud and I hadn't heard them all afternoon. I could not figure out where they would have gone for that length of time. Finally, I called my parents. Sure enough, Noah had left the girl there for her nap and taken the boys to the beach! Did not expect that. I am still waiting to find out if he found all of the swim trunks, the wrist bands, goggles and towels, or if they just kind of used what they could find. Have I mentioned that I love that boy?
My little boys are SO EXCITED about their pokemon cards and just life in general right now. They play hard, and they look forward to everything. Even though they can be very wearing with their constant "what are we doing next?", "where are we going", "how can I earn more money" questions, we are still loving summer and I am not looking forward to the start of school. I gave them all buzz cuts this week and they are so cute :)
And now a word about Berean. She is adorable and sweet (although she can screech) and is doted on by all. Yep, she is spoiled. Despite that, she is pretty good-natured and we have all been enjoying teaching her new things. Oh, and she likes long naps. We like that too.
Our van is making weird clunking noises and is having trouble shifting. Ominous noises that make the money in our bank account quake with the fear that it will soon be pulled out to go hang with the mechanic. We have an appointment for Monday, but I called my dad yesterday to see if I could borrow his "spare" van a little early for driving into work. He told me that I could but that it didn't have much gas in it, etc. I said I would fill it up, after all I was the one borrowing it. When Noah and I arrived to pick it up I was informed that my dad had gone and gotten it washed and filled it with gas. I love my dad!
Noah and I got into an argument last night at Chipotle. It was the kind of argument where Noah actually said to me, "we are not going to get anywhere with this unless you approach it with SOME degree of rationality". I was trying to explain my position, and was having trouble expressing what I was thinking. He stopped me, told me "I already know your position" and then proceeded to sum up exactly what my position was. I guess that is what being married to a person for 11 years does :) Now, I am not saying that I like arguments- but it felt good. We used to argue and debate all the time, but we don't very much anymore. We have grown to agree more and more and don't often find ourselves on different sides of an issue. It was kind of fun to once again have an animated discussion. I love that boy.
I got up from sleeping today to find my whole family gone. I knew they had been gone awhile, because they are quite loud and I hadn't heard them all afternoon. I could not figure out where they would have gone for that length of time. Finally, I called my parents. Sure enough, Noah had left the girl there for her nap and taken the boys to the beach! Did not expect that. I am still waiting to find out if he found all of the swim trunks, the wrist bands, goggles and towels, or if they just kind of used what they could find. Have I mentioned that I love that boy?
My little boys are SO EXCITED about their pokemon cards and just life in general right now. They play hard, and they look forward to everything. Even though they can be very wearing with their constant "what are we doing next?", "where are we going", "how can I earn more money" questions, we are still loving summer and I am not looking forward to the start of school. I gave them all buzz cuts this week and they are so cute :)
And now a word about Berean. She is adorable and sweet (although she can screech) and is doted on by all. Yep, she is spoiled. Despite that, she is pretty good-natured and we have all been enjoying teaching her new things. Oh, and she likes long naps. We like that too.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Catch Up
Sorry the posts have been few and far between- part of it is due to the fact the our computer is still non-functional, so I have to post from my laptop. I like my laptop, but it is not very comfortable for typing long posts. Noah hooked this one up to our big monitor a few days ago, though, and that makes it much more tolerable.
Besides that, however, no excuses. We are just enjoying summer and I am using my "free" time to work or to take 2 hour naps in 2 minute intervals. Maybe you also know that kind of nap? sleep 2 min..."Mama, can we have a snack?"...sleep 2 min... "Mama, can you open our popsicles"...sleep 2 min..."guys?! I hear a beep, make sure the freezer is shut!"sleep 2 min... "Mom, can we take a bath?"... sleep 2 min... "Mama, Roman is throwing things..."
Well, maybe you get the picture.
The naps are due to the fact that I am not sleeping well at night. My mom reminded me that I had sleep trouble with some of my other pregnancies, and I think that she is remembering that correctly. Also, every pay period I have a 7 day stretch off of work, and I always sleep worse then because I am not "tired" enough.
So I take 2 hour naps, (when Berean is sleeping) in 2 minute segments.
2 weeks ago I told Noah that I needed a couple of days to myself. I needed to be alone, to clean the house and plan for the fall. Noah graciously offered to take the kids to visit his grandparents, and even roped his parents into going along to help. Thank you Gpa Jim, Gma Ruth, Chris, Debbie and Noah for letting me have a couple of days off!
I was informed that Gma Ruth is "nicer than you, Mom, because she let us have dessert without finishing our vegetables".
Friday night of my "off" weekend I went to the Y and then met my friend, my mom and my sister at Feed My Starving Children, an organization that uses volunteers to pack food for starving children.
Saturday I cleaned all day long. I washed bedding, windows, blinds, vaccumed, mopped, cleaned carpets, scrubbed cabinets, went through everything in my kitchen, weeded out toys, and scrubbed bathtubs and toilets. I spent time cleaning up the garage and basement (although those two areas require more of Noah's input). It was wonderful. No, I didn't get everything done- but it was a good start.
Sunday I had to be in children's chuch, since it was my volunteer week, but after that I went to the church picnic alone and actually got to talk to people without constant interruptions. The fam arrived home in the late afternoon, just in time for a birthday party with friends and some downtime before bed.
The last couple of days I have just been finishing things up around here (it is never-ending) and the boys and I have been taking it easy.
It is very sad to think that there is just one more month before school starts, but I guess that is the way of life!
Besides that, however, no excuses. We are just enjoying summer and I am using my "free" time to work or to take 2 hour naps in 2 minute intervals. Maybe you also know that kind of nap? sleep 2 min..."Mama, can we have a snack?"...sleep 2 min... "Mama, can you open our popsicles"...sleep 2 min..."guys?! I hear a beep, make sure the freezer is shut!"sleep 2 min... "Mom, can we take a bath?"... sleep 2 min... "Mama, Roman is throwing things..."
Well, maybe you get the picture.
The naps are due to the fact that I am not sleeping well at night. My mom reminded me that I had sleep trouble with some of my other pregnancies, and I think that she is remembering that correctly. Also, every pay period I have a 7 day stretch off of work, and I always sleep worse then because I am not "tired" enough.
So I take 2 hour naps, (when Berean is sleeping) in 2 minute segments.
2 weeks ago I told Noah that I needed a couple of days to myself. I needed to be alone, to clean the house and plan for the fall. Noah graciously offered to take the kids to visit his grandparents, and even roped his parents into going along to help. Thank you Gpa Jim, Gma Ruth, Chris, Debbie and Noah for letting me have a couple of days off!
I was informed that Gma Ruth is "nicer than you, Mom, because she let us have dessert without finishing our vegetables".
Friday night of my "off" weekend I went to the Y and then met my friend, my mom and my sister at Feed My Starving Children, an organization that uses volunteers to pack food for starving children.
Saturday I cleaned all day long. I washed bedding, windows, blinds, vaccumed, mopped, cleaned carpets, scrubbed cabinets, went through everything in my kitchen, weeded out toys, and scrubbed bathtubs and toilets. I spent time cleaning up the garage and basement (although those two areas require more of Noah's input). It was wonderful. No, I didn't get everything done- but it was a good start.
Sunday I had to be in children's chuch, since it was my volunteer week, but after that I went to the church picnic alone and actually got to talk to people without constant interruptions. The fam arrived home in the late afternoon, just in time for a birthday party with friends and some downtime before bed.
The last couple of days I have just been finishing things up around here (it is never-ending) and the boys and I have been taking it easy.
It is very sad to think that there is just one more month before school starts, but I guess that is the way of life!
Monday, August 1, 2011
No Romans Were Hurt in the Making of This Film
*Roman also gave us permission to post this. He thinks it is uproariously funny. Also, congrats to Lincoln on successfully mastering the monkey bars!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Not the post I meant to write
First off, let me begin by informing you all that I am tired :) I am sure you wanted to know that- but it has been a long, long week. Not necessarily all bad and not all stuff that directly involves me, and yet it weighs on my mind. Maybe I think too much.
The world is a crummy place, my friends.
But it is also a beautiful place.
"In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world."
My heart hurts for the mothers who have no food to feed their children.
I am sad for the people caught in addiction.
The political state of our world scares me.
A friend's severe illness upsets me
An acquaintance dying leaves me in tears
"In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world."
So in addition to my normal domestic woes, work struggles, childrearing worries, relationship managing- I also just have a heavy heart for the world right now.
And I am trying to remember
"In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world."
The world is a crummy place, my friends.
But it is also a beautiful place.
"In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world."
My heart hurts for the mothers who have no food to feed their children.
I am sad for the people caught in addiction.
The political state of our world scares me.
A friend's severe illness upsets me
An acquaintance dying leaves me in tears
"In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world."
So in addition to my normal domestic woes, work struggles, childrearing worries, relationship managing- I also just have a heavy heart for the world right now.
And I am trying to remember
"In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world."
Friday, July 22, 2011
On Being Useful
The boys and I LOVE listening to Adventures in Odyssey. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of listening, AIO are radio dramas put out by Focus on the Family. AIO is broadcasted on the radio (and has been for like 25 years) but you can also buy (or check out from the library!) the various albums.
Anyway, the "shows" follow the citizens of a town called Odyssey and they always teach a lesson. Some of the episodes deal with deeper topics such as evil (they have two "sagas" that are pretty intense), divorce, death etc. Most of the episodes deal with elementary topics however such as cheating, lying, stealing, bullies etc. Over the 25 years the writers have showed great variety in their presentation. Sometimes it is story telling form from one character to another, some are historical with characters traveling in "The Imagination Station" and some are narratives by a character.
I love when the Barclays move to Pokenberry Falls and the 2 part episode is a parody of "It's a Wonderful Life". I love "The Secret Room" where the bad guy has sleeping darts in his cane. I love the Novacom Saga and the evilness of Dr. Blackgaard and the patheticness of his twin brother.
But the episode that is stuck in my mind right now? It is a less popular episode called "The Girl in the Sink". In this episode Bernard (local window washer) tells Tamika (local girl) a story about when he was a child. What leads to the story is Tamika talking about how God should send an angel to help her widowed neighbor. Bernard's point is that we can all be useful- the neighbor doesn't need a bona fide celestial being- she just needed someone who was willing to be useful.
This concept of "being useful" has been flipping around in my brain for months now- and I always come back to that episode.
"Being Useful" is going to be the theme of our homeschool and home this fall. I want to see opportunities to be useful and to take them (despite children) and I desperately want my children to be able to start detecting opportunities for themselves to be useful.
Because when you think about it, people who are well liked and who succeed are those who are useful. My favorite coworkers are not the ones who are the smartest, the best in a code or the ones who have the drug book memorized- my favorite people to work with are the ones who know how to make themselves useful, seeing what needs to be done and doing it.
And I really believe there are two parts to usefulness. First, you have to be able to see the problems and the opportunities. I think this is a learned skill. (it is NOT useful to always have to give people step by step instructions for everything you need them to do). Second, you have to take the opportunities and actually BE USEFUL!
I haven't quite decided how I am going to attack this with the boys, but I think I am going to start with pointing out when they do something useful, so they can start recognizing it. For example, (sorry Elise! I am going to use your daughter!), the boys cousin didn't want to leave the park the other day. I had Roman walk with her so she wouldn't feel so lonely and then when he came back I pointed out how it helped his cousin. In situations like that I am going to start using the word "useful".
I can see how it could be a problem that the opposite of "useful" is "useless". If my kids aren't being "Useful" I don't want them to jump to the conclusion that THEY are "useless". I am going to be careful to make sure that they don't feel that way, but I think this practice is going to be good for our family.
I want my kids (and myself) to "see the good they ought to do and do it"- whether it be big things like helping feed starving children, opening doors for people with packages, distracting a sad child, cleaning up a spill.
So that is our overreaching goal for fall:
To be Useful.
Anyway, the "shows" follow the citizens of a town called Odyssey and they always teach a lesson. Some of the episodes deal with deeper topics such as evil (they have two "sagas" that are pretty intense), divorce, death etc. Most of the episodes deal with elementary topics however such as cheating, lying, stealing, bullies etc. Over the 25 years the writers have showed great variety in their presentation. Sometimes it is story telling form from one character to another, some are historical with characters traveling in "The Imagination Station" and some are narratives by a character.
I love when the Barclays move to Pokenberry Falls and the 2 part episode is a parody of "It's a Wonderful Life". I love "The Secret Room" where the bad guy has sleeping darts in his cane. I love the Novacom Saga and the evilness of Dr. Blackgaard and the patheticness of his twin brother.
But the episode that is stuck in my mind right now? It is a less popular episode called "The Girl in the Sink". In this episode Bernard (local window washer) tells Tamika (local girl) a story about when he was a child. What leads to the story is Tamika talking about how God should send an angel to help her widowed neighbor. Bernard's point is that we can all be useful- the neighbor doesn't need a bona fide celestial being- she just needed someone who was willing to be useful.
This concept of "being useful" has been flipping around in my brain for months now- and I always come back to that episode.
"Being Useful" is going to be the theme of our homeschool and home this fall. I want to see opportunities to be useful and to take them (despite children) and I desperately want my children to be able to start detecting opportunities for themselves to be useful.
Because when you think about it, people who are well liked and who succeed are those who are useful. My favorite coworkers are not the ones who are the smartest, the best in a code or the ones who have the drug book memorized- my favorite people to work with are the ones who know how to make themselves useful, seeing what needs to be done and doing it.
And I really believe there are two parts to usefulness. First, you have to be able to see the problems and the opportunities. I think this is a learned skill. (it is NOT useful to always have to give people step by step instructions for everything you need them to do). Second, you have to take the opportunities and actually BE USEFUL!
I haven't quite decided how I am going to attack this with the boys, but I think I am going to start with pointing out when they do something useful, so they can start recognizing it. For example, (sorry Elise! I am going to use your daughter!), the boys cousin didn't want to leave the park the other day. I had Roman walk with her so she wouldn't feel so lonely and then when he came back I pointed out how it helped his cousin. In situations like that I am going to start using the word "useful".
I can see how it could be a problem that the opposite of "useful" is "useless". If my kids aren't being "Useful" I don't want them to jump to the conclusion that THEY are "useless". I am going to be careful to make sure that they don't feel that way, but I think this practice is going to be good for our family.
I want my kids (and myself) to "see the good they ought to do and do it"- whether it be big things like helping feed starving children, opening doors for people with packages, distracting a sad child, cleaning up a spill.
So that is our overreaching goal for fall:
To be Useful.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Girl Trouble
Berean is now 16 months old. She can throw a temper tantrum with the best of them (complete with peeking to see if anyone is paying attention) and she is improving her climbing skills- her new favorite hang spot is the top of the dining room table.
And new words are coming every day.
Just yesterday she said "Jordan" and "Todd" and "cherry".
Today she said "ice cube".
She doesn't use them all consistently, but she is constantly testing and trying new words.
Oh, and she has a knot in her hair.
She has always twisted her hair when she is tired, but last week she managed to get it into a tenacious twist. I don't know if it was the syrup, the fact that her hair is getting longer or sheer determination on her part; but I can't get it out. I think this one is going to get cut, but I see a big bottle of detangler in my future.
And new words are coming every day.
Just yesterday she said "Jordan" and "Todd" and "cherry".
Today she said "ice cube".
She doesn't use them all consistently, but she is constantly testing and trying new words.
Oh, and she has a knot in her hair.
She has always twisted her hair when she is tired, but last week she managed to get it into a tenacious twist. I don't know if it was the syrup, the fact that her hair is getting longer or sheer determination on her part; but I can't get it out. I think this one is going to get cut, but I see a big bottle of detangler in my future.
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