Sunday, April 22, 2012

a marathon, not a sprint

The teacher in me got out a little this week.
I was talking to my sister a few days ago about how defeated parenting can sometimes make me feel.
Normally I don't really take issue with people who talk about me.  I mean, I have pretty good self-esteem and generally feel like if folks are talking about me they either think I'm awesome or at the very least they are giving someone else a break.  
One exception that springs to mind is when it comes to my kids. 
I don't worry about those who think I'm the the mean Mama.  
That's totally fine with me.  I'm not their friend.  I'm their mother.  
It's the ones who think my kids are out of control.  I know just how I feel when I see a family out in public and the kids are ruling the parents.  I want to ask them if they really think they are doing their children a favor by not being in charge.  
I think it was at Christian's two-year-old well visit that the doctor was trying to warn us about typical two-year-old behavior.  She knew we had only been parents for a couple of months and so she tells us to basically try to placate him.  For instance, if he's banging on your pots in the kitchen floor and you don't want him to, just give him a plastic bowl instead.
I'm sorry.  What?  Obviously the woman did not know me as my children do not play with my kitchen utensils!  I'm more of a house-proof your kid rather than a kid-proof your house kind of parent.
When I was in the classroom, I was always commended for my management skills.  
My students behaved.  There were of course ones that tried me every year, but I have high expectations and for the most part, the students rose to the occasion.  
I also have high expectations of my own children.  So when my almost five-year-old is having a level 10 freak out in the nursery at church because he didn't get to be the helper, this is a problem for me.  
This is just one example of one of his freak-outs.
After I deal with the problem and remind him who is boss in the scenario that is his life, I begin to worry some that maybe other people think I don't know how to keep my kids in check.  
I pray regularly that Chris and I would be exactly the right parents for our kids.  
Doubt and defeat sometimes still creep in. 


Here's what I know:  nothing just happens.
God prepared us for our kids and He prepared them to be ours.
We want what's best for our kids.
We try daily to train them up to amazing people!
So when I felt just a tad defeated, I pulled myself up by my bootstraps and tried a different route with Christian.  


Less than a week in with the behavior chart, and we're doing ok.  


Parenting is a marathon, not a sprint.  Here's what we're trying for the next leg of the race.
We still use time-out or spankings if the need arises, but having a visual seems to be helping him.  
He's trying to earn a sticker each day.  Three strikes equals no sticker.  Enough stickers during a given week, and then he gets whatever the goal is for that week.  Last week it was spending the night with Memaw and Papa and then going to a birthday party.  
So far, so good.  Not perfect, but it's a work in progress.




Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6  
  

Friday, April 13, 2012

Easter Weekend

 FRIDAY

On Good Friday, our KidzTown ministry took over the auditorium for a service that made all of us parents so proud!  Christian and I were asked to help with the offering, and thankfully a couple of people who love us got a picture...since my brain was somewhere else and I didn't manage to take one single picture!  
Christian and Audrey had a great time singing and dancing! :)  All this week I have heard Audrey singing, "no one is greater than Jesus!"  I couldn't help but smile every time!
It makes my heart happy that our kids not only see us serve in our church every week, but they are also given the opportunity to participate! 
When a child is old enough to make the choice to stay in church or leave it, the odds are dramatically greater that they will stay if they were part of a family who not only went to church together, but volunteered as well.  
We know that God does not save us because of our works, but because we love Him, we want to serve Him with our lives and this is an important piece of that.
I pray that our kids will come to know Christ early and shine His light to those around them!

SATURDAY

On Saturday morning, Andrea and I ran the Fuller Center 5K.  I was super thankful for the cooler weather since that makes it so much easier for me to breathe!
Chris and Dusty and the kids were at the finish line cheering!  Fun times. :)  My kids were absolutely sure I won.  LOL!  I told them that I finished the race, but I definitely didn't win!  My time was better by a few seconds: 33:06.  Improvement is good! 

We had lunch at Memaw and Papa's followed by an Easter egg hunt!  We had a great time!


 









SUNDAY


Here are some shots of us on Easter Sunday. 
I love these cuties!











Tuesday, April 3, 2012

pretty stinkin' fresh





At first I thought he was deep in thought about the berries...then I realized he was just trying to dig his shoes into the mud without getting in trouble! :)






I'm not sure it gets much fresher than this!  We went out to Southern Belle Farm yesterday morning and picked two gallons of strawberries.  I thought about doing this last year, but I just wasn't sure it was worth the money.  Since I use so much of the fruit I buy to make jams and jellies, I need it to be as cost effective as it can be.  I am pleased to say that other than a few berries the kids picked without asking us first, this was so much better than store bought!  The beauty is that you can pick exactly what you want without having those mysterious ones right in the center of the container that you can't tell whether or not they are any good. 
We picked yesteday morning, and I had eight jars of jam ready by dinnertime.  The four you see are strawberry, and then I made a batch of blueberry/strawberry/vanilla.  Yum!

Sunday, April 1, 2012

First Day


This first day isn't exactly a regular day, but a regular Sunday.  Sunday starts early for us.  Chris and I were both volunteering on our worship arts team at Avalon Church this morning.







Rehearsal before our services this morning.


Some very sleepy eyes!  He was                                             
playing word puzzles for just a few 
minutes before time to leave for
church.

Home from church...my sis helped me rock the side braid today!  Thanks pal!




They found some "calapillars" outside this afternoon.  Christian conceded to holding one, but Audrey was outta there!





























































We all piled on the couch together to watch a little tv before the kiddos headed to bed. 


Thanks to Nicole for inviting us to participate in First Day!