USS Alabama

While Mark was away on our men's church retreat, the kids and I met up with Kyle, Heather, and Sydney at the USS Alabama Battleship.  It was {extremely} hot, and I couldn't seem to get my "ducks in a row" for our outing, but we did have a great time!  Here are a few of our pictures...

Katie loved getting to "try out" the sailor beds.

Austin didn't like being contained to the Ergo at first,

but after the first 5 minutes, he enjoyed the ride and the views.

Kyle, Katie, Sydney, & Heather

The cutest little sailor I know...

Sweet Sydney...

Katie

Heather and Sydney

Horray for Free Museum Day!  We'll be going back again next year...hopefully with Daddy joining us for the fun!  Katie is still talking about all of the things she got to see on the "big boat".  And we definitely enjoyed our time with my sister and family!

Wordless Wednesday

I {finally} finished my first handmade scarf, and Katie wanted to model it!

My Cell-Phone Boy

My little boy loves cell phones!  He has spent a much larger amount of time with his {broken} cell phone lately, since Daddy has been out of town frequently.  He pushes a few buttons, holds it up to his ear {with his arm in the air}, and rambles on endlessly to "da-da" about who-knows-what!  And it is the absolute cutest thing...SEE??

My Cell-Phone Boy...

Not Me! Monday

I did not find myself re-rolling an entire roll of toilet paper after my {sweet} boy had a party un-rolling it. I'm not that frugal.  Not me!

And, I am not quickly learning  that my little boy has a shoe fettish!  Unfortunately, the shoes that are most accessible {and able for him to walk in} happen to be my heels.  Poor boy!  He's gotta find him something else to enjoy more than shoes!!

I also did not convince myself to take {another} HPT just in case, because I can't seem to believe that after all of my working out, etc, my tummy area seems to be growing {at least in my eyes}.  Who knew how hard it would be to lose the tummy after c-section #2??

We did not take the kids on their first bike rides {on our bikes} this past week.  We all enjoyed it!  When I got off, I told Mark that my legs felt like jello, and Katie jumped right in and said that hers "felt like pink".  Not sure what that means, but it was quite funny!

Though I have had absolutely no spare time lately, I did not manage to finally publish my new blog especially for Moms, Mommy Needs A Break.

I did not have Katie ask me if she could wear her "wormers" to church.  And I did not have the faintest idea of what she was talking about, until she showed me...she meant "bloomers"!  I couldn't quit laughing at her new word :)

We did not have a very active weekend {even with Daddy out of town on the church men's retreat}, including a circus show and 2-1/2 hours at the USS Alabama Battleship.  {Pictures will come later...sorry!}

Random Photo Challenge

The Random Photo Challenge that I had been participating in has not been submitting challenges lately, and I miss it!  I love having a reason to look back to all of the old pictures that I have saved from years past.  So, I'm making my own random photo challenge this week...

2005

May or 5th Folder

7th picture

Look how little our Meeko is!  Still in his puppy stage...with ears he hadn't quite grown into :) 

He was about 6 months old here...and already spoiled rotten!!

Daddy's Shoes

"Walk a Little slower, Daddy." said a little child so small.

I'm following in your footsteps and I don't want to fall.

Sometimes your steps are very fast, sometimes they're hard to see;

So walk a little slower Daddy, for you are leading me.

 

Someday when I'm all grown up, You're what I want to be.

Then I will have a little child who'll want to follow me.

And I would want to lead just right, and know that I was true;

So, walk a little slower, Daddy, for I must follow you!!

- Author Unknown -

Wordless Wednesday

Katie and the "towers" she made.  Great work, Katie Bug!

Not Me! Monday

I am not piling my "not me" post with pictures to hopefully make up for the lack of blogging lately. I have been so busy the past couple of weeks! Hope you enjoy!!

I did not find another new craft/hobby this week {as if I didn't already have enough to do}. Thanks to this Knifty Knitter, I am {finally} learning to knit. Growing up, my Grandma was never able to teach me these crafts because I was left handed and everything she tried to show me was backwards and never worked. But, I digress...I have only been using the Knifty Knitter for a few minutes here and there {you know, since I do have children that keep me busy constantly}, and I can already see the scarf coming together. And, what's even more awesome is that there are TONS of patterns on the internet that use the Knifty Knitter to make all sorts of crafts. Maybe I'll venture out after I finish my scarves ;) I'm thrilled to have a craft that I can use to make special gifts for friends and family, but even more than that, I'm excited to have found a craft that is actually relaxing and stress-relieving {not that I'm ever stressed or anything}...

I am not so excited about the upcoming fall season that Katie and I didn't spend time decorating the house with our favorite fall colors {even if it is technically still "summer"}, and we're loving it. In fact, she has to show everyone that comes into our house all of her new decorations! Like mother, like daughter...

While Alabama was dominating the field this past weekend, I did not take the kids outside {in their BAMA attire} to play and take a few pictures. And they did not together decide that the lawn needed sweeping... SEE?

And I certainly did not see Katie encouraging and teaching Austin how to climb up the slide {the wrong way}...oh, the fun we'll be having now!

I did not just want to eat up my Lil' Crimson Tide boy...he's my sweet {growing way to fast} little boy. And, boy! Don't those colors look great on him? ;)

And my energetic BAMA cheerleader, who really enjoyed saying "ROLL TIDE" and holding up her 1! {She wouldn't look at me here, though, because the sun was hurting her eyes.} Isn't she beautiful??

I did not also manage to capture a picture of both BAMA fans TOGETHER! That never happens...especially with no extra "help", since Daddy was watching the game.

And I did not finally capture a picture of Austin's "elephant sound"...he has so much fun doing this, if you can't tell...

And, no picture for this one, but Mark and I did not start laughing during Katie's bedtime prayer the other night when she prayed that God would "keep her hair down". Poor girl is starting wayyy too young worrying about her hair! We made sure to tell her how special she was and how thankful we were that God gave her such beautiful curls. I'm not sure where this thought came from, but it definitely caught us off gaurd!!

Happy "Not Me! Monday" everyone!! If you want to read any other "not me!" posts,

head on over to www.mckmama.com!

Not Me! Monday

I did not have too much of the 'trying three' stage from Katie the past couple of weeks...with 2-3 hour tantrums every day at naptime and bedtime. I did not many times find Katie sleeping here {instead of her bed}...

I have not found Austin having the opposite reaction to his bed lately. I have caught him repeatedly trying to climb into his like this {unsuccessfully, that is}...

I also did not kill supervise from a {very long} distance away as Mark killed a female black widow spider in our kitchen! And I am definitely still not extremely paranoid about the matter...

I am not missing my sweet husband as he is in a conference cross-country this week. But the kids and I are extremely excited to get the week with my Mom!

Lighten Up...

To help lighten up {my} mood {since I've been so out of sorts dealing with Katie's iron will of disobedience the past few weeks}, I thought I'd share something funny from both kids that have made me laugh lately:

From Katie: As we're getting dressed, Katie asks, "Mommy, where are we going today? Nowhere? Or YESwhere?"

From Austin: Austin is so sweet when he tries to give you kisses. Strangely, though, I am not often a receiver of his kisses. The only time he will kiss me is immediately after he sees me kiss Mark. He will push Mark away and give me the biggest kiss ever! Jealousy already?? And, who does he save those kisses for? Usually Katie, who often is not a grateful receiver of them.

Happy Friday!

Wordless Wednesday

"Self Portrait" by Katie

Who are you, and what did you do with my daughter??

Who are you, and what did you do with my daughter??

That's definitely a question that has been on our minds for the past two or three weeks. {I have lost count}. We have quickly realized that we are apparently making our way through the many trials of the "trying three's" with a very strong-willed child.

And, so no one thinks I am exaggerating, let me give you one {of wayyy too many} recent {and unfortunately, very consistent} scenarios, in a very condensed version, that we have encountered with our sweet Katie:

It is 8:30pm. Austin is in bed. Katie has been told in 5-10 minute warnings that she is going to bed at 8:30pm. She has had no nap {because she has started to eliminate them} and has been awake since 7am. She complies {with resistance} to brush her teeth and pick out a bedtime book. We review our day {her chore/manners chart}, read our book, say our prayers, and snuggle into bed. She is told and repeats to us the rules to stay in bed and not scream/kick/etc., and the consequences if those rules are broken. She lays down and we leave her room. Before we are 2 feet from her door, she is at her door...screaming, yelling, and either opening her door or kicking the door. We go to her room. Explain to her that she has deliberately disobeyed and must be disciplined. She recites Ephesians 6:1 and tells us what she had done and what she needs to do, is disciplined, asks for us to forgive her {and we do}, and gets put back in bed with the same rules, warnings, and prayers. We again leave and go pray for her and for wisdom as we deal with her disobedience. And again, the cycle continues, only usually escalading...for usually 2 hours or so...leaving her with many of her favorite items taken away {which, of course, leads to other tantrums}, and more discipline than Mark or I either could fathom having to give. Then, after hours of this ridiculous cycle, she falls asleep, and we retreat emotionally and physically spent...wanting to do nothing but question our parenting abilities, cry on each other's shoulders, and beg for more wisdom and grace from our loving God.

I wish I could say that was our only scenario or that it was only once in a while that we had such times with Katie. But honestly, the past two weeks or so have been nothing but tantrums like the above regarding any number of things...a large battle of wills, with Katie feeling she can outlast us regardless of the consequences. And frankly, it is exhausting in every way possible!

I find myself frustrated and confused. I've read all of the books...we've been very consistent in all things, not allowing her to disobey without discipline...prayed and prayed and prayed...asked for advice from others...tried all forms of discipline to see if something anything will get through to her little strong-willed spirit. Where have we failed as parents? How have our consistent, conservative, and some would say "strict" parenting led us to this point? What do we need to do to get her to understand and get through this terrible stage?

Here is my hope...my only hope...on which I stand, even when the sands are shifting underneath my feet:

• God does not give us anything that we cannot handle with His help.
• God has a perfect plan for Katie's future...a plan that will somehow use her temperment to minister in ways that others could not...a plan that He felt Mark and I could handle and overcome with His guidance, wisdom, and grace.
• God is going to make us stronger and more faithful to Him through this trial. This trial is meant for our ultimate good, even though we can't see the "big picture" right now.
• Pray Pray PRAY...like we've never prayed before!

Will you pray with us?

Stopping the Roller Coasters

The last month or so has been rough for me. Not constantly, 24/7, more like a roller-coaster. Okay days...Good days...Okay days...Bad days...Okay days...etc. I still have not perfected the "mother of two" thing. I still cannot seem to consistently balance teaching, playing, disciplining, learning, cleaning, showering, and cooking in any given day. My life can lately be characterized by being busy, stretched, half-done, discouraging, and downright frustrating due to many different things. And, I have been ready to find the button to stop the roller coasters.

But, God only gives us what we can handle with His help. And I am so thankful for that! Earlier this week, when I was having a {very} rough day, God brought an old hymn to mind that helped me make it through the day. Here are the words, written by H. Peterson...

I just keep trusting my Lord as I walk a long
I just keep trusting my Lord and He gives a song
Though the storm clouds darken the sky o'er the heav'nly trail
I just keep trusting my Lord, He will never fail

He's a faithful friend, such a faithful friend
I can count on Him to the very end
Though the storm clouds darken the sky o'er the heav'nly trail
I just keep trusting my Lord, He will never fail

I just keep trusting my Lord on the narrow way
I just keep trusting my Lord as He leads each day
Though the road is weary at times and I'm sad and blue
I just keep trusting my Lord, He will se me through

He's a faithful guide, such a faithful guide
He is always there walking by my side
Though the road is weary at times and I'm sad and blue
I just keep trusting my Lord, He will se me through

And, if that wasn't enough to keep my focus on Him, and not on the bumps on our roads, He also brought to mind something I had heard recently. I often recall the verse "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." It's my life verse, if you will. But until recently, I've always read it to mean that when I delight in Him, He'll give me the desires of my heart.

Lately, through our trials, I'm learning that I should rather read the verse to mean that when I delight in Him, He'll give me the desires of my heart. He will show me what my desires ought to be. When I am walking in Him, our desires...our goals...our needs will be the same! WOW! What an encouragement and challenge to meditate on daily as we strive to be more Christ-like. And, Oh! What perfect timing He had to bring it to my mind. Perhaps it will encourage you, as well...

Wordless Wednesday

Okay, so I won't be totally "wordless." Austin was in his dresser drawers and found his new boots {a birthday gift from his Aunt Sandra} and tried for 10 minutes to put them on. I couldn't disappoint him, so here is my "Little Hunter" all decked out in camo. Now, he's ready for the hunting camp, Pawpaw Greg!!

Rearranging furniture SQUARES!

I know you all thought that I had completely abandoned my Ragged Square Quilt that I was so excited to start making back in this old post.

Oh! Contrare!!

Though it has taken me a few months, I have finally finished step #2 {sewing the 3" square to the 6" and the 6" square to the 9"}, and now have 30 completed squares! After completing step #2, I rearranged my squares into the design that I will {probably} use for the quilt...you know, unless I decide to rearrange squares for a 10th time! So...

What do you think of my quilt so far??

Next step...sewing the squares into rows! Keep watching for more updates on my Ragged Square Quilt. Though it make take me a while to finish a step, it will eventually be finished...I promise!