Never Trust a Nearly-Four-Year-Old to Play By the Rules

In our house, the wrapping paper cardboard roll/tube is a HOT commodity.  While I finished wrapping a few more gifts today, Krista and Michael were sword fighting with their empty wrapping paper rolls.  Krista had to stay on the carpet of the bedroom while Michael had to remain in the tiled section of our bathroom giving each of them ample space to retreat and spar.  Simple, right? 

My mistake was to leave the two of them alone after I was finished (hey, give me a break! I was in between writing out a gazillion Christmas cards!).  Pretty soon I heard the yells of a one-sided conversation:

"Hey! You're not supposed to leave the bathroom! Stay on your side!" Silence except for lots of footsteps.  Then a "OUCH! Stop hitting me! You're supposed to ONLY hit my tube and NOT me!" Silence again with the sound of running feet and then a... "That's it! I'm done playing with you! You're not following the rules! I'm going downstairs!"

Unfortunately for Michael, he made a poor decision as Krista ran downstairs.  I went upstairs, explained why he was going to be disciplined (yes, he acknowledged his poor choice!) and then went to his room with him.  Afterward, it was restoration time.  I held him and hugged him tightly in the rocker.  Here's what a typical conversation is like afterward:

Me:  Michael, why did mommy have to remind you?

Michael:  Because I made a poor choice.

Me:  What was your poor choice?

Michael:  I didn't obey.


Me:  And what it that called when you don't obey, Michael?

Michael:  Sin.

Me:  That's right, Michael.  What does sin do?

Michael:  It separates us from God.  Sin is like a big door  (I use that analogy so he can get a better understanding of how sin separates us from God .  And for the first time, Michael put his hands side by side and covered my eyes to show how it separates us from God which made me realize he really understands that concept now).

Me:  That's right, Michael.  There is no sin in Heaven and that's why Jesus had to come and die for all sins like when we don't obey our parents.  Mommy and Daddy's job is to teach you to obey us so you'll learn to obey God, too.  Now what do we need to do?

Michael:  Make things right with God, mommy, daddy and Krista.   
Dear God, Will you forgive me?  I'm sorry for not obeying mommy.  I was wrong.  Please help me make right choices and wrong choices (he means to "not" make poor choices!) so I can have good consequences and not poor ones.  Please help me obey the Bible.  In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.

I love hearing children pray.  There's something that's so sweet and innocent in their little voices!  Well, then there's lots of hugging and making things right with whomever he offended.  Then I have to go through my "wise choices = wise consequences and poor choices = poor consequences" speech before letting him know what privileges he's lost because of making his poor choice.

In I John 1:9, I love how the Amplified Bible puts it: "If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action]."

I'm grateful for God's gift of forgiveness, for the restoration process and for being a mommy.


 

Confessions From a Semi Obsessive Compulsive Mother

Okay, it's true.  I ordered the entire Fisher Price Little People Nativity collection (everything but the Drummer Boy set) when Michael was one under the "guise" of buying the set for him.  The truth is...I LOVE FP's Little People anything! And only buying one set of the collection at-a-time would have killed me.  Which is why I had to order the entire thing in one swoop! The whole collection can fit around the skirt of our Christmas tree, but now that Michael loves to play with the pieces, we've put it where it's more accessible for him to play with.  Last year, Michael put his little Elmo & Cookie Monster plastic figurines in the manger with Mary, Joseph and Jesus.  This year, Michael added Noah and his wife and all the animals from his Noah's Ark play set to the Nativity collection.  I think we should get a few more shepherd boys or some zoo keepers, at least.... 

I'm intrigued by anything miniature.  So, when we found the Japanese brand (Iwako) miniature food erasers (that can be taken apart by pieces), I wanted to collect them all!  So, we did.  Krista and I purchased as many collections as we could whenever we found them from this tiny little San Rio Surprises store in Monterey Park.  Over Thanksgiving break, we came upon a store that had the largest collection of these Japanese erasers we've ever seen! I'm embarrassed to admit that we have nearly every full set available out there.  I still couldn't resist adding a chocolate Popsicle to our collection though...

Well, I finished The Charlatan's Boy yesterday afternoon and started on A Place of Peace by Amy Clipston.  Last night, I finished it and have started on Judith Miller's More Than Words (I'm on chapter 13 now). 

Our Christmas tree is up.  Check.  I've been wrapping Christmas gifts for the past two months, so we're nearly finished with everything now.  Check.  And now I'm working on Christmas cards.  I have about 30+ written and I'm only on the C's in my address book! I've got a long ways to go yet!

At night, it's so peaceful to just stare at the Christmas lights on the tree in the dark.  
My eyes get adjusted to their brightness and after I turn them off to go upstairs, it seems extra dark in our house.  As believers, God wants us to be lights in this world.  In Philippians 2:15, it says, "So that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world..."  Imagine how dark this world would be without Jesus.

Let's shine together brightly for Him.  

The Runaway Nose

After midnight on Friday, Jacob decided to get in a 2 hour lecture while I decided to start Choosing to See by Mary Beth Chapman with Ellen Vaughn.  Oh.  My.  Stars.  I couldn't get through the book without some major waterworks (thank you, God for the person who invented Kleenexes with lotion or my nose would have been really red and chapped!)!!!  I'll have a review of it in my December issue of Five Star Books & More by the Reading Mom newsletter on December 3rd.  I finished the last chapter this morning after staying up til 4:30am.

This morning, Jacob and I went out to run some errands.  I was in desperate need of surgical gloves.  And no, I am not planning on operating on anyone anytime soon.  It's just that I ran out of them and recently, I had to touch raw meat with my bare hands...ICKY! Of course, I question my "desperate need" for them because we were at Costco last week and I forgot to get them while we were there! Anyway, the plan was to grab them at Costco and then hit the outlets to check out the deals.  It was a great plan, except for the fact that Jacob decided to get his tires rotated while we were there.  No problem, right?!?  I mean, there were hardly any other people there, so we erroneously assumed it would be a one hour job.  2.5 hours later (I'm grateful for Verizon because I killed time by catching up with some friends in PA since I didn't have a book to lose myself in), we had to get home. 

We came home to "the world's largest train track" by Michael and Krista.  Michael got sick three days ago and so, I've been keeping him in his sleepers because they keep him cozy.  The good news is that he's now fever free.  The bad news is that his nose is running a mile-a-minute (where is all that liquid coming from?!?) and apparently, only mommy can be the one to blow his nose (which makes it challenging to complete a task while constantly attending to a little nose).  In between loads of laundry, I started The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathan Rogers.  I haven't gotten very far (just up to chapter 12) because nose blowing and page turning are two challenges I have yet to master!

To be perfectly honest, normally, it would be difficult to keep blowing that little nose with a good attitude! But after reading about Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman's horrific loss of their five year old adopted daughter, I was more than grateful to be grabbing those Kleenexes to wipe Michael's nose and keeping it from being chapped with AquaPhor. 

1 Thessalonians 5:18 reminds us in this way, "In everything give thanks (for dry little noses as well as the runny little noses, too!); for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." I love being a mommy!

One Day At A Time with The Reading Mom: To shop, or not to shop...that is the question...

One Day At A Time with The Reading Mom: To shop, or not to shop...that is the question...: "Yesterday was so relaxing! Jacob made breakfast and then we all played Uno (Michael was on my 'team'). We took a break after playing for ab..."

To shop, or not to shop...that is the question...

Yesterday was so relaxing! Jacob made breakfast and then we all played Uno (Michael was on my "team").  We took a break after playing for about an hour while Michael and I played Alphabet Bingo.  After lunch (courtesy of Chef Jacob), Michael went down for his nap, Jacob went upstairs to study, Krista worked on chemistry and I got to read a few more chapters of Back to Life by Kristin Billerbeck.  I had to force myself to stop reading so I could get dinner ready! If only my family would be content to drink smoothies for dinner...

I mashed the sweet potatoes for my sweet potato/craisin & apple biscuits, mashed the potatoes for my creamy mash potatoes (with lots of butter, salt & pepper, of course!), defrosted the corn while Jacob made his special salad.  Dinner was so easy thanks to our Rotisserie Chicken!!!

Later in the evening after I put Michael down for the night, I was able to finish reading Back to Life (finally!).  I had every intention of hitting Toys R Us at midnight, Kohl's at 3am, Target at 4am, etc.  But when I contemplated the inconvenience of finding parking (it's a proven fact people are crazier when it comes to fighting for parking space on black friday!), crowded shopping conditions and waiting in long lines for the check-out, I decided to go online to scope out the goods.

I was on til 2:40am and decided that I didn't really need anything after all...except for sleep.  Why is it that all the "great" deals are things that aren't on my list?!?

This morning, it was nice to sleep in! I did some organizing and started reading Stripped:  Uncensored Grace on the Streets of Vegas by Jud Whilhite with Bill Taaffe.  I've been meaning to read this book and once I started I didn't want to put it down! But we decided to go to Monterey Park for some authentic Chinese cooking and later to Little Tokoyo in search of a specific shirt Krista's been looking for. 

I finished reading it this afternoon during Michael's nap time.  I applaud what Central Christian Church is doing.  What an amazing ministry they have in Vegas! God is definitely at work in Vegas which is often referred to as "Sin City."  They are living out Colossians 3:16 which goes like this:


"Let the word [spoken by] Christ (the Messiah) have its home [in your hearts and minds] and dwell in you in [all its] richness, as you teach and admonish and train one another in all insight and intelligence and wisdom [in spiritual things, and as you sing] psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody to God with [His] grace in your hearts (from the Amplified Bible)."

I'm eternally grateful for God's grace.

Off-Beat Things I'm Forever Grateful For...

Of course, I'm grateful for salvation through Jesus Christ, God's only Son, God Himself, my family, friends and the privilege to live in America!!! DUH!!! That's a no brainer!!!
But I'm also incredibly grateful for...

• My navigation system (The Tom-Tom could still be tweaked a little more, but for now, it's one of the best things invented since sliced bread!)

I would be landlocked at home with nowhere to go because I'm clueless when it comes to deciphering the Thomas Guide! And hello, MapQuest is about as reliable as the weatherman.  I am forever directionally impaired (it's a miracle I can find my way to church and the ice rink for Krista's skating lessons!) and am convinced God created the person that invented the navigation system...just. for.  me.

• Hallmark gift wrap with grid lines printed on the back

This genius concept now leaves us with zero excuses to cut gift wrap crookedly.  Goodbye, jagged edges!

• The fact I no longer have to participate in P.E. class

Jocks will never understand why it is such a HUGE relief to no longer be forced to flaunt my nonathletic abilities!!! To me, organized sports should be something like "Duck, Duck, Goose," "Red Rover," or even "Red Light Green Light." 

I did love soccer but I didn't like all the running expected from the forwards (thankfully, I was rarely in this position).  In fact, I preferred staying back to keep the goalie company (my interpretation of the fullback's position) and chatting about non-essential school stuff.  I also didn't mind playing midfield but I royally stank as a goalie (probably because of my innate tendency to duck and scream when approached by people running with a fast moving ball towards me).

I remember dreading softball season! When forced to play softball in PE, I reluctantly volunteered to play outfield (again, it was a great way to get in some good girl-to-girl talk time while praying desperately that no one would hit the ball out to me) .  Unfortunately, we all had to play different positions.  I can say with all honesty that once again, I royally stank when playing in any softball position.  The only time I was partially decent at batting was when my friend Wayne Smith gave me some helpful advice -"keep your eye on the ball."  Prior to that, I was either shutting my eyes (praying I wouldn't be clobbered by the ball), ducking (my reflexes naturally do this when there's a flying object coming towards me at the speed of light) or just swinging wildly without looking (trying to get out in order to end my misery of being human bait ball).

My shining moment in basketball was when I was a sub with my best friend Gaylynn Gorden.  Her boyfriend wanted her to have a chance to play in the game, too, so I assured him I would do what it took to get a foul.  Cathy Gebhart was an amazing athlete in our school.  She was a really great person and I knew she was the best scorer for her team.  So when she jumped up to make a shot, I grabbed her hoodie and pulled.  hard. The whistle blew and I proudly left the court trading places with my best friend.  We all had a good laugh about it later!


I won't go on into all the other P.E. classes I had to endure (Aerobics should be renamed "Sheer Torture") but there were a few I didn't mind.  I did enjoy rope climbing, racing with those scooter like things and Lacrosse (it's too bad we never played it as much as some of the other sports).

The fact I survived P.E. is proof that there's a God in Heaven who has plans for us.  Plans not to harm us but to give us a future and a hope (check it out in Jeremiah 29:11)! And, I know God's given us all different gifts.  My gifts are in the area of sideline cheering instead of out-in-the-field participating :o)

• The ice machine and the filtered water dispenser

In some countries, there's no such thing as ice, so yes, I'm very grateful we have the option of crushed or cubes! And I know Jacob is glad he doesn't have to lug all those big water dispenser thingys from Costco anymore.

•   $5 Rotisserie chicken from Costco

I have a confession to make.  Yes, I admit I have never cooked a turkey before.  So, what do we have at Thanksgiving you might ask?  Well, I've tried making ham before.  Unfortunately, I didn't know that ham is vacuum sealed in TWO layers of plastic.  There's an outer layer AND an inner layer that is not visible to the human eye until it's baked with the ham.  Apparently, I'm the only one who's blind to this detail and have experienced a severe loss of brain cells because this happened to me not just once, but TWICE! Both times, after baste-ting continuously on a slippery ham (I wondered why all the marinade kept forming a pool under the ham), I was shocked to find a plastic ring around the ham (did you know that ham shrinks in the oven?!?) after baking it for the allotted time. 

Which is why I'm grateful we can buy Rotisserie chicken from Costco for our Thanksgiving poultry dish. 


Let me be one of the first on Thanksgiving Day (it's now 1:02am) to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

P.S.  Yay! I finished The Trophy Wives Club last night and have started reading the next book in the series Back to Life by Kristin Billerbeck (I'm grateful for authors like her who make me laugh!).

Psalm 100 is such an expression of praise to me...

^"4Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name!
    ⁵For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations."

10:17am PST THANKSGIVING MID MORNING...

I have to say this, because I don't say it often enough, but I'm grateful for...

• A husband who watches the Food Network channel and can duplicate what he sees on there!!!

Unlike me.  I watch the Food Network channel and quickly forgot what cooking technique Alton Brown teaches! Perhaps it's because I'm more into watching Cupcake Wars on occasion...

The digital camera...a blessing and curse

I just spent 15 minutes deleting pictures taken from our digital camera.  These were pictures of random objects (a chair, the carpet, etc.!), close-ups that were way TOO close (!), and pieces of people in frames...one word:  MICHAEL!

Our little photographer is fine if you give him specific instructions ("Michael, take a picture of us and make sure we're in the little box!" Click.  Perfect.); however, it's the other times when things get a little sketchy.  Here's the scenario:  We'll be at a function (school or church) talking and catching up with friends.  Michael will come, ask for the camera and while distracted, we will hand it to him.  Or, at home, he'll find a way to reach the camera...

In reality, I don't mind all the extra pictures (probably because we once deleted 127 pictures of the same dog when Krista, then 6 yrs old, was my "photographer" while house hunting in California) because they can easily be deleted from the camera.  Gone and forgotten with the click of a button.

You know, God is the ultimate deleter.  In 1 John 1:9, the Bible says "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 

Forgiveness is just a prayer away.





 

Disfunctional Functionality

This blog has nothing to do with the title.  I just thought the two words sounded funny together (especially when you try to say them together over and over really fast)!

Oh! And I should warn you that I blog the way I talk to my favorite sister (who happens to be my only sister, but that's besides the point) which means when translated in writing, here's what you'll get:

• Lots of run-on sentences (I go on and on and on when I'm talking to her)

• Lots of exclamation points (she brings out the undercover hyper-ness in me)

• The occasional (or not so occasional!) misuse of the English language (I get my words mixed-up, I make up words, etc. which probably stem from staying up too late!) 

• And some spelling errors (because obviously, I'm not using "spell check" when we're talking!)

Okay. Since my last entry, I finished reading City of Tranquil Light which will be reviewed in the December issue (first Fridays of every month) of my newsletter, Five Star Books & More by The Reading Mom (I know, I know, shameless plug, right?!?)  Had I not baked 1008 (okay, i have no idea what possessed me to make four different kinds of mini pumpkin muffins because after removing the third batch of muffins, it was feeling like I had made that many of them!!!) 108 mini pumpkin muffins on Thursday night, I would have finished the book a lot sooner!!! It was SO good.  Anyway, you've probably heard the old saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" well, for me, it's "30-minutes a day (at least!) keeps the crankies away!" In my pre-children stage of life, I was able to read 2-3 books a day.  Now that I have children, I'm lucky to get 2-3 books read in a week!

Yesterday, I felt like a total failure as a mother.  I'm talking "EPIC FAIL" (using my daughter's favorite phrase...Krista just pointed out that her favorite phrase is actually "pish posh!") here.  For anyone who mistakenly thinks I have it "all together," let me show you how incorrect that perception is...

In the past couple of years, I've been stressing to Krista the importance of excelling in school, in her skating and life, in general.  I found out recently, that inadvertently, the message communicated was that she needed to be perfect in EVERYTHING in order to measure up to our expectations.  Can you imagine the pressure she's felt?  I'm so upset with myself I wish I had three legs.  Two for walking around and the third one for kicking myself in the you-know-where (I read that somewhere long time ago and it so applies!)! To make a long story short, I already can see that God is redeeming the mistakes we've both made and the healing has begun.

The verses found in Lamentations 3:22-23 really speak to me.  "The Lord's lovingkindness indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."

Why I'm getting an "F" in Toilet Training 101

We were doing so well this morning.  I put Michael on the toilet and he used it properly! WooHoo!

Then he wanted to do "grammar" which essentially is him going on the other computer and spelling words like his name, love, God, etc.  And of course, you gotta love those "webdings" and "wingdings!" We were having so much fun (with me trying to sneak in some work on my computer while he was blissfully spelling his "sentences") that I forgot to check the clock.  And remind him it was bathroom time.  Three accidents later (yes, three changes of clothes which equals to NO more training underwear because now I'm out!), he was in the bathtub while I was wiping down the office chair, the floor, etc. 

After getting a big fat "F" (and it doesn't stand for "Fantastic" either) in Toilet Training 101 today, here's what I've learned...

Lesson #1:  Set the timer so bathroom time is incorporated every hour! Hello??? Three accidents?!?  What's up with that, brainiac?!?  You should have implemented the timer AFTER the first accident!
NOTE:  Oh, before you get highly insulted, italicized sentences are just me talking to myself aka self-talk!

Lesson #2:  Search harder for training underwear that comes in a pack of 100 instead of a pack of two!!! I have exactly six pairs of training underwear.  Brilliant.  And one pack is size 3 T which are currently too large on him.  Obviously, when it's been 10 years since you last toilet trained a child, you forget the importance of stocking up on those padded underwear! Which by the way, does diddly-squat when Niagra Falls is happening down south!!!

Lesson #3:  Consider paying somebody to toilet train a cute little 3.5 year old at THEIR house so your mess is minimal.

After Michael's bath, I got a diaper out and began putting it on him.  Of course he noticed! Here's how our conversation went...

Michael:  Mommy, don't I have to wear underwear?
Me:  Because mommy made a poor choice of not buying enough underwear and now we're out.
Michael:  YAY! No more underwear! I get to wear a diaper again! I love my diapers!

In Psalm 32:11 it goes, "Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart."

Michael's response goes perfectly with that verse, doesn't it?!?

Underwear Wars

Yes.  It's true.  Michael (my 3.5 year old) refuses to wear underwear and use the little toilet with the padded seat.  He has told me numerous times that he is going to wear diapers.  forever.  At this rate, he may end up being the poster child for "Depends!"

Today, I decided he needed to experience wearing his cute little underwear.  It took Krista and myself to wrestle a pair on him! He complained it was too big.  It wasn't.  He complained it was too tight.  It wasn't.  He complained it was too small.  They were 2 T's and he pointed out that he's 3 years old.  Sigh.  He won today but tomorrow's another day for toilet training 101.


Aren't we all like that sometimes?  God nudges us in a direction we may not be comfortable going in, so we argue with him.  We insist on staying in our comfort zone.  We've all been there, right?!?  And then when we finally follow His will, we experience an overflow of His blessings in ways we never imagined!

I'm thankful He's a God of patience and mercy.  And grace.  

This is my first time ever blogging and I can't believe that my first blog would begin about underwear! Goodness!

Today I started two books.  When I'm upstairs doing stuff, I'll try to sneak in some reading time with Lynn Austin's book, While We're Far Apart.  I'm on chapter 4 now.  While waiting for Krista to get out of school, I brought along my downstairs book, City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell.  It's fascinating to read about early China from a missionary's perspective.  In between chatting with Michael in the car ("please don't press that button again, ok?" or "look outside and tell me if you see a bee by that bush!"), I made it to the middle of chapter 5!


I won't get to read again until tomorrow, but that's okay because Krista is waiting for me to snuggle and talk in bed.  I love being a mother.