Wordless Wednesday...

Mommy Forum: Help Needed...

Yes, I am back from "vacation"- quotes to be explained later when I have much more time and energy. Right now I am needing mommy help. The babies have decided they will not eat baby food anymore, just like that. I have been giving them some table food here and there, but let's be honest it's just easier to feed them baby food especially when I don't get around to cooking dinner until late if at all. I really think my brain has erased all memories from having two children previously because I cannot remember what I fed them. How sad is that? So, I'm asking you to please leave a comment and tell me what your kids' favorite finger foods were. Besides, I have got to do better this time around of raising healthier eaters than my little goldfish diva, so I need your original ideas! The best part is, if they feed themselves that will give me about the hour back that I use up feeding them 3 times! You have no idea how huge that is! I am really trying to restructure here because I have got to have more hours in my day. Stay tuned later in the week for when I ask for advice about bedtime, yikes!

PLEASE leave a comment with your finger food suggestions, that is if you can remember better than me!

Blog Perspective...

So, ballet rehearsal was a little stressful changing outfits, videoing and picture taking, but it sure beats this...

http://dodddailydoses.blogspot.com/2007/06/if-only-i-could-have-chocolate.html

Just a little perspective from reading my old blog entries. I'm overwhelmed by the things I have forgotten (or blocked out in some cases) that my blog reminds me of, so handy!

Beautiful Ballerina...

So, June at our house means recital time. We had rehearsal tonight, and let me tell you- there is more cuteness than you can imagine in that building! It was awesome, made more awesome by the fact that this was something else I wasn't allowed to do last year due to bedrest. I'm loving making up every milestone I missed last year.

So, since we were all dressed up for rehearsal my bestie Amy offered to take her picture (and also let Jackson stay at her house and play Star Wars rather than go to 2 hours of ballet which makes him a hero in his eyes!). Of course, she's my hero due to these pictures of my gorgeous ballerina...

My only problem is she looks so grown up in these pics! Wish me luck as tomorrow as I volunteered to be backstage with all the ballerinas while all those other mommies relax and watch, more of me trying to make up for missing out last year! Oh well, worth every penny for these pictures and the scrapbook pages they will inspire alone!

Wordless Wednesday...

A Little Late...

So, last Sunday was our 12th anniversary but obviously with my illness it wasn't very exciting. We swapped goofy monkey cards (http://daddydoddsdailydoses.blogspot.com/) but it wasn't that exciting. So, I thought I would post about our other anniversary- June 6th. I'm obviously a little late, But here goes anyway...

Jon and I met at band camp when I was a freshman and he was a sophmore in the great way back of 1989. He'll love me telling this, but the first time I remember seeing him he was in full on make-up. See, all rookies got auctioned off to upperclassmen to be their slaves for the week. A group of girls bought Jon for like 80 something dollars and tortured him. I think somewhere in my soul I knew to save that moment because I can clearly see that moment when we passed each other, and he gave me that mischievious look that his children now give me. The second time I remember him was a few days later when I got to practice early and was sitting on the field and felt things hitting me. Then I realized this boy I barely knew was shooting the heads off of weeds at me. When I turned around again the grin; I should've known!

I actually went on my first car date with Jon, except I was dating his best friend and he was with another girl! We became best friends almost immediately and remained that way. Most of my junior year and all of my senior year we really didn't date anyone else and were inseparable. I think everyone, especially our families, thought we were a couple, but we considered ourselves friends. I knew I wanted to be more than friends the first time I saw him in his pin striped baseball uniform (love those things), but Jon was so scared we would "mess up our friendship", whatever!

So, we come to June 6th the anniversary of our first kiss! After a fun night of fishing at the golf course, Jon finally gave in and quit worrying about messing things up and kissed me. Thus, we consider that our anniversary of when we became a couple. This picture was taken one week later on our way to the beach with my family: Three years later we were married and on our honeymoon in Jamaica. Twelve years later we sit in Spring Hill with 4 children, no time for each other but are as good of friends as ever and more in love than day 1!

Thank You Sunday School Teachers...

Last Sunday was promotion day at our church, but my kids obviously missed it since I was at home thinking I'd swallowed glass. So, tonight they were telling me all about it and were so excited. Ashton loved getting to go to the upstairs Basic Training and couldn't stop talking about Mr. Rick who gave them dolls he brought back from his mission trip where "he went to help those kids who didn't have bathrooms!" She fervently prayed for those kids in Guatemala or was it Nicaragua? She and Jackson had a huge debate over which one it was. I think the fact that we prayed for Mr. Brent when he went to both places on mission trips or to bring home his princessa kind of got them all confused!

I also love the prayer request "gossip" because she came home telling me that Mr. Ricky called her teacher and said he was in the hospital so she had to pray for him. I told her that I saw Mr. Ricky in Big Church because Jackson chased him down with his offering today (btw: his own money from his allowance, it sure means a lot more when they have to earn the money to give- at first they are a little reluctant but then are really proud when they get to church and put it in the bag!) because he couldn't get it out of his pocket before the bag went by. Still, she insisited we have to pray for Mr. Ricky and in fact I had to go back to her room because in the excitement of praying for bathrooms for the Guatemalan kids we forgot, and she yelled to remind me!

She also thought kindergarten Sunday School with Mrs. Heather was SO fun. They got to make banana pudding and make not one but 2 crafts! She couldn't believe how cool that was. Way to go Mrs. Heather. You won her love and affection at the craft table, well played.

Even Jackson said Sunday School was really fun. I know that doesn't make for an exciting post but any good adjective is high praise when coming from a 7 year old boy.

Will and Wesley even moved up to the crawler class. When I picked Will up (Wesley was asleep) I have never seen a child look more proud of himself over the fact that he was sitting in the "big" table with the chairs built right in eating Cheerios. He was shoveling those Cheerios in as fast as he could and just a-grinning. I almost never got his attention to even tell him I was there until I got down to his level. Of course, now when I think back on it he usually only smiles that big when he is up to something. Coupled with the fact that he wasn't making eye contact with any adults, I'm pretty sure he thought he was getting away with something!

This isn't to say they didn't love the classes they were in before. In fact, I have been amazed and humbled by all the people who give of their time and talents to demonstrate Christ's love to my children. I also know that there are several of you who read this blog who help behind the scenes too, and I truly appreciate what you do as well. I just wanted to share these cute "testimonies" from my kids and how much they love all of you. Mostly, I felt the need to take this chance to thank all of you and let you know that God truly will bless your service and these seeds you're planting are already growing to fruition in our home and will only spread. God bless!

*The validity of all these happenings were based on statements given by a 4 year old girl with a great imagination and may not have any basis in fact. This blog nor its typer make no gaurantees if there was any banana pudding or Guatemalan dolls or if in fact there is a sick Mr. Ricky in some hospital somewhere!

The Brat Whisperer...

Ok, get ready because I'm about to shock some of you. Now most of my dear friends here in "The Hill" won't be shocked by this, but maybe some of you with more sensitive sensibilities. Here goes: last night I spanked my daughter!!! Hard to imagine how this beautiful child could ever do anything to deserve such punishment, right? Well, let's just say that for the last week or so she's made me really prove how much I love her. Meaning if I didn't really love her as no one else could, she'd be on the curb! I'll just tell you that guilt has been the overriding emotion of my life. When I think of my childhood guilt is the first emotion I remember. I'm honestly getting better but still am extremely susceptible to it which is why I've developed the horrible habit of always apologizing (which some of you fuss at me for- Kyla, Angie and Jen :). If you need me to do something make me feel guilty about not doing it (if you need tips on this ask my mom or grandmother-just kidding! Now I feel guilty for writing that,seriously! SORRY!). This is kind of like my kryptonite, and my daughter has learned to use it masterfully. Now it's not, "Mommy please play with me." It's "You never play with me. You're always too busy with the babies." I lay awake at nights worrying that I've ruined her life already. I mean I knew she'd think it in a few years, but she's starting early!

Lately, she's been having full on fits and can just be unpleasant to be around at times. Last night was one of those times. Jackson and I had finished our supper so I took his hand, and we snuck off to his bedroom leaving Jon to deal with the fit she was throwing on the floor about eating her dinner. We snuggled up in his bed, and I let him read his science book to me. It was such sweet quiet time and in came Ashton (apparently Daddy didn't make her eat her food!). She started banging on his piano and singing into the microphone. I sweetly asked her to come snuggle with us but not to make so much noise. She took a baseball and threw it at me. OK, so it was a plastic one with holes all in it but still. I pretended not to see it and then she threw it again and hit me in the back of the head! Obviously, I couldn't ignore this.

So, to the bathroom we went. We had a long talk, a spanking, then hugs and kisses. I thought she had seen the light when 2 minutes later she was throwing another fit because she wouldn't put her pajamas on. This time I sent Daddy to deal expecting to hear another spanking. In a few short minutes they came down hand in hand with her dressed perfectly in her pajamas. She was sweet and smiling like an angel fresh from heaven. She came right up to me and apologized for everything she had done wrong the entire day. she went and fixed me a glass of water without being asked and asked if there was anything else she could for me.

Then came the part Jon won't let me live down. She said, "Daddy, you really taught me a lesson. You really taught me good manners. Mama didn't teach me anything. Cause Daddy you're so strong and smart. I'm never gonna touch your computer again because it's important. Mommy's isn't." Seriously- no sarcasm, said just as sincerely and sweetly as her little heart could speak. Jon is dying laughing- at me because I am sputtering and angry, no disgusted.

So, there you have it ladies and gentlemen- Jon Dodd, a.k.a. "The Brat Whisperer". He has told me what he said to her, and I don't think it is much different than what I did, but I guess I don't have his psychic connections with brats (that could be a good thing or really unflattering since he was drawn to me?).

Here's the good news for you: while the world waits for him to publish his how to handle brats guide- I'll rent him to you, CHEAP! The only problem is, it apparently doesn't have lasting effects as she came daringly close to a spanking again today, not to mention told me that the shirt I was wearing made me look like a clown. Nice...

And the Verdict Is In...

strep throat! Yeah me! Actually I'm feeling much better. Now you don't have to avoid me since I don't have mono! The second doctor visit was really upsetting. She told me I was really too old for mono. Was that called for? Why kick someone when they are already down? Then she told me they weren't sure if I had mono or strep throat so I got to choose what I wanted to be treated for. If I take antibiotics but have mono they can make me break out in a painful rash. But if I have strep throat and don't take the medicine then it won't get better. Great, thanks for letting me choose! I went with the antibiotics because I was so miserable I wanted anything. Then they called today to say I actually did have strep. Thank goodness I'm on the mend because that was the worst sore throat I've ever had. Enough whining, I just wanted to let everyone know they don't have to avoid me, for that reason anyway!

When Mommy's Sick...

Daddy may not survive! I have been REALLY sick since Saturday night. I've had a temp of 104 and my throat has NEVER been in so much pain. They are testing my blood to see if I have mono, so until they get the results they won't give me any medicine. I don't know if I can make it much longer! Anyway, enough whining!

Jackson had his last baseball game and got his trophy last night. I missed it! I'm having horrible bedrest flashbacks because last year on June 1st I had to miss his first All-Star game.

The worst part is yesterday was our 12 year anniversary. It was nothing like we had planned it to be. At least when Jon went to get me some throat spray he picked me up a card, sort of. He thought all the anniversary cards were too mushy so he got me a birthday card and marked out birthday and wrote anniversary. Of course, it had a picture of a chimpanzee on it (every girls' dream) because nothing is funnier to him that a monkey (there are some connections to be drawn there?).

Well, here's hoping our 13th anniversary is better- 13-uh oh!