Smorgasboard

In order to keep my blogreaders up to date on some of my favorite topics here, I thought I would combine them into one post!

Gentle Mother's Support Club: While some days it's easier to be gentle than others, yesterday I threw an all-out mommy tantrum when I discovered that Jeremiah had peed what seemed like gallons all over my bed, my down comforter, my sheets, my mattress pad, two huge spots on our mattress, his security blanket, his clothes, my pillow, and Justus' baby blankets. How he managed to soak everything, I have no idea but it was a LOT of work to take care of and I will never put him in a generic diaper again for naptime on my bed!!! Especially since my little guy is a drinker and can down a few large sippy cups in a meal. Sometimes when I blow it I wonder if I will ever change, ever be gentle, and ever be able to handle these frustrating things without going nuts. I wonder, how come after so many years of being a Christian I am still wrestling with my flesh so much, especially in this area? But then God reminded me that repentance is what a Christian is all about. I may sometimes be tempted to holler or blame when I'm upset but I am always convicted to repent to my kids and make things right with them and to seek God's forgiveness. And I do see God at work, changing me so that the episodes of failure are a lot less than they would be if I didn't have the Holy Spirit working in my life. It's scary to imagine what non-Christian parents might be doing to their kids.

Investing in Alathia: I haven't gone on a date with Ali in a while but we do try to read through her "A Little Girl After God's Own Heart" book often and we do little projects together when we can. She loves preschool and it's always fun to see what she's learning and to piggyback off of the learning she does there and re-inforce that. She remains a challenge but I do see her growing up and it's wonderful to hear good things about her from her teacher. I am trying to incorporate her in helping with more and more chores and in the area of becoming more independant.

Making my Home a Haven Monday:
Yesterday was amazing since I was able to get so much done in cleaning the kitchen and catching up on dishes. It had seemed like they would never get done due to Justus' fussyness for the last several days. He was such a good boy yesterday morning that I accomplished more in my kitchen in a couple of hours than I had been able to accomplish in at least a week or two! I was so excited to even have the opportunity to do dishes, how weird is that? When you are "chained to a baby" like a prisoner, dishes are nearly impossible to do. When he is old enough to ride on my back in the Ergo I will be able to do dishes easily!

PETS for Kids: (My blog version of a prayer group for our children: Petitions for Kids) My encouragement for the week is to share this simple idea of what our family does to pray for our kids:
King Jo and I have made it a habit to pray for the family members on the day of the week they were born. So, Jer on Wed, Myself on Thurs, Alathia on Friday, Justus on Sat. and King Jo on Sun. I guess this means we need two more kids, one born on Mon and one born on Tues! This focused prayer has been awesome because rather than just praying routine or quick prayers for our kids each evening, we are focusing on all the areas of one person's life and seeking to really cover them in prayer on their day. It doesn't take long and is a great way to bless your family members and grow closer to your spouse. Sometimes we pray after the kids are in bed, but sometimes we pray with the kids for the person of the day. Ali now asks, "Who's special day is it today?" I think she really loves getting prayed for and soaks it up! I know I do when it's my day to be prayed for!

Neighbor Update: What a shocker we have had this week as all of a sudden 2 neighbors just up and moved out of the blue! I guess we're not the only ones who don't like the rent increases! My hippie neighbor from next-door found something cheaper and the family on the other side of us, whom we didn't see much and whom never wanted to talk with us, decided to move too. It will be interesting to see who moves in! Jorge and Lupe have just a couple more weeks here and things with them have been going very good. I have accomplished most of the things on my list of 30 ways to bless their last 30 days, including getting their photo book with Bible verses done, taking them goodies, chatting with them, telling the girls the Wordless Book several times, etc. We will miss them but it will be so much quieter here when they are gone, unless someone else with wild kids moves in!

Personal updates: Justus had a really hard time in the last week ( I think it was some spaghetti sauce and spicier food I was eating) and I have had a lot less sleep than what he was letting me get before. He seems to be back to feeling good again in the last couple of days and I have decided that as much as I love spaghetti it's just not worth it to eat it right now! Pray for my neck as it doesn't seem to be doing good even though I've gone to the chiropractor a lot and do exercises for it several times a day. I am not sure what to do since I can't afford to just keep going to the chiro and yet not see lasting results. Pray for me if you think of it. In our financial news, we haven't had anyone taking out credit cards in our names and we are so thankful that they didn't get any of our money, even though they tried. Guard yourself against identity theft as it is so prevalent today!