School Shots

Online geography with Seterra

Long vowel sounds match-up

Marble Mania Maze (Christmas gift from Grandpa and Grandma)

Reading time!

My Quidnunc

This one's for you Mrs. Olfert ;0)

quidnunc \KWID-nuhngk\, noun:

One who is curious to know everything that passes; one who knows or pretends to know all that is going on; a gossip; a busybody.

That describes my oldest (with the exception of being a gossip...we don't gossip over here in the FITPH household because we want to build up with our words and not tear people down) to a 't'! He always wants to be in the know about the going-ons in our house and with our friends! Drives me to irritation at times :)

But I love my quidnunc child :) It's like having an interactive planner...I never have to wonder what is on the agenda for the day!

Close Up

Miss Precious

Mr. Dramatic

Mr. Independent

PhoTOTgraphy

As I was uploading photos, I found these...
And I will mention that I was not the photographer.







Can you guess who was?

Crime and Punishment

Let me preface this post with this disclaimer:

I love my children. They are my most precious blessings. They infuse joy and wonder into the everydayness of my life.

They also drive me up the wall some days.

Today was one of those days.

It all began after I got out of the shower and was drying my hair. I discovered that the cap on my brand new mousse, that I had just bought yesterday, was cracked. That's odd I thought to myself. I don't remember it being that way when I bought it. Then another thought occurred to me. Someone had messed with it and broken it. There were only three suspects to choose from. The first person in my line up was Mr. Querido. After a short deliberation, I decided that he wouldn't have touched my yummy smelling hair stuff because he hadn't taken a shower that morning. This left two other household members. I rounded up the alleged perpetrators.

"Who touched my mousse?" I queried. In my head I was trying to imagine what they must have been thinking: "I don't see a moose? What is Mama talking about? What moose?"

I show them the evidence.

Looking directly into the older suspect's eyes I ask pointedly. "Did you do it?"

"No. I didn't"

I remember on a crime scene show that if they are lying, people tend to look up and off to the side. Carefully I watch his eyes. Up and over they roll. Gotcha!

Just to cover my bases, I question the younger one. He says the same thing, only his eyes keep looking directly into mine. Either he is really good at lying to my face, or he is telling the truth.

"I heard Brother in the bathroom playing with your stuff." Ah-ha! A witness. Mr. Independent is not a suspect any longer. He has an alibi. He was in bed!

I close in on Mr. Dramatic. "Did you touch my stuff?"

"No."

Question and response continues for another couple of rounds. Then I ask him the motive behind his deception and destruction.

"I don't know."

At this point I close the case. Time to figure out a punishment to fit the crime. I retire to the judge's quarters to ponder sentencing.

As the judge, ahem I mean as I, put on my make up I also discover that my new eyeliner isn't twisting up anymore. That's weird I think to myself, again. I wonder why it worked last night but not this morning?

The perp struck twice! He had taken my eyeliner and drawn on the underside of the bathroom cabinet.

In desperation and extreme exasperation the judge and jury calls in the big guns.

"Mom? What do I do?!?!"

My mother, sage woman that she is, listens patiently and then proceeds to point out that he might need more to occupy his time. She says that usually when kids get into things, they are a)finding a new creative outlet, b)not thinking through the consequences, c)expressing their God-given talents and skills, d)all of the above. I decided that D was the answer to this multiple choice conundrum. She challenged me to find a different artistic outlet for him. I thought that reams of paper, oodles of crayons, markers and pencils was enough. She said that perhaps he needs a different medium to work with.

I tell you people, having creative kids is hard work!

Oh, and she also said that he needs to pay me back. Which is a bit of a problem since he doesn't have an allowance. She said to make a math lesson out of it. Get a big piece of paper, hang it up where he can see it, write the total of the items damaged on the top. Then for every chore I dream up for him to do, subtract 5-cents.

I'm going to be waiting a while for my eyeliner replacement.

I calculated it out and it will take him 139 days to earn it all.

The funny thing is, when I handed him his sentence, he seemed kind of excited about it. Is punishment supposed to be fun?

Does anyone else out there have problems with your sweet darling lying multiple times to you? Even going so far as to blame his little sister (who can't even reach the countertop yet!)?

Sigh. Just another day in the life of a stay-at-home mom.

The Joy of Reading...

Miss Precious sits comfortably on her brothers' bed and holds a book between her pudgy little hands. Her big brothers enthusiastically encourage her to read to them.

She turns the page and babbles along happily...

Occasionally one of the boys takes over the "reading" of the story.

It makes my heart smile :)

The Writing is On the Wall...

Even when you think your kids don't get it or they aren't learning anything....remember, they ABSORB everything!

I found these on the walls of their bedroom today. I had nothing to do with it. They haven't copied down a scripture ever, until today...



(Mr. Dramatic penned this one, age 6)



(Mr. Independent scrawled this one out, age 4)

And this happened because I have that exact verse written on a piece of paper on the front door. They wanted a verse to adorn their bedroom wall.

Just in case you can't tell what verse it is by the writing...

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way."
Psalm 37:23

Recovering...

Sorry I haven't been posting as of late. My baby girl got really sick. She was in ER twice this week and had to have an IV to rehydrate her. She started off with the typical vomiting flu which morphed into a mouth/tongue/throat infection. It is painful and keeps her from eating or drinking very much. I am sooo grateful that I am still able to nurse her. So far it is the only thing that she consistently wants. They gave us a medicated mouthwash to help the sores heal faster. It is a viral infection, so there aren't any antibiotics she can take.

She isn't sleeping at night because of the pain :(

I am exhausted.

I'll post more later...

Dancing With My Daughter

Today she took her first steps...

When I told my mom, she said "She the last one you have to teach how to walk." No more little toddling toes hesitantly following my steps. This is the last time that she reached for me and couldn't quite make it. Three steps. The beginning of many she will make in her life. There is a part of me that rejoices in her progress and another part of my heart that wants to freeze this moment so that she never grows up.

Ah, but that is not the reason I have children. We raise our children so that they grow up mature, ready for what God has for them to do. This readiness is spelled out in the pedestrian activities of obedience each day. Nothing exceptional, yet so intentional. We are here to prepare them for His service. We are here to equip them to share His love with an love-starved world. We are here to help them become adults whose lives are dedicated to the Lord.

So I watch as she hesitates but then courageously steps forward again. She knows I will be there to catch her if she should fall. And I will be there to encourage her when she doesn't quite make it.

So as she takes these first steps, I find myself stepping back out of the way. And thus begins the beautiful dance of growing up. Filled with joy and expectation, I move in cadence with her.

HANKBF..Part Two

Continuing my post from Friday...

On Monday, Dr. Leman has you consider these four things:

1) Observe what is going on in your house. What areas in your relationship with your child(ren) really bother you?

In my notebook, I wrote:
When they talk back, whine or complain.
Having to tell or explain what I want them to do MULTIPLE times.
Tattle-taling on each other.

2) Think about how you'd like things to change.
Well, this could take a while as I am VERY sleep-deprived! I would like for them to respect me enough to do it the first time with no backtalk. They need to respect each other enough to not try to get each other into trouble on purpose!
Respect is going to be a big issue in our home, I can already tell. For one, I didn't grow up in a house where there was mutual respect between my mother and my father. So, I often don't know what respect looks like, which makes it hard to model! I am working on this one though.

3) Decide to take the bull by the horns.
You have to make the decision that enough is enough! Changing what you have always done is a LOT harder than it looks. This morning I have caught myself repeating my instructions on more than one occasion! But change is not impossible, just challenging! :)

4) Expect great things to happen.
I think that this will be the hardest one of all, because I have been known to expect the worst to happen. Creating a positive mindset has always been a struggle for me.

So what changes do I have to make?
I have to learn how to parent with respect, both for myself and my children. This means no repeating instructions, no yelling to get their attention, no threatening with discipline,; just consistent, calmly stated, reasonable requests.
I have to foster a positive attitude about this whole change. Phil 4:8!

Notes from the chapter:

Say it once, turn your back and don't look back!

If they don't obey, pay their sibling to do it. Up until this point, we have not had an allowance for our children. We just expected them to pick up and help out around the house because they live here too. However, they won't learn anything about money handling and wise stewardship if we don't give them the chance.

What does my attitude say? Behavior is learned and my children are modeling the behavior they have seen. Yikes! Sometimes as a parent we think that our children just seemingly pick up bad habits from thin air. Whereas, in reality, most likely they are picking them up from US!

Do I expect my kids to misbehave? When we go somewhere do I run down the list of "you can'ts and don't you dares"? This one is a lot harder to NOT do than it looks!

What is the reason my child is doing what they are doing?

How do I feel in this situation?

Is this situation between my child and me a mountain or a molehill? In other words, is it of moral, ethical or eternal value? More often than not, you find yourself saying "no" to all of the above.

Character is caught from those you grow up with. GULP! Parenting is scary when you put it in terms like that! But THANK YOU LORD, we have Someone Who can help us develop better character!

Let reality be the teacher.

Learn to respond rather than react. Response comes from love, reacting is flesh-based.

B doesn't happen until A is completed. The simplest yet most challenging formula for parenting success...

So there you have my notes and thoughts about chapter one. Come on back tomorrow for chapter two!

Have A New Kid By Friday!

(And you thought she always smiled!)

Tired of the tantrums, worn out from the battle of wills?

You too can have a new kid by Friday! No, we are not selling our children, although there are days I am tempted to put out a sign in the front lawn...

Seriously though, I am reading "Have A New Kid By Friday" by Dr. Kevin Leman. His straightforward, no-nonsense, humorous approach really appeals to me.

I will share a little bit of what I have learned so far without spoiling the whole Monday through Friday challenge.

How to Respect Your Children:

* Never do for them what they can and should do for themselves.
(So this means, let them make their own PB&J, clean up their own room and sort their own laundry! Now, this may mean that I will have to bite my tongue when it isn't done perfectly , but I need to realize that they are learning to be independent..of course, if I like the idea of them living at home for the rest of their life I could leave things as is and take the easy way out and do it all myself!)

*Don't repeat your instructions.
(Dr. Leman maintains that this says "You are too stupid to figure it out the first time I said it." to your child. I'll be wasting a lot less breath in the coming week!)

*Expect the best of them.
(He gave an example of taking the kids to the grocery store. What is the first thing you do? Tell them "Be quiet, sit down and don't grab anything off the shelves.", right? So we are EXPECTING them to misbehave, and children will always live up to your expectations.)

*Don't praise them.
(WHAT?!?!?! I'll have to admit that was my first reaction. But he goes on to explain that praise links a child's self-worth to what he does. So when I praise my child, they get the message that "I'm only worth something if I can do this or that well." That was the message that was conveyed loud and clear by my dad when I was growing up. Small wonder why that is something I struggle with today!)

*Encourage them.
(Dr. Leman states that encouragement emphasizes the act and not the person. So when we tell them they did a good job on cleaning the room and that they should be proud to be so responsible, we are placing emphasis on the behavior rather than reinforcing that your value is wrapped up in what you do.)

The main thing that I have absorbed as I have read this book, is that if I want to see change in my children, I must effect change in myself first! Oh, there is going to be a lot of change going on in the FITPH household in the coming weeks!

On Monday I am going to outline what he says to do that first day. Then I let you in on my private thoughts as I read that chapter. Come on back, it will be good!

Oh, and borrow this book from the library...you won't be sorry!

New Birth!

Tonight Mr. Dramatic made the momentous and life-changing decision to ask Jesus into his heart! It came with little fanfare, just taking advantage of the opportunity that God placed within my reach. I made sure that he was serious about it and understood what he was doing. When I quizzed him, "What is sin?" He answered "Disobeyin'."

Yep, he gets it :) It is nice to know that all the times I have said that to them really sank into their hearts.

I cannot remember if I noted it on my blog that Mr. Independent accepted Jesus on September 22nd of this year. Again, just grasping the moment when it was presented. And I made certain that he understood what he was doing too.

My goal this year was to see both of my sons get saved. I have been praying and believing for them to come to the knowledge of their need for a Savior. Now I can just build upon their salvation and bring them to know this God Who loves them infinitely.

God is faithful to finish the work that He has begun!


3 John 1:4
"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."

Being Molded...

This week we had a caution flag waved frantically in our face. Our six year old, Mr. Dramatic took some candy and batteries from a store while he, Daddy and brother were purchasing milk. Fortunately the shoplifting was discovered right outside the doors of the store and all items were returned, but it made us wonder why he would do that!

I talked with my sage mother, Mrs. Sparks, who proffered the suggestion that perhaps we were saying "no" to his requests too often and he felt that was the only solution to get something that he wanted.

Now, by no means does that excuse his behavior and actions, but I started to think about that and replayed all the times I had said no to a request in the past week. Let's just say I couldn't remember many times when I had said yes.

I talked with Mr. Querido about it and he agreed that we needed to say yes more. To find ways of blessing our children rather than withholding simple treats. No, they do not need a treat every time they go to a store. But a something special every now and then lets them know that we think they are special too!

If God, the perfect Father, chooses to bestow blessings on us, imperfect children that we are, shouldn't we follow the example?

Our discussion hit profound depths of all aspects of our relationship with each other as well as the kids. We discovered areas that we are lacking and places where improvement is needed. So that we didn't lose sight of the goals we had set and the standards that were raised, we wrote them down!

Here is what we came up with:

I will be a good example of order and organization to my children (this one is mine to work on!)

I purpose not to be a perfectionist toward their performance of a task, but rather I will focus on their progress and celebrate each step. (this one is Mr. Querido's)

I purpose to shape my children rather than shoving them into a perfect mold (this one is both of ours)

I purpose to value them highly as God's great reward to me, rather than viewing them as interruptions and inconveniences (ouch...this one is both ours as well)

I purpose to be an excellent, not perfect but striving toward perfection in Him, reflection of Christ's character toward my children (again, a joint effort)

I purpose to cultivate a heart of willing obedience rather than compliant behavior in my children (another one we are working on together)

I purpose not to be lazy in my parenting (yep, both of us working on this one)

I purpose to parent them with love and respect (teamwork again!)

We talked about a lot of things tonight. And the best part is we really communicated, rather than just heating up the air. We heard each other's heart in the matter and we also purposed some things to each other as well.

I wanted to put down some more thoughts about some of the goals we set, but it is late and we are up early for church tomorrow. So perhaps on Monday I will delve deeper into our parental commitment.

Defining Beauty...

Today we are learning about beauty. I took the kids outside and took some candid shots.

After coming back in, Miss Precious was a bit unhappy and so her big brother, Mr. Independent, gave her a hug.

"Mama, is a hug beauty?" he queried.

"Yes, honey. Loving another person is beauty."

Today, beauty was redefined for me...





















Ok, we are all squinting because it has started to rain during our little photo shoot...

















Can you hear beauty?
Listen as it gurgles in a baby’s giggle.
Can you see beauty?
Over there, caught in a joyous grin!
Can you feel beauty?
Snuggle into the warmth of a hug.
Can you touch beauty?
Marvel at the softness of a little hand in yours.
Can you taste beauty?
Encased in a kiss so sweet and tender.

True beauty is discovered in loving another person.

©J. N. Gallegos 2008

Week Two: Letter 'B'

First of all I must mention that today is my son's birthday! My firstborn is six today....wow, time sure flies by! I remember bringing him home from the hospital and having a minor panic attack as I realized that I had no idea how to care for a baby! But God is good and my baby was a smiley, inquisitive and so sweet one :)
He has grown up so much. He is still smiley, inquisitive and sweet though. The first one to steal my heart...

I love you Mr. Dramatic! Happy Sixth Birthday!


So in honor of this birthday, we are going to Burger King for lunch AND we are going to meet Daddy at work so he can celebrate the birthday lunch with us. The kids are really excited :)

Oh and did anyone notice how b-irthday begins with 'b'? Perfect object lesson...lol! We will probably stop by the pet store to look at the animals, that was one of his requests as well. No, we will not be b-uying anything, we just go to look. After the pet store, we will probably stop by the library to pick up some b-ooks. I am going to try to find some with a focus on 'b'.

It will be a fun-filled day today!

It has only been three days????

Ok, I knew that teaching my boys at home was going to be a lot of work. I expected it to be a lot of work. I also expected it to be a lot of fun for me and them. Which it has been on both accounts!

Can I just say that I am exhausted and it has only been three days... (we took yesterday off to celebrate Daddy's citizenship!)

Lord help me! How am I going to survive a whole week??

We had fun in science today (my absolutely most favorite subject!) by creating water vapor...the kids were enthralled! I love it! They will remember what clouds are made of for a very long time :)

We also watched an educational video about weather today. Did you know that weathervanes started having a rooster on them when the Pope decreed that all churches weathervanes had to have a cockerel atop to remind the followers of Paul's denial of Christ? Also, I learned that the sun's energy heats up the troposphere thus creating our weather! Like I said, I LOVE SCIENCE!!!
There were some super video of lightning storms on the video too. Beautiful!

So today has gone well and now I put the pupils down for a nap... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (and maybe the teacher too...lol!)

Cherries Jubilee...a new take :)

My jubilant cherry-frocked almost one year old...

Grandpa and Grandma got her the dress...isn't it adorable on her? I wanted it so badly when I saw it in the store, but it wasn't in the budget at the time. God is so good...He put it on my mom's heart to buy it (and I didn't even tell her about it!) for her granddaughter's birthday. The Lord thinks about the little things too!

And not only does He provide for our needs, but He blesses us with items we want too :)

As you can see from the photo, she REALLY liked the dress!

Standing!

Just captured her first pulling up moment! I was typing and the boys yelled "Look Mom, she's standing by herself!" She is growing up so fast :)

Parenting is NOT for the Faint-Hearted!

Excuse me while I go start my defibrillator...

Tonight I took Miss Precious grocery shopping with me. When we got home, Daddy picked her up and put her on the living room floor. All of a sudden I hear gagging noises emanating from that room as I put away groceries. I rush over and do a quick throat swipe and catch a small piece of clear plastic sticker. Whew..Heimlich Maneuver avoided!

I finish putting away all the groceries and start cooking up my husband's meal for lunch tomorrow. She acts hungry so I feed her. She gags again. And again. Each successive gag is more powerful than the first. I do a throat swipe again and come up with nothing. I pray over her. Another throat swipe...still nothing. She continues to gag. Fortunately, thank God, she can breathe well enough to cry with lusty lungs. I still cannot figure out what is wrong. I go wake up my sleeping hubby and ask him to pray over her, because I think she is gagging on snot. He prays, she keeps gagging. I decide to have him hold her facing the floor in the bathroom (lots of light) and I am going to swab her throat with a Q-Tip.

Let's just step away from all the drama to realize how difficult it is to get an eleven month old baby to cooperate with a throat swab...near impossible. She clamped down on it like a pit bull! I had to p-r-y open her jaws. Ok, back to the drama...

As I do another throat swab (what is this, throat swab #5?)she is face down in her Daddy's loving but so exhausted arms. She screams and then I see it! Stuck to the roof of her mouth is the other half of the CLEAR plastic sticker she had choked on earlier! Thank You LORD...and thank God it had black bold writing on it..otherwise I would have never seen it.

I swiped it out and calmed her down. No more gagging! Just even, peaceful breathing. She fell asleep within minutes.

God watches over our little ones. I shudder to think about if that piece had worked its way down...it was probably big enough to obstruct her airway. He protects us from unknown dangers.

Oh, and just as a side note, I vacuumed my whole living room earlier today. I truly don't know how a piece of clear plastic sticker ended up in my living room within reach of my very inquisitive baby girl. I can only figure that someone brought it in with their shoes. At any rate, God is faithful to reveal that which is hidden...even if it is hidden down my daughter's throat!

Silly Kids...