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I don't mean to brag. Actually yes I do.

It's been awhile since my last post.  Did you miss me?  That's what I thought.  I figured that I will use this post to brag, recap, brag on my kiddos.  It's my blog and they're my kids so I'll brag away.  :)

I will start with K.  Aside from my last post he has had a really good month.  First he was Student of the week.  He got to make a poster all about... you guessed it!  K!

The best part about his poster is at the bottom and you can't see it on here.  The frame said If I had one wish I'd wish for... and K's answer - 1000 dogs.  He loves dogs!  He prays for a dog nearly every night.  

Next up is H.  That same week, H entered her science fair project in to the science fair.  She ended up winning Honorable Mention.  She was so proud as well she should be.  That is quite the accomplishment and she knew she did her best.  

Here she is with her science teacher who was proud of all her students and the great job they did.

In case you're wondering she did a mock up of a geothermal power plant.  Good Job H! 

The next day, T earned VIP in his class.  I missed it because I was sick.  My hubby managed to take a few pictures.  

Congratulations T!  

Now fast forward a little bit.  K has been working very hard to earn a smiley face every day.  Last week was his best week!  He got 5 smileys in a row!  After 3, his teacher said he had earned VIP of his class.  He had no clue and was so excited!  When his name was called, he stood up and looked around as if it couldn't possibly be but another K.  A huge smile broke out on his face as he realized it was him who won!!

Awarded to K for Improving on listening and following directions and for working hard to use all his CARES rules in the classroom.  

Way to go K!!!

The next day H won Student of the month.  She has been working very hard getting her assignments in on time and when she can't she's doing a good job explaining to the teacher why she wasn't able to.  This is the first quarter with no missing assignments too.  

Awarded to H for rededication to academic success and her new-found self advocation

Congratulations H!

Last but not least, there is M.  He insists he's our small baby.  He loves his cars and he can recognize the letters X, E, M, O, W, K, H, and Y.  There might be a couple more but that is awesome!  Good job M!  

Notice his little fohawk goin on.  He got a haircut and then woke up from a nap the next day.  His hair has a had spike down the middle since then.  

To celebrate all these wonderful accomplishment we had a pizza party.  We ordered the kids' favorite pizza and chowed down while chatting about the past month.  Wonderful family memories.  

A little lesson in self-control

It was a beautiful sunshiny day.  The windows are open, the air smells of spring time, the birds are singing... and then the phone rings.  It's the kids' school.  Turns out it's K's teacher.  K bit a classmate on the bottom, derriere, butt - however you want to say it - that is where K bit this kid.  Not sure how this transpired, only that these boys and a couple other kids were in the play kitchen during learning choice time and all of a sudden a kid is crying.  What in the world?!  Tell me. How. Do. You. discipline something like that?!  Seriously.  That's a tough one.

The Consequences at school were missing out on the rest of learning choice, sitting out of reading buddy time, a phone call home, and worst of all - a visit to the principal.  This is serious business.  My son hurt another child.  How do I impress upon him that what he did was wrong, and administer consequences that seem appropriate with the circumstances while teaching K a lesson in the process?

My hubby and I have learned that our sweet 5 year old son loves attention so he will do whatever to get attention.  If it's something negative that needs a consequence we have learned the best thing is to ignore him.  Not ignore the behavior.  No, we put a stop to the behavior - whatever it might be.  We ignore K.  What I mean by that is the consequence needs to give K the least amount of attention possible.  We decided that he needed to stay in his room for the duration of the night when he got home from school.  We also felt that it would be very important for K to write a letter to his classmate, his teacher, and his principal.  Since he's a beginning writer, this gave him practice with his letters, but it was also something he really didn't want to do.  K did learn that biting is not okay, and we only bite our food.  He learned that though "his brain told him to" it doesn't mean it's a good thing for him to do.  A little lesson in self-control.

Did we handle it well?  I think we did.  As a child, I was spanked for everything.  That was pretty much the consequence of choice for, well, everything.  So as a parent myself, I have very little to go on when it comes to discipline with the kids.  My hubby and I have learned that creativity goes a long way in discipline.  Discipline is not just consequences for disobedience- though kids learn that certain behaviors result in certain consequences.  It is also training, teaching, and molding our children.   Since I didn't know what to do right away, my mind jumped to what I knew.  Spankings.  No, I thought.  How does that fit in with what he did at school?  It doesn't.  In my opinion it will only teach him not to bite because he will get spanked.  No the lesson we want him to learn: Don't bite because it hurts others and hurting others is wrong.     Did he learn this lesson?  I think he did.  I know he felt bad for hurting his friend.  When we prayed at bedtime and asked Jesus to forgive him he was nervous.

Parenting is hard.  Each child is different and each situation that arises needs to be handled carefully, intentionally, and creatively while giving thought to the unique personality that makes up that child that God so beautifully and fearfully and wonderfully created.

The beauty of a child

We took advantage of the beautiful weather last Thursday and hung out outside with the kids - well, mostly M - while the others did their own thing.  K was busy playing army guys and H's mouth was really sore so she was resting.  T was with a friend, and M insisted on playing outside which was fine by me.  

He had a blast swinging like a big boy - his new favorite thing to do outside

Only Papa can push him though.

Then it was time for Papa to take a break.  M got lost in his own little world.

too precious to pass this moment by, I got down on the ground

and did my best to capture M lost in thought.

I wonder what he's thinking about.

Oh, he found me.  The moment hasn't passed quite yet.

"M, what are looking at down there?"

"meem" translation: McQueen

Time for M to take a break.  This boy is an apple juice addict!

Frame it Friday

This post is part of Loving this mom stuff's blog carnival called Frame It Friday.  

Today we had conferences with the kids' teachers.  They are all doing well.  We are very proud of all they have done so far this year.  The kids all have great teachers to which so awesome!  My favorite part about today's conferences was K's conference.  I missed his very first conference so I was really excited to visit with his teacher and hear all about how much she adores him and how well he's doing in school.  His teacher gave us some schoolwork to show his progress from the beginning of the year until now and she gave us some recent work from writer's workshop.

Here is one of K's writer's workshop pages.  Sorry it's sideways.  Can you guess what it says?

It says "Jack and Jill went up the hill."  In Kindergarten they focus on writing the sounds that they hear from each word rather than trying to spell the word correctly since that will come with time.  He did a pretty good job I'd say.

The Beautiful Letdown

This title sums up all that I've been feeling lately.  I was thinking about this post and what I could title it and the name Beautiful letdown came to mind.  I knew it was a song title and that I've heard the song before so I googled it.  (I heart google - I will google anything that comes to mind).

About three weeks ago, I spoke at my church's women's retreat and gave my testimony.
(I mentioned this before here) It was an awesome experience and very freeing.  I spoke of my journey of forgiveness and how God has been working in my life in that area.  I know that what I shared touched many, and I'm still surprised that so many women could really relate to what I had gone through and still am dealing with today.

Fast forward to today.  I went to Bible study like I do every Thursday morning.  I'm not a overly talkative person when it comes to input on the lessons but I'll read a verse or passage of scripture or give my thoughts every once in awhile.  Today I must've been extra quiet because our leader, Linda mentioned that I was extra quiet today.  I chalked it up to being tired, but the more I thought about it during the afternoon, it bothered me.  I began to realize that I wasn't really tired physically.  It's more an emotional blah feeling.  It's hard to explain.  I had an appointment with my therapist this afternoon so I was going to mention these feelings to her.

Sharon said that she could tell a difference in me from 2 weeks ago to today.  2 weeks ago, she said was radiant and glowing.  This week she could tell something was up - The beautiful letdown.  Sharon went on to explain that when go through an emotional task of giving your testimony ( or any public speaking) you kind of have this mountain top experience - sort of a high, so to speak.  For me it was the feeling of 'I did it!'.  It felt freeing.  The encouragement and support I received as well as the the 'thanks yous', and 'I can relate to your pain' were more than I ever expected.  Sharon went to explain that usually lasts about a week or so after and then... the beautiful let down.  You come down from the mountain top to normal but it leaves you feeling blah.  That's exactly how I feel!  I have no interest in talking or thinking about my parents.  I know there are things I need to do, but I'm not ready to face them yet.  In time, I will.  I know I can't ignore what I need to do or run away from it.  I need to talk with my mom and that will be one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.  I will do it.  Just not yet.  I'm feeling indifferent.  I haven't seen my mom for over a year and I don't even miss her.  How horrible is that?!  I know it's normal and it's not horrible at all.  I still love her but I'm not ready to go forward yet.  I maybe scared - wait.  I am scared.  I know the Lord is with me.  Joshua 1:9 says be strong and courageous.  Don't be discouraged, don't be afraid, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.  (Loosely quoted.  It's dark right now, I don't want to turn on the light to look in my Bible).

Some good advice that Sharon left me with was not to dismiss these feelings or brush them aside.  Sure being blah is no fun, but God can teach me and show me more of who He is through this.  I left her office feeling so refreshed and encouraged.  I am thankful God is with me wherever I go.  And I am thankful for this Beautiful Letdown.

It was a beautiful letdown
When I crashed and burned
When I found myself alone
Unknown and hurt
It was a beautiful letdown
The day I knew
That all the riches this world had to offer me
Would never do

In a world full of bitter pain
And bitter doubts
I was trying so hard to fit in
Fit in, until I found out

I don't belong here (I don't belong)
I don't belong here (I don't belong)
I will carry a cross and a song
Where I don't belong
I don't belong

It was a beautiful letdown
When You found me here
Yeah, for once in a rare blue moon
I see everything clear
I'll be a beautiful letdown
That's what I'll forever be
And though it may cost my soul
I'll sing for free

We're still chasing our tails
In the rising sun
In our dark water planet still spinning
In a direction no one wins
No one's won.

See, I don't belong here (I don't belong)
Well, I don't belong here, I don't belong
I will carry a cross
With a song where I don't belong
I don't belong
I don't belong here (I don't belong)
No, I don't belong here, I don't belong
I'm gonna set side
And set sail
For the kingdom come, kingdom come
Your kingdom come
Won't you let me down, yeah
Let my foolish pride forever let me down

Ah, Easy living, you're not much like the name
Easy dying, you look just about the same
Would you please take me off your list
Easy living please c'mon and let me down

We are a beautiful letdown
Painfully uncool
The church of the dropouts
The losers, the sinners, the failures, and the fools
What a beautiful letdown
Are we salt in the wound
Hey, let us sing one true tune

I don't belong here (I don't belong)
It feels like I don't belong here, yeah
It goes like I don't belong here
I don't belong (I don't belong)
Won't you let me down (I don't belong)
C'mon and let me down (I don't belong)
You always let me down (I don't belong)
So glad that I'm let down (I don't belong)
C'mon and let me down (I don't belong)
'Cause I don't belong here
Won't you let me down!

Lyrics by Switchfoot

Adventures in baseball

Ok so I braved it brought our two oldest boys to get baseball gear today.  The hubby is assistant coaching and my brother is head coaching the same team.  So today was evaluation day where the kids go and run through a series of stations like, pitching, hitting, fielding, running, etc.  The coaches watch and evaluate so that they have an idea of the talent and then kids go through a draft and get picked for the teams.  It's mostly very fair, I think.  Anyway, that's where my husband was this morning so he was unable to go gear shopping with the boys.

And what an adventure gear shopping was.  First T needed a protective cup.  Yeah, I have no idea what size or shape to get.  It's gibberish to me.  He had medium last year and that seemed to fit until I shrunk it he out grew it.  I soon realized that you don't dry the little undie thing that the cup fits into in the dryer.  So the store employee saw that I had no idea what I was doing and willingly helped me figure out that though they run a little smaller medium was still the size to go with based on weight.  I think we were successful, T said it's not tight anymore!

So after the all important protective cup, we needed to look for baseball socks and cleats.  We picked black socks since we don't know what his team colors are yet (though if his coach has anything to say about it, he will be on the Twins).

Onto cleats.  Oh my word cleat shopping is a job!  I thought I was doing everything right, and now that I think about it I was.  It just took a l o o o o n g time.  I measured his foot at a 2 (forgetting that he has wide feet) so I did what I see all little feet employees do, they measure a half size up for the shoe.  I asked for a 2 1/2 or 3.    Wrong sizes.  Two tight.  Tried on a 3 1/2.  Still too tight.  It dawns on me that T has wide feet and I just need to keep going up 1/2 sizes until I can find shoe that fits him comfortable without his foot flying out of it.  We found a 4.5  EEEEK!  They fit, we brought them home.  What attracted me to this particular shoe (remember I'm a girl) was that you could change the color of the swoosh.  It can be whatever color T wants to be depending on his mood, or team colors.  Right now the swoosh is orange since that's his favorite color.  *cleats are different than shoes, as I learned from the protective cup expert employee who helped me.  I had asked him "can you tell me where I can find shoes."  He politely responded, "shoes or cleats?"  "Cleats.", I confidently responded as if I knew all along what I was talking about.

Since we were cleat shopping for T, and K was along for the ride, I asked K if he wanted to get baseball shoes.  Nope was his reply.  He said, "I won't try on any baseball shoes"  So I bribed him with quench bubblegum.  He complied.  We found size 2 cleats for his feet and the swoosh is light blue right now.

As were trying different sizes of cleats this fight, arguement, discussion ensued over quench gum and just being bored with shopping in general.
K is holding the quench gum asking if he can please, please, please have a piece of gum.  I say, "no you need to wait until we pay for it."
T rips takes the package out of K's hand and says, "you need to share with me."  I say, "T let him hold it."  "Yeah, Timmy.  Let me have it back!"  Package is ripped out of Timmy's hands.  No wait the package is back in T's hands.  Volume level is getting louder.  "Leave the gum alone or neither of you will get it."  "Here K"  "thanks T!" (there was lots of sarcasm in that last statement.)  "You guys!"  "Stop pushing!"  "Both of you knock it off!"  (I was not yelling loudly, it was mostly a whispered growl)  "Please, let's just try on shoes"  "These hurt!"  These are two tight!"  "I don't like how these feel"  "Why aren't they orange?"  "Because you can make them any color you want" "Are we done yet?"  "Okay guys, let's go. We're done"  "I need to look for wristbands!"  "Okay, let's go find wristbands"

So we are done with gear shopping for now.  The boys have their shoes cleats, and T's fully protected.  Evaluations are done.  Soon practices, and games and practices, and games begin!