Tiny Talk Tuesday

Tiny Talk Tuesday helps parents focus on one of the many joys of parenting - the funny things that our little ones (and sometimes big ones) have to say.

Join in the fun and record the Tiny Talk overheard in your house! Publish a post on your blog and link us to the laughs. Then be sure to link to the blog carnival on this post so more bloggers can join in the fun.

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.
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K (age 7): (praying at bedtime) ...and help the whole world be transformed by the renewing of their minds.

(Yes, we are memorizing Romans 12)
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The girls asked me at breakfast the other day, "What does sober judgment mean?"

(gotta love homeschooling: Vocabularly lesson....CHECK)
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T (age 5) says to her 5 month old brother, "Today is your special day, C, you are getting sprinkled."
(yep, our little guy was baptized this weekend)
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Eric dropped me off at the grocery store to run in for a few items. He had the kids in the car and drove a few laps. He was facing the wrong way when I came out and proceeded to drive another lap in order to turn the car around.

Eric: Oh look. We can leave mommy and just go home.
T: No! I don't want to leave mommy!
K: Don't worry, T. He wouldn't really leave his beautiful wife.
(now THAT she had to have heard somewhere...such a sweet guy)
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Your Turn:

Training Up Part II: Preparing Their Hearts

It was time to prepare our children for changes on the horizon. I began to talk to them about the importance of discipline in our home.

We read Ps. 127 together and talked about how God compares children to arrows. Together they acted like floppy arrows with no direction. We discussed how ineffective a floppy arrow is.

Then we made ourselves into "straight, sharp arrows" who were ready to fly! I shared with them that God gave mommy and daddy the job of sharpening their character so that they can fly straight!

I know some of the talk was "over their heads", but we wanted to lay the groundwork, introduce the biblical foundation, and begin to use terms our family can refer to, like floppy versus straight arrows.

The next morning I read sections of Hebrews 12, specifically focusing on verse 11, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

We discussed that discipline doesn't feel good and it isn't fun. God even tells us that in His Word! Yet there are rewards as we are disciplined: Righteousness and Peace! We talked about the fruit of discipline in our home being PEACE! We had a fun time describing what that would look like.

And now with the groundwork laid, the vocabulary introduced, and the foundation being in the Word of God, we were ready to begin introducing specific rules for our home.

Of course, first, Eric and I needed to decide what our rules were...

We began by looking at the Duggar Family Houseguidelines and Gregg Harris’ 21 Rules of the House. Both list encompassed many of the rules we desire to instill in our children, but the 21 Rules of this House used less verbiage to communicate the rules. We wanted the rules to be stated simply for our children, so we went the list from Gregg Harris.

The next task was the teach the rules to our children...

Training up our Children: Part I

I have been listening to this wonderful CD series that was recommended by Jennifer. I have a feeling it won’t be the last time I listen to all of the tapes. They have been encouraging as well as challenging.

The speaker has stirred in my heart a definite desire to be more purposeful about training my children in the Lord. I have been praying about and meditating on two specific verses:

Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he grows old, he will not depart from it."

Psalm 127:3-5, "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate."

Training my children is clearly an important task requiring time, energy, and commitment. Yet as you read, research, and talk to people you find a zillion and one ways to accomplish this task. So it was time for us to find the way God has in store for our family.

When we began discussing this task in a purposeful manner, Eric and I agreed that we haven’t had a real vision or plan for our family in the larger context. We have been simply “getting by” with strategies to deal with different situations as they arise.

So we sat down one night and began hashing out some thoughts. We want to sharpen the little arrows in our home so that they will fly straight and hit the center of the target in God’s plan for their lives!

A lot of various topics are part of this training but we are focusing on discipline right now. We have always disciplined our kids, but have never really laid out an overall vision for our family.

What is the goal of our discipline? What means can we use to achieve it? What are our rules and why aren’t they all written out? How can we encourage our kids to obey our authority? Do we want to do rewards? What are consequences for disobedience?

Clearly, there is a lot on my mind. I thought I would take some time to write out some of the ideas we are implementing in our home. Please know that we are working through these ideas and they aren’t perfect…because we are far from perfect.

But we are covering our plans with a lot of prayer and seeking God’s wisdom in this area. It’s been seven years since we had our first child and it is about time for us to really give this area over to God completely and trust Him to guide our plans. I am praying that He will instill in our minds a vision for our family, so that when we grow weary in the area of discipline, He will give us the strength to persist.

Proverbs 16:3, "Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed."

Currently....

If there is an end of the rope, I have reached it. And I hesitate to blog when I am there, but honest emotions are easier to capture in the moment, rather than later when you have regained your sanity.

It's not that I want to remember this time.

Yet, I do. Because someone else will be here one day and I want to say, "Oh yeah, I recall how that felt. You aren't alone!" But I'll forget how bad it really was if I don't record it. And maybe someone who is right there with me will say, "Hey. Me too!" and we can hang on together!

So here at sit at my wits end, taking time to type it out.

I have hit the wall. It's the one I hit at some point during the first year of every baby's life. The wall that leaves me banging and banging to make progress but realizing that so much of my life is just circular.

Wash the laundry. Fold the laundry. Put away the laundry. Repeat.
Feed the baby. Change the baby. Sleep the baby. Repeat.
Vacuum the floor. Wipe the floor. Clear the table. Load the dishes. Empty the dishes. Repeat.

Get up. Get showered. Feed children. Play with children. Hold off impending disasters. Solve sibling conflict. Clean up messes. Feed children. Repeat.

It's not that it is all bad. I love being a mom. I love everyone of these little people in my house.

But it is hard at times when you are sleep deprived, stuck in the house with a napping infant, and trying to accomplish something. Anything.

And most of what you accomplish is immediately undone. And much of what you want to accomplish remains as ideas in your head because there is no time to do it.

It just happened this week that life quickly piled up on me and I found myself in tears throughout the day. I KNOW I'll be OK. Afterall, I have been here before, even since the birth of my little C. I know this season will pass, but I have yet to reach the light at the end of this particular tunnel.

So what did I do?

I prayed. I just asked God to take all of the things "bugging me" off my mind and help me focus on my children. We sat and played play-doh, set up Geo Trax, and enjoyed some good books. It didn't make my frustrations go away, but God helped me refocus this week and make it through.

I cried. Because sometimes you just need to.

I hit the mall. Because that has always helped me! My little C (five months) sleeps so well at home that we rarely go out. I am a get out and go kind of gal, so that has really added to my difficulties with this season of life. I decided on Tuesday morning to pack up all four kids, hit the mall for a snack, enjoy the seasonal decorations, and then go say hi to Santa while no one was there. We had a great time and it was clear that the older three children needed out as much as their mommy.

I emailed a few friends and let them know what was going on. They prayed for me and sent me all kinds of wonderful words of encouragement and wisdom. God truly used these ladies in my life to strengthen me!

I took a mental health day, as per my husband's gracious instructions. And that is where I sit right now finishing this blog post. It is Friday at 4:05 PM and I am finally done my list of "have to do's" and am sitting here with a cinnamon chip scone doing what I want to do.

Heavenly.

So I am going to type a few blog posts for this neglected blog, read some more in my bible, and enjoy this strawberry smoothie.

Then I'll go home to my tired and wonderful husband to relax for the evening. And I have no doubt there will be four little ones there that I am so eager to see!

Twittering Groom's moment of fame...

will be on Fox and Friends on Friday AM and Saturday AM.

7:30 AM on Friday and 8:10 AM on Saturday!

Tune in and watch my "famous" brother and wife have their moment!

His 15 minutes of fame...

UPDATED AGAIN: Friday 7:30 AM on Fox and Friends; Sat 8:30 AM on Fox and Friends. Wishing my brother, his wife, and children a lovely time in New York enjoying this moment! What a way to kick off their union!

***UPDATE: They are flying my brother and his wife to NYC for the Today Show on FRIDAY, December 4th!!!

So my brother is a face.book nut. In fact, I found out he was engaged because he updated his face.book status and people began writing on his wall. I saw some of the comments and realized what had happened.

That's right. No group email. No phone call. Just a face.book update.

In an effort to make him laugh, I posted face.book photos during his wedding for him because I knew he would want it that way - live on Facebook.

But he had his own plans and is now getting his 15 minutes of fame for them.

That's right - you will see this video on the Today show tomorrow. It's already been on CNN, and Fox news. So check it out and if you know my brother then you know it is SO HIM.



And his first dance surprise if you are interested...it was cute! I thought it was a great and creative way to show the joining of two families!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Tiny Talk Tuesday helps parents focus on one of the many joys of parenting - the funny things that our little ones (and sometimes big ones) have to say.

Join in the fun and record the Tiny Talk overheard in your house! Publish a post on your blog and link us to the laughs. Then be sure to link to the blog carnival on this post so more bloggers can join in the fun.

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.
___________________________________________

K (age 7): How old do I look? (wants to look "older")
Mom: Ummm...about 7. (with a smile)
K: You look about...100! (said enthusiastically)
(not a compliment on this end, dear child)
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K (age 7) loved her science unit on rocks and minerals. She was gathering rocks in the yard and announced, "I am going to be a rockiologist!"
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K: I know why mommy has that car. (pointing at mommy's car) It says, "Maryland" on the back.
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T (age 5): Pass me a crouton.
(she meant a croissant)
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We were reading a book where the toys come to life after the store closes...

T: Do they really do that?
Mom: (smiling) I don't know. You'd have to stay up all night and find out.
K: T, I have stayed up all the way to 9:00 and they don't.
T: Maybe you have to be asleep.
Mom: Maybe that is the key.
T: My toys must talk really quietly!
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Your Turn: