What day is today???

Okay, I haven't told any stories on Natalie for awhile, so here is a good one!

Today is Monday. The children really look forward to Monday evenings, because they attend Royal Rangers and M-Pact Girls at church on that night each week. (For anyone not familiar with the groups, it is a faith-based alternative to Scouts).

This afternoon, as I watched from the kitchen window, I witnessed a terrible and frightening display of temper from my dear 5 year old daughter. I saw her grab her 4 year old brother by the shirt, pull him closer to herself, and then reach out with two arms extended and shove him to the ground as hard as she could! He hit so hard, his head bounced, and I went flying out the door as fast as my 35 week preggo body could go! (I was soooo relieved they were not standing on the cement patio when she had this outburst!).

I sent her to my room. I was so angry with her, I couldn't even deal with it for a long time! I finally went in and told her to turn off the light and lay on my bed for a nap, until I decided how to handle it. I did tell her that at least part of her discipline would be to miss M-Pact Girls tonight----this caused a whole new outbreak of tears and pleadings!

I really think she thought I would change my mind, but I did not. I bathed her and put her jammies on her before dinner, so she AND the boys would all know I meant business. At dinner, after the boys had left the table, Natalie was still finishing up, and commented about having to miss her class. My mom and Larry were eating with us, and my mom asked her if she remembered why she couldn't go.

Natalie hung her head. "Because I threw Jason down on the ground when we were outside!"

I said, "Natalie, what you did could have seriously hurt your brother! I bet you won't do that again, will you?"
Natalie nodded her head emphatically and said loudly, "Not on Mondays!"

WHERE am I going wrong???? :)

The World As Jason Sees It!

Well, Jason (4) has really come out with some humdingers lately! I could probably keep a whole blog busy with just Jason-stories.

About 2 weeks ago, I realized that Jason really does Get It when I talk about good/evil, and how sometimes we do things even though we know it's wrong, because we are human and often make wrong choices. I try to explain to the children that because of Christ's work on the cross, we CAN overcome sinful desires, because Jesus lives in us!

One afternoon, Jason lied to me---for the first time! I was so shocked, and I knew he was lying, but I wanted him to tell me. I asked again, and again he lied when he answered, with a silly grin on his face. Then suddenly, his face changed to a look of sorrow and repentance, and he said, "Mommy, I yied!" (he can't say his 'Ls' yet, they always sound like 'y').

I said, "J, I am so disappointed! Why did you need to lie to Mommy?" We discussed it and dealt with it appropriately, and then, fully expecting an apology, I said, "Jason, do you want to tell Mommy what is in your heart?". I waited for his little voice to say, "I'm sorry!".

He looked up at me with big tears and very seriously said, "HELL is in my heart!".

This was one of the few times in my career as a Mommy that I had to LEAVE THE ROOM because I was trying so hard not to LAUGH!!!! :)

That same evening, when we were ready to pray the blessing over our dinner, the children were debating WHO should say the prayer---since Daddy wasn't home that evening. Rachael (2) said, "Me! Me!" so I agreed that she could pray. We all waited for her baby-talk prayer, which nobody understood, and then Matthew patiently tried to coach her to repeat a prayer. Jason was apparently very hungry, because he blurted out, "Rachael, just say 'oh Dear Jesus can I PLEASE just eat?'!!". Again, we were all cracking up!

This morning, while getting ready for church, Jason looked down at his legs, which are suddenly covered in blond peach fuzz. He looked happily surprised, and said, "Mommy! Look! My legs are growing daddy-skin!". He is sooooo darned cute!

I am a little TIRED! haha

It is 9am on Sunday morning.
My hubby is working out of town right now.
Since 6:55 this morning, I have:
Showered myself (yay!).
Encouraged 2 reluctant 10 yr olds into the shower.
Bathed, blow-dried, and dressed 3 preschoolers.
Made oatmeal for 6 people.
Made egg salad, and then made 12 sandwiches (egg salad, pimento cheese, and PBJ) to take to the nursing home immediately after church so we can have lunch with Gramma.
Cleaned up the kitchen!
How can it be that we are not going to be late for church??? :)
What has happened here this morning??

I have learned in the past month of my New Big Van Ownership that I MUST arrive at church at least 20 min early, or I cannot find a parking place from which I can then back out of AFTER church! haha Those big ol' 15 passenger vans are NOT that easy to maneuver, especially when one's church parking lot is full of TREES, ha!

I am tired.
It is 9:05.
YIKES! I knew this was too easy---I guess *I* better get dressed; they might not appreciate the 8 months pregnant woman in the sanctuary in her bathrobe! :)
heehee.

WHAT? No posts since JULY??!!!

Good grief, what kind of a blogger am I, anyway???? I realized today that I couldn't even remember myself what my last post was about, and so I came to my own dear forsaken blog to find out....only to then realize that I have not posted since JULY!!!!!!!

WHERE does the time go, exactly???
I haven't posted since BEFORE our trip to Colorado, before we started our new homeschool year, before Jason's 4th birthday, before my dad's cancer surgery, before Rachael's 2nd birthday, before my dear, dear friends the Duncans in OH tragically lost their oldest child to a drunk driver, before my hubby had the shingles.......I have a lot of catching up to do!---but at least you can see why I haven't been on this computer much recently.....

Please stay tuned for blog updates THIS WEEK! I have a lot to say! :) (SOME things never change!).

"Voice" recognition??? haha

I have a very dear friend, since college, who is hard of hearing. Her name is Patti, and we have kept up with each other regularly in the (gulp!!) TWENTY years we have known each other; 17 years of communication past graduation. Quite an accomplishment!

Patti knows and loves each of my children, and they also love and admire her in return. Currently residing in Colorado, we are all excited that we will get to see her next week on our Big Adventure Out West!

I was talking on the phone to Patti a few nights ago, and Matthew entered the room. Always inquisitive (read: nosy!), Matthew asked, "Who are you talking to, Mom?". He then paused, and said, "Oh, never mind! I know it's Aunt Patti---you are yelling!!".

HAHAHAHA! I shared this story with Patti and she got a big kick out of it! ;)
See you soon, Patti dear! Three days until we are Colorado-bound, woo hoo!

I am such a TECHNODOLT!

Okay, so I tried to update the family picture on my blog, and as you can SEE to your left, I have no idea what I'm doing!! Is there anyone out there amongst my cyber-savvy friends who can help me figure out HOW to configure the photo to fit in that space? My last one looked great! I am sooooo sorry I deleted it, HA! (rolling eyes) Thanks for bearing with me as I figure all this out!

Sibling rivalry, in utero! haha

The children all love it when they can finally start feeling our new baby kick within me. I have been feeling it for a long time, of course, but it's only been in the past few weeks that "outsiders" (outside of my body, haha!) can feel it.

Jason (3) was standing in front of my chair talking to me a few days ago, and I felt the baby moving around. I said, "Jason, put your hand right here! do you feel that?" He said, "yes!". I said, "Do you feel that, too?" and again he said, "Yes!" and then he asked, "What is that, mommy?". With a big excited smile, I anwered, "It's our new baby kicking you!".

Jason said, "Oh." He hesitated a moment, and then asked "Mommy, WHY does our new baby want to kick me??!".

There is just no end to the amusement around here! :)