BEING DIFFICULT

HILARIOUS conversation in the car with Bennett this morning on the way to school, I just HAD to share.

Bennett: Mom, can we listen to The Backstreet Boys?

Mom: No, you guys have been pretty difficult this morning, so Mommy is going to listen to what she wants to listen and relax to this morning (I pop in my CD).

Bennett (thinks for a second then says): Mom, you're never difficult with me and Jasper.

Mom (a little surprised by that statement and glad he thinks so): Thanks, Bennett. I try not to be.

Bennett: But sometimes you're difficult with Daddy, and Daddy is sometimes difficult with you.

Mom (laughing inside): Yes, that's true. Sometimes we are "difficult" with each other. But even when we're difficult with each other, we always love each other, like you and Jasper.

Bennett (thinks for a minute again, then almost under his breath says): Yeah, me and Jasper are difficult with each other a lot.

Pretty sure the word "difficult" was being substituted for "fighting" in that particular conversation. Out of the mouths of babes. HA! Love that boy!

MY MELLOW FELLOW

I have prayed earnestly for the day I could write a post like this, and now it's here.

Bennett turned four in early December, and a couple of weeks after that, Michael and I began to notice some pretty big changes in our little buddy. His fit throwing diminished to almost nil, and whenever a tantrum began, a reminder of the consequences could almost always derail it. He suddenly became more interested in helping around the house, making Jasper happy, and became a lot better at cleaning up after himself (less complaining, more efficiency). And all of a sudden, after making a bad choice and doing something wrong, he more often than not began to return to the scene of the crime and say something to the effect of, "Hey, Mom? Remember when I __________ (names his offense)? I'm really, really sorry I did that. I won't do it again." In general, he has mellowed a bit, and his desire to obey and to live in harmony has returned (WaHOOOOO!), as well as now choosing to independently implement all of the training and hard work Michael and I have poured into him for the past four years. PRAISE THE LORD!!

Since he turned two, Bennett has been a tough nut to crack. He's a strong-willed, highly intelligent little booger who knows what he wants, how he wants it, and when he wants it. We love and treasure every part of Bennett's personality and the way God so perfectly knit him together, but there are some aspects of each child that are harder than others. The same things that will one day serve as a child's greatest strengths as an adult, can be their greatest weaknesses when they're not approached with the wisdom of God and good guidance (and these strengths/weaknesses can also lead to a few gray hairs - ha!). We have prayed a LOT over this little boy, many times not knowing what to do next except for the Lord's guidance, so it's fantastic to experience the smoothing out of a lot of the rough edges of toddlerhood that Michael and I have been working on for so long. I must say that diligence and consistency DOES pay off, because for the past two months, we have had a tamer, sweeter, more obedient, more thankful little boy on our hands.

I've heard it from several others, but there really does seem to be something special about turning four. I don't know exactly where all of these changes come from, but it seems to me that he finally decided to mentally shrug his shoulders and say to himself, "Yeah, I guess you guys have been right all along. The way you do things really is the best. I give up; you can be the boss after all."

Wherever his surrender has come from, we are praising the Lord and giving thanks to Him daily for letting us see the sweet, positive, wonderful sides our Bennett James has to offer. It's so nice to not feel discouraged, or doubting our roles as parents, wondering if we were making any kind of difference at all for those two long, hard years. Now we're seeing a pay-off, and things are running much more smoothly in our household (although somebody else is slowly but surely showing signs of creeping up into the Terrible Twos - eek!).

Thanks, my dear sweet first-born, for that two year glimpse of what having a teenager might begin to be like (oy vey!), and thanks even more for moving on to a new, slightly more relaxed stage of life! :) Regardless of whatever stage of life you are in, your daddy and I love you completely, and we praise God for the amazing plans He has in store for you and all He is shaping you to be!

LORD, COME QUICKLY

I've never understood people who go through horrific times in life and instead of turning toward God, they choose to turn away. I can't pretend I've ever been through such a devastating, heart-wrenching time myself, so I suppose some would say I have absolutely no room to speak, but grieving and mourning is such a spiritual thing.

A friend of mine has received some of the most terrible news of her life , and as I stood there at her side while she cried, having no words to say, no way to bring her the relief she sought, I thought how thankful I am that we both have the Lord. Because God is God, and that will always be enough.

My heart is so heavy - heavy beyond words - but my grief on her behalf does not begin to touch what she feels. This knowledge has made me thankful for prayer. I stayed up late into the night on prayer vigil last night - and I very well may do so again tonight - and know that my God hears my voice, and He sees her tears, and He feels our pain.

How different from the way the world thinks, to feel thankful in such a time. But when I serve a God who offers so much comfort, and I have the confidence of knowing He will hold and comfort my friend when I am unable to do so, how can I not be thankful? How can I not be glad to know that through the horribleness life throws at us, until He comes again, Christ will hold us close and absorb our pain and live every moment with us?

Lord, come quickly. Above all else, You are what we need.

SOUTHERN SNOW

(click to enlarge)

CHECK LIST

Okay, the snow days here are getting a little ridiculous. Michael's school already has Friday and Monday off, and he has been off since Tuesday because of the crazy weather here, so he's essentially getting an extra Spring Break a couple months early. Here in our little house, we're running out of ideas to keep us all sane and entertained. Here's all we've done so far:

*Jumped on an icy, snow-packed trampoline

*Clomped down the sidewalk on our street several times

*Fixed broken toys and books

*Set up a play doh and puzzles table

*Watched one of the ka-jillion Land Before Time movies about a dozen times

*Read LOTS of books

*Wrestled

*Baked cookies

*Built towers out of legos and our magnetic builders (lost count of how many)

*Made pancakes for dinner

*Made a giant jumping/wrestling pad on the living room floor

*Danced to fun, upbeat kid music by Go Fish (highly recommend)

*Cleaned both bathrooms (that was me)

*Three loads of laundry (just me again)

*Vacuumed, swept and mopped the house (Michael - WaHOOO!)

*Piled pillows, blankets and stuffed animals in Jasper's crib and let the boys wade through it all

*Took a short ride in the car to the main road by our house to see how icy it was (very)

*Taken long naps (Can't complain about this - both boys have slept 3+ hours the last two days!)

*Made plans to work out that have fallen through two days in a row

*Played hide and seek

*Worked a bit on my second book (have a bit over 50 pages so far)

*Actually washed my hair today

Holy Moly, I'm exhausted just thinking about it! I think tomorrow we're going to start working on re-caulking our bathrooms (joy), break out the coloring books, make some kick-butt omelets, and work on some Valentine cards. Trying to keep an upbeat, positive attitude for the family; snowy cold weather is fun when it's brief, but good gracious! I live in Texas for a reason, people!

FRIDAY FAVORITES ON WEDNESDAY

Because I have a few new favorites that I just HAVE to share, here they are on a Wednesday.

1) Red Velvet Cheesecake Blast from Sonic. Holy Cow. This thing is DEEE-licious! And of course they're only here through Valentine's Day. I've been squandering the Sonic gift cards Michael got from his students for Christmas, almost entirely on this delightful treat.

2) Our new Hoover vacuum cleaner. You know how you can get in a routine/rut and not realize you're making life a whole lot harder on yourself than it has to be? That's how it was for me with vacuuming with our old Dirt Devil (that finally died, thank goodness). This Hoover is the bomb. It actually picks up stuff the first time (imagine!), it's easier to cart around from room to room, it's light-weight, and it's MUCH quieter. Michael actually suggests we vacuum together as a family a couple times a week (HA!! How's THAT for miraculous?!)

3) Trampolines. Not all trampolines. Just ours. Because having one in our back yard now makes a world of difference for a tired mama with a boy (or two) who have limitless stores of energy and games waiting to be expended. It's a beautiful thing.

4) Beth Moore. This woman is amazing. Just started her bible study about David, titled A Heart Like His. Today was my first day to do the workbook, and as usual, she had me from hello. Anticipating a lot of stretching and growing. Very exciting.

5) My husband. I was exhausted yesterday, for several reasons, and just wanted some time to myself. So when Michael got home, he said, "Go do what you need to do. I'll take the boys." So I took off at 5:30pm and had a night to rest and recharge and do whatever I wanted, while he played in the floor with our kiddos and straightened up the house. Yeah, he did. Love him.

LITTLE TALKS

(while the boys are eating lunch and playing a lot more than they should be, but I don't feel like running interference)

Bennett: Jasper, why are you making that silly noise? Is it because you want to be just like me and because you love me?

Jasper: Yeah.

Bennett: I thought so.

(continue eating quietly while Mama wears a great big smile)

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(Jasper, headed to the back door with his jacket)

Bennett: Sorry, Jasper. Mom said we're not going outside right now.

Jasper: (hollers in protest) Jump! I want jump! (on the trampoline they got for Christmas)

Bennett: No, Jasper. Mom said it's too cold.

Jasper: Jump! Jump! (banging on the door)

Bennett: Do you just really want to go?

Jasper: Yeah.

Bennett: Mom, Jasper just really wants to go outside.

Mom: So sorry, it's too cold right now.

Bennett: Jasper, we can't go jump. It's too cold. Do you wanna come play cars with me instead?

Jasper: Yeah!

(and off they go)

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It's a sweet, miraculous time when your four-year-old can interpret for your almost two-year-old and essentially raise him for you. HA! LOVE IT!

(*side note* I am choosing for the moment to ignore/discount all other conversations they've had that end up in ridiculous antics such as fighting, crying, or screaming)

CLEANING HOUSE PART DUX

Go ahead, ask me. Ask me if since joining up with Clean Mama's "January Cleaning Month," I've washed ALL the baseboards in our entire house, washed all the window sills, washed ALL the window panes inside and out (the window panes have never been done...not in the SEVEN years we've lived here...EEK, I know. We're totally disgusting) ,dusted the corners and ceilings of the whole house, and have made plans to touch up the baseboards with paint, deep clean the fridge and freezer, and cut back our front yard trees in the next couple of weeks. Holy Moly, we're in the midst of a cleaning frenzy over here! Michael thinks I'm crazy, but is oh-so-thankful for the insanity.

The basic update here is that Clean Mama's stuff is still working really well for me. I still love the adjustments I made to the schedule (like alternating days on wiping down the bathroom counters and sweeping the floors, rather than doing both every day), but man, this lady knows her cleaning stuff.

I also have to tell you about my new cleaning best friend. It's the new Rubbermaid Reveal Spray mop. It's red and you can find it at Target. It has a removable, washable pad, and the cleaner bottle that attaches to the mop is filled with whatever you want to use, rather than buying chemically stuff that costs an arm and a leg. So I use my organic cleaner that's diluted with water, and save a ton of money, as well as stay more green (which I'm becoming more and more convicted about these days...thinking about getting away from paper towels for the most part, too...intimidating thought!). It sprays right out of the top of the mop pad when you press a lever in the handle, and it has a genius swivel head that makes maneuvering around furniture, behind toilets, under cabinets, etc., a breeze, which I LOVE.

Anyhow, there's the nuts and bolts of cleaning at our house these days. If the system ever crashes and burns, I'll let you know. For now, I'm feeling good, feeling good.

JESUS WORKS AT MY BANK

See, told ya. Gives me a brand new outlook on good stewardship.

BRINGING UP BOYS

Just ordered the book from Mardel's. Excited about reading it. Here are some pictures to go along with the theme of "Bringing Up Boys" (plus some extra cute froggie pajamas thrown in for good measure). Around our house, we love all things messy, silly and rough-and-tumble :).