Minivan Moments

Okay, so for seven years I have succeeded in Operation Allow Your Husband to Live . Now, we are about to embark on our eighth year, and I have to be honest with you.... God has a sense of humor. When we, in our infinite wisdom as young people, choose a mate based on our own ideas of what we think we like, God chuckles and lets us tie our own hands. Then a couple of years into the marriage, He is still chuckling as the very things we loved about our spouse are now Absolute Deal Breakers . Okay, that is perhaps a bit harsh, but still, you have to see the irony. So, pat yourself on the back if you have managed to get through even a few years of marriage. We are currently at the marital stage I'll call Roll Your Eyes and Shut Up , which seems to be full of small disagreements which we have both learned cannot be reasoned out, so someone eventually just rolls his eyes and the other has to shut up. Isn't this fun?? I think the next stage might be Throw The Good Dishes Until He...

Okay, so God probably doesn't whole-heartedly buy into the full version of attachment parenting when it causes families to neglect other areas of their lives, but in its pure form, attachment parenting is God's idea: to "train up a child in the way he should go" is, in essence, to respond to each child's individual needs. That is what we practice in our house, and have practiced with each of our three children. I firmly believe that my dedication to attachment parenting is what led to my discovery of Dania's sleeping problems. Think about it.... If I were a "normal" mother, I would have put my child in her own crib in another room from the first day of her life. I would have probably let her "cry herself to sleep" when she had difficulty sleeping. I might even have let her scream in the middle of the night with the assurance that she would learn to put herself back to sleep. However, because she sleeps in my bedroom, and because I did ...

I have begun to learn an unfortunate truth: The Middle Ages are not the period in time that our teachers stuffed our brains with, rather they are the years between becoming an adult and becoming empty-nesters. For those of you in your thirties and forties without children of your own, this will all be slightly above your ability to comprehend, but feel free to read it... Then go on about your business, but know that some people are dealing with The Middle Ages very differently than others. In The Middle Ages, you have smallish children. Children who are still quite in need of your daily attention and care. Children who inevitably require feeding, clothing, bathing, disciplining, teaching, the occasional trip to the doctor, an ow-ey washed and bandaged, a hug to make it better, and many more surprises in life. In The Middle Ages, you may also have aging parents or grandparents. In my family, we have a history of starting our families while we are quite young, so I grew up with all o...

I taught Dania a new phrase to calm her when it storms: "First it goes FLASH! Then it goes BOOM! Then it goes RAIN, RAIN! " (of course, this is said with Happy Enthusiasm !!)It helps tremendously, and she is too cute when she does the sounds herself. Ever since we were first introduced to the Panic-Stricken Puddin' that appears during a storm, we have learned that she becomes quite frantic when the thunder and lightning get really bad. The Mommy Sweater becomes a Mommy Necklace, specifically a CHOKER ! We even have to sleep this way sometimes. Since we live in Middle Tennessee, I foresee many of these days and nights in our future. Today was one of those days. Tonight might be one of those nights. By the way, there is absolutely nothing like a charcoal grill. GOD BLESS THE PERSON WHO INVENTED A WEBER!!! Tonight, we got a little smarter. Once we had the coals going, we grilled a bunch of stuff for later in the week. (we got this idea by combining my neighbor...

When I was a nanny to these adorable twin preschoolers in Florida, I was tickled every time one of them got dizzy. She would always say, "bizzy" instead of "dizzy." It was so cute!! Well, around here we have been really busy... and I have been bizzy as well. Monday, I had a very bad morning that culminated with a trip to the doctor. The doctor diagnosed me with an inner ear issue. It was making me incredibly dizzy, nauseous, and lightheaded, plus it was affecting my vision at random moments. He seemed to think it would take a few days of bed rest to get over it. Lucky for me, though, things calmed down later that day, but if I am not careful, I get woozy again. It has been a strange couple of days.... While it is nice to have the excuse to lay around and relax, it is also difficult to get the regular chores done that way. Every time I try, I get lightheaded and have to sit back down. We did have our garage sale, and we are finally free of all that stuff in ...

The kids are having a really difficult time understanding that it isn't officially summer yet. It is pool weather, we are sweltering in the sun, we are getting sunburns, school is out, but... it isn't summer. I think I am just going to lie next time Quin asks... "yes! It is finally summer! Isn't that great?!?!" We have a neighbor with a daughter really close to Dania's age (Shiloh is a few weeks older is all), and they love to play together. Well, Shiloh's mother is showing me up in a big way this year! If I was a keep-up-with-the-Jones' kinda mom, I would be waaaaaaay behind. :-) A few weeks ago, I put some sand in an under-the-bed plastic storage box for the kids to play with. Shiloh got an awesome sand and water table that I drooled over for 2 years. Yesterday, I put water in a larger plastic storage box, which Dania climbed into and used as a pool. Shiloh's mom brought out a beautiful, colorful, inflatable, shaded toddler pool today. ...

So, Dania had her follow-up visit with the Endocrinologist at Vanderbilt today. She looks great!! They always wait for the results of the labs to refill her prescription since the results determine the dosages, but they are very confident that Dania will be weaned from the meds between 2 and 3 years of age! YAY!! Not that taking the little peach pill bothers anyone, but we are sooooo grateful that God has decided to answer our prayers for healing!!! THANK YOU, ALL OF YOU PRAYER WARRIORS!!! Anyway, we had her blood drawn, which was a nightmare because of the other screaming children who completely stressed her out, but she was a trooper as usual. We then dashed over to the mall to reward the kids with some retail therapy, then home again to rest... well, for a little while. Then we went outside to play with water - that was fun. After which, the kids were blessed with the ICE CREAM TRUCK!!! The idiot Ice Cream Truck that drove through our neighborhood at 4:45pm. Yeah, so I get...

Now that we are no longer schlepping up to preschool three days a week, we have so much more time!! I really anticipated this post-preschool time, but even I hadn't realized how much time it was sucking from my schedule! During the past week, I have spent that bonus time on the house... well, the time that wasn't taken up with the many treks outside we are taking now that all the kids are out of school. I have been getting caught up on the things around the house that have been waiting for months to get done. The next step is Quin's Room!! We have to plan it out first, but we will be painting it soon, then once the bedding is done, his room will be finished! I can't wait!!! We will be having our garage sale this coming weekend, so that will get rid of half the mess in the garage, YAY! It is kind of a hassle to have a garage sale with three kids, but it has to happen. Hubby got his Dad's Day gift early since we caved at Lowe's yesterday and picked up the W...