More of the Same

Just more of the same has been going on around here. G is playing Lacrosse and both of the kids are in swimming. The whole swimming thing isn't really working out for C, and I am looking into some other options. The class is set up with 7 kids and 1 instructor. The instructor works with the kids one at a time, and while he is working with one, the others are supposed to calmly sit on the steps in the pool and wait. So for half an hour class, each kid gets about 5 minutes of one on one time and spends the rest of the class just sitting. I've heard that most of the swim classes around here are structured this way. This was not how they were done at the Y in OH! Either a parent was required to get in the water with the kids or they did things together. I've heard of private lessons (more expensive) or during the summer, individual teachers will set up 2 week intensives using teenagers to help corral the young kids.

We've had a lot of rain and my allergies are getting better, but I just want to sleep all the time. G is struggling too, and C has been a wild man. Yesterday, I had a friend over and when we went outside to say goodbye, C climbed on her car. Lovely....

I was folding laundry in the basement, and C was upstairs for a long time. I went upstairs to check on him, and he was cutting G's flash cards in half. I gave him a time out and went to get supplies to fix the cards. C tells me that at school when he knocks down someone else's blocks, then he has to help put them back up again. He thinks that instead of a time out, he should just have to help fix the flash cards. He did help me fix the cards, but he did get a time out too. How did he get so smart?

Too Long

I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted. My days have been filled with anxiety, migraines, & disciplining Caden. My kids have been talking so much that with the headache, I just have a really difficult time focusing on anything. The anxiety is lessening, and now I'm just dealing with the Bradford pear trees blooming. I think I need more sleep. Allergies always seems to cause me to require more sleep. I have been knitting, and when I get around to it, I hope to post some pictures. Anyway, I thought I would post the following questionnaire:

You're feeling: sleepy

To your left: an end table with a lamp and a stack of books

On your mind: what should I work on next or should I just rest

Last meal included: Hot Easy Now tea, Newman's Own Flakes 'N Strawberries cereal with soy milk

You sometimes find it hard to: find the joy in motherhood (yesterday was a particularly trying day)

The weather: a warm & sunny spring day :-)

Something you have a collection of: coins

A smell that cheers you up: cinnamon or chocolate

A smell that can ruin your mood: wiping poop off my children's behind

How long since you last shaved: a couple of days

The current state of your hair: ponytail

The largest item on your desk/workspace (not computer): the scanner or the printer

Your skill with chopsticks: beginner

Which section you head for first in a bookstore: Crafts or Magazines

Something you're craving: chocolate

Your general thoughts on the presidential race: irritating

How many times have you been hospitalized this year: none

Favorite place to go for a quiet moment: my bedroom

You've always secretly thought you'd be a good: librarian or bookstore owner

Something that freaks you out a little: door-to-door salesmen

Something you've eaten too much of lately: ice cream

You have never: broken a bone

You never want to: get cancer

Birth Experiences

N and I were just kind of wondering aloud as we were trying to fall asleep last night. We started talking about our children and their birth experiences. I am sure this is not the most scientific and hindsight is 20/20 of course, but how does birthing effect a child's personality. G's birth was fairly dramatic and she is predisposed to dramatics. C's birth was on the quick and easier spectrum of births and emotionally he is definitely easier going. On a gross side note, there was a lot of poop involved with C's birth, and he is one of the poopiest children known to mankind. My sister, B, was made horribly angry right before birth (The doctor actually pushed her back up the birth canal in order to unwrap the cord from around her neck.). She arrived in this world black and blue (She looked she had been in bar room brawl.). She screamed for at least an hour after birth, and I remember her childhood as being full of very loud protests although she does seem to have calmed down a great deal in the last few years.

So tell me what you think? What kind of impact do you think birth experiences have on a child's personality?

Weekend Trip

We just had a great weekend trip with the family. Our kids are getting to the age where we can take them places and we have fun all together. Late on Friday night, we drove to DC and we stayed in a great hotel. N got a great deal at a 5 star hotel. They gave the kids little backpacks with toys, a cup, and some candy. We took the cup to the bar the next afternoon, and they filled it with Shirley Temples. G didn't like it, but C sucked the cup dry and then pulled the lid off to eat the cherries. We drove to see baby X and brought lunch to the happy parents. Everyone is doing well. We had dinner at our favorite restaurant and went to bed early. Sunday morning we got up before dawn and took the metro to the Mall. N ran 10 miles in the Cherry Blossom Festival Race. He finished feeling better than he did when he ran the 7 miles (quarter marathon). He has learned so much about training in the past 3 months. It is exciting for me to watch him figure out this body challenge, especially when we feel so body challenged as we hit our mid 30's. We all arrived home tired and content. It was such a great weekend.

I've been reading Breaking Free by Beth Moore. I am learning so much, and it has been so good. It is interesting that the more progress I seem to make with the book and the more I feel closer to the Lord, the more I also battle thoughts of being a complete failure. I even picked a fight with N one night for really no reason. Once I talked to N about it (after the fight), and he wondered if it was a spiritual attack, the thoughts have not been nearly so difficult to manage. They've simply disappeared. I keep thinking thoughts that I know to be true. Keeping thoughts in line is just an on-going battle. Hence the title of this blog ...

Random Facts

I've lived in 4 states: Texas (15 years), North Carolina (6 years), Maryland (almost 2 years) & Ohio (13 years).

In Ohio, I've lived in the 3 of their bigger cities (Cincinnati, Columbus & Toledo).