My boy.



Ethan, age 2.



For those that don't know, I have two sons.  I generally refer to them as "this one" and "that one".  Several times I have thought of getting t-shirts so people can tell who I am speaking of.

This one is Ethan.  Ethan is my oldest child and was birthed May 2, 2006. 

He is strong willed to say the least.  He specializes in helicopters, tanks, being a "big helper", raising his younger brother, asking about his not-yet-born sister, declaring that "God is in heaven but He's also eatting breakfast with us", and reminding me that "being disobedient is a bad choice".   

Starting at age 3, we started having some issues, to say the least.  Mostly in hitting, and being generally disobedient.  

 

Seeing as how I live with him and I am around him the most, yes, I can see how this is true.  I try to let his teachers know that I do believe them, yes he has done it, don't be scared to come get me.  He has never thrown himself down in a typical tantrum like in the middle of the grocery store or anything.  But he will buck and pull.  If it doesn't make sense to him, he won't do it.  He's a pretty physical kid.  I haven't pinpointed his learning style yet but I'm glad I'm keeping him home with me.  He is 100% boy.  He still hits today and I always brace myself when I pick him up from Cubbies or Sunday School.  The first thing I ask the teacher is "How'd it go today?" and I always remind them to feel free and come get me if they need to.  I know him, I know what he's like, and I know it's not always daisies and butterflies.

He also has such a tender heart.  A heart for others.  A heart for serving.  He genuinely says "I'm sorry".  He is honest and readily admits to doing wrong.  It's a struggle I see in him.  I am continually teaching him to use his words, not his hands.  Hands are for helping, holding, hugging.  Hands are made for working alongside mom, stirring cookie dough and building forts.  Hands aren't made for hitting.  That's not what God wanted us to do with them when He made them. 

And oh how I pray for him.  How I love and cherish him.  He loves to help his mama.  "Mom, can I help?" is asked frequently.  As long as it doesn't involve boiling water, the answer is yes.  Get yourself a butter knife and help me cut potatoes.  Here's a spray bottle, help me scrub the floors.  Go get Ernest's bottle and hand it to him.  Help me bring down the groceries.  He's a human form of a golden retriever.

I once read that in order for selfishness to die, we must deny our flesh.  Selfishness in our household results in acts of servantry.  If you are wronged, you must love outwardly with an act of kindness.  If you hit, you must help.  If you destroy the tower, you help build a new one.

"You are so patient with him."
That's a line I hear often from other moms.  Or other people who see me with children in general.  Patient.  It has come at a cost.  You rarely see me yell, scream, hoot and holler.  It does no good.  With Ethan, it makes it ten, twenty times worse.  I must speak in a small voice.  I must get down low, look him in the eyes, direct his chin, and speak calmly.  A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger. Prverbs 15:1  This scripture is engraved on my heart.  Embeded in my brain.  It also works well with credit card companies.  Another old country saying is "You get my flys with honey than you do with lemon juice."  Amen.   Try it, do it, act it.  How can I get him to control his word, actions, and voice if I can't control my own?  He see's, he soaks it up like a sponge, and that's how he'll be as an adult.



Tonight his teacher came and got me from Bible study to let me know Ethan hit.  Let me tell ya, we are blessed to have such wonderful volunteers at our church, especailly in Ethan's 4 year old class.  They are patient, they are kind, and they are getting to know him.  Ms Amy always welcomes him with a smile and a "We'll try again next time, ok buddy?"  God bless her.  Plus, she has one girl, four boys.  Home girl get's it.  And another helper, Sarah.  Who is so so so sweet.  She's so easy to smile, I just love her.

 "Ethan, why'd you hit that little boy?!?!"
 "He wasn't helping to clean up."

:sigh:



First night of Cubbies.  He asks if Cubbies is "on" every day.

 So readers, tonight, I just ask for a prayer.  Please pray for my son Ethan.  Pray that he has a heart for God, a yearning to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  Pray that his anger, frusterations, and frowns are formed into strength and power for our Lord.  Please pray for his mama :).  I can use all the wisdom I can get.  Pray that my heart stays soft and to cherish Ethan when he's ontop of a mountain or in a valley.  Just... just... just pray for our family tonight?  Something, anything.   I will really appreciate it.

We read the entire 2 Thessalonians!

Tonight we read out of the Bible!  Usually I'll read out of the Bible at breakfast because I'm the first one done.  Ernest is tied down and Ethan sometimes eats slow, so I know they aren't going anywhere.  We use a kid friendly Bible with scripture reference.  Ethan is always interested in the old testament, I think because of the wars and "good guy bad guy" scenarios such as David and Goliath and Pharoah and Moses.  I decided we'd spend some extra time in scripture so while the boys were playing with blocks I read 2 Timothy and after the baby went to bed Ethan painted some pictures and I got through the entire book of 2 Thessalonians.  I think this will be a great nightly ritual to have, hopefully Kendall will do it on the night's I'm not around.

Because who needs toys where there are diaper boxes everywhere?

Out of Love

This is an absolutely precious post that I wanted to share with ALL mother's, not just my fellow homeschooling crew.

Are you teaching the children to love God?  It's the best thing you CAN teach them.

My favorite quote from this post:
"It’s not our list of academic subjects or our to-do list that is important, it’s teaching the children in every circumstance and at every opportunity what it is to love God.

If I’m doing that everything else will fall into place."


Click over at Raising Olives to read her entire post.

Our 9/11

What a wonderful day!  Not only was the weather absolutely gorgeous with no humidity, but nothing crazy/stressful/obnoxious happened.   Can I get an amen to THAT?!?!!!

I went to my monthly Ladies Night Out, which was a retreat this month in a lakeside cabin with just my closest and most lovely girlfriends.  I am so blessed with wonderful friends in all different types of groups.  Just love it.  We spent the night andI was the first one to bed (at 10:48) and the last one up (at 9:17).  I needed the rest!  Plus I was able to take a shower without any interruptions, door knocking, or questions such as "Where are the garbage bags?".  I even WASHED MY HAIR IN PEACE.  It was great.

This morning I was able to awake leisurely, get dressed, and have a nice *hot* cup of coffee and delicious eggbake WITH fresh from the oven cinnamon rolls.  My friends can cook.  Be jealous.

Then, came home to a family outting to watch our local fire team control the burning of an abandoned apartment complex.  We stood there for an hour watching that thing burn down.  It really was amazing watching it because you don't get to see a building burn to the ground and there was quite the crowd.  We left shortly after the walls caved in, which is the coolest part.

On our way home we saw a crowd at the fairgrounds, so we stopped in and there was a rabbit show going on!  So we got the stroller out of the back of the minivan and walked around looking at all the different types of rabbits and one lady gave us a tour on the different types of rabbits and their different personalities.  Very interesting and the kids both enjoyed it.

We visited the park because, by golly, Minnesota doesn't offer many more days of sunshine and warm weather so we eat it up as much as we can. 

Then we came home for a while and cleaned up the house and left to visit my friend Kim and eat her homemade lasagna for dinner.  Once again, my friends can cook.  Be jealous.  It was so good, she doesn't skimp on cheese.

The end of our day was downtown at the VFW to watch a 21 gun salute for our 9/11 ceremony.  They played Taps and sang the national anthem.  In trying to preserve as much of my four year old's innocence  as I can I declined to explain 9/11 to him other than "We shoot the guns 21 times to honor all of the soldiers who have passed away.  This is for the American soldiers, the good guys."  Good enough for him.

Thank you Lord for this day.  I appreciate You giving me a wonderful day to be with my friends and family.  These are the days, God, that get me through to the next one.  Help me Lord to always cherish them. Amen!

Simple Woman's Daybook for 9/9/10

FOR TODAY


Outside my window... cool and misting, fall is upon us!

I am thinking... relief that Kendall and Ethan are spending great, quality, one-on-one time together watching the Vikings play.

I am thankful for... a healthy pregnancy and healthy children

From the learning rooms... preschool workbooks!  and a marble game Ethan only gets to play when Ernest is down for a nap or in bed for the night (due to marbles).

From the kitchen... dishes waiting to be done.  I'm making banana bread for Ladies Night Out tomorrow night!

I am wearing... gray skirt, striped sleeveless shirt and a black button down shirt over it.  My midwife said I looked nice today so it must have worked!

I am creating... banana bread?

I am going... to a cabin tomorrow night with some wonderful women from the local E Free church.  Excitment is an understatment.

I am reading... Cubbie's verses everyday with Ethan. 

I am hoping... my friend Audra has her baby Johnye Rose soon, babies are exciting!

I am hearing... the cars drive by in the rain water.  AND NOTHING ELSE!  Silence is gold.

Around the house... a mess.  I was gone all day.  Need I say more?

One of my favorite things... iced tea.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Clean up the house, grocery shop, Ladies Night Out, and some Mary Kay orders need to be placed.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing:

On their way to watch the Vikings game play.

A link to The Simple Woman's Daybook

At least they're married

Our landlord called at 10am yesterday to let me know that him and an appraiser would be stopping by later in the day.  "Would you mind making sure the apartment is tidied up?"  To which a cloudy image of myself saying, "Sure!  No problem.  We live in a perpetual state of Better Homes and Garden, so nothing out of the ordinary needs to be done."  Then I blinked, looked around, and panicked. "Oh gosh.... ohgoshohgoshohgosh!"

Needless to say we got it all picked up and decent enough that I would be okay with letting my friends come over and see it.  But it wasn't ready for anyone like, say, the president or my inlaws. 
Just keepin' it real.

The  appraiser and my landlord came by, looked around, took pictures, and left all in about 8 minutes.  Then life was back to normal.  UNTIL I SAW IT.  My bra.  Hanging.  On the doorknob.  In the hallway.  Where these two dudes had just stood.

Call me old fashioned (cause I know I am) but I immediately was embarassed that these two men had just seen my underwear.  At least they weren't my maternity panties.  Or my "in the bedroom only" underwear.  Let's not go there, but you get the point. 

Kendall just laughed and said "Well, at least they're married." 

The Batter Spoon

I was making sugar cookies and gave Ernest the spoon.  His first Batter Spoon, awww.  Yes there were raw eggs in the dough and my mom would probably freak out if she knew I gave him the spoon. :-)

(Ernest is wearing a 24 month onesie, much too big but at least he has some sort of clothes on!)