Sunday, April 29, 2012

battle of wills

A battle of wills.  I will not back down.  I will stick to my guns.  I will choose my battles wisely….but man, does it get tiring.

Arm Wrestle On The Grass

Today my “fountain dancing child” and I had a battle of wills.  There have been many times in his 6.97 years of life (oh my goodness, my baby turns 7 this week!) that we have battled it out.  Not necessarily because I want to, but because I know that he needs boundaries, rules and that as a parent I will need to choose where and when to draw the line.  I’ve also become keenly aware of when he is pushing just to see if he can find a weakness in the defense system…

  (yes…picture Jurassic Park when all the gigantic T-Rex dinos are systematically testing their electrified fence to find a weak spot to break free)

My beloved and I have also tried our best to foster that independent spirit in him – to encourage him to question and need to understand why.  We choose to train the strong spirit, not break the strong spirit.  Or at least we try.

Battleground? Hawaiian porkchops and rice.

For real?  Yes.

The boy did not want to eat his lunch.  Doesn’t sound like a big deal, right?  Oh, but it is.  My kids eat everything.  Literally.  Everything.  And if they don’t think they will like it, they know they are expected to try it and 99% of the time they end up eating it all.  But what is worse is that I don’t cook things that I intentionally think “Hey, this is going to make my kids gag.”  In fact, I try to include items in the meals that I know they will like?

Said battleground?  Well, I know Hudson likes rice, pineapple, pork and sweet and sour-y sauce.  All the things that were in the meal. (Easy meal btw).  SO when my first child decided to “throw down” his line, I stood my ground.  He would put some in his mouth and chew and chew and chew and chew and chew and not swallow.  He was given a time limit.  He expended it and the meal was put away with no afternoon snack.  When dinner rolled around, guess what came out for Hudson?  Guess what the response was?

I do need to say that I am proud of him.  Because he didn’t run from it, scream, throw a fit on the floor, or do a myriad of things he could’ve done like a toddler.  Instead, he resigned himself to understanding that the 6 bites had to be gone before he could move on to greener pastures.

After an additional 45 minutes of him-hawing (PA Dutch word from my upbringing), I sat on the front porch with him so he could see the rest of the family outside.  He ate the last 3 spoonfuls in a few minutes.  We talked about how much easier it was just to eat it and be done.  We also had a little discussion on how when it is foods he likes that his decision to not eat is truly in his head….and then he was in a delightful mood the rest of his short evening.

Battle of wills.  Seriously. AND YET ~ do I not do the same thing with my Father?  God says to me in a very clear manner, “Do this, because I am asking you to.  Because it is best for you.”

What do I do?  Oh, I dig my heels in and refuse.  I fight.  I whine.  I throw a royal fit.  I may not even take a bite and chew.  But because He loves me, he tries again.  He wraps it up, puts it away and saves it for later.  And He brings it out again.

But I’m just that stubborn.  I still refuse.  I still say no.  But I must imagine that sometimes the Father is standing in the doorway of His throne room smacking his forehead with the palm of His hand. 

I give in.  I eat the bites.  I grow and I learn.  Why did I battle? Because I am testing my limits apparently.  But because I have a loving heavenly Father He allows me the freedom to exercise my strong spirit.  He longs for me to choose what is right.  To choose Him. 

And all in all, that I guess is what we are praying for our son.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Fi-ur-wuhrks

Making firework paintings....and having fun together this afternoon.




Sunday, April 15, 2012

Weeks 23-26

Baby news? Growing well. Breech at the moment. Likes to sit really low. Is super active right at 10 pm – like clockwork!

Mama news? People now stare at my belly before they look at my face. No special cravings….although, I do enjoy a good, hearty hamburger with lots of veggies – and that is not something this “could-almost-be-a-vegetarian-if-it-weren’t-for-bacon-and-seafood” lady hardly ever says!  Oh, and my belly button is way out.  Seriously.

Family news?  Daddy and I were able to whittle our name list down to 3 boy/3 girl names –and when we picked out two boy names to run by the kids, wouldn’t ya know, they each voted for the opposite.  Can’t make it easy, huh?

Week 23 is brought to you by this….

had a little trip to the baby hospital to be monitored and get lots (I mean LOTS) of fluids and some drugs – compliments of a nasty stomach virus that hit Anna and I simultaneously.  (And then Daddy 48 hours later from taking care of us both.)  My pregnant body couldn’t keep up with the deficit and I needed medical assistance to help slow down the “losses”.  One bonus, we got to listen to the baby all night long and see 2 different ultrasounds!

I do have this cute self-portrait pic of the kids and I from a few days before…DSCF0091

Week 24 brought rejuvenated energy and many thanks to God for healthy bodies!  (We were having fun modeling in the mirrors at GAP)week 24.5IMG_0666

Week 25 – Easter weekendweek 25

Week 26 – after a bike on the rail trailweek 26

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Poppy and Mom-Mom

Last weekend we were able to spend some time with Poppy and Mom-Mom….we were able to squeeze in a lot of activity in a short period of time and even made it back to the house to see the UK basketball game with Grandmom by 6.  One of the stops on our whirlwind weekend included a trip to Chocolate World.

But before we could even get there, this happened…. :o)

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Of course, Hudson fell asleep almost instantaneously…Little Miss Social took a bit longer – but they still got a little power rest in before a big afternoon.

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boarding the ride

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We had to grab a quick lunch to share – and of course we had already had our dessert.  Chocolate World gives you candy as you exit the ride!  Oh well….it was Saturday.

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The 3D Chocolate World show was really funny.  Actually, we kept saying it was a lot like Disney World’s shows for it was complete with rumbling seats, air puffs, bubbles and snow.

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We were sporting UK gear that day for the semi-final game…

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Happy Easter from the real Chocolate Bunny!

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This is just a picture I had to share as the ALD is being expanded (Anna Language Dictionary).  She decided to draw a picture with markers on a napkin so that she could make a “REE-fection”.  Too cute….

Thursday, April 5, 2012

OCMD

Over my spring break from teaching at the college, we had an opportunity to take a free vacation to Ocean City, MD.  A first for Chris and the kiddos – I had been fortunate enough to take a trip there with Marion a few years ago.  Even though it was “winter” and still a bit breezy, we managed to really enjoy the beach town – and appreciate the emptiness (all except for the locals)!  The boardwalk, our own hot tub, indoor swimming, walks outside, indoor mini-golf and even ice skating!  I’ll just let the pictures do the talking.  I’m not feeling all that “literarily” creative this morning.  (although that is a pretty creative word…)DSCF0033DSCF0030DSCF0032DSCF0035DSCF0037DSCF0043DSCF0047DSCF0049DSCF0051DSCF0056DSCF0065DSCF0068DSCF0072DSCF0088