More cleaning fun with Jace...

It was a lovely, productive, CLEAN day :)

Fun times!

One last family get together with good friends before they move...  I am going to miss seeing these 3 beautiful girls play together!  Good luck in your new home!  We'll miss you tons!

Bathroom cleaning...

Did I mention the Jace's bathroom episode this week?  No? Well, I don't know what I was thinking then :)  It was following a period of time when Trey had been up for over 24 hours so he was OUT!  Blissfully snoring away...  he's usually the one who hears the kids scratching on the walls at 2:00 in the morning.  Me, not so much!  So obviously Jace had been up for a while by the time I heard her.  (She's also gotten very, very sneaky when she wakes up now.)  But I had been hearing the water running for a while, I just assumed Trey was giving her a bath.  Why I would think that at 6:30 in the morning is anyone's guess... I was ASLEEP.  I walked to the bathroom and found my precious daughter standing at the sink, naked, brushing her teeth.  She informed me, "Mom, I've peed and pooped and washed my hands and now I am brushing my teeth."  Okay.  Have I mentioned that the floor had at least an inch of water covering it and that the diaper sprayer (attached to the toilet) was on the floor?  The countertop was covered in water and soap as well.  Amazingly, I remained calm...  She innocently said "I cleaned the potty for you....."  Yes, dear, you certainly did.  Amused, I woke Trey up to see before I started cleaning it up....  he did NOT think it was as funny as I did.  I just laughed and laughed.  He truly needs to stay here for 48 hours straight with her.... this was just the tip of the Jace ice berg!

Noodles

Of all the meals I cook for dinner, and sometimes I do put some effort into them, tonight I just made plain noodles and sweet peas for the girls.  And you know what Jace said?  "YUM!  These noodles are delicious!"  But nothing else I make is.....

Sick

The girls are sick :(  Always a sad thing...  Jace's is just a good old fashion cold, maybe a little croupy.  but Rory is losing liquids faster than I can get them in her.  I changed ALOT of diapers today... luckily she wasn't dehydrated when I took her to the Dr this afternoon.  Of course there was nothing the Dr could do for her about it except to tell me to keep pushing liquids.  And the friends we played with yesterday before this all started has one child now throwing up... I hope we didn't unknowingly pass anything on to them.  If Rory starts throwing up too we will most likely have to take her to the hospital I'm sure :(  Dr. M gave us pre admittance papers so that we could bypass the ER in case it comes to that... probably won't, but just in case.  So pray for my sweet little Roar to feel better and quit squirting :)  gross, I know!  lol..... here's a happy pic of the Roar before the raw bottom came!

Look what Jace did today

Daddy playing house

oh, the words...

This is how I know that Jace pays attention to what Trey and I are saying to each other....  

1.  I was getting on to her today and she said, "Chill out Grumpy!"  Which is what Trey says to me on occasion!

2.  Another time she was in the bathroom, and she started calling for me.  "HONEY!  DEAR! HONEY! COME HERE!  I NEED YOU!"  These are the pet names that Trey calls me.

3.  Lately she's been calling Trey by his name... which I do because he doesn't like pet names for himself.

4.  This morning she told me that "jace was a girl and mom was a girl."  I said "yep! and Daddy's a boy."  Her reply, "Daddy's not a boy, he's a TREY!"

5.  And I heard this alot today, "ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!"

 

and last, but certainly not least.....

6.  Jace has taken to calling me and Trey "MOM and DAD."  I didn't think it would make me so sad not to hear momma or mommy anymore!  But the funniest thing about it is that Rory has picked up on it!  Now, especially in the car, I hear the Roar calling out, "MOM! MOM!"  She's ONE!  

I STILL WANT TO BE MOMMY!!!  

6 1/2 hours and NO ARGUMENTS later....

Today was the best day!  It was the longest, most constructive, quality time we have all spent together as a family in quite a while!  Gigi bought all the grandkids a playhouse, so we spent all day (literally) outside cleaning up the backyard and putting it together!  I LOVE SPRINGTIME!  It's the BEST time of the year because it feels so wonderful that we could stay outside ALL day!  We didn't finish until almost midnight and I can hardly wait until the kids get to play with it tomorrow!

Newest family addition...

Condi the cat

Favorite shoes

Sister fun

Friends Forever

best of friends

oh, the joy of first friendships

these girls are going to be heartbreakers

crafty fun

making some clouds

J's clouds

R's clouds

we were going to finger paint with pudding but they wanted to eat it instead :)

they seem to like it

jace likes it ALOT

one tired girl

A grieving, but glad, heart...

Some of you may know this about me... I seem to be stuck on the shows of my youth: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawson's Creek, Friends, etc.  I have all the series, in their entirety, on dvd.  And I watch them OVER and OVER and OVER.  Always at night as I do other things simply because I do not care for what's on tv these days.  This is something about me that drives Trey crazy... :)  As do the constant piles of books everywhere because I read the same ones OVER and OVER and OVER, as well, thus can not bear to part with too many of my books.  Well, at this season in my life I am currently (re)watching Dawson's Creek.  No particular reason... just hadn't watched this one in a while.

Well, most of you probably did not watch this show so I just tell you a little bit about the episode I just watched.  Dawson (main character) made a decision that his father did not agree with (quit film school...).  And as Dawson is leaving from telling his parents, his father tells him that he is disappointed in his decision but to remember, always, how very much he loves him.  Dawson leaves.  The show ends showing his father driving home from getting some ice cream, and he has an accident.  His father dies in this accident.  

Most of you know that Trey's dad was killed in a tragic car accident Christmas Eve leaving our house.  And EVERY time I see something like this on tv, or read about one, or hear about one, I think of his father.  So tonight, after watching this, I am reflecting on Doc (trey's father).  The truth is, their relationship was far from perfect, but then again, whose relationships with their parents is?  But he was a GOOD man.  And he loved Trey (obviously).

But what I am thinking about tonight is the last words Dawson heard from his father (and yes, I realize this is a fictional show).  His dad told him how disappointed in him he was, although still loved him very much.

And I realized something tonight:  as difficult as Doc's death has been for Trey (and I can not even begin to imagine the devastation since I have not lost a parent) I realized that Trey truly received a great blessing from GOD that day.  The last words that Trey got to hear from his father, a man he grew up idolizing as only a child can to a parent though we inevitably realize how human our parents really are, was how proud Doc was of him.  We walked them out to their car.  He hugged us all (trey, myself, and with a kiss for Jace), and told Trey he was proud of the man he has become.  He was proud of the life Trey was making for himself, and for the family that Trey and I had become and started with Jace.  How much he loved him, and us, and especially Jace.  He repeated these words/thoughts/emotions/love to Trey.  Then he got into his car and drove away.  We never imagined this would be the last time we would see him alive, or hear his voice again.  That night was the worst night of our lives, and of our marriage.  Trey has suffered enormous guilt, loss, and depression since that night.  He changed irrevocably that Christmas.

There are certain times of the year that we struggle with now, emotionally.  And as hard as that first year was for my husband, and by extension, myself, I finally realize the blessing we received as well.  Those words that Trey got to hear from his father, those precious words, are something that Trey can take with him always, everywhere he goes in life.  They can never be taken away.  And while the tragedy of his father's death made shield any real disappointments that Trey may have felt in his relationship with his father (and to be honest they were probably very few and just as average as anyone else's with their own parents), he got to hear his father praise him one last time before he died.  There is not too many people out there who wouldn't wish for this sort of conversation with their parents before they pass on.  

And so I sit here right now,  glad in heart, that my husband truly knows how his father felt about him before he died.  That he was able to bask in the complete love of a father one last, precious time, before he lost him.  

a year ago

My babies a year ago...........

My babies today.....

First Dentist Appointment

It was a huge SUCCESS!  Jace went back gladly and even let them clean her teeth.  She had no cavities!  YAAAY!  Here's hoping that she doesn't inherit my horrible teeth!

Children of God

I have been thinking alot lately how hard it must be, as a parent, to let children go.  You spend so much of your time and energy basically in control of most aspects of their lives for the first 18 years or so, and even to some extent, throughout college.  This wonderful baby comes into your world, so new, so full of possibility, and you are so full of hope for their life.  YOU have big plans for that baby of yours, right?  And for the most part, you get to control their clothes, their schools, the choice of car and college are heavily influenced by you, etc.  Well, what happens when their lives take a turn you disapprove of?  What if they choose a college you oppose?  What if they marry someone you don't like?  What if they move away from you?  What if they go to a church you don't like?  What do you do?  

It's hard to picture that in 20+ years my children WON"T need me, because they need me so much now.  I mean, obviously, they'll love me, but truth be told, they won't need me.  Not in the way I will have become accustomed to being needed by them.  Even now, at 2 1/2, Jace is telling me, "NO Mommy.  Let me do it myself, please."  And for the most part she can, at 2 1/2.  What will I do when she's 25?  I look at her now and sometimes think she is still just a baby.  And I know others in our family think that too when they look at her.  But she's NOT a baby anymore.  She's becoming more and more independent EVERY SINGLE DAY.

The fourth commandment is to honor your mother and father.  This commandment encompasses all who have AUTHORITY over one's self, leading with Christ.  But our authority over our children lessens year by year, until they finally assume our authority over their own lives.  A young child's duties to one's parents is, above all else, to obey and respect them.  How does one's duties change as they mature?  Well, "obedience ceases with the emancipation of the children; not so respect, which is always owed them."  As grown children, it is our duty to show respect, gratitude, and to take care of our parents when the need arises.  But what also falls under this commandment is our duties as parents to our children.  Our first responsibility to our children is to educate them by good example, in all areas, especially faith.  We are to provide for our children in all areas, faith, love, home, and to meet their needs.  But as our children grow, our duties to them change just as much as theirs do to us.  As they mature, "our children have the right and duty to choose their profession and state of life... Parents should be careful not to exert pressure on their children in either" of these choices.  We should show our children the respect they deserve in their lives choices, as well as be there for them with whatever advice we have to offer that they choose to ask for.

It's a life of faith and chance that we live when we start our families.  I have hope in my Lord that he will show Trey and I what we need to know to raise our children.  I hope we are capable of letting our children lead their lives the way they choose.  Our job for them right now is to give them a home that meets their needs, physical, emotional, and spiritual.  No one knows what they need more than we do, and no one (except God) knows what is best for them like we do.  No one on this earth loves them more than we do, and no one on this earth loves us like they do.  What other joy in this life could we ask for really?  Our Lord gives us (trey and I) what we need to have a complete heart, and he provides for us always.  I must remember that all that matters, really, is my husband and our children.  That for us, all that matters is that we are children of God.

Sleep

Okay.  So Jace no longer naps that often :(  Well, Monday she took a nap for the first time in about a month, and she was so pleasant and happy that afternoon and evening.  I had forgotten what it was like for her to be that pleasant in the late afternoon!

We've adapted (though it did take a while) to no naps, now the girls(well mainly Jace) just go to bed earlier at night.  They are definitely getting the required amount of sleep, but I do long for the days of both girls napping in the afternoons...  it takes a lot of concentrated effort to keep Jace from waking Rory up too early most days.

Yesterday, of course, Jace did not nap and Rory's nap was cut short by accident.  Needless to say they were BOTH in bed at 5:45 last night!

WELL, guess what time they woke up today?  You'd think early, right? WRONG :)  Jace was up at 7:30 this morning and Rory did not wake up until 8:45!  So now I just thank God that at least they ARE getting the sleep they need...

This is just what works for us now.  As parents I guess we have to learn to adapt to the needs of our kids...  and my kids NEED to go to bed by 6:00 most nights!  

quote

"LOVE THE LORD, ALL YOU FAITHFUL."  Psalm 31:24

"Be joyful and happy;

for this is the true mark of the Spirit of God

who wishes that we should serve him

in peace and contentment."

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, 17th century

SNOW!!!