Adventures in La La Land

1. The Potty Training Chronicles: Lucy stayed dry every night for a week, then the past two nights has woken up absolutely drenched again. Frustrating. 2. It's actually been a horrible week of sleep around here. Not only have I been changing bedding and pajamas in the middle of the night, I've been up with Lena multiple times every night. I really think she's getting some teeth. (Finally - she still only has the bottom two.) Her top eye teeth are raised and white but have yet to poke through. Come on, teeth! Just pop out and get it over with!! 3. We heat our house with an outdoor wood burner. All spring, summer, and fall my dad gathers, cuts, and stacks wood like the hardworking ant. But this year, thanks to our especially long, cold, brutal winter we're out of wood! We're gonna have to start burning our furniture if we want to stay warm! Fortunately, we have an indoor fireplace, but the heat doesn't reach upstairs in our bedrooms. Also fortunately, our barn...

This week, we got back on the Bible Lesson bandwagon, and learned about David: First we talked about David's occupation as a shepherd (and discussed a little bit how Jesus is like a shepherd too). I utilized one of Sally Clarkson's suggestions from The Mission of Motherhood and let Lucy work on the sheep craft while I read the story. Usually I make her listen to the story before beginning the craft, but she listened so much better when she had something to keep her occupied (gluing cotton balls to a sheep outline). Lena got in on the action too. That white stuff above her lip isn't snot - it's glued on cotton. Haha.  The Jesus Storybook Bible has a good story about how God chose David to be King over all his taller, stronger brothers, so we read that while Lucy worked on her sheep. Then we talked about how we don't have to be the fastest or tallest or strongest or prettiest or coolest. We only have to love Jesus to be used by him. And God chose David ...

This is the conclusion of my series on Sally Clarkson's The Mission of Motherhood . Part One Part Two The last part of Clarkson's book is titled "A Mother's Heart for her Children." She touches on being available for your kids, showing them unconditional love, and giving them affirmation and encouragement. But the part I liked the most was on giving them grace. This is kind of a trendy topic lately, and something my friends and I have talked a lot about. I have this book in my (virtual) "to read" pile: Anyway, Clarkson wrote her book before this concept was trendy and I loved what she had to say. This was my favorite part, and so eye opening for me: "One day, when my children were young, I was more frustrated than usual with the chronic messes around the house. I said to Clay, 'It seems like our training makes no difference . . . How many times am I going to have to tell them to pick up after themselves?' Clay gently responded, ...

This post is a continuation of my thoughts on Sally Clarkson's The Mission of Motherhood . To see part one, click here .  Part 2: Discipline and Teaching I love reading about Biblical discipline techniques. I was raised a certain way and my sister (who I model much of my parenting after) parents largely the way we were raised. So I love hearing new ideas that I wouldn't have come up with by myself.  I love how Clarkson started her chapter on discipline: "I don't just want my kids to be moral. I don't just want them to know all of the biblical rules for behavior . . . I want them to leave my home with a hunger and passion to know God personally . . . I want them to personally hear God's voice and have his Spirit's gentle touch and impression on their hearts as they read the Scriptures and struggle with the issues of their lives." (82) This is something I've always struggled with. I grew up in a Christian home, school, church, community. I k...

I bought Sally Clarkson's The Mission of Motherhood used for $3 on Amazon after seeing it recommended by one of my favorite bloggers ( Jess Connell ).  It took me a few months to actually pick it up and read it, but I'm so glad I did. I'm going to break my notes down into a few different posts so as not to overwhelm you. Suffice it to stay I underlined half the book and have a lot to share. :-) Part One Clarkson is a huge proponent of "intentional parenting." This is something I've been working on for a while - having a plan and purpose, not just parenting mindlessly. She says, " ...being a mother is a full-time job . . . It is a responsibility that rightly commands our primary attention and calls for an intentional commitment" (49). If nothing else, what I took away from this book was the call to selfless mothering. To setting aside my desires and selfishness to be present in my girls' lives. Clarkson uses the verse Romans 12:1 to rem...

1. I filled out two March Madness brackets this year. In one of them, I'm tied for first (go Villanova!). In the other, I'm in 6th out of 7. Haha. (Go Louisville!) I predicted the Dayton upset, but none of the others. (Seriously, Duke??) I don't follow basketball the rest of the year, and I only pick Villanova because they have a cool name. (Gonzaga also makes it far in my brackets. Haha.) I mostly just like competing against my friends and siblings in the bracket challenges. :-) (Especially when I'm winning!)  2. I bought Lucy the movie Frozen  as a pre-release from Amazon. It came on Tuesday and I hid it away to save for her Easter basket. That same day we went to Niki's house just as she was getting home from Meijer. She pulled out the Frozen movie she had just bought and said, "Lucy, look what I bought! It came with two discs. Do you want to borrow one?" Haha. So we've been watching Frozen  practically on repeat. Lucy can literally quote most of ...

1. I recently joined a facebook group about being a healthy, fit mom. Since I stopped breastfeeding I've noticed my jeans are getting a little tight. I'm about 15 pounds over my healthy weight. But I'm not sure I'm really ready to commit to eating healthy or working out. Haha. I like to stalk the people on facebook doing their workouts and eating their healthy food while I sit on the couch eating cookies and drinking 32 oz. Dr Peppers. I've got problems. 2. Last weekend we ran out of overnight diapers for Lucy. She has been totally day-time potty trained for almost 2 years and yet she continues to completely  drench  her diaper at night. For a long time I just thought she wasn't ready physically, but I finally decided to test it and see how much of it was willful. The first night she slept all night and woke up dry!! I couldn't believe it! Since then we've had 2 more dry nights and 3 nights of Lucy appearing next to my bed in the middle of the night wh...