Isaiah's Obsessions

Isaiah is obsessed with toilet paper. He does whatever he can think to do with it. He rolls it down the hallway, shoves wads of it in the garbage can, pulls it out while still attached to the holder and puts it in the toilet, then flushes to watch it rapidly descend down into the black hole. Sometimes he takes one square at a time, wipes his nose, and puts it in the toilet until it is full, then flushes.

He is also obsessed with shoes. He ALWAYS has some on in the house. Usually they are mine and almost always mismatched. If I took a picture of him every time he had a different pair of shoes on, I'd be taking pictures at least three times a day, every day. Of course he doesn't put things back where they belong, so I am constantly picking them up!

His other obsession is doing the opposite of anything and everything I want him to do. If I want to brush his hair, he wants his hair knotted. If I want him to go to bed, he wants to stay awake. If I want him to get dressed, he does not want clothes on. If I want to change his diaper, he wants his poopy diaper to stay on. If we are going somewhere and I want to put him in his car seat, he wants to stay home. If it's time to leave wherever we are, he wants to stay. Get the picture? Thoughts of the teen years make me very nervous!

Update on the getting out of bed situation: I've discovered that if I stay in the room until he falls asleep in his crib, he will not wake up. I can't rock him to sleep because even if he is sound asleep, the second his body hits the mattress, he wakes up crying. I've decided to bring a book with me and sit on the rocking chair in his room and read "Parenting Isn't For Cowards" by James Dobson while he falls asleep. Next I'm going to read "The Strong-Willed Child" also by Dr. Dobson. I'm reading them to get a game plan. I'll let you know what I discover.

Do Whatever We Want Day!

Today is "do whatever we want day!" I just declared it. There have been three huge changes that have completely affected our family life and it's been a major adjustment. Not that it's weighed heavy on our family, but any change takes time to get used to. 1. Aaron is in training to become the General Manager at New Orleans Hamburger and Seafood. Nothing will change at the church accept the paycheck. He has almost completely come off salary so that our main income will come from the restaurant. 2. I started homeschooling the boys. I love it and it's very exciting knowing I am directly influencing them in their memorization of scripture and understanding Bible stories. It is also helping me do the same! The first week they learned how to draw lines from left to right so they can learn to read. Last week we started on individual letters. 3. Isaiah is now relentlessly getting out of his crib. We have ordered a toddler bed and I can't wait until it comes in. Some nights I wish I had ordered a straight-jacket instead. Aaron figured out if he lets Isaiah climb in his bed by himself and tells him to lay down on his own, he stays in and goes to sleep!!! Wow! Talk about a strong will!!

Needless to say, we desperately needed a day like today. So this morning I went to the store and bought Cheez-its, chips and salsa, animal crackers, yoo-hoo's, fruit roll-ups, chocolate granola bars, regular chips, fun cereal packs, coke, oatmeal cream pies, and sweet and buttery popcorn!!! I know this is stuff most people have in their kitchens all the time, but not us. I am determined for my boys to develop healthy eating habits. Of course when we're on vacation, at birthday parties, or during the holidays I let them eat whatever they want, but if I'm the one in charge of the grocery shopping and cooking meals, I want to be a good steward of the little bodies God gave me.

I also don't let them watch TV during the week. Sometimes they watch cartoons in the morning, but rarely. We have "TV day" which is Friday and Saturday. But today, on "do whatever we want day," we will be eating junk food and watching a Sponge Bob-a-thon in our p.j.'s.

Coffee Break

The past two weeks have been very busy. I'm adjusting to homeschooling the boys while trying to keep up with everyday life, not to mention youth ministry. The first week of school went great. The boys love the crafts that go along with the Bible stories and they are memorizing scripture very quickly. We will be doing letters next week, so I'm anxious to see how that goes. This week was a bit different. I couldn't do school Monday or Tuesday, so on Wednesday I was playing catch up for all three days. That was crazy! Then on Thursday I doubled up with Friday because I knew we were going out of town. So this morning, while I'm buzzing around the house trying to get everyone ready, Isaiah shows up in my bedroom with brown stains on his pajamas. I asked Gabe what it was and he told me that Isaiah had climbed up on the kitchen chair and drank his juice. I was still a little suspicious, so I went to the kitchen to check. Everything appeared to be normal, so I continued to go about my buzzing. On the way out the door I said, "Wait! I need my coffee!" The second I picked it up I had a flashback. The cup was empty and right then it dawned on me why Isaiah's pajamas were stained. HE DRANK MY COFFEE!!! Thank God it was cold, but it was my leftovers from Starbucks that I really wanted! I guess we all need a coffee break once in a while.

Women's Encounter and Homeschool

This past weekend, I went to the Women's Encounter in Hammond. It was great as usual! I was asked to speak for the first time there and really enjoyed it. Thankfully I was asked a few months ago, so I had plenty of time to prepare. It can be a little intimidating because the women who speak are all amazing women of God and speak on deep revelations they get from the scripture. People are deeply emotional and physically healed. My topic was the Father Heart of God. My eyes were opened to the life of Hagar in Genesis, chapters 16 and 21. I will be writing about it soon. We returned on Sunday and Monday started our very first day of homeschool! So far it's been fun. The boys are learning stories in the Bible, science, math, cooking, songs, chores, and memorizing scripture. I can tell I'm going to want to keep everything they make! I'll let you know more about that at the end of the week. Overall, we've been very busy as usual. Lots of big changes are going on in the life of our family. God is taking us on a new adventure!