RazNoggle

A friend sent this to my e-mail box, and thought I’d share it with you this way instead of e-mail. You’re more likely to read it this way. Ha!

Real Mothers don’t eat quiche;
They don’t have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils
Are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors,
Filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough
Doesn’t come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don’t want to know what
The vacuum just sucked up.

Real Mothers sometimes ask ‘Why me?’
And get their answer when a little Voice says, ‘Because I love you best.’

Real Mothers know that a child’s growth is not measured by height or years or grade…
It is marked by the progression of Mommy – to Mom – to Mother…

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE –
My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE –
My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE –
My Mother doesn’t know everything!

14 YEARS OF AGE –
My Mother? She wouldn’t have a clue.

16 YEARS OF AGE –
Mother? She’s so five minutes ago.

18 YEARS OF AGE –
That old woman? She’s way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE –
Well, she might know a little bit about it!

35 YEARS OF AGE –
Before we decide, let’s get Mom’s opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE –
Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE –
Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears,
the figure she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes,
Because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,
But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.

It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows,
and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

I had about a million things I wanted to blog about today, but fortunately I narrowed it down to just a few. However, they are totally disconnected and random, hence the title. Hope you enjoy perusing. If one doesn’t seem interesting to you, just move on down, it’ll change shortly. Ha!

COFFEE
Well, I admit that the content of my RSS reader is pretty random in itself, but I came across this article on what is in a cup of coffee. Ha! Pretty weird. Especially the part about the roach pheromones. I wonder if sprinkling coffee all around your house would discourage them from coming in??? SO glad we don’t have those ickies out here! Stu and I were going through some old photos of us in G’ville, and saw some of the “prize” pictures from the critters he caught and dispatched while we were there. Made my skin crawl!!! But that’s neither here nor there. If you’re interested in the chemical breakdown of coffee check out THIS article.

DEVOTIONS
I came across this blog that does “Devotions for Moms” which I need!! One area in which I struggle a LOT is being consistent in my own devotions. I can’t use my kids or hubby or home as an excuse! I should have the discipline it takes to MAKE the time. Things like this really help me out though. It’s just one more little way for me to get the Word and some external input on it into my day. Now I’m not going to tell you that you’ll agree with all of the things put out on this site. I haven’t read it enough to know, but I’m sure you’re able to “eat the fish and spit out the bones” if necessary.

NOT ME MONDAY
I absolutely DID NOT leave my youngest child in the same outfit for two days straight simply because it was easier on me, and because he hates to be changed. I did NOT bribe my toddler with yet another matchbox car to do a “pooey” in the potty. Nope, not me! I did NOT forget to put the beans on to soak over night and therefor NOT fix the wholesome dinner I had planned and instead feed my kids Spaghetti- O’s. I did NOT let the littlest lad have a cracker in the living room and then brush off all the crumbs on the floor because I would be vacuuming anyway. Ha! I did NOT escape into the land of Facebook and let the boys “work it out” in their room. They did by the way. I guess I don’t ALWAYS have to intervene. And the big one, I DO NOT plop my son in front of Baby Einstein nearly every morning, to give me 30 min of peace to drink my coffee and breathe. *sigh* This from the mom who NEVER wanted her kids to have the T.V. babysitter. Shhhhhhhh!

US
So what have WE been up to? Oh, so glad you asked! This weekend we went to Page, AZ and had a wonderful time with the pastor and church up there. It’s a beautiful place, right at the southern end of Lake Powell. I had no idea that was up there! Just goes to show you can live in a place all your life and not really know what’s around you if you don’t look! Anyway, Stuart was able to present the camp ministry and preach. Our boys were just the ages of the pastor’s grandkids, so they were happy to see them! We had a great time just getting to fellowship with the people up there, and see the amazing work that God has done in that little Navajo church!! They are planning to send their kids 20 or so to camp this summer! We can’t wait for that!
The boys did well on the trip. This was Myles first forward facing car ride! I think that he liked it except it took him a little while to figure out how to sleep in that position. I was very proud of both of them, they did such a good job and behaved very well in people’s home and the church as well. Whew! Qade did a fantastic job with his “training” even on the trip. He waited to do a “pooey” till we were in the hotel on Saturday after driving for so long! That really impressed Stu and me! On our way home Qade’s favorite thing to say was “Qade funny” and he’d say it over and over with different people’s names. He seems to think that every time we get in the vehicle for a trip we’re going to “Oma’s home!”
So today I need to “recover” from our trip, but something else happened that I’m going to have to recover from. As I was helping Qade wash his hands this morning, I was going to adjust his stool right as he was launching onto it, and we collided. My face to his head! Ouch! So I now have a big fat lip thanks to my tooth nearly going through it! Fortunately Qade’s head made out much better, and after his M&M’s he was fine. Mind you, this happened BEFORE my coffee this morning, so that was nearly a disaster! But I managed to get it all under control with a wet washcloth and ice pack. So now I’ve had my coffee, and think that I can carry on without too much of a problem. Ha! No one ever tells you of the perils involved with potty training, ya know? I should write a book.
Anyway, I hope your Monday is spectacular, and you don’t have any head butting issues yourself!

Seems to be Myles mantra these days. He is a bottomless pit!! I think that he’s gotten over his texture issues (mostly) and now just wants to eat everything in sight! This can include leaves and sticks and various other nummies that he finds while playing outside. The other day I had to pry a pebble out of his mouth and then reprimand Qade for filling Myles high chair tray with rocks. That was the day of our picnic on the porch. Lately though Myles has taken a very great liking to scrambled eggs!! I had a stroke of brilliance this past Sunday when we took the pastor out to Cracker Barrel. Usually I try to get Qade one of the kid’s chicken strip meals, but he rarely eats more than a few bites of it. Arg! So this time I ordered one of their smaller breakfast meals for the boys to split. Qade ate the bacon, a little egg, and a biscuit. Myles devoured the rest of the eggs, had grits, and a bit of biscuit too! I tell ya, he attacks those eggs with all the gusto in his little self! Myles also has decided that he loves to eat Vienna sausage, and spaghetti o’s. Great! Yesterday he had his first taste of PBJ and that went over pretty well too! Yes, I know that he’s not one yet, but he’s had peanut butter, eggs, whole milk, yogurt and chocolate, (which he didn’t like!) before his first b-day. I don’t think that makes me a bad mom quite honestly.
Qade has been a fantastic eater lately too. I almost never get complaints about his food. Shocking!! He loves “muffin” which is what he calls my homemade bread. He also really loves bacon and eggs, sausage, and chocolate milk. Those don’t make up the main part of his diet though. He generally eats whatever Stu and I are having, and has become such a good eater with his own fork and spoon. He is also drinking out of a regular cup at meals now. So far we have had minimal disasters with that. Mostly his issues come from accidentally tipping it too much while he’s drinking, and getting a big of a bath in the process. His vocabulary is constantly astonishing Stu and I. The other night, Stuart told him to “obey right away” which is one of our key phrases. He was in the process of whining about whatever it was he was supposed to do, and replied, “I don’t want to obey right away.” Ha!! That was one of those parenting moments when you nearly laugh out loud and ruin a perfectly good training moment. In fact Stuart had to turn away really fast to hide his smile. Fortunately I was sitting behind the lad, and could indulge in a smile. Yesterday I took the boys to school to meet up with Stu before he had to run to town for errands. He kissed me bye and said “I love you.” A minute later from the backseat I hear, “I love you, Mommy!” Awwwww!!! So I said, “I love you too, Qade” and he replied “I love you too, Mommy” ha! Love it!!!! Qade is improving on his obedience without whining. He certainly has his moments, but when I remind him of the correct response, “Yes, Mommy” it will usually cut the whining short. I know it takes a lot of consistency on our parts, and that’s probably the hardest thing about parenting.
Today I’m not quite sure what’s on my plate. Ha! I got up early again!! I’m so glad God has helped me do that this week!! It’s an important part of my own discipline that needs work. But anyway, I have yet to plot my day. I’m going to attempt to make pizza dough in the bread maker today. I’ve never done that before so it should be fun!! Homemade pizza is way yummier than Pappa Jon’s. I’ve figured that homemade anything is generally better. I’ve mostly been a convience foods kind of person, using canned soups and store bought bread for most of my life, but it really tastes so much better made at home, AND it’s NOT that hard! I’m growing and learning in life too! In fact the other day when I made chili I figured out (duh) that if you spray the crock pot with nonstick spray before putting the food in, it scrubs off WAY easier when you clean it. I fixed homemade split-pea soup yesterday! It’s one of my favorite soups, but Stu doesn’t like it. Since he was gone for dinner I made it and it was DELICIOUS!! Way better than the condensed canned stuff!! Oh and can I just say that the bread machine was one of the best investments that we have made!!! I love the bread, and I love that I don’t have to knead it! Ha! I was inspired by my friend Emily and think that I’ll use it to make some amazing cinnabon knock-off rolls tomorrow!! Sounds like just the thing for a cool Fall weekend!
This week in potty training land has been a bit of a flop. Qade did not recover well from Sunday last week, and we’ve been trying to gain ground since then with little success. He has been going in the potty, except for pooeys, but he hasn’t been keeping dry very well, so we’re still working on it all. Just in time for another weekend away! This weekend we will be presenting the camp ministry at a church, so it’s going to be very hard to keep Qade on any kind of potty schedule. Oh well, we’ll take it one day at a time and forget about worrying over it. As my frue reminded me yesterday, he’ll be potty trained before he goes to college. Have a great weekend friends!