Met an online friend today... in person!

Yup, that's right! Turns out that an online friend lives not too far from me, so we met in a town halfway between us. We both had such great fun that we've agreed to do it again... soon!

Our children played so well together. Of course, she and I didn't fight either. (wink) I felt very relaxed with her. She and I have lots in common, and she is just so sweet.

We met at a McDonald's so the kids could play while we talked and tended to our wee babes. Would you believe that we were there for FIVE HOURS? There was no shortage of conversation, obviously. (smile)

I can't wait to do it again!

On the subject of prayer

I've been wanting to find a way to build my children's faith as they grow, to show them how God works in our lives. I heard a pastor say once that his family prays together over absolutely everything, and in that way, his children see God provide for their family firsthand. Well, I want to do that, but at the ages of my children, I am concerned about too much information causing fear. I do not want worrying children. So I was praying over it and asking God for wisdom.

A couple weeks ago, a friend and I were talking on the phone, and I believe God gave me the answer through her. Her family has a prayer journal. Now I have one for myself, but I never thought of doing one for the family!

Now the children and I have a prayer journal. We've been putting all sorts of stuff in - protection over friends and family as they travel, car issues (like my blinkers are on the fritz, so we're praying they'll work until I have the money to take it in), colds that Sweetheart and Shortcake had, etc. Then we go back once a week and look over our list. Those prayers that were answered, we use a marker to indicate it was answered. Already, my daughters can see that God is answering our prayers. They are also seeing that some prayers take longer to see God's answer.

I also made a homemade pocket inside the notebook. (I used construction paper, gluing it to the inside of the cover.) We slide our missionary prayer cards in there. I really love this set-up!

Sunshine can write her name in cursive!

She can write her first and last name! And it looks so good, too. Now all we have to do is teach her the middle name and she is good to go! Her middle name only has one letter she doesn't know how to form, so that will take no time at all to teach her. She already knows how to spell it, just not how to form the first letter.

Also, she counted to 100 yesterday for the first time, and get this - she did it alone. Wow, just leaps and bounds here.

Good job, sweet love! I'm proud of you! (And I saved the paper she wrote her name on... hehe!)

So pleased with Sunshine's progress!

Sunshine is learning to read, and she is doing great. Today we made our first book during school. We stapled a few pages together; Mommy wrote the words to the story; Sunshine then read the story with Mommy, and Sunshine added the illustrations. It was great fun for both of us. Mommy's inspiring story? "Sam the Pig" - ha!

We also met a college friend of my sister's, who is a cop. So Sunshine showed off her knowledge of her home information to him, and she loved it. He was appropriately impressed with her. It was really too cute.

Some praise for Sugar-n-Spice

I'll be honest. She is my difficult kid, so far. She is stubborn, wants it her way or nothing, and she is not easily deterred. Consequences of any sort send her into major anger.

But last week, she was wonderful. Truly wonderful. When I said it was time to clean up toys, she didn't even pause. She immediately stopped what she was doing and began cleaning up! She didn't ask what particular group of toys was her job; she just began on her own. In other things around the house, she didn't argue or try to hide. She just obeyed.

I am so proud of her! We bragged to Daddy on the phone, gave lots of extra praise and rewards, and even let her have a special treat last night before bed that no one else got to have. She beamed! I love seeing her pride in her own accomplishment!

Oh, and something else! We've been struggling with her going backwards in toilet issues. She just stopped caring and was pottying in her underwear multiple times a day, rarely making it to the toilet at all. I was doing so much laundry! Underwear was hard to find. I even got so fed up that I put her back in diapers, at age 3! But I changed my mind because I knew, that with her personality, she would not want to get out of them. So we went back to underwear again very quickly... and last week was a good week in that area, too. No accidents, no extra laundry!

Way to go, girlie! Mommy is proud of you!

A bit of sickness here

We've got this odd bug here - no fever, no diarrhea, just throwing up. It seems to pass quickly, too. I had it Saturday, Shortcake had it Sunday, now Sweetheart has it today. I'm thankful that it is a short-lived thing. Less laundry that way. "Sick" laundry grosses me out. Bleck!

So we're taking it easy today. Gonna sit and cuddle a lot. Read lots of books, watch some movies. School will look a bit different today for my oldest. Perhaps I'll spend today planning the next few weeks... hmmm, yes I like that idea.

Busy... and yet not?

Ever have those weeks where you feel like you are just so busy... but you turn around and try to put your finger on what exactly you did... only to realize nothing much happened? Yup, that is this week for me.

Today my grandma came for a visit. She insisted that I take a nap. Who was I to argue? *wink* I didn't want to disappoint her, so I obeyed. No, really, I was wilting, and I'm not sure exactly why. Just felt so wiped out and it was showing. And the baby actually slept long enough for me to feel rested. Wow! We all know that doesn't happen every day, true?

Tomorrow I'm off to my sister's house. We haven't been there in months, and it will be a lovely visit, I'm sure. And it gets me out of making lunch. ;) LOL

Oh, and a bonus? Today I got my oil change for free at Jiffy Lube. I had filled out a comment card at my last visit, which entered me into a drawing. I won! I never win anything, but this I won! It was so lovely to get that maintenance out of the way and not pay a red cent for it.

Just plugging along in the day

I guess I overdid it yesterday, jumping back in to our routine. My back just wasn't up to it, so I'm quite sore today. So, I'm not demanding so much of myself. And boy, does the house show it! It's days like this that make me feel guilty... I'm blessed that my parents are sharing their home with us, and the housework all falls to me, which is fine, but when they come home and the house just isn't up to par... well, I feel badly about that.

The girls did a great job folding laundry all by themselves, though! They are only 5 and 3, and they took care of the loads of towels for me, and Sunshine helped me move the laundry from washer to dryer. What great helpers!

Ok, enough sitting at the computer. I must tend to the fussing baby and do school with my oldest. Hope your day is going well!

Hello, again!

Ahhhh, dh's trip visit is over, and he is back to school. We are trying to get back into the old routine, trying to find our groove again.

Dh's visit was quite nice! It was quite busy, full of fun and giggles. He and I laughed so much this time. It's been awhile... so it was nice.

I must say, the end of this visit went much differently than we planned, though. The day after I turned 30, my back gave out on me. Well, kind of. I was having muscle spasms. Never had them before, and wow, can they put a person out of commission. I was standing up, handing the baby to my hubby, and as I turned to hand her off, I just felt this horrible pain in my back and I went down. Dropped the poor little gal, but since he was reaching for her anyway, he caught her easily. I tried to stand up, but nope. We finally managed to get me somewhat comfy on the couch, but I could nothing without help. Wound up in the ER the next day. Dh looked at me at one point and said, "I know you just turned 30, but you don't have to start falling apart already!" We had a good laugh over that one. Anyway, I'm on muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatory meds, and pain meds. Under the usual orders on no lifting, etc.

Then dh came down with some nasty vomiting/diarrhea bug. I think it was the same sort of thing we all had around Thanksgiving, as none of us have come down with it. I suspect he picked it up at the hospital when he took me to the ER.

So we took turns at the end, tending to each other's needs. Now, isn't that nice? He was such a great help this time. He hates to change diapers and that sort of thing, but this time he just jumped right in and helped with no grimaces or groans.

Well, I need to take off and finish a few things around here, though I would love to sit and just type my fingers off! Happy 2007!