Operation "No More Fits"

It just hit me yesterday that Carter is getting in the habit of throwing some sort of fit...hitting, yelling, screaming, throwing objects, etc...WAY too many times a day. I wouldn't say that I've exactly enabled him to do it, but I haven't been consistent in trying to stop it. So I'm trying to be more alert to the fact that he's spitting at me or throwing his shoes at me (yes...I can tune these things out...it's called survival), and then give him an immediate consequence. I'm not expecting instant results. I still remember Mason's 3-year-old tantrums and behavior issues. He's lucky he stayed alive long enough to turn 4. I hope I can at least turn back the tide, though, so we might could go to a restaurant without everyone in the room staring at us, wishing we would take our screaming kid home. I'll post a screaming Carter picture as soon as he gets mad again...which should be any minute now.

Q.T. Pie Isaac

Our little nephew/cousin Isaac, who just turned 3 months, is getting cuter every day. Here he is in one of the gorgeous knit creations from his grandma Linda. She's a master knitter who has made him absolutely adorable hats, sweaters, booties, blankets, etc. Lucky kid!

Out with the old...

Okay, so God reads my blog AND my mind. I hadn't even blogged about my new novel yet, and He's already sending me a very clear message about staying focused and finishing the darn thing. Our Sunday school lesson this morning was about the perseverance of Nehemiah. He stuck with the project God gave him, building a wall around the city, even though he had distractions, naysayers, and even death threats. Writing a novel sounds trivial in comparison, but it's the project that God has given me...if only I could stick with it!

I made the executive decision to abandon my first novel because it has serious problems in the first couple of chapters that I can't figure out how to fix. I've been avoiding the issue for months, and I decided last night to just start on my second novel idea and quit worrying about the first one. Here's my storyboard...yes, the main character looks a lot like Scarlett Johansen. And a couple of the other characters resemble soap opera actors. It helped me write chapter 1, though, so it's doing its job so far.

Sidenote: I created this on scrapblog.com. It was really fun and easy. I haven't had a chance to explore it much yet, but it looks SUPER cool! I may have found my new distraction. Maybe I shouldn't visit the site again until after I've finished writing my novel.

It's Not April Yet

We went from flip flops to rain boots to snow boots in three days. Typical Oklahoma spring weather, I guess. After a LOT of rain and some slightly severe storms, it started snowing this morning and hasn't quit. We even had thunder while it snowed for awhile - I love it when that happens!

The Facts of Life

Ya' take the good ya' take the bad, ya' take 'em both and there ya' have the facts of life...the facts of life...

It's my theme song for the evening. I can't explain why...it just is.

In my last post I was complaining about a lot of things that have now been resolved. Funny how I can be so frazzled one day and wondering what the big deal was the next day. Carter's ear infection is gone. We found a great car to buy. And we have a new fish named Max to replace our beloved Binky, who went on to the great lake in the sky. I think he may have died of complications due to fishy obesity. We fed him at least twice a day, and our new beta fish instruction page says to feed him no more than two or three times a week. Oops!

Speaking of fish, check out Carter with his new "Nemo" that Gigi and Grandad bought him at the aquarium. Notice how he takes off running as soon as I tell him to say cheese. It's one of his new, three-year-old personality quirks.

Oh Great!

Mason's fish died at some point yesterday, and I didn't notice it until bedtime. I remembered the lesson I learned from the dead snail and decided not to tell Mason until after school today. Now I get to dread it all day. Great!

Carter woke up at 4:45 a.m. crying and saying his ear hurts. Great!

We're in the middle of fixing the van/buying a new car/living with one car and I have to beg a ride if I need to leave the house. Great!

And I have no groceries. Great!

I'm claiming this verse to make it through today: "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say Rejoice" Philippians 4:4. Luckily, there's a catchy little song to keep it fresh on my mind today when I want to scream, yell, and cuss at some poor, innocent person...or at Jas.


UPDATE:
Jas is taking a sick day today to help with Carter's medical issues and to solve our car dilemma (a TALL order, to say the least). I just got back from the pediatrician, and Carter has a full-blown ear infection - a first for our family.

I opened my daily devotional email a minute ago and ran right into this verse:
James 1:19-20 "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."
I guess God read my blog post today. There are also some great tips for keeping my kids from inheriting my short temper...or at least helping them deal with it better than I do sometimes. And to think I almost deleted that email before I read the lesson.

Movie Date

Gigi and Grandad came to town this weekend, much to Mason and Carter's delight. They took a trip to the aquarium and had a movie night at home while Jas and I went on our once-a-quarter date night. We ate at Outback ....again... where Jas made sure his seat was facing the basketball game on TV...no comment. And then we went to see Knowing. Very creepy, very weird, but somehow very good. It was a well written science fiction/fantasy/action plot that kept me on the edge of my seat...literally. I started getting suspicious of other movie-goers who walked up the stairs and sat behind me. Even Jas kept glancing back at a guy who walked by us with a hood over his head. The eerie whispering voices coming out of the surround-sound speakers were a little disturbing. I'm not usually a fan of science fiction or movies that end with (spoiler alert) some sort of space aliens, but this movie was very well done...in my opinion.

The Great Outdoors

This is the first week in a long time that we've spent more than 5 minutes outside. Mason and Carter loved the old west town at Heritage Park. It's such a unique place to play...although it always seems sunnier, hotter, and windier than any other spot in town. The kids had a great time, though, and were not happy when it was time to go home. The next day, we spent some quality time with a bottle of bubbles in the backyard, followed by lunch and games at Chuck E. Cheese's.

Spring Weather for Spring Break!

Today is the first day of Spring Break, and the weather is cooperating nicely! We took a picnic lunch to the park today and had tons of fun in the sun with the Drakes. Tomorrow is supposed to be even nicer, and we have another picnic-at-the-park playdate with the Circle of Friends group from church. I'm trying to keep our social calendar booked this week...idle kids at home on break are known for driving their moms crazy (not that my kids ever drive me crazy :).

Totally Unrelated Sidenote:
I checked out a book from the library the other day for the first time in over a year. I lost the last book when we went to Dallas for Mason's surgery, and I can't bring myself to fork over the cash to pay for it. AND I really haven't felt like I have time to read. I really wanted to read The Boleyn Inheritance, though, so I checked it out with Mason's library card. I read some this weekend and almost all day today...when I wasn't at the park or on "mom duty"... and finally finished it just after midnight. It was very interesting, but now I'm going to have nightmares about beheadings on the Tower Green. Nice.

Georgie Porgie

Mason and his friend Shawn have been playing cops during recess, but Mason told me yesterday that they've changed their game. Now they're chasing the girls.

One of the girls they're chasing is Brianna, who Mason says he's going to marry. I asked him if he was going to marry her because she's fun to chase. "No," he said, grinning, "I'm marrying her because she doesn't like me."

Happy 3rd Birthday, Firefighter Carter

Our resident firefighter turned 3 last weekend with a fantastic fire truck party...on a miserably cold day...the day after he stayed home from school with a fever, cough, and tons of snot. It's taken me a week to get the post written because I caught his cold, and then Mason managed to catch the flu AND strep. Needless to say, it's been a fun week.