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!