Grocery Store Adventures: The "Sniper"

       When I grew up, every night, like clock work, as the sun set, the curtains HAD to be shut, because, as my former Marine, Vietnam Veteran Dad would say, "You got to watch out for those snipers."  He tried to say it like he was joking, but...we knew. And, every time we would go to a restraunt ,my dad would have to face the doors when seated, so he was aware of the possible danger that could come upon us. (Hang in there, this does connect to taking four children to the grocery store.) These childhood experiences have been seared into mind. Because, even though I know that their are no Viet Cong snipers out to get me, I become very unnerved when there is a curtain open at night or when my back is to the door at a restraunt. So with this in mind, proceed with reading the following story.
       We had gone into the first set of doors at the Wal-Mart, and were about to go into the second, when there was another family going in at the same time. They nodded, to go ahead, and then......The General collapses on the floor! Clutching his side, and arm, he is SCREAMING like I have never heard him before. He was in obvious pain. As moms we always quickly access the situation, and go from there. But, in that one second, of his sudden unexplained collapse, the first thing that my mind went to was, "He's been shot! Dad was right! The snipers took down the The General!" That  thought took maybe about two seconds when I got a hold of my logical mind. (I mean, really, there are no Viet Cong in Louisburg!)  I then got down on my hands and knees, The General, still screaming, and now people in the Customer Service Dept., looking on, I lifted up his shirt, bracing myself for what I might find, when....out pops a wasp, from his short sleeve shirt! The "sniper" is still on him, and attempting to sting him more. So, I take my sandal off, and attempt to kill and swipe the thing off him, before it stings us both! Now, I want you to picture this for a moment......The General was on his back, holding his side, Screaming, and I am on my knees smacking the poor kid with my sandal! What a sight we must have been! The wasp got him good, but, you will be happy to know that he is doing fine.

Fun Days

  Something I try to do  is have fun days. To purposely enjoy my children. That probably sounds horrible that I have to make myself do that, but when you have 4 children in 3 years and a good portion of them are strong-willed, sometimes you have to stop yourself , literally, in your tracks, and take them in. You know, smell them, stare at them, listen to them. For example, my oldest, when he has been playing hard, smells like a wet puppy. No! He really does! And...I like it! Because, the smell is all boy! And occasionally, when he turns just so, he still looks two. And that reminds me, that even though he challenges me in his almost seven year old way, he is still so young, and he still needs his momma to hold him, to reassure him, to praise him on all the wonderful things that he does, to tell him that he is going to be an amazing man of God one day.

And to listen to my little girl's voice and hear how wonderfully raspy it is. How she still mispronounces  words. I don't have the heart to correct her...How occasionally she still runs like a toddler, with  her arms pumping with determination all over her face.

And the rain boots! Can't get enough of her in rain boots!

And then there's the General....dimpled smile, giant blue eyes, with long lashes. A heart like a teddy bear. I love to just watch him build and create. He goes into a different world and his imagination takes off. I try to picture him as a grown man because he still has the toddler roundness to his arms and legs.

Finally, there's the baby, three years old and growing too fast for this mamma of 4, and him being the last. So ,I sit, and he takes my face between his still chubby fingers and plants one right on my lips, and I try to sear it into my memory.

So on days like today, where there is sharpie on the carpet, and on the walls, when the three year old has better things to do then pee in a potty, when the others have need to be separated for hours because they act like the divided Korean countries, and for some reason the house has seem to come alive and tears itself apart, I take in these things. I try to focus on the wonderful, individual ways that the Lord has made each of my children.

I Was a Strong-Willed Child

    I was a strong -willed child. There were four of us in our family, 2 boys, 2 girls. I was the only one that my mother prayed that I would recieve a child like myself. I now call her on a regular basis, and say, "Mom...mom..Oh...my...goodness...mom, (isert: pause, with a broken sob) I am so sorry! Seriously people...if reality shows were in back then, we would be a hit show. The drama....
My dad is a six foot, one inch, 240 pound, ex-marine/truck driver. It is by the Grace of God that I am still alive. That's right, I was that strong willed that I even took on my father! My siblings told me a couple of years ago, that they could never understand why I would never take a spanking and just been done with it. (The spankings, that we deserved, by the way) Instead, I would insist, that they never hurt! "Never give in to the enemy!" was my motto.Well, it's funny because I could never  understand why they would give in so easily. I thought everybody thought like I did! But, I was wrong. Turns out, that's part of what makes a strong-willed child child tick.
     My mom's prayers were answered, and I am pretty sure that out of the four of them, three of them are strong-willed. So this blog will have two reasons. One is to encourage others that have strong willed children, because, let's be honest, who talks about this stuff on facebook! And, second, as a record of the wonderful challenges that come with raising a strong willed child for Jesus. Because,one day, I would imagine that one of my children will need encouragemet in raising a strong-willed child. It's ecouraging to me, to call my mom, and have her tell stories of me when I was completly pycho, and know, that today, I am a completly normal adult! So there's hope, parents!

paint mousee

One of my strong willed children. This was the paint that he decided to get into! I am playig with my blog. Trying to see what I can do.

Update 2013

Oh my goodness! It has been awhile since I have been here. The twis are 5, Gavi is almost 7, ad the Shepherd is 3. Things I wat to jot down.
  1. Gavin: Passionate! Full of energy, ideas and imagination! A very serious love of Jesus! So much so, that he likes to reenact the Crucification. Still processing that one.....He prays on his own, without any guidance, for the homeless, the sick, the hurting, the loss. I feel completly inadequate to be his mother and humbled.
  2. General: Could care less about the alphabet, and why should he, when he can make the most amazing legos ever! I mean, seriously, the kids a genius! He is tender hearted, loving, and has baby elephants that he tucks in every night. Going to be a great daddy one day!
3. Michaela: A little mommy! But fearless! Collects hundreds of worms at one time.Can take on her brothers without a problem, but can wear a dress on Suday like a princess.
4. Shepherd: My baby....He is a cuddler, he is a clown. Has had amazing rythym since birth, and still insists that I dance the first song with him when I put on music.
  These are my amazing children, and they can make some crazy stories! Hoping to write more her istead of on facebook. We shall see.

Ci Ci Pizza Adventures

        It has taken a week for me to finally sit down and record this little adventure that we had. This had to be written, because SO FAR, this has been the WORST restraunt experience that we have had with children. And i am sure that years later I might just forget.
        It all started on your typical Sunday, after church. The husband was wanting to do the typical thing, go out to eat. Myself, noting the extent of childrens' fatigue and whininess decided it needs to be something quick and close by. So, we chose Ci Ci's pzza. They have buffet!
         Generel had been told by his Father to turn around in his seat. A second later, the chair and Generel, came crashing down to the ground, and of course there was a great amount of screaming. At that same moment that he fell, in my head, I could have sworn I saw his leg bend backgrounds. So I jump up and run to him, with my chair flying through the air, and clattering to the ground. (Let me go ahead and tell you, for those with your hearts beating out of your chest, the boy is okay) Of course, all eyes are on us. Generel's knee looks like it is swelling up and has bruise all around it. It was hard to tell though, because he still has chunky baby legs. For a few minute there I thought we were going to have to take him to an emergency room. People started coming to check on him. A very kind nurse came to look at him, declared that he was proably okay, but kept reminding us where the urgent care was.She then went to the manager to get some ice. He came out, whistling, did not say a word to us, and handed us a bag of ice. Meanwhile, severel little boys, notice I said boys, not little girls, came up to us and told us of their terrible chair drops, one of which even lost a toenail. Eventually, all calmed down, with Generel sitting in his daddy's lap, with ice propped on his knee. I thought to myself, ' Okay, now everyone can finish now that we don't have eyes on us." I offered to take Generel since I was done eating and Aaron needed to finish.
          Michaela was sitting next to me intent on dessert. She had already taken another slice of pizza, so we told her when she finishes she can have dessert. We had told her twice, with not very positive results. The third time was nuclear. She started screaming, "I want a brownie!" screaming and crying while she says it. While she is screaming, she is tearing up her pizza angerly, throwing it across the table. She is so mad, that she knocks her ice water on to my lap. It took all had not to throw Generel off of me and jump up yelling myself. Meanwhile, her yelling has caused the baby to start screaming, and Gavin was about to lose it because he was so tired. I got Gavin under control by giving him "The Look". This all happened in a matter of seconds. I took the little out of contol girl to the restroom to administer corporeal punishment. She screamed. I am preety sure the whole restraunt heard her. When she was finally calm, I brought her out. The manger was standing across the room, looking at us, having a look on his face that said to me, " I wish they would just leave." So we did. Aaron says to me, "Wow, that is a new experience that I hope will not be topped." And I said to him, " Yeah, we are not going back there for a really long time."

Things that I Love

   I a friend of mine recently pointed out that I am her dumping ground for my life. In other words, she is basically the only one that hears all my junk. Which is okay, she says. We discussed this in a nicer way than it sounds. Well, I was a little dissapointed in my self, apparently I turned in Debbie Downer, and I did not realize it. Now, granted, my life has benn a lttle crazy lately, but that is no excuse! So, in a effort to fix this, and to make sure that I do not look back on these early years of parenthood as merely surviving, I am going to try a running list of things that I enjoy about my children.
1. They way Shepherd looks at me excitely and jumps up and down in his crib when I come in to get him.
2. They way Michaela wakes up Generel up every morning, ' Wake up, Generel, Wake Up!" and then leads him and Shepherd in renditions of Deep and Wide.
3. When I walk through the door and Michaela says to me. "Mommy, your here!, Mommy your here!
4. Generels adoration of Thomas the Train.
5. The best hugs from Shepherd
May, 27, 2011
6. The way Michaela comes up to me for no reason and pats my cheek and then kisses my knee.
7. Gavin, for his concern for homeless people and their lack of pillow pets.
8.Generel, and his love for everything firefighter, and when he says to me," They are not rain boots, they are firefighter boots."
9. Shepherd, for his very early love of music, when he sticks his hands in the air, palms open, tiny fingers back, looks like he is worshiping Jesus as he listens to music.
10. Michaela's raspy voice.
11.The bronzened torso of Gavin from playing in the sun, and the now white "fur" that is on his back and shoulders, that was so black the day he was born, he looked like a little gorrilla baby.
12. The rosy cheekness of the twins, after playing outside, with the hair wet on the forehead, all culed up, forming a frame around the big blue eyes and long lashes.
13. Michela's comment yesterday, "Mommy, we have to talk.' " I have a bugbite.'
14.Generel's half smile, with the gleam in his eye, that reminds me so much of my little brother.
15. With that same look he exclaims to me," I am going to drive the car.' as he goes toward the driver's door.