non advice

Wow, I must be in a feisty mood tonight. Kelly's Korner is asking for parent advice and while I will not venture to give any I will say this:

I know parenting is a hot button issue and almost a hundred people responded with good advice. I enjoyed reading many of the tips. But, let me just say this... GRACE. I have never been more thankful for His grace and His Spirit that speaks to me than when I became a parent. This parenting thing is tough.

My advice is to listen to that Voice, His Spirit, and respond accordingly. Don't decide what you will and won't do as a parent. Don't say I will never spank or I will never do time out or I will never let my kids eat eat chips and salsa for dinner (that last one may have happened tonight) because God may lead you to do that and you may miss it because you decided that you would never...

God gave you your child(ren) because He equipped YOU to be their parent.

A few years ago we had a speaker at our Women's Retreat at church who told a great story that I was recently reminded of by a great friend. The speaker put a dry sponge in a little bit of water and laid a dry baby sponge on top. She also had a dry big sponge and laid a dry baby sponge on that. As she talked her sponges just sat. At the end she showed us that the sponge that was placed in a little water was wet and so was her baby sponge. Her analogy is that our children will soak up some of the Spirit by being attached to us if we are soaking up His Spirit. I loved that!

P.S. I don't think God led me to let my kid eat chips and salsa for dinner that was just great parenting.

True Story

I have pictures but, I won't share.

I walked into the twin's room today to get them up from their nap and smelled a stink. I said "Eww, someone went poo poo" as I switched on the light. Charis ducked down and popped up and said "boo" and I was laughing at her and then her little face looked up and said "uh oh". I looked down and on the floor there was "you know what" on the carpet in the middle of the room. I looked over at Drew and he looked angry. He had taken his diaper off, thrown the contents in the floor, and then smeared the remnants on his sheets. Lovely.

He was on a roll because ten minutes later as I was getting a snack ready for them, he walked up and grabbed a handful of cottage cheese off Charis' tray and walked into the living room to throw it on the carpet. Then had the audacity to say "uh oh". Oh, child.

It was actually all pretty funny. He doesn't usually act this way but, he was in an "after nap funk".

Charis is a little Mommy. She has now taken it upon herself to check Drew's diaper for poo poo. What is with my kids?

Trip to Pops and Honey's

We had a great visit to College Station this weekend. We arrived Friday afternoon and played outside for a while. Honey got the kids a splash pad to play on. They also loved to play in the new water feature that Pops and Honey had installed in their yard. It is a pretty little creek and waterfall that Drew really loved.

Saturday morning we took Lil' C in to the doctor and one of her ears was red inside so we got some antibiotics. The kids had a blast playing with a bubble machine and Drew carried one of Pop's golf clubs around all day. That afternoon we went Pebble Creek Country Club to swim in the kiddie pool. We ate dinner at the club with some of our favorite people, the Boyd's. After dinner Drew putted around on the course and took a ride in the golf cart. Charis was exhausted and was not up for a ride.

Sunday was great as always. We LOVE hearing Pops preach. He is going through Psalms right now. He preaches expository (verse by verse) and has a gift for sharing the Word. You can hear him here. Then like every good Baptist we had Mexican food for lunch and then headed home.

Summer Fun

Yesterday morning was pretty outside and so the kids played while I caught up with a good friend from college on the phone. They were entertained and I figured that dirt washes off so I let them play in the dirt. They had a bath by 10:15 am but loved every second of their time outside.

That evening they had their first push-up pop outside. I used to love push-ups. They sat side by side on the back of their tricycle as they ate. After the messiness we had to hose them off before they could come in for a bath. I love the summer. It is so fun to see them play and enjoy being outside.

On the Fourth of July we celebrated with our good friends the Watson's, their family and our friends the Scheufler's. It was a great time! We ate dinner and then went to watch Hurst fireworks. I really wanted to babies to come even though it was late but, poor Drew was exhausted because he didn't get a good nap that day. We took the kids home and put them to bed and then left. Hold on. It was okay to leave because Aunt Lauren was there. Stephen and I went to watch the fireworks and then came home. Hurst has great fireworks. It was fun but, I am really looking forward to having the kids see the fireworks next year. I know Charis will love it.

Kelly, Ryan, Katie and Blue Bell

Well check and a virus

I took the kids to a new doctor for their 18 month well check. They did great with the shots and we love our new doctor. Everything looked good for the babies and she gave us an epipen for Drew's nut allergy. She also said that our lil' buckaroo might need to mosey on into the orthopedic doctor if he is still bow legged in a few months. His bow legs have straightened out some, when he first started walking he looked like he had just got off a horse. I swore to myself that I will not take both kids to the doctor again by myself until they are a little older. It is hard.

We made a trip back to our doctor this week when Drew came down with a fever. It is just a virus, no strep. Since God is loving it worked out that Stephen got off work a little early and he was able to meet at the dr office just when things were starting to get "hairy". Can I get an "amen"? The doctor said Charis was "outgoing" and then preemptively told me about temper tantrums. I think she has a handle on my daughter. Drew is feeling much better and I pray Charis is in a few days.

Charis didn't feel well and watched me make dinner