This is the Day That the Lord Has Made

I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Today our contract on the house in Wadsworth expires.  Honestly, I really thought we would have sold our house by now.

In my human wisdom, I thought it would be nice to not have keep a house clean to show with 4 children under foot for several weeks.

In my human wisdom, I thought it would be nice to not have the temptation to anxiety ever creeping at my heart’s door on top of the other emotions I’m experiencing these days.

In human wisdom (arrogant, human wisdom) I thought that since I am making this huge sacrifice of moving, of course God would work everything out in the easiest, most comfortable way with regard to the house.

But today I rejoice that the One who knows all, who IS wisdom has this situation in His hands.  Where I have been impatient, He has shown immeasurable patience. Where I have sinned in my worry, anxiety, and unbelief, He has shown Himself profoundly faithful. Where in my extreme pride I have questioned His wisdom, He has forgiven me, washed me, and filled me with fresh joy in and appreciation for the Cross. How unworthy I am that God would kindly withold what I thought I needed so that I might know something more of Him: His mercy, patience, forebearance, faithfulness. Yes, He has once again demonstrated that HE is God, and I am not – but He has humbled me gently.

So I do ask for continued prayers that our house will sell soon, if that’s what God would have. But even more I ask that you would pray that Jason and I would learn whatever it is God has planned in the wait, to the praise of His glorious grace.

All She Wants For Christmas is…

  My big girl lost her 4th tooth!  She just turned 6. Isn’t it kind of early to lose your front teeth? I seem to remember my boys being in 2nd grade.

cheap chicken

Weis has boneless, skinless chicken breast for $1.89 per pound starting tomorrow.

 Super Fresh has london broil for $1.47 per pound.

Fun Ebay Store

This is my favorite e bay store for clothing….though I have yet to win an item from it. Have fun looking at these fabulous vintage dresses.

Quotable Kiddos

Maggie came with me to a meeting at my parent’s house the other night. She was going to choose a video to watch in the other room. The conversation went like this:

Maggs: Can I watch that amb… you know, the deer movie?

Me: You mean Bambi?

Maggs: Yeah, Ambi, I like that one.

I find this funny because if ever a mother bumped the line on too much Disney, it would be me. And here my daughter doesn’t even know who Bambi is.  But honestly, the two classics I just can’t handle are Bambi and Pinocchio (hello, is anyone else a little creeped out by that one?!). That said, we all have Peter Pan and Jungle Book memorized.

Potty Talk

So many of my friends are considering potty training a little guy this week or next! Per Briana’s request, I am trying to stretch my mind back a few years and remember this potentially daunting passage into big boy/girl underwear.

Here is how we do it at the Reyes house:

1. We do actually potty train. This may seem silly to state, but the truth is if you wait long enough (like when they’re 4ish), you don’t really have to train them – they just do it themselves and THAT IS FINE! Very few kiddos enter kindergarten in pampers, I assure you. That said, I had three boys in diapers and decided that we would actually take the time to potty train. For our family this means taking 5 days or so and hunkering down in the house with a major focus on potty training.

2. We build up to the big event. I start talking “potty talk” weeks before we actually begin. They watch how daddy does (or in Maggie’s case, mommy). I remember one of the boys talking about wanting to ride the potty train. Boy was he disappointed when he understand that this training had nothing to do with an actual train (we were huge Thomas fans).

3. We use potty candy. Our choice: Skittles. one skittle for, eh-hem, #1 two skittles for #2. Potty candy works especially well if your kids haven’t been accustomed to candy. So where the twins (who had no sugar at all until their first birthday cake) thought potty candy was the best thing worth working for, Maggie – my fourth – was less impressed having been eating candy from 6 months on . Also, I decided that with Izzy and Maggie, everyone received potty candy when the “trainee” was successful. This made for much sibling support, encouragement and sugar high all around.

4.  We do not use pull ups. I really don’t know anybody who was successful in a short period of time with pull ups. I think they feel too much like a diaper to really help the little one connect the sensation of needing to go with the wetness of it.

5.  My boys potty trained sans undies for the first few days.  A friend of mine swore by potty training naked. After considering what a pair of little boys completely naked might attempt, I decided to ditch the underwear and use a long shirt to “cover” up a bit. This worked for us. It took one time peeing down the leg before they realized this stuff is best contained. They ran to the potty every time they had the urge. Okay, number 2 is trickier and riskier, but honestly, they knew when that was coming before we started to train, so it wasn’t an issue.

6. Maggie trained in panties because the panty was a powerful tool as a desireable clothing item. That said, she had no problem peeing in them on the floor, a chair or wherever else. I had to be more vigilent to keep sitting her on the potty.

7. We kept two potty chairs in the room where they were playing…at least with the twins. I would keep it accessible for them. We slowly transitioned by putting the potty in the bathroom and them teaching them to use the “big” potty. Both Izzy and Maggie used the big potty right away I think because the big brothers were using it. We used a fitted little ring so they wouldn’t fall in. I had one in my backpack as well for when we were out.

8.  I kept a potty in the back of my car for trips longer than 1/2 an hour. Again, since I am anti-pull-up, I needed to be able to pull over anywhere. And between you and I, we mooned about a thousand people during rush hour one evening on I95 .

9.  We used undies even when we were out. This is a sacrifice for the mother, but it does help with them not getting confused. My kids seemed to do better when they were out (maybe looking forward to a field trip to the bathroom at Target as opposed to getting distracted playing toys at home). I just brought a change of clothes and prepared myself that I might have to change them.

10.  We didn’t go out until they seemed to be getting the hang of it. Except with Maggie because I had to pick up Izzy from kindergarten everyday.

11. We used diapers for nap time and bed time. We did this for too long. I think if I had just “bit the bullet” and spent a few nights changing sheets, we may have kicked this habit much sooner. But it was really important to get the diaper off as soon as possible in the morning and after nappy time…otherwise they could get confused. Also, many kids will wait until that diaper is on for nap time or bed time to do #2. We didn’t have this issue, but I’ve heard it can be really awful especially if you have an “artist”.  If you have experience here, leave a comment.

other thoughts:

*if you have boys, you may have to say “stop touching yourself” one million times a day. Well maybe not a million, but a lot! 

*you may have to “assist” your little girl/guy with number 2 for a long time…longer than you may think.

*the flushable wet wipes are a good investment for begining wipers (You know you’re a mom when you type “wipers” with complete ease).

Potty training is not easy. In a lot of ways it makes mom’s life harder especially when you are at the far end of the mall and someone’s “gotta go”.  Still, like everything else involved in parenting, there is grace for you and your little one to do it. However, if you are miserable, and they are miserable, you may want to take a break and try in a few months.

Oh, I’m sure this goes without saying, but my way is certainly not the “right way”. What advice do you other potty veterans have for the comment box?

camera?

One item Jason and I are discussing investing in is a nice camera. I have a digital camera, but it is very basic and the pictures are okayish. Because we are moving, we want to have nice pictures of the kids to send the grandparents, or post on our blog. What is a good choice?

Yummy Hummus

Our new obsession in the Reyes house:

Jim and Marcia Walter’s Hummus Recipe (one of the first things I’m doing in Akron is copying every recipe from Marcia’s recipe box. She is an outstanding cook!)

 1 can garbanzo beans

3 T. lemon juice

2 cloves garlic

3 T.  tahini

3/4 t. salt

2 T. olive oil

dash o’ tobasco

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

*we had hummus at Red Brick Station last Monday and they served it with finely diced red onion, black olives, jalepenos, tomatoes, and cucumbers. We loaded our pita triangles with whatever combo suited our fancy. Really yummy stuff!

*if you want to make a big batch of this, I have the amounts for a large recipe. Just request them in the “contact me” section.

Reading Rut

I’m stuck in a reading rut. I keep reading old classic literature. I love it, but I’m ready for something modern. I have no idea what has been written recently, so could you please fill my comment box with suggestions, or post something on your own blog?

Also, if you read through a feed, you may not know that I have a new feature on my blog that says “contact me”. If you ever want to comment or make a suggestion and do not want others to see you, you can use this feature to write directly to my e-mail. Pretty cool stuff .

Such Sweet Sorrow

I’ll be honest, this whole leaving thing is hard. Really hard. And at this point, the sorrow of leaving eclipses the excitement of going. I feel a bit like a Pavlovian dog – when someone includes the word “leaving” in a sentence, my eyes fill. I can’t claim that I’m not a cryer anymore because I have spent so much time crying of late.

I love my life here in Maryland. I love my family. I love my church. I love my friends. I love my house. I love the Abingdon library and the Target and the YMCA – all less than five minutes from home. So the idea of leaving it all is very sad and my heart is often overcome with sorrow.

But this is sweet sorrow. The reason why this is so hard is because God is so good and He gives such good gifts. Would I want it to be easy? Would I want to only be excited about the new adventure awaiting us? Would I want to have one hour straight with my mother and not be reduced to tears? Would I want to worship with my church here and not cry at the thought of the Almengor’s not being behind me or Jack and Charli beside us?  The answer is a definite no.

These gifts of an amazing family, church, friends and other simple pleasures come from the hand of a gracious God. This gracious God who gives such gifts to undeserving ones like me will be in Akron, Ohio. This is a hope I look forward to as I leave what is so dear. So as I weep, I rejoice that God who has been so good to me will continue to show goodness to me all the days of my life not because I am worthy, but because Jesus the worthy One died in my place suffering the wrath I deserve so that I might experience the favor He alone deserves.

John 1:16 And from His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.