skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Last night we had a youth group all-nighter. We started the evening with the youth putting on a Valentine dinner for the seniors of the church. After cleaning up from dinner, we headed out to play broomball, which brought back good memories of dorm outings in college. Then we headed back to church for the all night lock-in part of the event. Casey went home around midnight so that he could sleep, and I stayed all night. Casey has stayed the last three years when I've gone home and slept, so I decided it was my turn, especially since he hasn't had much sleep this week. I didn't think I'd physically be able to stay awake all night, but yup, I did it. When I got home this morning, Casey took the kids to his parents' house so I could sleep for a few hours. Right now I'm feeling pretty good. I guess being low on sleep is pretty normal at this stage of our lives with young kids. I'll wait and see how I feel tomorrow when the reality of that missed sleep truly sets in! Either way, it was a fun night spent with some great high school students and leaders.
My friend Glenn snowplows the roads in our development. Sunday he left for Mexico, and asked if I could fill in for him. No problem, after all, we already had our blizzard, I'm sure I won't have to plow. Well, we got more snow. So after dinner last night, I strapped in Esther's car seat and my helper and I plowed snow for the next hour and a half.
Esther and I are now considering saving our pennies for our own truck and plow....she had a load of fun! She was constantly telling me to "Be careful now!"
Yesterday we went to my Aunt JoAnne's birthday party and then met Casey's parents and brother for dinner afterwards. As we were getting ready for bed last night I told Esther that she was very well behaved at the party and the restaurant, and that I was very proud of her for that. She replied, "So what do I get?"I think we might be using too much positive reinforcement (or bribery) in our parenting!
Peter is following in his sister's footsteps and becoming quite the dancer. They obviously inherited their moves from their father. Peter loves to bounce and clap to music, and he has now taken up line dancing. There's a line dance song on one of our kids' music cd's, and Esther and I do it quite often. Now as soon as the song starts, Peter runs over to the TV (so he can see his reflection in the glass) and gets ready to pat his legs, clap, turn around and "reach up high and jump up to the sky!" (see picture) It's amazing how often he even does the right move at the correct time! It's quite entertaining to watch.
I think Esther would sometimes fit into the category of "strong-willed child." Today she was whining and not using a very nice voice at the lunch table, so I took her upstairs for some time to settle down. She then proceeded to stand at the top of the stairs for almost 1/2 hour, fluctuating between yelling, crying, whining, and being somewhat quiet. At one point I gave her a chance to use a nice voice and come back, but she wasn't ready. Sometime towards the end of the 1/2 hour my friend Sarah called. As we were talking, she said, "It's pretty quiet there. Are your kids sleeping?" I responded, "No, Peter's playing quietly and Esther just finished a 1/2 hour tantrum. Apparently she's finished now because she's being quiet." Sarah said, "Do you think she tired herself out and fell asleep?" I was thinking that was pretty unlikely, but then I decided to look upstairs to see if she was still sitting there. This is what I saw. I guess she'd rather just go to sleep than give in and use her nice voice!
It doesn't really matter what else happens in a day when you hear this from your 2-1/2 year old: "Hey Mom, I've got to tell you a secret. Do you know that I love you?"
