Curtis the handyman

I love love love that my husband is so handy around the house!  Pretty much any crazy scheme that I can dream up, he can do it.  And what I mostly love about it is that he does it out of love for me.  Most of the projects we do don't NEED to be done, but he does them because his heart is full of love for me. How blessed I am to know that.

So anyways, the most recent project is redoing the main bathroom.  We (of course I mean that in biblical sense!) redid all the electrical, plumbing, tiling and painting and it's turning out great!  Curtis is grouting the tile as we speak.  I hear lots of huffing and puffing, but not a single complaint.

One of the fun side affects of having no functioning bathroom, is that we get to do hilarious things like this (well, the kids think it's hilarious anyways):

Our next project is painting Kara's room to make it more boy/girl friendly for when Jonas moves in.  Stay tuned ...

Halfway!

Did I mention that I was pregnant?  I'm sure you've heard by now ... news travels fast!  We have finally hit the halfway point and I think I've made a turning point too.  I'm down to only one pill (anti-vomitting drug) a day and only random vomiting :)  I'm feeling kicks on a regular basis and we are beginning to think about names.  I had an ultrasound this morning and we saw our little miracle - legs crossed and hands in front of his/her face.  Pretty cute considering it's still fairly alien looking!

I'm really feeling like this baby is a gift for us - a bonus gift.  I know all of our children have been gifts (all seven of them) but this one feels like the icing on the cake.  We have longed for a third child, but had decided that we were content with just two.  I was worried about my "advanced maternal age" (blech!) and so we had given ourselves a timeline about how long we would try for another one - as long as I would be 35, I was OK with that.  Well, this baby will arrive 8 short weeks shy of my 36th birthday.  Thank you Jesus for giving us the desires of our heart - You know us and You love us!  I am thankful.

Blueberries

I know it has been a terribly long time since I have written anything.  And I think that maybe that's why I've been avoiding it!  How do I sum up the last 8 months?  So instead, I will pretend like I have been blogging all along and just pick up with today - that seems much more manageable!

So to begin again I picked the simple topic of blueberries!  My kids love these berries and eat them everyday by the handful.  Thankfully, they are now much more affordable and are even local (well, as local as we get in Drumheller - the grocery store has ones from Abbotsford).  Last night when I was asked to make some squares for a funeral at church today, I came across this recipe and they turned out AH-MAZE-ING!  I great way to use blueberries - and mostly pretty healthy too if you cut down on the sugar a bit :)  Enjoy!

Blueberry Oatmeal Squares

Ingredients

• 2-1/2 cups (625 mL) rolled oats, (not instant)
• 1-1/4 cups (300 mL) all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) grated orange rind
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
• 1 cup (250 mL) cold butter, cubed
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) packed brown sugar
• Filling:
• 3 cups (750 mL) fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup (75 mL) orange juice
• 4 tsp (18 mL) cornstarch

Preparation

Filling: In saucepan, bring blueberries, sugar and orange juice to boil; reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Whisk cornstarch with 2 tbsp (25 mL) water; whisk into blueberries and boil, stirring, until thickened, about 1 minute. Place plastic wrap directly on surface; refrigerate until cooled, about 1 hour.

In large bowl, whisk together oats, flour, sugar, orange rind and salt ; with pastry blender, cut in butter until in coarse crumbs. Press half into 8-inch (2 L) square parchment paper–lined metal cake pan; spread with blueberry filling. Sprinkle with remaining oat mixture, pressing lightly.

Bake in centre of 350°F (180°C) oven until light golden, about 45 minutes. Let cool on rack before cutting into squares.(Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days or overwrap with heavy-duty foil and freeze for up to 2 weeks.)

This is the hardest thing I have ever done

We just finished what has been the MOST difficult week in Kara's young life.  I know that sounds really extreme to say, but it's true.  It's almost like 2012 hit and Kara's resolution was to become the most difficult, defiant, disobedient little girl she has ever been!  We have never seen anything like it in her.

*Disclaimer:  I am not writing to air my baby's dirty laundry.  

I thought long and hard about whether I wanted to share anything or not, 

but decided that I needed some help and so would become vulnerable and share my heart*

Anyways, the details:  anytime things did not go exactly the way Kara wanted them to go, she started to yell at us.  Then I would pick her up to go to her room and she started to scream and kick.  I would put her on her bed and tell her that when she was ready to stop fussing, she could come back.  I closed the door and all hell would break loose.  She screamed.  She flailed.  She threw stuff.  She yelled that she didn't like us, or that she didn't care about anything, or that she never wanted to come out.  What?!  How is it possible that she is 3 years old and she is saying the things I imagine a 13 year old to say?  

It broke my heart.  I shed more tears this week than I have in awhile.  Because this behaviour wasn't just a one time occurrence, it was multiple times a day, every day of the week.  It was horrible.

Truth be told, what I wanted to do was spank her.  But not just spank her.  I wanted to shake some sense into her.  I wanted to scream "what the hell are you doing?"  "why are you acting this way"  "where is my little girl that is so lovely to me?"  I thought long and hard about physical punishment.  But what I came to realize was that that would have been the easy thing to do.  To just spank her every time she acted out was an easy solution for me, but would likely not change her behaviour.  And it certainly wouldn't be an easy solution for her little bottom.  

And so I prayed.  I asked for wisdom.  I begged for patience.  I pleaded for grace.  And then I worked harder at each of those things than I ever have ... EVER.  Really.  It was so hard!  To repeatedly pick her up, hug her hard, carry her to her room, lovingly put her on her bed and patiently tell her that I loved her but that her behaviour wasn't acceptable.  Then I would turn and go out, closing her door and take an enormous breath while I listened to her cry, kick, scream etc.  But eventually, she stopped.  And then I would hear "Mom, I'm ready to come out now".  And I went in and sat on her bed.  I listened while she apologized for her behaviour and I forgave her and hugged her and loved her.  And we would have peace for a few minutes or a few hours and then we would do it all over again!  I don't know if it got easier or harder the more times it happened.  But slowly, as the week went on, it got better.  Every day had fewer times of crises.  And now today, the Lord's Day, has actually been quite peaceful - thank you God.

I don't know if something happened to start the behaviour.  I don't know what might have changed in her mind.  I don't know if anything has changed in our house.  But I do take responsibility for much of her reactions.  How many times, when things haven't gone my way, have I yelled and screamed (mostly at Curtis and sadly sometimes in front of my kids), or gone into my room in a huge snit and slammed the door?  How often have I thrown an adult tantrum to get my own way.  Boy, this is embarrassing, but I know it to be true.  

Oh God, forgive me.

It's amazing how what starts as a story about my daughter's "sin" becomes a story of my own.  I want to be a good parent.  No, I want to be a great parent.  But man, I've got a lot of crap in my own life that I have to deal with.  God, give me strength and patience - not only to deal with my children, but also to deal with myself.  

I started blogging thinking that I would ask some advice - and I still want to do that.  How do you deal with your child who is throwing a fit?  Is it the same way every time or is each situation unique?  Do they know the consequences ahead of time?  Do you have the same rules for each child?  Help .... please :)

Life on a schedule?

I've been considering putting the kids and I on a schedule.  If you know me well, you're thinking "I thought those kids were already pretty scheduled!"  True enough.  I'm a schedule person - I can't seem to help myself.  I like to know what's coming up and what to look forward to.  I'm sure it's leftovers from my teaching days, but I need order!!
Anyways, back to what I was saying ... I'm thinking a weekly schedule kind of an idea.  I haven't done a lot of this yet and I find that the days stretch out ahead of me and all blend together and I find I don't enjoy them when they are all the same.  Wake up - eat breakfast - get cleaned up - play - lunch - clean up etc etc
So our weeks would be relatively the same, but with lots of wiggle-room.  We might have bible study on Tuesdays, gymnastics on Thursdays, arts&crafts on Saturdays, playdates on Fridays ...
So here's my question: is this ridiculous?  Or does everybody do this?  Do I just need to relax or should we just do what works for us?  Any parents of toddlers out there with some input?!

Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made some of these the other day.  Oh man, are they ever good.  And I have no idea why I made them because I am really trying hard to watch what I eat.  (And by that I mean I let myself eat one a day rather than one dozen a day!)  But I seem to have this crazy obsession with pumpkin in the fall and I want to use it in everything!  I've also made pumpkin spice muffins and I'm going to make pumpkin cornbread to go with chili over the weekend.  Anyways, if you're interested, here's the link:

http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2011/10/white-chocolate-pumpkin-spice-cookies/

You won't regret it.  Well, maybe you will :)

Kara turns three!

This morning we had our purple party extravaganza to celebrate Kara turning "fee".

We all wore purple clothes:

Curtis wanted to know why we invited Katy Perry, but I know he thought it was hot :)

We ate purple food:

Lunch was hamburgers in purple buns, purple french fries, purple milkshakes and purple cupcakes to top it all off!

Our friends even got in on the theme and bought Kara some beautiful purple gifts!  We bought Kara her own cooking tools and I made her a purple apron.  She was thrilled!

In all, a great purple success.  I can hardly believe we have been blessed with this girl for three years.  Where does the time go?  So thankful for her in our lives.