Happy (Late) Mothers Day to ME!!!

Jacin gave me a backyard swing for Mothers Day (it just wasn't built yet). Now, 2 months later, my handy hubby has built and hung the swing. We've also hung Bird a swing, too! Now I just need to buy several gallons of insect repellent, and maybe an outdoor air-conditioning unit so we can enjoy it. Sheesh. Gotta love Georgia summers.

Check this out:

Looks pretty professional, doesn't it? Jacin's proud of it, and so am I! I have a very talented guy.
Thanks, Jace!

Book Club Fridays

For the last few weeks, some of my Mommy friends have come over on Fridays for a book club. We're reading Premeditated Parenting by Steve Nelson. Great book. Based on the Bible and full of practical suggestions. The chapter we discussed this week was on discipline. This was especially relevant for me because Jackson definitely understands "no," but often chooses to ignore it. Repeatedly.

What I loved about reading and discussing this chapter was the Scripture the author used. Who knew there was so much in the Bible about discipline?

Proverbs especially has lots of advice about discipline:
Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death. Prv 19:18
Discipline (or lack thereof) can have life or death consequences!

Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul. Prv 29:17
This, after all, is what I want - for Jackson to bring us peace and delight and to please God.

One of my favorite quotes in this chapter -  When I first read this, it made me think of my Dad. This is something he might write. :)
"Don't waiver on this. If your child wants to challenge your authority, rise to the challenge. It's time to go to battle. That is the loving and right thing to do. God has put you in charge, and He expects that you can and will win."

Dog Hair

I love Rascal and I love having him inside for Bird to play with, but I HATE dog hair in the house. If you know me well, you know that I vacuum our entire house EVERY DAY. Like I said, I don't like dog hair.

Well, last week I got the bright idea to borrow a steam cleaner to clean the carpets in our bedrooms. A friend from church loaned us one this afternoon, and I just couldn't wait to use it. I love a clean house! I (of course) thoroughly vacuumed before using it. Apparently it wasn't enough. Half way through cleaning, the steamer choked. Jacin spent an hour taking it apart, cleaning clumps of dog hair out of it, washing all the parts, and putting it back together. It was GROSS.

The whole time I felt HORRIBLE!  I was so afraid that we had ruined the borrowed steamer, and I just couldn't believe that much dog hair was still in our carpets after my obsessive vacuuming. And I know you're probably reading this thinking, "why is she blogging about dog hair?" Well, I just had to vent. Sometimes the little things can become a BIG HAIRY DEAL!!!

And just FYI: the steam cleaner runs just like new thanks to my handy husband, and we are now seriously saving up for a fence.

Bird Days

After traveling to Chicago last week for Pampered Chef National Conference, this week has been nice and calm, full of wonderfully normal things like cleaning, doing laundry, and running errands. Having said that, there are a few things worth remembering in the midst of the mundane.

1. Ball! Bird is lovin' balls right now. Monday while we were grocery shopping at WalMart, Bird reached back into the buggy, picked up a head of cabbage that I had selected, and threw it at a woman passing by. "Ball! Ball!" he chanted as I picked up the cabbage from the floor and apologized to the lady. Ooops! Cabbage is round, though, so I can see why he was confused. 

2. Vrrroooom. Vrroooom. That's all I hear all day long. Car, truck, and tractor noises are apparently appropriate for any toy he plays with. He even "vrooommm vrrooomed" from his stroller today while we were running errands. 

3. Slobber. Jackson is getting in some back teeth, and so the slobber is pretty intense. Yesterday he was leaning over Rascal, driving his tractor across Rascal's back. When he got up, I noticed that Rascal's fur was drenched with slobber. Gross. Poor dog!

4. Trouble! Bird is very busy and he loves to push the limits. Sometimes when I grab his hands and kneel down to scold him, he jerks his hands back, swats at me, and gives me a good dose of jibberish in his best scolding tone. It's hard not to laugh. 

5. Tomorrow is our last day of Summer Kindermusik. We have really enjoyed the "Mommy and Me" class. Here's a picture of Bird playing with an instrument at last week's session: