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:

Mom's Favorite Things

There are many things I love about being a stay-at-home Mom. Here are just a few:

1. Time to vacuum - daily. I HATE seeing stuff (especially dog hair) on my floors. Bird loves each morning's vacuuming. He gets great exercise running back and forth in front of the vacuum.

2. No alarm clock. Instead of waking up (at 5 am) to Baaaa - Baaaa - Baaaa, I wake up to Mommmmma (at 7am)!! Which do I prefer? Little Birdy chirps, no contest.

3. No schedule. Most days I have a few things I need to accomplish at some point, but for the most part I don't feel hurried or overwhelmed (which is nice!).

4. Time to feel yucky without worrying about it. I was working out in the mornings (gym or walking), but right now I'm not feeling so great in the mornings (understatement!). I'm wearing support hose on my legs, and it's helping a little, but I think I need some sort of full-body support stocking. Do they make those? Maybe I should produce them on my own etsy. (Not really thinking there's a big market for such a thing.) Being at home, I can sit and put my feet up if I need to - no problem. Bird just thinks it's time to read "Go Dog, Go" again. And again.

5. Doing dishes and picking up the house. Good grief! I thought things would be cleaner and more organized now that I'm at home, but I was wrong! Being at home just means Bird has more time to pull EVERYTHING out for play. Including shoes. From my closet. Every day. I'm currently missing a few.... not sure where he hid them.

6. Being with Jackson Bird, watching him do and say new things every day. He's really a funny kid, full of personality (if I do say so myself).  Lately, his favorite thing to do is crawl up and sit on the couch with me to eat a snack. He thinks he's big stuff.

7. Time to run errands during the day instead of in the evenings or on weekends. Although, if Bird's behavior today at the mall is any indication of things to come, we may not be leaving the house again for a W H I L E.

8. Nap time! Right now, Bird takes a morning AND afternoon nap. It's awesome! And he's really good about going down for naps without a fight. During his morning nap (usually 45 minutes), I have a cup of coffee while spending time with God. It really gets me in the right frame of mind for the day. During his afternoon nap (usually 2 hours),  I take care of Pampered Chef business and then take my own nap! Great stuff!

9. Time to start dinner before Jacin gets home. It's nice to have time to plan and fix dinner without feeling stressed about time constraints or worrying about all the other things I have to do before bedtime. Things are just much more relaxed.

Can you tell I'm loving my new job?!?!

Last Week

Last week we went to Hilton Head Island for our annual vacation with my side of the family. It was GREAT! The weather was nice, Bird loved the beach, and we loved spending time with my family. Here are a few highlights:

We went on a few bike rides. Bird chattered the whole time.

He LOVED playing in the sand with Daddy.

Fun in the water with Meme.

Being a Beach Bum is tough work!

Here's the whole gang!

Just for kicks, let's see a picture of the Bird LAST YEAR....

Add caption

And... a review of THIS year....

Time flies when you're havin fun!

A Few Favorite Things

Here are a few of Jackson's favorite things (subject to change tomorrow):

1. Just give the kid a spoon, hairbrush, or shoe and he's happy! It's the simple things in life.

2. The Bird loves his dog. I'm very thankful Rascal is patient.

Gettin some Rascal lovin.

3. Recently, Bird can't get enough of having books read to him. I've read Go, Dog! Go! so many times today, I think I'll probably dream about it!

4. Got a tight space or spare room underneath something? He's there. Over and over again. With his spoon. :)

A favorite spot - under the kitchen table. 

I feel so blessed that I'm able to be at home with him and watch him grow and learn.