2 year old ramblings

i hungey. i want pop tarts. i want to talk to Daddy. pleeeeease. (tries to strangle baby with a scarf.) ew, mommy, come look at this spider web right here. ow, it itches! (hugs baby...squeezing around neck. bites baby knee cap.) (gets put in time out) mommy i wanted to kiss her! i wanted to kiss her! hey! mommy? mommy? (cant stop rubbing eyes) ew mommy! a spider! that spider name Aragog? mommyyyyyy! (joey be quiet in time out) that spider name Amagog?

It's HEEERRRE!

Mother Nature is providential. She gives us twelve years to develop a love for our children before turning them into teenagers.
-- William Galvin




Carly will be a teenager in a week. However, the teen stuff has officially started. (We can say "stuff", we know what it really is...)

As a very wise woman, the woman Carly is named after in fact, used to say;
"ALIENS HAVE TAKEN OVER MY DAUGTHTER!"

I am entirely too young to be raising a teenager...especially a teen girl, at that. BUT, this is part of the plan that God had when he brought me into this family. So here we go....

As I age faster than normal and stress-out on a daily basis, here are some humorous (and some meaningful) quotes that might help me to laugh to keep from going crazy:

Adolescents are not monsters. They are just people trying to learn how to make it among the adults in the world, who are probably not so sure themselves.
-- Virginia Satir

Adolescence is perhaps nature's way of preparing parents to welcome the empty nest.
-- Karen Savage and Patricia Adams

Arguing with a teenager is like wrestling in the mud with a pig. Sooner or later you figure out that he/she is enjoying it.
-- Author Unknown

At fourteen you don't need sickness or death for tragedy.
-- Jessamyn West

Few things are more satisfying than seeing your children have teenagers of their own.
-- Doug Larson (That's for you sweet mentors of mine!)

I am every emotion times ten, I conform yet I'm rebellious, always obeying but somehow still an outlaw, always talking but never heard, I am a teenager.
-- Author Unknown

I have seen my kid struggle into the kitchen in the morning with outfits that need only one accessory: an empty gin bottle.
-- Erma Bombeck (LOL!)

Raising teenagers is like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree.
-- Author Unknown

The invention of the teenager was a mistake. Once you identify a period of life in which people get to stay out late but don't have to pay taxes - naturally, no one wants to live any other way.
-- Judith Martin

The young always have the same problem - how to rebel and conform at the same time. They have now solved this by defying their parents and copying one another.
-- Quentin Crisp

Lord, help me...and guide Carly....and guide me to help you to guide her. Amen

Lead Me With Strong Hands

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I am called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't you lead me?

To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love
Chasing dreams that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone
- SANCTUS REAL

Christmas Dinner

So last night I didn't even feel much like making dinner. I had one of those bake and glaze spiral hams in the fridge that needed to be used. I plopped it in the oven. It smelled delish...all sweet like honey and cinnamon.

Then I decided to light some fall-theme-scented candles...cinnamon apple, pumpkin spice....all those nice cozy scents.

Next thing I knew, despite my lack of energy, I was feeling drawn to make a green bean casserole.

Gaining more momentum, I decided that mashed potatoes would be a lovely addition to this meal.

Next thing you know I've got a Christmas feast!

As things simmer in the oven and start to come together for dinner, I open up the Pandora and start some Bing Crosby Christmas.

I called the family in for dinner.
"It smells SO GOOD in here! Oh my gosh!"
"Wait, why is there Christmas music playing?"
"Oh my gosh you prepared Christmas dinner! This is awesome!"

As the tunes played, the candles burned and little tummies filled with yummy food. Family gathered around the table, smiling faces, and good conversation.

I think that we should celebrate Christmas several times throughout the year. It was so nice! The kids loved it....and so did we:)

non-deletable

If someone treats you badly, what do you do?

For me, I turn the other cheek....to start off with. We all say things that we don't mean. Sometimes we too quickly speak our mind and then wish we could take it back. I get that. I can forgive these instances.

When someone continues to treat you badly, what do you do?

For me, I start spending less time around that person. Maybe they aren't worth my time? After all, who wants to have their feelings hurt over and over?

When it doesn't stop, what next?

Delete their phone number? Delete them from your social-networking site? Walk the opposite direction when you see them in public? Block their access to your life in numerous ways as a form of defense mechanism, right?

There is a person in my life who hurts me over and over again. A person who I have given chance after chance after chance. A person who I have prayed to God to help to me to love, even though she treats me as if I am not even human. Instead, she treats me as if I have murdered every person she allegedly loves...even though all I have ever done is bring them happiness.

She is the mother of my husband's children. I cannot delete her from my life. I have to allow her to stay. I have to allow her to keep breaking my heart. You might advise that I just put up a shield and not let it get to me, but that would require detaching from my step-children....and would I be who I am if I did that?

If I just stopped caring about what makes them happy....stopped loving them, would they benefit from that?

I often wonder, but the answer is that I can't stop loving and caring for them...and why would anyone ever want me to?

Thank you to my friends and family who have loved and supported me as I have dealt with all the pain and suffering this "non-deletable" individual has caused me.

My apologies to all of you who, just as I have grown tired of the abuse, have grown tired of the subject topic.

But I can't delete her. I can't change my phone number. I can't run away. I can't get rid of her...because it would mean getting rid of my husband and bonus babies...and they are my family! This is just who I am, what I will always have to deal with, and a topic that will always come up...

I hate that it is this way.
I continue to pray for change in her heart.
But I assure you, anytime I need to talk about it, it's because I have suffered more deeply than anyone could even begin to understand. I haven't even EVER met another 50/50 custody step-mom. I know they surely exist, but my search is still on.

There's nothing left for ME to do...because no matter how hard I have tried to form a positive relationship with this woman, four years later, her only interests lie in a strong desire to hurt me...to live her life openly admitting that she is out to seek revenge on me for falling in love with her ex-husband and children.

Shame on me.

(sarcasm)

Thank you if you are one of the people in my life who continues to allow me to talk to you about my "non-deletable"...because it's really good, cheap, therapy:)

I don't have a cute little picture of Joey toting a backpack.....

So many of my friends have decided to send their 2 (soon to be 3) year-olds off to pre-school this fall.

They have posted photos of their adorable little tot in some of the cutest little outfits I have ever seen, toting their first backpacks and a big, "I'm ready for adventure" grin.

This has given me my first taste of how life will be different for my children if we end-up homeschooling.

Will they end up lacking independence and social skills? Or will they be more mature for spending so much more time around adults? Will I be depriving them of life experiences? Or will what we experience in our home adventures not only be enough, but give them a lifetime of family memories, as well?

It's such a tough decision and it's one that I continue to pray about each day.

I will say that Joey is doing great with what we have done at home so far this school year. Every morning he is the one telling me it's time for "homework"...that's what he calls it and he's so excited about it.

I will also say that I love having him here with me all day long and I can't imagine sending him away from me...even if only for a few days a week!

Decisions...decisions....