need some advice

I finally had the pictures of the girls framed that my sis-in-law dominique took over Christmas. I want to add more to the displays eventually, but i am very happy with how they brighten up our entryway and mantel.

this is the entry hallway

here's the mantel


here's our girls with their sweet friends, brea & brooke, who are going to be our neighbors soon!! we are so excited and thankful the Lord provided them an awesome house just around the corner from us!! we definitely look forward to lots of fun girl bonding with them!! avery & brea are a few months apart, and brooke & tatum are a few months apart.
and i'm pretty sure one set of sisters is a tad more photogenic than the other set.

we're having avery issues. she is one of the sweetest, happiest, most helpful, creative "mama's girls" in the world. but lately some not-so-nice attitudes have been bringing us to the breaking point. the main problem is that she thinks she is the mom or grandma in our family, just like myself or gigi (brian's mom). she gets offended when i remind her she is not in charge and her sisters do not have to obey her. she also has a hard time transitioning from "playtime" where she is the mama to "real life" where she is the child and must obey the mama (or grandma). needless to say, there have been some power struggles in our house lately, and i'm not sure how to discipline her in this area.

we are also dealing with very SLOW obedience from her. to the point that i have to pray out-loud over myself that i will not burst a blood vessel while i am waiting for her to complete the task at hand. avery looked up at me the other day and asked "mama, what are you asking for Jesus' help for?" dear, oblivious child. i know part of it is her God-given personality... she is a careful, meticulous, thinker who didn't crack a smile until she was almost one year old b/c she was so deep in thought. God made her that way, and i'm pretty He did it partly just to sharpen me. But there are wonderful things about her personality too - she enjoys organizing things thoroughly, she is a very quick learner, she is sensitive to others' feelings, she makes up stories and games in her amazingly creative brain, she "gets" humor and jokes, she has an amazing memory when it comes to music and the words to songs, she has big dreams - and i wouldn't trade those things for anything!

but ... if anyone has a child like avery and has found some great strategy to help them focus on quick obedience and transitions from playtime to normal life, please share the love!!!

"you black"

As in,

"Mrs. K, you black too."

That's the compliment I received from one of my students today. They did their Civil Rights presentations today and as one student was explaining Malcolm X and Black Power, there was an outbreak of Black Power salutes in the class. I was the only white person in the classroom. They could have left me out, but they didn't. They included me in the celebration by saying, "Mrs. K, you black too." To which I responded with two bangs on my chest and a Black Power fist in the air.

I got another compliment last week too, that meant alot to me. We were discussing discrimination and stereotypes, which is always fun. For example, "All Asians are smart. All Hispanics play soccer. All blacks are great athletes. Women are bad drivers." Those are the G-rated ones. Then someone added "All blondes are dumb." One of my special ed students, who does not understand sarcasm or kissing up, said "Well, Mrs. K, you proved that one wrong."

I gave him some extra credit.

Large and In Charge

There's a new toddler in town...

She looks alot like her big sis Avery...
She acts alot like her bis sis Tatum...

Belle tolerates her...

She's ten days shy of 14 months old...

We call her Laney-Lou...

Or sometimes just "the boss"

She pretty much owns all four of us.

Here's our cowgirl all dressed up for Western Day at school today...

Thanks to the neighborhood Spanish-speaking Western store.

And here is the Drama Queen herself...

Off to make some chicken enchilada casserole for supper. Here's a verse I just added to our bulletin board that my dear friend Jen sent me:

"He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." Isa. 40:11

I love the picture in my head of Jesus leading those of us with young children... what a gentle, patient, loving, and GOOD SHEPHERD we have!

Fishing with Daddy

Brian took these a few days ago... he noticed in his fishing magazine that there is a page where you can send in pictures of your kids catching fish, so he is sending them one of our little angler... we hope they print it in the magazine!

Two Books...

There are two books I want to advertise here on my blog if you're looking for some good reading:

My talented friend, Erica, just had her first book published! It's available for pre-order from Barnes & Noble now!! It's the first book in a series called Those Silly Sisters, so be looking for more books in the series to come soon. Check out her blog to find out more about her amazing adventures with her precious girls Brea & Brooke! I am so excited for you, Erica, and I can't wait to read your books to the silly sisters in my house!

My friend Amanda's mama wrote an amazing new book that is hitting me a little too close to home, but in a really good way. Be sure to pick up So Long, Insecurity (you've been a bad friend to us). But don't try to pick it up at the Copperfield Barnes & Nobles, because I bought the last one they had. I guess alot of people are insecure. I mean, I went right in and boldly searched for that book high and low, covering the same shelves & rotundas several times each, knowing that God did not have it in His plan for me to have to ask for help in finding it. When it became apparent that I was going to have to approach the help desk, I walked bravely toward the desk and upon seeing several people already in line, I busied myself looking at the tables of books close by so everyone else could ask their questions first. When everyone was gone, I took a deep breath and a step forward and asked for the book. When she told me it was on the same rotunda in the front that I had inspected at least three times already, I didn't argue. I nodded and confidently walked right up to the rotunda, knowing it wasn't there, praying ardently that the Lord would not make me have to ask her to come show it to me. But alas! There it was on the bottom shelf, the only copy of the book, somewhat hidden behind another stack of books. So... I know I probably don't need this book that much, but if any of y'all struggle with insecurity, you should definitely get it! (Ha!)

So anyway, if you are looking for a good book to read for yourself and/or for your kiddos, these are the ones you should get IMO.

How to open a lunch...

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I'm going to anyway. Yesterday, Avery & I had a heart-to-heart and it wasn't because I was pleased with her. Her attitude lately has stunk. So we prayed and cried and then this came out:

Me: Avery, if you ever need to talk to me about anything going on in your life, I am always here to listen. If you are having a hard time at school or your friends aren't being nice or you feel sad or afraid about anything, you can always talk to me.

Avery: (in tears) Well, Mama, it would be really good if you could be at school with me

Me: Why do you want me at school with you? I think I might just get in Mrs. Williamson's way.

Avery: Well, if you were at school with me, you could help me with my lunch.

Me: (mind spinning and face turning pinkish-red) Why do you need me at lunch?

Avery: Because I don't know how to open everything and the other kids laugh at me.

Oh the pain in my heart. I had unknowingly crippled my oldest child by doing too much for her. I always set her meals out for her, ready to eat. I do agree with the concept that an almost-5 year old should be able to open their foods & feed themselves. I just didn't know she couldn't do it.

Okay, so at that point, I felt both horrible and thankful at the same time. Horrible, because I had failed to teach my child how to open an applesauce or ziploc bag. Turns out her biggest problem was unzipping the actual lunch bag itself - she said the zipper always got stuck and she couldn't get the food out!! I'm sure her teacher eventually noticed and helped her, but the fact that it made her feel insecure, makes me so sad.

And I also felt thankful because I realized this little problem could be so easily solved. So we sat down right then and had a practice lunch. I put a juice box, water bottle, applesauce, and ziploc bag in her lunch bag and zipped it up. We sat at the table and we pretended like it was really lunch time at school. So she proceded to go through each obstacle and we identified the problem & solution for each item. Zipper on lunch bag - unzip slowly so it won't get stuck. Water bottle - Mama needs to break the lid's seal before I put it in her lunch... she can unscrew it herself if the seal is already snapped, she just can't twist hard enough to break the seal. Juice box - she did pretty good. Applesauce - she had to use her teeth to pull the little flap to get it to seperate from the applesauce cup. We need to practice that one more, so she can do it with her hand. Ziploc bag - dig thumbs into the center and pull hard. She got it.

You would have to know Avery to understand this... she is a very laid-back, nurturing, caring, meticulous, perfectionist child. Tatum is the opposite, I'm pretty sure Tatum could open everything in that lunch box at the age of 2 without any trouble because she would attack it and her whole body would shake with the effort she would put into it, but she would get it done. That is not Avery. If it was up to Avery, she would have me dress her every morning, brush her teeth for her, cut her food and feed bites to her every meal, strap her seat belt on every ride and carry her around the house like she was my baby. Tatum, on the other hand, gets mad at me if I try to do anything for her... she would rather wear all her clothes backwards and her shoes on the wrong feet than to have me help her. This is why I think every family should have at least two children - because when you see how incredibly different two children from the same two parents can be, I think you have a little more sympathy and understanding for other mothers' plights with their children. Night and day, I tell you. Night and day.

Oh Canada...

Happy Valentines Day and happy 9th anniversary of our engagement to Brian & I... all i can say is I am happier today than I have ever been before and it is because God is good and because Brian is just right for me and I think I am for him. It's nice that we've reached a stage in our marriage where we really don't fight that much and we "get" each other so much better than we did when we first got married.

I love the Olympics... when I was in 3rd grade, when someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said I wanted to be in the Olympics. At the time, I was going to be an Olympic runner. Then it was basketball. Now it's halfpipe snowboarding. But I don't like being cold so I don't know how I'll ever acheive that goal. And I'm pretty sure those girls didn't pick up the sport at age 31. But they are so cool.

Some of my favorite people in the world are from Canada. I had the privelege of rooming with three different Canadians, two of them from British Columbia, and one from Ontario, during my years at His Hill. To Bec, Jill and Tash - you are my favorite Canadians in the whole world. I have never laughed so much in my life as I did those years I spent with my crazy funny Canadians. I am cracking up right now just thinking about all the stupid, immature, but hilarious things we did together. Competing to see who could stuff the most grapes in our mouths, eating grapefruit by the dozens, playing guitar together on the Guadalupe, late late late night talks about God and boys, spending the weekends in my parents house and doing all our laundry, sharing clothes, finding new Christian bands to listen to, running together, swimming laps in the pool at 6AM, finding out who we were, finding out who God was, I LOVE my Canadians. I thank God for your influences on my life.

So we signed Avery up for Kindergarten last week. It hurts me to think that these first 5 years of her life have flown by so so quickly, and I want to go back and rewind and relive all those fun times with her as a little toddler, but the harsh reality hits me that those days are gone. And once she starts Kindergarten, it seems like 1st grade through 12th grade will all happen so fast! I'm not ready to go there. But the rational side of me realizes that she is so ready for the challenges of Kindergarten. She loves to learn new things and she loves her friends. We are so thankful God led us just a couple months ago to a half-day Kindergarten that is Christ-centered and very "hands-on", which I think Avery will love. Tatum & Laney will get to go two days a week to the same school, just down the hall in the preschool wing, so I think they will all enjoy going to school together next year.

I'm tearing up watching Hannah Kearney get her gold medal. I am so happy for her! I love the way her pigtails stuck out through her helmet when she skiied. I love how she takes it all in as she listens to our national anthem. I'm so proud to be an American! If I ever move somewhere cold and take on the half-pipe, I'm pretty sure she & I would be tight.