well, i wrote that last post after being with the kids for one 12 hour day. i went back on monday for what turned out to be a 16 hour day with the older child home from school for a 9-day thanksgiving break (is this normal?).

a note to all mothers, dads, and grannies: before this week, what i am about to say was still under the category of hypothesis in my mind. now it is a proven fact. for a babysitter, the older sibling of tiny children is NOT a help. the only possible exception to this rule is if the tiny child is actually an infant. this exception depends on the age and maturity of the older child.

that said, at the end of monday, i really didn't ever want to go back again. tuesday morning, i did some deep prayerful thinking about choosing battles, motivations of defiant three-year-old behavior, etc. tuesday was more successful. today was a little better still. i think i'm learning some things by trial and error - and i have reconciled myself to my reality that sometimes you just have to make sure that no one gets seriously injured and that as little of the house/furniture/electronics as possible gets permanently damaged.

i have some questions for the experienced mothers. i'm supposed to take care of the children day and night for 3 1/2 days next week, and i would like to be armed as much a possible.

1. when do you eat? the only decent meal i've had the last three days has been after 9 p.m., and i have prepared no less than 15 for the tiny piranhas in my charge.

2. how often do you feed your kids and how much? they're always hungry!

3. how many days in a row is it o.k. to let a kid wear the same spiderman costume? should i just wait until it disintegrates so i won't have to look at it anymore?

please comment.

happy thanksgiving everyone!

a few quotes i heard come out of my mouth this week:

"don't hold the kitty by the throat. he doesn't like it."
"i don't like it when you put your fingers in my eye."
"no, no. don't eat the spider."
"what's daddy going to say when he finds out you're spitting on the bird?"


there's more, but i'm tired.

again, happy thanksgiving!

a weed, a dead leaf, a clover, and a dirty penny

yesterday, i arrived at the neighbor's house at 4:30 a.m. to find everyone wide awake, including my charge, the three year old twins. the twins didn't seem to notice that i was a complete stranger and were pretty comfortable.

i was pretty nervous going into it. i wouldn't have realized just how nervous i was except that i barely slept the night before. i think that it's the weight of knowing that these kids need their mother, and i'm not her. . . and wanting to minister to their lives as much as possible without overstepping any bounds, but not really knowing exactly what those bounds are . . . and again knowing the weight of the giant need that must exist in the lives of three year olds who have no mother.

it went pretty well all in all. my mind was constantly taking in information, working over time to figure out all i could about these kids and - well just everything.

a few things i learned:
* because of the move i think, there's almost nothing for the kids to do at their house except watch movies.
* right after the lunch, the kids voluntarily lie down for a nap that lasts 3 - 4 hours. did you hear me? that is so awesome!
* the best way to get these kids to behave is to sit down on the couch with them where they will immediately be right in my face because the one thing that they really really want is attention and affection.

some action for me to take:
* work out a schedule so the kids take their nap at my house. what a great break and a chance for me to maintain my position as homemaker.
* start introducing activities that will allow the kids to learn some of the things they should be learning right now and for us to interact while doing something besides watching movies or spinning in circles
* look for a good jacket for jaxxon, which will allow us to play outside longer if it's cold outside

i'm excited about this opportunity. Lord willing, my faithful friend, meredith, will bring over some age appropriate activities tomorrow, and i will be able to set them up at my house. i'm really excited about introducing them to books. =) also, tonight before i go to bed, i think i may try making some play dough. i think that will be LOADS of fun!

i didn't mention skyler, the 7 year old. his dad told me that he hangs with mimi in the afternoon after school, but yesterday, he was back at his house with me as soon as he got off the bus. he had drawn or colored two pictures for me while he was at school, and he was in a hurry to come and show me everything he had done.

this morning, 9:30-ish, the three of them were on my doorstep to bring back the cookie plate that i left several weeks ago. jaxxon also gave me a beautiful dead weed as he walked in, took off his shoes, and asked if he could spend the night. we visited outside for 30 minutes or so while the children terrorized played with stanley the kitten. i finally told them that they needed to start heading home.

while they were here, i added a dead leaf, a three-leaf clover, and a dirty penny to my list of priceless gifts. if they don't knock this off, they just might steal my heart...

I Like God

i like God. i really do. He's very romantic. He's always looking for ways to do the very best thing for me.

i recently had a little personal break-down about my desire to affect other peoples' lives for the better and not wanting to waste my time on earth - so to speak.

today i got the opportunity to affect peoples' lives.

some weeks ago, a family moved into the house closest to us, so a couple weeks after they moved in, we went over one afternoon and brought a plate of cookies and introduced ourselves. (i really like domestic neighborly things like bringing your neighbor a plate of cookies and stuff like that.) it turns out there are two houses on that property. we visited the house where "mimi" lives. mimi is the mother-in-law of the dad of the family who lives in the other house with his children. mom died about a year ago.

today, the dad stopped by with the two kids i didn't get to meet before. they're three, and their babysitter disappeared without explanation. so dad, who is gone to work about 15 hours a day, was home from work because there was no one to watch the kids.

what about mimi? mimi is sick and on oxygen. she's just part of the family, but she isn't well enough to look after 3 year old twins.

anyway, while they were here, dad asked if i would be interested in making a little money by watching his kids during the week. i asked him to give me a chance to talk to james about it. he said he would stop by in the evening.

so i talked to james about it. we decided that i would commit until the end of the year and see how it goes. even if this is not a permanent occupation for me, i think it will be a great opportunity to have relationship. we will probably be neighbors for a long time, and i think this is an open door for relationship with some children who may really benefit from someone who's home during the day.

anyway, i'm apprehensive a little. i don't want to let my new habits of spoiling my husband deteriorate, but i think i can juggle it ok. . . with God's help, of course. the dad doesn't mind if i bring the twins over to my house part of the time. i think he just wants to be sure the kids are o.k. he doesn't sound too picky about what they do. so maybe i'll stay over there until they wake up, feed them breakfast, and then they can come with me to my house, so i can fix lunch for my hubby.

we'll see how it goes.

i'm excited, and i should really not be up this late. i'm supposed to be at the neighbor's house at 4:30 tomorrow morning. i'm pretty sure i'll be in bed earlier tomorrow night. =)

oh. the twins are a boy and a girl, Jillian and Jackson. mimi mentioned that Jillian really likes ladies. she misses her mom. =(

I Look Like Oprah Winfrey

This evening, i spent used up some time following some online ads that promised to tell me which celebrities were my look-a-like. Sounds entertaining, right?

Well, some of the pictures i uploaded wouldn't work. Others produced very unexpected results. Have you ever looked at me and thought, "she reminds me of someone?" Well, if it has been bothering you, maybe it's Annette Bening.

One of the hints on one of the web sites suggested using different photos to see if the same person comes up several times. This could confirm your results. I did this quite a few times. My data from these experiments on two different programs confirms that i look just like Oprah Winfrey, Annette Bening, and ..oh yes, Winston Churchill. Who knew?

Global Warming - Ha!

when i hear the media, etc., talk about the dangers of global warming, the very first thing that comes to mind is a time when i was probably around ten. and some publication (or maybe it was our text book) we were reading in school alerted our young minds to the "fact" that our planet was headed for another ice age, worse than the first.  

a couple of months ago, my husband and i purchased a copy of the 2009  Old Farmer's Almanac, and inside i found an article that helped put all of these fears of climate change into perspective.  did you know, for instance, that way back in the 1930's, "scientists," were concerned about global warming, while in 1923 the media was warning readers of the coming ice age?  the concern about global warming and the melting glaciers continued through to the end of the 50's, but suddenly in 1960 the earth was cooling again.  then in 1970, the media once again warned of the coming ice age.  the people were so convinced, in fact, that the citizens of a small town in Vermont were actually studying the possibility of a city-size dome to protect them from the cold as late at 1979.  Then, you guessed it, in 1980, we started warming up again.

it's easy to get caught up in the hype if we forget to look at a bigger picture.  it seems to me, in my own observations, that maybe the earth works in cycles - like pretty much everything else in nature.

but truly the very saddest thing to me is that here at the end of the year 2008, when one of the top 5 biggest buzz words is "global warming," we're actually in a cooling trend.  you probably didn't hear that on the news.  when countries around the world report very unusually cold weather, colder than it has been in 30, 40, or 50 years, we're still warning everyone about global warming.

did you know it snowed in Baghdad this year?  first time in 100 years.  someone needs to explain to me how these reports indicate a warming trend.

please understand, i believe in taking care of the environment.  i think we should respect our forests.  i think we should protect our waters from contamination.  i think that smog is bad, and i don't want to breathe it any more than you do.  

i also believe that many of those who claim to be environmentalists are in the pocket of somebody because they don't make any sense.  if deer are not hunted, they will die of starvation.  if oil is not drilled by us in our waters, it will be drilled for by other countries who will not care as much about safety/environmental concerns, and those people will then use our oil to control us.  

i'll tell you something i do to help my environment.  i burn my trash.  that's right.  i live in a rural area with a big yard, and i designated a place where i burn my trash.  according to the clean air council's statistics, my husband and i may save 100 tons of trash from settling in our local landfill because we choose to burn it instead.  and as far as my "carbon footprint," whatever that means, the research i read says the earth is in a cooling trend, and i'm doing my part to prevent the next ice age.

Election

I really hope i'm wrong.



I can't stop feeling like we should all be in mourning.



Yesterday, i just kept asking God to have mercy on us.



Last night, James and i watched in horror as the electoral votes added up on the side that we feel sure will mean big and horrible changes for the history of the United States, the nation that we love. When the outcome became obvious, we changed the channel and watched something meaningless, trying to forget for a few minutes the historical time we are in.



Like i said, i really hope i'm wrong.



God, my Father, please have mercy on our nation. Please grant the favor of revelation and the mercy of repentance on this land and on Your people.



My heart is in quiet mourning today.



I find peace in knowing that my God is in control. No matter what happens in our nation, in our land, God is my Father, and He is in control.



I already see God's hand working in that i am compelled to pray, to cry out for mercy for the American people. The scripture where God says that "if my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." (2 Chron 7:14) And i remember that it is on the "His people" to save "their land." It's not on those who are not His people to repent. It is on those who are His people to repent. Then it's on me.



I'm not going to apologize for my point of view on this. Anyone who voted or believes differently on this one has probably already stopped reading. I just look at history, and i see a giant repeat of multiple nations before us....on many different levels. Just because so many people like our leader-to-be doesn't mean i'm wrong. There are many nations, who in the last 100 years have endured very hard times because of the actions of leaders who were able to gain the favor of the people for a while.



I will not speak ill of our president-elect. The Bible says that God puts men in power. I will warn whoever reads this that the months and years to come will likely be very troublesome. Perhaps more than any of us realize. Please pray.




Father God, please have mercy!




Again, i hope i'm wrong.

Meet Stanley

Here he is.

We're officially kitten havers.

Stanley, a 6-8 week old tuxedo kitten, came to live with us today. He's a very astute kitten with great personality and proper manners. He has inordinantly long whiskers, disproportionately large ears, and two black freckles just above his nostrils. Sadly, Stanley also has the runs. So Stanley's in the bathroom tonight, and i don't think he's very happy. I'm praying he'll feel better in the morning, so we don't have to lock him in the bathroom anymore. He really doesn't like it in there.

I heard about Stanley yesterday, from a freecycler (freecycle is a yahoo message board network wherein people can give their unwanted but still usable belongings away for free instead of sending them to the dump, or in this case, the pound). I had to convince the lady who found him that i would be a good and loving pet owner. I managed to do that by email, but today when she brought Stanley over to my house, she also brought her daughter, Emily, who might not have been quite as convinced.

Emily, a 3 or 4 year old girl with long blond pig tails and some chocolate sauce on her face, was very hesitant to leave "kitty" at my house; so i invited her and her mother into my house to see where "kitty" was going to live. It was obvious from the hand-feeding and constant following/holding that Emily had grown attached. We talked for probably 15 minutes, and most of that time Emily was holding "kitty." Finally, her mother told her it was time to say goodbye, and then wailing erupted. I wanted to feel bad, but it isn't like i went to their house and told them they could keep "kitty." They offered him up online. O.k. i think i feel better now, but ..... she was crying loud and sincere tears right there in my kitchen. It was awful.

Thankfully, Emily won't have to know that i locked Stanley in the bathroom for the night.

I don't hear him crying anymore.

Lord please heal his insides, so he can sleep someplace without crying. Poor kitty.