Pizza Night

We went out for pizza Saturday night. We love this little sub/pizza place here in town.

I got a sub and Caitlin ate my pickle.

First she picked off all of the seeds and ate them.

Then she ate the pickle.

 Dominic ate several pieces of pizza and had to run outside to get some energy out. Not sure if this was helping with the energy level, but we certainly had a good laugh.

Fall Weather

 Our family is really enjoying this wonderful fall weather. The kids are outside every day playing. They like riding bikes in the front and have been able to meet Jon when he gets home from work.

These kids sure do love their Daddy.

 Catching a ride on the trailer. Jon was putting the trailer away and caught some hitchhikers.

 

Dominic and I collected some of the fall leaves and made place mats. I've been told by friends that they will turn brown eventually, but we had so much fun that it was worth it.

Playing in the back yard. 

 When I call them inside, Dominic will grab Caitlin's hand and walk back with her.

Even the dogs like this slide. =)

Playing with the dogs.

Caitlin wasn't allowed outside while Jon was cutting some boards for my library. So she and the cat were watching from inside. She was actually sitting on him. He didn't complain until she started bouncing.

We have been going through our fall/winter clothes this past week. Caitlin is having so much fun trying everything on. She's wearing Dominic's cowboy boots - on the wrong feet.

Didn't realize she didn't have shoes on until I was looking at these pictures later. This explains why I find shoes all over the place.

MOPS

This morning we were getting ready for our first MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting here in Cookeville. I was afraid that Dominic wouldn't realize until we got there that we weren't going to the one in New Bern anymore. So I was explaining how it would be different.

He asked me what my meeting was about. I told him it was meetings to make me a better mom.

"But Mom, you're already a great mom!"

Man, I love this kid! =)

Speaking of being a great mom -
This morning I put a new shirt on Caitlin. I didn't have any hair clips to match so I pulled out my bow/clip box and quickly made her something to match. Very OCD, I know.
When we got into MOPS so I could drop the kids off I noticed that Dominic had bed head.
Nice! Great mom moment!

Dominic had a very long lunch prayer today. It involved thanking God for just about everything he could think of. "Wow, Dominic. That was a long prayer."

"Yeah, but it wasn't as long as the pastor's"

Fateeved

Dominic at the grocery store -

"Mom, my legs are fateeved. Can I ride on the cart?"

"Dominic, what in the world is fateeved?"

In a very superior voice as if imparting great wisdom -

"It means super tired, Mom."

"Oh, you mean fatigued."

"Yeah! That's what I said. Fatigued."

I'm so sweet!

Today I heard Caitlin calling me from her bedroom after she woke up from her nap.

She was so cuddly when I picked her up.

"You're so sweet, Catie girl!"

"Ah no" (I know)

Talk about confidence. 

It appears that both of my children have great self esteems.

The Various Parts of Parenting

I have mentioned before that I LOVE my job. I've had some great bosses over the years, but this job is my favorite. But it is also the hardest job I've ever had. I'm not sure about stress levels, but I do know that I've prayed more since Dominic was born that all of my life previously. 

And I was an "old" mom when he was born. =)

Daily my children make me laugh.

They make me cry.

They make me yell and scream (thankfully it's mostly in my head - although it comes out occasionally).

And every day I'm left wondering if I've played something right. Did I say/do the thing that would make a difference. Am I being the best mom that I can be. No, probably not. I know that I can't beat myself up over this, but it's really stressing me right now.

Dominic (and Caitlin who copies everything he does) is having an issue with obedience. It starts with not listening and then he naturally doesn't obey the instruction he never stopped to hear.

He acts geniunely frustrated when I call him on it. So should I punish him or start over with the instructions? Should I punish him regardless of whether he heard or not?

Tonight I sent him to bed early because he did something that he's been told countless times before to stop doing. He stomped his feet and yelled in frustration. I felt awful. But I stuck to my guns and he went to bed at 7pm. I don't know if it will work and I don't know if I did the right thing. I've been told that the best way to discipline a child is to punish only for the on purpose disobedience and to talk to the child about the mistakes. But is it a mistake when I say don't pull the cat's tail (something kitty HATES) and then he does it again. I haven't told him today, but he's heard it numerous times before. He's not doing it to be mean. For some reason that is the very spot on the poor cat that he loves to pet. But since Tolkie hates for his tail to be touched I feel we need to respect him and his wishes.

When I went in to tuck him in, he wrapped his arms around my neck and told me that he loved me and that he thought my hair was beautiful. He's such a sweet charmer. I love the cuddles and the sweet kisses. He's so gentle with Caitlin when he wants to be. He loves showering the cat and dogs with hugs. So why can't we just have sweetness and obedience. 

Oh right! He's a normal little boy!

So what's the answer to making a inattentive, disobedient, dirty little boy into a sweet, obedient, dirty (because I've given up on the dirt for now) little boy?

Anyone with answers? Or is this just part of parenting?

Broken arm???

Our little danger girl is at it again.

I've waited to post anything about this because I wanted to have something concrete to write about instead of conjecture before I gave everyone the details.

Last Thursday (almost a week now) Jon took the kids to the park. When they returned he showed me Caitlin's arm. She had fallen off of the monkey bars and landed on her wrist. It was swollen, scratched and already bruising. She was holding her arm with her other hand. So we were concerned that it might be broken. Since we weren't sure we decided to wait and see how she reacted at home and take her in the next morning if nothing had changed.

That night she cried quite a bit and we ended up giving her some Tylenol.

The next morning I called the nurse and was waiting on a call from her when Caitlin decided to get mad at her brother over something and punched him a good one with that hand.

She MUST be fine. So I canceled the appointment and we went on with life. 

Then, of course, that weekend she started babying it again. 

A doctor friend was visiting us and she poked around and moved everything and said she was quite sure it was just sprained.

Now that a week has gone by we can see that she is fine.

After the first night she hasn't complained except when she wants something. She can be a bit dramatic. She certainly knows how to milk the situation. Poor us when she gets old enough to know the benefits of this. =)