A Boy's Life

It amazes me the difference between boys and girls. Wyatt's new obsession is Lego Star Wars. I tried and tried to get Kayla to like some sort of video game. I tried VSmile, Wii, and DS. I don't care so much for gaming, but it does have it's place.

Wyatt started playing Wii about a year ago, but we only had one game since Kayla never really enjoyed it. As a reward for him one day, I took him out and he chose Lego Star Wars to purchase. Dear Lord, it takes everything to keep him off that thing. I didn't even show him how to use it (since I had no idea how to use it), but somehow the child taught himself and was rejoicing today about making it to level 19 or something.

I guess now is the time to start making some rules about playing. When I was a kid, our rule was we could play video games on rainy days. Since we live in the "sunshine state" I am going to have to come up with something different.

Thankfully he still likes to run, romp, and swim outside because, although I enjoy having something quiet for him to do, I do not want a lazy, fat, sit in front of the t.v. type of boy.

I wonder how often most people let their kids play video games? I guess I should start asking around to see what other families do to keep this stuff under control.

Sleeping

I love watching these two sleep. They pretty much sleep together every night. So cute.

Babies at 5 Months

Now all my babies at five months. I love doing this, so I am sorry if I am boring you. Actually, I really do not care if I am boring you. You are the one checking out my blog when you probably should be doing something better with your precious time!! :-) I am one to talk because I probably read yours earlier today. Anyway......

Yes, Wyatt was unfortunate looking as a baby. I told you so, Erin, who always says he was not.

The Many Faces of Wyatt

School Ideas For Little Ones

I would love some ideas for Wyatt to do for "school" this year. I am not looking for structured curriculum, but something fun that he can do basically by himself. ( It really is crazy to me that they have actual structured curriculum for kids his age. That is another topic for another day.)

He does well just playing on a blanket while I do school with Kayla, but I would slowly like to incorporate some sit down at the table time for him. I thought about just going somewhere to get little books with easy activities, but most of those are preschool and he will only be 3 1/2.

I don't know....any ideas???

(Jenn, you are not allowed to give random, strange ideas that make no sense and that I will never use)

According to Wyatt

This was a conversation sparked by PJ telling him that before he was married he did not have children.

"Mommy, I am going to take the rings down to Lauren (he is the ring bearer with JJ), give them to her, and then she will have lots of babies."


Another conversation about sin.

"How did Jesus not sin?" Because He was God's son. "But what about when he was mad?" He had self-control, Buddy. "What about when he screamed?" I guess he never screamed with a bad attitude. "What if someone took his toys?" Well honey, he must have just shared his toys with a good attitude. "Probably He did not have any motorcycles." "And probably He did not have any Annie's" What do you mean He had no Annie's? "If he had a Annie, he would have screamed at her."


Talking about Adam and Eve.

"Mommy, Adam was scared of God so he hid." Yes Buddy, Adam and Eve were sad and scared that they ate the fruit and disobeyed God, so they thought maybe they could hide from God. "If I hide from God, I am going to go under your bed." Why would you hide from God, honey? "Because I might eat lots of cookies later."

Quote of the Week

After many discipline sessions to keep Wyatt in bed, I heard him calling me from his room.  I was glad he at least was calling me and not getting out of bed.

"Mommy, I can't go to sleep.  My eyes are arguing with me."

Confused I asked.  "Buddy, your eyes are arguing with you?  What are they arguing about?"

"I want to go to sleep, but my eyes do not want to."

Recovering

I wanted to give an update on my family for those who have heard of our recent drama. Thank you to all who have been praying for us.

For those who did not hear, we spent Thursday mid morning/early afternoon at the ER with Wyatt. I decided to take him after watching him pass out in front of my eyes and proceed to vomit everywhere for what seemed like forever. He became a rag doll, white as a ghost, very feverish and I could not get him to keep his eyes open. So......off like a crazy woman to the ER I went thoughts flying through my mind of parasites in his brain or meningitis and other terrible ailments. The diagnosis? Pneumonia. I was grateful because I had come up with many more terrible problems in my mind!

Friday morning we were off to the Dr. again because of more vomiting. I also had the girls checked out. Here is what we have.

Wyatt - Pneumonia.
Kayla - Crackling in her lungs. She was put on a nebulizer and it got better, so they prescribed her a inhaler.
Annie - Double ear infection, but nothing in her lungs. Thank God!

Now Mommy feels terrible, but the important part is that the kids are doing much better. Wyatt is becoming his normal self again today.

Our dramatic week is over, my babies are feeling better, and my house is clean thanks to Mom, Janelle, Julia, and Lauren. A clean house makes EVERYTHING better!

Have a great weekend.

Anniston Janelle is 1!

What would our life be like without our sweet Annie? I found out I was pregnant with Anniston 
when Wyatt was barely 7 months old. This was even a bigger shock due to him getting over colic the month before. I felt somewhat normal for one month, only to find out I was pregnant.

Oh, but the joy she brings to our life! Yes, she has that Herron personality.....loud, rowdy, temper, and oh so cute! I love watching Kayla and Wyatt hug and kiss on her. I love how much she loves her daddy, Papa and Granma, and all her aunts and uncles. (Yes, especially Janelle!) I am so grateful to God that he is in control and not us. He knew we all needed the baby girl!

Contentment

Why is it that I so easily lose sight of the joy and privilege I have of staying home with my children? Well, I actually know it is because of my sin, but it concerns me when I get to a place of discontentment. Usually I know this is happening when I find myself getting frustrated or angry with them. Or, thinking that I "need" a break. And even having thoughts of what I could be doing, the money I could be making, and the recognition I desire from others about what I do (especially my husband).

It is hard when I get up every day to the same exact thing I did the day before. Annie wakes up, I feed her, Kayla wakes up after her, Wyatt wakes up last (mostly because it took him SO long to actually go to sleep the night before). I feed the older two. I put Annie down for her morning nap, try to get cleaning done while disciplining the kids for arguing, fighting, hitting, biting etc. etc. etc. I try to find fun things for them to do to keep them occupied and keep me from putting them in front of the TV. Annie wakes up, feed them lunch. Clean up and down for afternoon naps. After that I make any phone calls and emails. Kids wake up, start dinner, eat dinner, bathe kids and start the bedtime routine. Nowadays, that process with Wyatt seems never ending. Kids are down, spend some time with PJ, go to bed and start the same thing over again in the morning.

There are times I wish away this season of my life. The day Kayla can babysit her siblings, so I can go to the store by myself, or have a normal date night (without worrying and feeling like we cannot go anywhere because Wyatt might not go to bed!). The day they will occupy themselves and not want me to play with them all time time. Oh, and of course when I can actually drive somewhere without stopping to discipline for screaming in the car seat, or climbing out of the car seat.

The problem with all of this is that I am wishing away the time of have with my children. I cannot wait to put Wyatt to bed, but actually, I love it when he wakes up in the morning! He comes down stairs and does the same thing. "Hi mama. Time to wake up?? Kiss!" I love going into Annie's room to see her jumping up and down in her crib and laughing showing her adorable dimples. Watching six-year-old Kayla change her baby sisters diaper, or feed her lunch, or even just kiss on her.

Although I can be so discontent, would I trade what I am doing for anything else? No. But, I want to LOVE what I am doing. I want to have an eternal perspective about what I am doing. I want to remember that it is the greatest possible job I could have. I would not trade being able to watch my baby learn to walk for any job in the world. Or, sharing the gospel with my daughter and showing her how to be a wife and mother. Or missing out on the crazy things Wyatt says. (Yesterday he asked of we could go to Jesus's house. I said no baby, Jesus is in heaven. So, he asked if we could go to Chuckee Cheeses house) I get to teach my children to read, about how Jesus died for their sins, how to add and count to 20.

I pray that each day I will not take for granted, that I will not wish I was somewhere else, and I will thank God for how he has blessed me by allowing me to be at home with my kids. May all of us find joy in whatever season of life we are in, and not wish it away, because no matter what you are doing right now, we will all look back on this time as the season God has us in. May we not regret how we used it.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Public Education

I have started reading a book by Marlin Maddoux called Public Education Against America. It is not a book promoting homeschooling per se, but commentary on the downfall of the American public education system. I have found it very interesting and wanted to share. (With all two of you who actually read this). Perhaps I will make a series of this?

One of the chapters is about how textbooks are slanted toward denigrating Christianity and favoring Islam, and even the infiltration of Islamic doctrine. One woman told of a flyer sent home with her child (from a CA school) called "You and your classmates will become Muslims!" The book goes on:

"We discovered that the students at the school were required to attend an intensive three week course in Islam that mandated that they learn the tenets of Islam, study the important figures of the Muslim faith, wear a robe, and read verses from the Koran. In addition, they had to memorize twenty-five Islamic terms and learn six Islamic (Arabic) phrases, twenty Islamic proverbs, and the Five Pillars of Faith. They also had to study ten key Islamic prophets and disciples".

Can you imagine if any public school tried to teach anything about Jesus or have kids memorize scripture? Most public schools do not even call it Christmas break anymore! There are a lot of people who would send their children to public school to be examples to others, a light in the darkness, etc... I think Challies listed that as one of the reasons he was sending his kids to school. I would think it would be very difficult for a child to be exposed to, and forced to enter in to this kind of role-playing/teaching without becoming confused.

Don't get me wrong, I do believe it is beneficial to teach children about the different religions, teachings, and other falsehoods in the world, but I also believe this should not be expected of an elementary school student.

The book also says:

"The miraculous events leading up to the Koran, the holy book of Islam, and other "revelations" to Muhammad were presented as factual.
On the other hand, any reference of the miraculous regarding Christianity is always set next to the disclaimer, implying an absence of credibility about the stated event. It also emphasizes such things as the Inquisition, the Salem witch hunts, by highlighting in bold, black type."

Another amazing fact was that it mentioned a Jr. High School in CA (what is up with that state?) that had a huge banner on the front grounds of the school that said...."There is one God, Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet." Also, according to Dr. Paul Vitz (who has done extensive research on children’s textbooks), Muhammad's life gets considerable more coverage than the life of Jesus.

I believe it is obvious, even outside of what I have read in this book, that the public education system is steering children further and further from being taught anything about the Christian faith. What is being focused on is tolerance for all religions, all beliefs, and that all are good. Ironically, as this so called tolerance is being taught, anything about Jesus or Christianity, is either ignored, or put in a bad light. Due to a child’s trust in adult authority, and man pleasing attitude, is it not more likely they will be influenced away from Christianity as opposed to standing up for what they believe?

So, my question to the readers of this blog (if I have any), is this: do we need to put our children in public schools to combat the teaching of other religions? If the public school is teaching other religions as “good” and Christianity as a joke or “wrong”, will our children be helpful in teaching other kids the Truth? Are there any 1st-8th grade students who could process information about other religions, understand it to be false, and move on to share the gospel with others in order to make the public school better? Do people really believe that is possible?
Do you?

Don't get me wrong, I think it is a wonderful idea to believe that your children will be lights to the world, and lead their friends to Christ: however, I believe it is naive to think it will actually happen nor do I believe it is their responsibility at six, seven, eight, or nine years old. As parents, it is our job to raise our children and teach them right from wrong. Whether that be not to hit your sister, or to argue with mommy, or not to believe that there is one God, Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet.

There will be ample opportunity for my kids to be lights in the world, but for now, it is my responsibility as a parent to reach out to my neighbors (i.e. the parents of those friends of our children) and be examples to them, it is not my children’s job to do the leading. That time will come, sooner than I think. By the Grace of God, Kayla, Wyatt, and Annie will be strong in their faith, convictions, understanding of doctrine, and love for the Savior so that they are ready to go into the world and teach the Truth. One thing I know for sure, Kayla is not ready to be sent out.