Bed Time Routine

Journey has a very specific bed time routine. We started it when she was just 6 or 7 months old. Its not rigid in regards to 'when' it happens but 'what' happens is pretty standard.

First we go potty and brush our teeth. Then we get into our pj's and Journey climbs into bed for some quiet time. She is allowed to read books, play with her stuffies, listen to music or stories.

When she feels ready she calls to us to come and read with her. Usually we read one or two books and then a Bible story. After the Bible story we pray together and sing 'our song'. (which is really the song my dad sang to me every night when I was a kid.) It goes: "God loves you and I love you and that's the way it should be. God loves Journey and I love Journey and that's the way it IS". Then we snuggle down in bed for a cuddle and we tell a story about her. Garron's story is an ongoing adventure but mine are just random things ... sometimes true, sometimes not. Her favorites of mine are when she is 'pulled' into her story books and gets to have adventures with Dora or Franklin (or the characters from whatever book she's been reading that day)

After that we have a minute of silent snuggling (daddy times us) and then I climb down, put on a tape (she chooses whether it will be a story or music) and I turn off the light. She tells me to have sweet dreams and I tell her the same. We wave goodnight and out I go.

Garron and I take turns going through this routine with her. The only part we always try to do together is the song.

Its really a great way to unwind after the day and I kinda wish someone would do it for me! My own bedtime routine consists of bathroom stuff, get into bed, listen to sports on the radio till Garron falls asleep, sudoku, and then at 11 o'clock I turn on my radio to catch the old radio shows like Burns and Allen, The Shadow, The Green Hornet, Wild Bill, Inner Sanctum, etc. I listen to those with my headphones till I drop off. Thankfully I have sleep function on my radio so the noise doesn't go on all night.

The Rish Boys

From top to bottom:
Charles Rish, Darren Rish, Garron Rish, and Solomon Rish
See any similarities?

Four Things...

I saw this on Shanna's blog and thought it was interesting. So here are my four things:

Four jobs I have had
*Hotel Housekeeper
*Nanny
*Gas Attendant
*Bible House Manager

Four movies I've watched over and over
*The Kid
*Funny Girl
*Princess Bride
*Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Four places I've lived
*Seaton, England
*Chimaltenango, Guatemala
*Jackson, Michigan
*Three Hills, Alberta

Four TV shows I love(d) to watch
*Young Riders
*Survivor
*Rick Mercer Report
*This Hour Has Twenty-Two Minutes

Four places I've been on vacaion
*Mallorca, Spain
*Ocean City, NJ
*England
*The Grand Canyon

Four of my favorite foods
*rice
*chocolate
*hamburgers
*cereal (cold or hot)

Four places I'd rather be right now
*in bed
*in Amanda's hot tub with my mom and sisters
*in a spa getting a full-body massage
*on vacation somewhere warm (but not too warm)

Then There are Times Like These

Journey and I have many wonderful moments together, too. We like to play blocks, trains, and lego. We like to color, stamp, and use scissors and glue. We LOVE to read stories and have stories read to us, and we love to cuddle up on the couch watching kids' shows. We laugh about 'pat-a-drum-bum' (flatulence) and make up crazy songs and dances. At these times I feel I was MADE to be a momma. If I could only be a momma without all the discipline issues ... now THAT would be an affirming role.

Why Am I the One Crying?

Today was 'one of those days' with Journey: from the moment she got out of bed and demanded candy for breakfast (and threw a tantrum when I told her no), to the moment I sent her back to her bed shortly after supper for refusing to do what I asked (all I wanted her to do was go potty so we could then go to the library!)

Everything was a fight. Her two favorite responses when asked to do something are: "I can't" or "First I need to ..." She has an excuse for every delay in obedience and nothing I say or do seems to get through to her. I get so weary of the struggle. I feel defeated and inadequate.
I seem to cry more during discipline than she does. Her will is so strong. I want to be able to break her of her disobedience without breaking her spirit. Garron and I actually stopped right in the middle of a big 'set to' this evening to pray for her (and US!!) cause it all just seemed so out of control. It HAS been getting worse and worse and often she doesn't even acknowledge that I'm talking to her.

We never made it to the library. I wanted to get her new stories to listen to when going to sleep (a real treat!) ... but we just couldn't permit it with her continued rebellion. I know, I know ... there are spiritual lessons and parallels here. God wants to bless us, His kids, but can't because we haven't learned to walk in the safety of obedience.

I guess tomorrow is a new day ... but honestly with the way I feel right now I'm just not looking forward to it.

Journey and her Gramma

Garron's parents live just down the road from us. Journey likes to have play dates over there as gramma has a wide variety of special toys and even a chalk board! But mostly Journey enjoys the candies gramma has hidden all over the house.

Journey and her Mor Mor

Journey and her Mor Mor get along Great! I think Journey appreciates mom's 'no nonsense' approach. She also appreciates that Mor Mor likes to do the some of the same things as her ... like color and play with Polly Pocket, and SHOP. (:

Soaking Sol

Because of Sol's excema (sp?) we can't bathe him too often, which is a shame cause he really LOVES to splash around in the sink or tub. 

Last Saturday the town held its annual Christmas Tree Burn. The local grocery store caters a hotdog/hot chocolate supper and puts on a brilliant fire-works display. Every one brings their Christmas trees and the fire department makes a big bonfire out of them. Its fun! Oh yeah, there were hayrides too. We forgot to bring Journey's little tree to the party so we had to hold one of our own in the back yard. (We had forgotten to water her tree for much of the holidays so when I finally took it down every single needle fell off before I could get it outside. Funny) 

Sol has been a bit off lately. Not sure why ... best guess is that he could be teething. Nothing has popped through yet but there is a little white showing on the bottom left. Its disturbed his sleep pattern thats all I know! Almost every night this week he has woken up at 11pm sharp and stayed awake for about an hour (sometimes more). He's not hungry and not really interested in playing ... he just wants to be cuddled. Besides the fact that I'm being deprived of sleep I find those times very precious. Just me and Sol snuggled together in the rocking chair. Its quiet and calm and somehow 'holy'.

Sweaters In January

Never mind 'sweaters' ... I was out in just my T-shirt (well, and my pants!!) It was January 25th today and we spent all afternoon playing in the back yard. David and Erin's babushkas would have been chiding us for our poor parenting, but hey, at least Sol has a hat on!

"Dora CandyLand"

You can tell by the look on grampa's face that he is NOT winning. Journey was given Dora Candyland for her birthday and this was our first time playing it. Gramma and Grampa Rish were there as well as Auntie Sharon. Journey did pretty good with taking turns, catching on to the point of the game and staying focused. She did get a little distracted near the end but all in all I was very proud of her first attempt at a board game. She IS only three, after all.

We want to say a huge 'thank you' to auntie Sharon for taking all our birthday pics. It was much more relaxing for me to be able to leave all that to her and just focus on keeping the party going and attending to Journey's needs. Here's one of my favorites of Journey 'hooraying'. She had a great day!

Journey took her party guests to the local pool to finish off the big birthday bash. They had a blast! The pool is literally just across the street from our house so Journey and I have seasons passes and try to get there weekly. Its good exercise in the winter months and helps us both sleep better at night. She loves to go with me but definitely has more fun when there's friends her own age to play with.

Party Pics

Journey, lost in the music of the candle. (it played Happy Birthday once lit)
Tater Tots! Yummy

Opening the presents. We had to do this first cause Journey just couldn't wait!
It was tough to keep the other kids from opening up her gifts ... they were just as excited as she was.

On January 18th Journey turned 3 years old. To celebrate we invited her cousins and their friend Mikayla to a special "Dora Party". Journey and I had a lot of fun decorating the house by hanging hand colored pictures of Dora and Boots on the wall, painting pics of Dora, the Map and Backpack on the windows and hanging balloons all around. I also made a Dora pinata and stuffed it with some of Journey's favorite candies and stickers. We ordered a Dora cake from the grocery store cause after all that decorating I was exhausted. (:

A Rare Family Pic

Here's the whole gang. Isn't Journey's Christmas dress adorable?!

Potty Progress

Ok, I realize for those of you who have not been to our house this may not seem like progress... but believe me IT IS. This is our new grey toilet and sink (a bargain found at the ReStore). Now when we push the flush handle something actually happens. And since this pic was taken Garron has cleaned out all the other junk and swept and scrubbed the floor. So it looks really good. He has also built a little shelf just above the sink (to cap off that section he had to build to hold the pipes) and hung up the mirror. The mirror is only temporary until he finishes making a 'vanity' to house it properly (and our toothbrushes etc). I'm so excited.

Potty Update

The old sink and cupboards are gone! We discovered mold under the sink and are very happy to have that out of the house. Thankfully it hadn't spread too far. Garron has been working very hard and has since installed the new sink, ripped out the old toilet and is currently working on putting the new toilet in place. New pics coming soon!

Chip off the old Block

Sol and Garron are DEFINITELY father and son. They have the same hair, the same eyes, the same smile .... they like to finish their meals with fruit and they like to go to bed (and get up) early. Thankfully Garron doesn't drool as much but other than that they could be twins!

My Journey

I love my Journey. I love that she is independent. I love her sense of humor! I love that she tells me "thank you for being my best friend". I love that she tells me to "have sweet dreams momma" when I lay her down for her nap. (she knows I nap too) I love that she turns everything into little people (her cutlery, peanuts, crayons ... ANYthing) I love that under her quirky exterior lies a very soft little heart that wants very much to be loved and accepted and good.

Scooching

At 7 months old Sol has started 'scooching'. I sat him up with his bum against these pillows -- a little while later I noticed he wasn't touching them anymore. He just rocks back and forth and back and forth.

Ahhh, The Dentist

Journey had her first visit to the Dentist this week. She was excited about it right up until we walked into the room and she saw this chair. At that point she stopped smiling and told me quietly that she didn't want to do it anymore. Those of you who have had the privilege of hanging out with Journey in person will know that when she says she doesn't want to do something she MEANS it! We did manage to get her into the chair (and I quickly took this picture) but she got scared and jumped out as soon as the dentist started to recline it. We tried a number of bribes and threats. Journey knows what she wants (and doesn't want) and is not easily swayed. In the end I sat on the chair and sat her on my lap and held her down insisting that she MUST open her mouth. The dentist (a very patient lady) managed to count and inspect all 20 of her teeth but decided to forego the cleaning until next time. It would have been traumatic for all involved and so I agreed that it should wait. Journey did get a new toothbrush out of the deal and even a sticker from the Dentist's Treasure Box.

Its so hard for me to know how to handle situations like this. My first thought was to deny her any treats cause she was disobedient. But then I tried to put myself in her shoes and realized that this was really a very strange thing for me to be asking her to do and of course she would be nervous about it. She wasn't trying to 'be bad' ... but was scared of the unknown, as I would be. So, in the end I let her have the treats and didn't discipline her for her reactions in the room. I tried to end on the most positive note I could so that she would be less adverse to going back for the cleaning. Next time maybe we'll try having 'Lamby' come along for comfort.

Our First Major Project

Sorry for the sideways pic ... Garron has just started our bathroom renovations. The top pic is the 'before' shot. I think you'll be amazed at what he does with the place. We'll be turning this large bathroom into an ensuite with a tub (it only has a sower right now), a pedestal sink (instead of what you see here) and a closet for our clothes. We will knock out part of the wall between this room and what is currently Sol's room and it will become the entrance. We'll block off the existing door and make the area that used to lead to the bathroom into a coat closet. Once finished we will switch bedrooms with Sol so we have the private bath. Hard to describe (specially if you've never seen it in person) but hopefully our coming pics will make it clearer.

Learning to Play Together

Journey would still prefer to play on her own (or with me) but I'm trying to initiate some interaction between her and Sol. I make sure he has his own toys and that her set ups are a safe distance from his grabby hands but at least they're sharing the carpet. Sol is always intrigued by what Journey is doing and spends a lot of time just watching her at play.

Sol at Play

That top pic is of Sol near the end of his playtime energies. He is actually resting his head on the block. Shortly after I took this I put him to bed and he was asleep in minutes.

Sol eats one of these bowls FULL of cereal every meal. Then he finishes off with a large jar of fruit. Plus he has started snacking on cheerios throughout the day. He carries it well I think.

Our Tree

Here is our Christmas tree from this year. We were going for a minimalist theme. Like it?

I know, I know ... I have plenty of pics like this on here already but I think he's so CUTE I just had to add some more.

Lately Garron has been bringing home peanuts for Journey anytime he visits the hardware store. (they have a big bin for customers to snack on) Journey will sit for ages opening them with her 'cracker thing' and eating them ... or pretending they're people or babies or whole families! What a NUT! (:

Not too many kids I know would be excited about getting school work for Christmas ... but Journey LOVES this number book we gave her! She is starting to recognize her numbers and likes to trace them. She can count to ten and apply that to counting things around the house. She is starting to hold up the correct number of fingers to demonstrate how many of something she wants. I'm so proud of her. She did this whole page of tracing all by herself and came to show me! I didn't even know she was working on it.