Todd Update

I haven’t updated on our little family lately, so…

The two older boys are almost done with their first year of school! I can’t believe it’s almost May but I digress. Chad has been doing state testing the past couple weeks. He is doing awesome! His scores have been the highest in the class in every area! We’re so proud of him. He is also scheduled to receive his Timothy award at Awanas this year. He’s worked so hard to complete an entire book in Awanas each and every year and is so deserving of his upcoming award. He’s slowly making some friends at school. I keep praying for the Lord to bless him with at least one really good friend who is a good kid. It’s so hard when he is painfully shy with his peers. Chad is also hitting that tough age of pre-teen! It’s very hard to know when or if we let his sarcastic comments go. I see a lot of new challenges coming our way and I can’t say that I think we are truly ready for it!

Matthew is now telling everyone he’s “almost in first grade!”. He’s still the same firecracker redhead he’s always been. He’s really started digging in at school and is learning to read and sound out words! He has also started drawing real pictures, before he would really only draw in the abstract and his teacher really wanted to see him draw actual things. I love his creative mind and drawings, no matter what form they are. I can totally see him starring in plays or something someday, if he can get past being shy. I have no idea where my kids get their shy personalities 😉

Isaac is still my sweetie! We did worry for a little while when he went through a short phase of defiance and throwing some fits. Not sure where that came from but he seems to be completely over it and back to his old self. He just walked up to me and told me, “Mom, I made it rain!” What a goofball! He loves to run around in his underwear. We don’t have modest children! LOL! Isaac would play outside and ride his bike all day long if the weather would allow him to and he obeys the rules and doesn’t go further than he’s supposed to, nor does he go out into the road. At least we have one child who follows the rules 🙂 Surprising to everyone else, is how this boy can talk your ear off if you get him alone! It’s amazing how different they can be when they don’t have to compete with other siblings.

Emma is 2 1/2, what more can I say? She’s a lot like Matthew in personality! She knows what she wants when she wants it, which is almost always NOW! She loves to dress herself and will argue with me if I tell her doesn’t match. If I make her mad, she will take her hair pretties out just to annoy me! She also does this when bored in the car, so we go into lots of stores and church with her hair sticking up everywhere. She still doesn’t have much hair. A man at the store the other day actually said, “Is that an attempt at a pony tail?” Wow! I wanted to say, “Is that your attempt at small talk or are you always this rude?” but of course I refrained.

Aaron’s now working on our utility room and is almost done with the taping, mudding, and sanding. We have someone at church who said he’d come out and do the texturing for us. That will save us some time and money. Soon I will be picking out paint and light fixtures. Then we can finally move into our own bedroom. I wonder how Emma is going to do with her own bedroom. She’s always shared with Isaac and I think they both enjoy that. So it may just be a playroom for a while.

Not a lot else is new. We’re just waiting for our tax rebate to book our Disneyland trip. I am thinking up creative ways to tell the kids, so if you have any great ideas, please send them my way!

Comparisons

Ok ladies, we all do it but we need to stop it. Stop comparing yourself to other women! We’re terrible about this aren’t we? We compare our bodies, voices, faces, mothering abilities, cooking skills, academics, finances, houses, cars, men, etc. You name it, we go through checks and balances in our head to see how we measure up with another female. I try to remember that everyone has some kind of junk in their lives that I wouldn’t personally want to take on, no matter how perfect they might seem. I challenge you to really get to know someone when you find yourself wishing you had her figure, financial situation, etc. I guarantee once you really delve into her life, you will think, “Ok maybe I’ll keep my life. I wouldn’t want to have to deal with THAT!”.

I know as a mom, I am always watching how other mothers handle things with their kids and how their kids behave. A mom who seems to have a ton of patience, sometimes I find her kids are the ones no one can stand to be around. Of course, the opposite is true too. The mom who is freaking out on her kids all the times often has bratty kids as well. The moms I do see who seem to have it together and have pleasant children are the ones I try to learn from! I too am totally guilty of watching another mom who isn’t doing such a great job and thinking to myself, “Wow, I guess I’m not doing that bad of a job”. My point is to let ALL of these moments teach you something. Glean from your experiences and make room for improvements. You can always learn something from someone else, whether it’s what to do or what not to do.

Remember, there will always be someone who is smarter, skinnier, prettier, happier, richer, and better than you. It’s how you choose to deal with it that matters. Instead of comparing next time you feel that voice creeping up on you, think about how you can learn from the circumstances you’re in.