The Love of the Father

5It(love) is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. I Corinthians 13:5-7

Do you ever have those days when you wake up in Grouchland? These are the days that it just seems like from the moment your eyes open, satan is after you. You have to force yourself to be nice and make a conscious effort to "do the right thing". It is a place that can very quickly suck all the fun and life out of your day and family.
Since becoming a mom, I have often felt like I was the single solitary vacationer to this wasteland. And upon returning from my visits, I always feel so guilty; like I am not a good mom, like I shouldn't be stressed, or tired, sleep deprived or short tempered. But the truth is...I am not alone. ALL moms/dads have round-trip-first class tickets to Grouchland, b/c we ARE NOT perfect. No matter how hard we try to be, it is impossible. We all have our breaking points--and according to Ran the daddy's plane always takes off earlier than the mom's. God knew how hard parenting/family life would be. He knew there would be times that our flesh would take over and our selfish desires would get the best of us. That is why he sent Jesus to save us from our sins! He doesn't expect perfection, just the very best we can do--and we all know that somedays our best is a ridiculous mess.
I am learning that the faster I acknowledge my arrival in Grouchland and turn to God and ask him to forgive me and help me have a better attitude, the faster my departing plane takes off. "Get behind me Satan!" is such a powerful expression. Does it ever cease to amaze you at how quickly things begin to change with a breath of these words? Through the strength of God, I can overcome the grouchies and begin to serve my family in love. So the next time you find yourself, or your loved one, in Grouchland say a quick prayer and ask God to forgive you of your poor attitude and move forward in Him.

Lord, let your love flow in me and from me. Teach me to see everyone through your eyes.

Abigail's First Dentist Visit

Today I took Abigail to the dentist for the first time. Last week, I discovered some white spots on her teeth when she got up from her nap. Of course it freaked me out, and after looking on the Internet, I called the dentist and they said I should just bring her in to check it out. So for the past week, we have been reading books about going to the dentist, practicing opening wide and talking, talking, talking about the dentist. So bright and early at 8 am we arrived at Dr. G's office. At first I could tell she was scared, but once she saw the fish tank she livened up. The assistant was SUPER great with her. She turned on Dora and Diego, played with Abigail and asked tons of questions. I was so impressed with how gentle she was with her. After about 30 mins, which was none to soon--keeping a toddler in a small exam room with LOTS of tools and gagets isn't easy, even if you have Dora and Diego's help. Dr. G. was absolutely wonderful. She took her time--which was so nice. But in true Abigail style she was a champ. She is such a big girl, esp. when Emma isn't around. She just smiled so big and opened up for Dr. G. It was like, "no big deal mom, where is my cookie?" I never cease to be amazed at that girl. She has so much courage for a 2 year old. I wonder where she gets it? The Dr. said no worries, just keep a check on her and come back if anything changes. Then we were off to get her cookie--yes, we got Emma one too.(Kinda ironic that your dentist gives you chocolate chip cookies when you leave huh??!!) She devoured that cookie within minutes of leaving.(of course she had it all over her) When we got home she told Emma all about her trip, the fish, Dora, Diego, the cool toothbrushes and the cookies. I then said, "Emma don't you want to go to the dentist?" And she said, "NOPE! Abigail can go back" Somehow I just don't think the blog about her first trip will be quiet so endearing....I guess we will find out in February. For now, I just want Abigail to know how great she was today; and how brave she was to sit in that big chair all by herself like it was no big deal. I am so proud of you!

The Countdown begins

First and foremost, I just want to say I am sorry for not posting anything in a while. I have a few in progress but nothing is completely finished. We have been pretty busy the past few days, and to be honest, I have been spending alot of my blogging time on ebay--it is that time of year again, the addiction returns.

Here is a quick breakdown of the lastest happenings:
Last Saturday Ran and I took the girls out separately. Ran and Abigail went to the toy store, Sonic and the park. Emma and I had to run errands, then went to the mall to shop, eat, watch glow in the dark putt-putt and get a M&M cookie, then to the Dollar Tree to get a special treat. It was so bizarre and unbelieveablly quiet and easy to only have 1 child. Ran and I couldn't get over how quiet they both were; we were definitely made aware of how much of what they are doing is just shear competition for our attention. The big news of the evening was the purse that Ran bought Abigail, b/c he didn't get Emma one. SO we had drama all night and all day Sunday over that PURSE!!!!!! So needless to say we went right back to town Sunday and bought another one. So now we have 2, and they have been wagging them everywhere; and as many of you have already guessed Emma has her's packed full of things she has collected from all over the house. And much to my amazement she has them all memorized, so if ANYONE touches anything she demands to know exactly where it is.

We are in the official "end of summer" countdown here at the Reding house. Next Monday, I return to my old life of mom/wife/teacher :( I am trying to focus on one day at a time and just enjoy each second before reality sets back in. Being off in the summer is a wonderful part of my job, however, after being off work for 8 weeks it is so hard to go back. I would like to report to everyone(with a bit of reservation) that Abigail is officially potty trained. She is now telling us when she needs to peepee and she has pooped in the potty for the past 2 times! Yeah Abigail!!!!! We are SOOOO proud. Yesterday we spent the afternoon swimming at Mimi's house and playing with Bralan. Once again, the water was freezing--Mimi swears that it feels like bathwater, but to us it is rather cool. After the pool, Emma was busying herself "taking care" of Bralan--which Bralan hates. She told me that she needed to put some rocks in the sandbox to keep Bralan safe and healthy??? Bralan mostly tries to do her own thing and ignore Emma's antics, but sometimes when they get the best of her you can hear her saying, "NO,NO,NO". Can't wait until she is more vocal and we hear the 3 of them arguing--FUN TIMES!!!!!!!!!

Today we went back to Point Mallard with Robin and Lauren(aka Lara Carrott). We had so much fun, and the weather was absolutely perfect. Abigail went down the biggest slide of all today. It was a tunnel slide in the kids section. I am not great with guessing lengths, but I would guess it was atleast 20 feet tall, it almost dropped straight down before curving and dumping her out into the water. She was such a big girl! She went down 3 times, before she finally got scared and refused to do it again. By the way, my girl wouldn't have the little kiddie slides that are made for 2 year olds....I am so looking forward to the beach at the end of August, I just know they are going to have a blast.