Things parents shouldn't do

Yes its true, and even healthy to admit every once in awhile that we parents make mistakes! But in our household those mistakes are mostly made by my husband....ha ha ha...NOT! I was sadly reminded of this fact a few days ago! but first let me tattle-tell on Brandon because that is more fun anyways...don't worry I will get to me.
A few weekends back we decided to go on a family picnic. I had just spent the day cleaning out the shed and found a wicker picnic basket that was given to us for our wedding. I thought it would be fun to pack up dinner and walk to the park with our authentic picnic basket and have some fun family time. As I was doing the last min packing (If you are a mom you understand what this means. Running around the house like a crazy person trying to think of anything you might need that would make this outing easier on you. Grabbing things like jackets, a change of clothes, your child's favorite drink, toys, and lollipops in case of an emergency bribing session. This process is very important because if you forget anything your entire trip may be ruined and end in tears and tantrums and I am not talking about the kids!) Brandon was outside loading the kids into the double stroller...unattended I might add. The evening was beautiful, the sea breeze was sweet. We took off singing "the ants go marching" it was perfect. Well almost. The stupid authentic wicker picnic basket was to big and heavy to fit in the bottom of the stroller so after watching Brandon make many failed attempts of holding onto the heavy basket with one hand and pushing the stroller with the other I offered to push the stroller and Brandon carried the picnic basket. We happily made it all the way to the last crosswalk before the park and I realized that the curb for the crosswalk was rather high and I was going to need some momentum to get over it. So I sped up and gave the stroller a strong push but instead of the stroller going over the curb it full force hit it and Peyton went flying out of the stroller onto the sidewalk! Of course my first reaction was to cradle my crying daughter in my loving arms and kiss the injury's....well ok maybe not my first reaction...My first reaction was to yell at my husband of course... "You didn't strap her in! What are you thinking?" Peyton's foot was bleeding and scratched up in several places and I made the mistake of showing her the blood which made her cry even harder. So Brandon scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way to the park. I got the stroller safely over the curb with Amber still in it. Concerned about Peyton's foot I began walking quickly to catch up with them when all of the sudden I felt the weight change in the stroller and I stopped and looked down and Amber had slid down into the basket of the stroller. In disbelief I thought, He didn't strap her in either?! I yelled at the top of my lungs "This is why you aren't allowed to be alone with these kids for any significant amount of time because they might die!!!" It was at that moment that I noticed a nice elderly couple walking by us with disapproving glances...oops. We asked Peyton if she wanted to go home and she said no. So we stayed at the park despite the constant complaining and crying out "I miss my foot!" which I thought was very philosophical of her. Brandon feeling a tad bit guilty I am sure, told her we could stop for ice cream on the way home and that seemed to heal it right up. I of course forgave Brandon but not without telling the story to several friends and family and giving him a hard time for the next few days. Brandon told me later that he made the conscious decision to not strap them in because he decided that they were old enough now. Whatever!
Ok so fast forward to this weekend...this is my failed parent story...told you I would get to it...So I was vacuuming the house. Amber is our little scardy cat. She is scared of a lot of random things like, a voice talking back to her on the telephone, or when mom has a towel on her head after the shower and Santa Clause, Easter Bunny forget it but, nothing is more frightening to her than the vacuum. So the moment she saw me getting the horrible thing out she hurried into her bedroom to hide. Peyton loves to "help" me vacum so she was "helping" and I could tell Amber was feeling left out. She wanted to be apart but just couldn't get up the nerve. I watched her out of the corner of my eye peeking around the doorway at us but then jumping back in if we got anywhere near her. It was pretty cute. When we were all finished vacuuming I thought I would have a little "fun." I waited by Amber's door for her to peek out again and I was going to pretend to push the vacuum towards her. (I know mean huh?) Well instead of her peeking out this time she must have finally got up the nerve to walk out of the doorway and she walked right into the vacuum...not knowing that it was there she freaked out and thinking that she was running back through the doorway she ran smack into the wall!!! In just the few sec that it took me to get to her and scoop her screaming body up I could see a huge bump already forming on her forehead. Boy...did I feel horrible and of course Brandon did not go light on the guilt trips.
So the moral of the story...we are not perfect. At least our kids forgive us and still love us despite our faults. Well at least for now they do, I don't even want to think about the teenage years. I try to pretend that those don't exist for us.

Lead Me

Heard this song on the radio the other day that captured my attention so much that I had to sit in the driveway waiting for the song to end so that I could hear who it was by. It was written by a band called Sanctus Real and the song is called "Lead Me". Here are some of the lyrics.

I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes
They're just children from the outside
I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine
They're independent
But on the inside, I can hear them saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?

Ok...confession time. There are days I just don't feel like being a mom. There... I said it... and I would bet money that I am not the only mom that has ever felt that way. The last couple of days have been very difficult for me because I have been exhausted. I just came home from a 3 day conference that was full of late nights and early mornings and not only that I was awakened several times during those nights with an unhappy baby wishing she was in her own bed at home. It drained me. People who are not moms can come home from a trip like that and get some rest, but not a mom. I was up at 6:45am the next morning and back to mommy duties. There was one moment between unpacking, laundry and dishes where I found myself drifting off to sleep on the couch while the kids were watching TV ( I know horrible isn't it?) and I was jolted awake by Petyon practically jumping on my face saying "Mommy, get up. You have to play with me!" I tried explaining to her "mommy is tired she needs to rest" but of course that was like speaking a foreign language to her. Right than I had this sort of Deja vu moment except I was the little girl jumping on my exhausted mom not having a clue in the world why she JUST WOULDN'T GET UP! oh so funny how the tables turn. Yes God..."Give me the strength to be everything you have called me to be. Lead me."

The Child's Angel

My brain is full at the moment. I don't even know how to begin to process all that I witnessed at the Catalyst conference this week. (If you want to know more about Catalyst you can go here: http://www.catalystwestcoast.com/catalyst.php) For me, when I feel I am in a fog of emotion, I write and it helps to clear the air. So this entry is more for me than anyone else but maybe it will help clear the air for someone else too.

Before Catalyst I was becoming more and more sickened by the growing statics of child abuse in our world today. Its funny how before you have kids these things bother you but after you have kids these things keep you up at night. I have been kept up at night more times than I can count after hearing things like 20,000 images of child pornography are posted illegally online every WEEK, or that 1 in 58 children are being raised in abusive homes this year, or that every year 15 million children die of hunger. These things bother me beyond words and I have questioned why God would allow it. I recently went through Beth Moores Bible study on Revelation and got some comfort on this topic after coming to the realization that God does not let these things go unnoticed and there will be a day when God will avenge the blood of those who have been abused. I have great comfort knowing that there is a day coming when God will say ENOUGH! and all the abuse will stop in an instant and his wrath will be poured out on the earth. For those who have been wronged he will create a new earth for them where they will not think about nor even remember what has happened to them and the sound of weeping and crying will be heard no more (Isaiah 65:19). I love, love, love Isaiah 65:20 "Never again will there be an infant who only lives a few days" and vs 23 "no longer will there be children who are doomed to misfortune for they will be a people blessed by the Lord!" Amen to that right!

So I was extremely moved that Catalyst would spend sometime on the topic of abused children. Kay Warren and Wes Stafford (the President of Compassion) both gave incredible talks on behave of children here are just a few of there points.

1. Did you know that if one family from every four churches in America would adopt a foster child there would be no more foster care in America???
2. Mathew 18:10 - Children have their own personal guardian Angels and if we were able to see them we would fall down in fear of them and never lay a hand on a child again.
3. Did you ever notice that Jesus said "LET the children come to me" He did not say "BRING the children to me" If we would just get out of the way they would come to him.
4. Very soon after the account of "Jesus blessing the Children" found in the gospels, he was put on the cross. Children were among the last people to bless Jesus.

So just in case you ever had any doubt rest assured that JESUS Loves Children! Even now as Peyton is running down the hall with a balloon between her legs screaming "I love my Balloon Horse!" and Amber is throwing every single DVD off the shelf for the 5th time today I can not wipe this smile off my face knowing that the GOD of the universe finds great delight in my Children.

Easter or Bust...

Well this Easter was a different one for the Kertson household. Thanks to a very contagious case of the stomach flu things were not so Eastery around our house. I had really been looking forward to this Easter, for one because Peyton now understands holidays and she has been looking forward to this since the day after Christmas. She was so excited to go on an Easter Egg hunt and to see the Easter bunny and of course this made mom just as excited to experience these things through her eyes. I was also looking forward to my parents joining us for the holiday. My Dad had a meeting with someone in Monterey the day after Easter so they thought they would make a weekend out of it and drive up the Motor home and be with us for Easter. So Everything was lining up nicely until...
It all started Thursday morning when I went to go wake Amber up and noticed she had thrown up all over her crib. At first I didn't think much of it since I had tried a new milk out on her that night and just thought that it had upset her stomach but as soon as I had got her all cleaned up and dressed for the day she threw up again. Ugh. My parents arrived that afternoon and I warned them of the sickness but in true grandparent fashion they did not care and jumped right in playing with their grand kids. By that night Amber seemed a lot better even ate a little dinner and was playing happily, she went to bed and slept through the night so I did not think much more about it until Friday night...it hit me! Spent the night at the toilet wanting to die! It reminded me of being pregnant which reminded me to fulfill my birth control prescription. Well all went down hill from there Saturday night Peyton...poor little baby threw up all night and Sunday night Aunt Laurie got it which lead a call to 911 for an ambulance to take her to emergency to get IVS. Monday my poor parents had to take the long 6 hour drive home throwing up the whole way in the motor home (they didn't even get to go to their meeting that they came down here for in the first place)...I could not feel more terrible about that. Of course they said seeing their grandchildren made it worth it but I think they were just being nice. Brandon was the only one in this family that some how escaped the wrath of this bug. He said its because he prays more than the rest of us...whatever! Looking on the bright side there is one good thing about having the stomach flu on Easter and that is that I actually lost weight on a holiday!
Today was a great day! The sun was shining the kids were healthy. I cleaned cleaned cleaned the whole house from top to bottom. Peyton spent most of the day making all her stuffed animals throw up. They even had little bowls that they threw up in. She actually is pretty good at making a gagging sound...not that I am proud of that. So much for Easter. Better luck next year.

Peyton's well Earned Day at DisneyLand

Just realized I hadn't post these from Peyton's Day at Disneyland...so here is a sneak peek into her day.

Peyton waiting in line with her ziplock bag of money.
Its hard to tell but this is Peyton watching the lady at the ticket window turn her money into a ticket. My mom said she watched very carefully to see what they were doing with her money. cute.

This is inside small world. My mom said this was her favorite ride of the day (If you ask Peyton she says it was the Toon Town roller coaster) Although we have caught Peyton singing "Its a small world" to herself several times since than.
This is in the car on the ride home. happy and tired. My mom bought her this big stuffed Mickey. (not in the budget but Grandma will be Grandma) It has been her favorite toy since that day, even eats with us at the dinner table some nights. :)

Peyton's quest for Disneyland - part 3

Well I just sent my baby off to Disneyland with her Nana. We figured since we pretty much paid for Peyton's tickets through her earnings it would not be economical for me to buy another ticket for myself so Peyton is having some one on one time with Nana today. (The two people on this planet that couldn't love Disneyland more!) I pray this time is special for the both of them.

I guess I got a little ahead of myself...my last update Peyton only had $20 something so let me fill you in on the last $40 earned.

We arrived in LA on thursday night with piggy bank in hand. Peyton was excited to show Nana and Papa her piggy bank and tell them all about how hard she has been working. She was super excited that first night so Nana bribed her by telling her if she went to bed without crying and sleept through the night she would get $5. (Its alot easier to get money at Nana's house) So she went right to bed and sleept through the night. The next day was my Dad's Hillbilly birthday party so we were busy most of the day decorating and setting up. Peyton stayed home with Papa. I heard she earned a few dollars picking up her toys and eating her lunch. That evening we had a band at my Dad's party called the Saggy Bottom Boys lead by my brother on a wash board. When we arrived the band was rehearsing. Peyton ran up on stage with them and asked with she coud join them. They of course thought she was adorable and handed her a shaker and she stood on stage and danced and played her shaker through out the whole rehersal. When they were through one of the guys bent down to Peyton and said "well, I think you are hired" and as a joke handed her a one dollar bill. Well that was no joke to Peyton. Her face lit up and she came running to me waving her dollar bill saying "this is for my piggy bank!" The guys face was pricless...I am sure he was thinking...what three year old gets that excited about a dollar bill?

So she worked to earn money Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday morning Papa sat her down and dumped out her piggy bank to count all her money. The grand total $42 and some change. "Thats alot of money!" Peyton said. Papa and I agreed. So I took her to a coin star and cashed in her change (That little piggy bank held $23 in change alone) and than went to the bank and got out a $20 to make a grand total of $62, enough to buy a ticket. I put her money in a ziplock baggie and told her she had enough to go to Disneyland and she jumped up and down in the middle of the store for a good minute. The rest of the day was spend trying to explain to her the meaning of tomorrow since she didn't understand why she couldn't go that very moment to buy her ticket. Last night Nana put her to bed early. I was sceptical that she would go to sleep that early but Nana explained to her that she needed a good nights sleep for Disneyland and when she woke up it would be time to go. She went right to sleep!

So all in all I think some great lessons were leanred. I think I will keep up the piggy bank earning money thing so that the next time she wants something that cost money I can say "well how much money do you have?" Nana is going to have Peyton give her money in her ziplock bag to the cashier at Disneyland herself. I can't wait to here that story and all about her well earned day at Disneyland!

Peyton's Quest for Disneyland - Part 2

Well the other night we dumped out the piggy bank to count all the money that Peyton had made over the last couple of weeks. She has been working very hard, never letting a day go by without asking if she can make some money. She tells everyone that will listen about her little project too (like her gymnastics coach, Sunday school teacher and the bag boy at Safeway, to name a few) and along the way she has cheated just a little by being so cute and charming while telling her story that people have donated to the cause! lol. oh well, I figure a little charming never hurt anyone. But back to the money count...when we poured out the money from the bank onto the table Peyton said "wow! That is A LOT of Money!" We began to count, Peyton helped by counting the dollar bills (which by the way through this little project she has learned what a dollar, a quarter and a penny are and calls them by name) and daddy put the coins in piles amounting to a dollar so she could count those too. When we were all finished counting the grand total came to $26 and some change. When we told her the amount she put her face in her hands and said "Oh man!" I asked if she had enough to buy a ticket yet and she sadly said "no". So as you can see she is taking this seriously, which I think is amazing that a barely three year old can even grasp this concept. With a little more than a week left before Disneyland day she still has a lot of work to do (or a lot of charming to do). But apparently Nana has some projects waiting for her when she gets there so we will see what those are. I think she will make it *wink*wink.*In other news...Amber has all of the sudden in the last few days decided to make her voice known in this family...literally! She is starting to talk a lot more! Instead of crying when she wakes up from a nap she yells from her crib "Mommy? Daddy?" Today after hitting Peyton over the head with a toy and than screaming at her I scolded her and than told her to say she was sorry (not expecting her to actually say it) and this little baby looked right up at Peyton and with a quivering lip and every thing said "sory." She also knows several animal sounds and can count! no joke! I held up two pacifiers the other day and without us even asking her to she said "two." She's a genius! :) I was telling Brandon last night that it is a good thing she is so cute and smart because her strong-will makes me want to strangle her most days. As cute as she is, she is doubly as stubborn and I don't say this lightly, she has me scared to death of what the future has in store for me as far as parenting this little one. I just try to keep reminding myself that if I can successfully channel this behavior for good, she may just be able to change this world for the better. I am convinced that the great leaders of our country started out as stubborn and strong willed children, so I feel privileged to be given this challenge but a "challenge" I am sure it will be.