My Own Gold Medalist

Rob took part a few weeks ago in an Olympics for his morning boot camp and walked away with a few golds.  Except they didn't actually have physical medals.  (That's what happens when men are in charge.  Women would have had the bling!)  I love watching Rob compete--he is truly gifted.  And he will also push himself to compete to the point that he may have overdone it a bit.  One of the things that most impacted my kids?  "Remember when Daddy threw up?"  Lincoln kept saying.   

Despite that, Rob pressed on to win five medals.  Of the events he entered, he did not win two of them. One was a group event and the other he lost to his brother Paul.  Nothing like a good, amicable sibling rivalry!  Here are a few photos from the day. 

Foggy camera from the humidity.  Rob winning the 400.  He was only a few seconds off from his high-school-record-breaking time.

The boys watched, but also found their own fun event:  net-escaping.

 You can  see it here, but Rob and his partner dropped the baton.

 But he still came back to win.

 The push-up challenge.

 Even the super heroes were tired.

 Rob (on right) and his brother Paul (on left) diving in for 25 freestyle.

 Winning!

 Ready for the IM.

Butterfly!

 Backstroke!  This was Paul's strong point.

Post race.

Sawyer's cousin Braden congratulating Paul on his win.

Exhausted, but happy.

 My boys getting ready for their own Olympics one day.

The Cost of Homemade Dog Food

The cost of homemade dog food?  Having to deal with this level of begging.

Oh!  You thought I meant the MONETARY cost?  I can talk about that too.  But first, let me tell you what we've noticed since feeding Tex homemade food.  

First of all, the begging.  He loves it.  Will walk around the house, whining, staring into my face with that very look there.  Will take his food bowl (which I SWEAR I did not stage in the photo) and carry it around, smacking it with his paws and dropping it on loud surfaces, like the kitchen tile.  That's a negative.

The positive is that Rob has noticed that he seems to have regained his puppyhood.  That might also be due to the fact that Rob has been running him a bit more lately than usual.  It's a toss-up between the two, I'd say.  Running helps him and the food helps him run.  Win, win!  Now, onto the monies.

We were buying Tex low-end dog food that was basically $10 for a bag that lasted 3 weeks, maybe a month. I never really counted.  But a few weeks.  That's cheap.  I'm pretty sure homemade dog food is not that cheap.  BUT it's not that much more if you do smart shopping.

Here's what I use in my dog food:  rice, ground turkey, veggies (one week a mixed bag of broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower and the second week just peas).  A few times a week I'll top it with a raw egg.  I'll breakdown the cost of each item.  Consider that the batches I've made last about 5 days.

PRICE BREAKDOWN

Ground turkey.  I bought mine on clearance for $1.29 for a tube.

Rice.  Normal rice is very cheap. I had a huge bag that I bought for $.60 on clearance.  I used maybe 1/8 of the bag.

Bag-o-frozen-veg.  $1.

Total for 5 days:  Less than $3.

That's cheap!  But not as cheap as his cheap-o dog food bag from the old Walmart.  Plus, if I can't find the ground turkey (by far the most expensive element) on clearance, then it's even more.  But if I think about the fact that I was feeding my dog basically corn and other icky stuff (have you ever read what's in dog food??) then I feel a bit better.  It did not take long, was almost the same price, and my dog is insanely happy.

If you are interested, I don't really have a great site.  I searched a ton and found all kinds of things, from just tossing raw meat to your dog (ew, salmonella! and holy wallet, batman!) to buying supplements your dog MUST have to survive.  I took what I wanted from the different sites and recipes and just made my own.  You know that's how I roll with people food too.  In general, rice seemed to be a good base, ground turkey was a good suggested meat (I cooked mine), and veggies (which I pureed so Tex wouldn't eat around them).  Apples are apparently also a good option and a raw egg every now and then is a nice addition. 

I think that I'll keep going as long as I can reasonably price it out.  Good thing I'm always checking the clearance meats!  Let me know if you have your own recipes or something you've tried.

Check Out My ________

That's Lincoln's newest phrase.  It's very versatile!  Try these on for size:

Check out my house!  [when building with blocks]

Check out my underwear!  [wearing a new pair]

Check out my poopy!  [um...]

I would say (knocking on wood) that Lincoln is pretty much officially potty-trained.  (Ignore the recent above photo where he was still in a diaper.) He has now made it something like 5 days without an accident.  Plus he traveled to Galveston, made it through church, nap time, and a long gym workout, all in big-boy underwear.  I am officially (almost) done with diapers!  He still wears them at night, and only a few times has been dry.

Rob and I again generally used methods from The Potty Trainer, which I definitely recommend.  You start at age 2, skip the pull-ups or training pants to go straight for underwear, and set a timer.  Rewards are whatever you want--we avoided candy and generally did stickers or things like army men that came in packs from the dollar store.

With Linc, we waited a few extra months (he's almost 2 and a half) because at the beginning of the summer when we tried, he would sit on the toilet, but did not understand his body's cues to the point that he really could NOT go.  In the months between then and now, we encouraged him to pay attention, and he started to make comments to let us know when he was going in his diaper.  Rob began the process while I was gone and used a timer and also some kind of iPhone app to keep him sitting on the toilet long enough to go.  When I got back, that groundwork had been laid, so we started last week when the boys were out of school.

Despite the fact that I really failed on my part, Lincoln learned like a champ.  I forgot to set timers, kept leaving the house for the gym and errands and putting him in a diaper, and overall wasn't very intentional.  He often reminded me that he needed to go potty when I'd forget the timer.  He would wait to go after the gym or the errands rather than going in his diaper.  And the best reward for him?  Telling other people.  And I mean ALL people.  I think I mentioned that he went poopy in a restaurant bathroom and then told every single patron.  True story.

Here are my tips and thoughts on the whole process:

-Wait until they are ready, but think about starting by age 2.
That's the Potty Trainer's recommendation, and she came about her process after working in day care and essentially potty-training other people's kids for years.  Both my boys completed this by 2.5, but they were slightly different ages.  Sawyer could have done it right at or before 2 because he was very aware of his body, but with a new baby arriving in our house right around his second birthday, we decided to wait.  Know your kids, but don't think you HAVE to wait forever.

-Set a timer.
Even if your kid doesn't go every time, this gets them in the habit and routine of going potty through the day.  Sawyer used to go every single time, which was like every 15 minutes, and I thought we'd never be able to stray far from a toilet.  But he ended up being great at holding it and going when he was ready.  Without the timer, you are setting yourself up for failure.

-Get rid of the diapers.
While this is messier for you, it's a quicker transition. Most kids don't want to sit in their own pee, and diapers wick that stuff away.  In underwear, they FEEL the wetness.  Plus most kids LOVE having big-boy or big-girl underwear, and they don't like to mess it up.  Taking away the diaper tells them that they are in transition and helps them move past their habit of just going whenever, wherever.

-Schedule around the training week(s). 
Stick close to home and close to a bathroom.  If you have to leave, bring extra clothes just in case, and remember that your child will probably need to go before you leave, maybe during, and right after.  If you stay home for at least the first three days, you will really ensure success for your child.  That puts him or her in a familiar setting with easy access to a toilet.  You don't want a whole lot of other changes at the same time.  Focus for a short time and training should take a shorter time.

-Reward, reward, reward.
Again, we don't like doing food or candy, but found cheap ways to make the boys excited.  We also let Sawyer have a reward if he helped encourage Linc or went at the same time to set an example.  Find what makes your child feel rewarded and happy and go with that.  Often, figuring out the #2 situation is harder, so having some bigger kind of reward is nice so your child can see it and be motivated.  Lincoln got an army man or sticker for #1 (same for Sawyer) and both got a bigger car for #2.  Once we figured out Lincoln's biggest motivation, we made sure to remind him to tell everyone.


Any other tips or tricks?  Questions?  I feel really excited and free to have both boys out of diapers and feel like they were insanely easy to train.  I'd say it was equal parts their readiness/personality and the type of training.  It's a wonderful new stage, even if he wants me to check out his poopy.  Ick.

Lincoln Was Here

It's been a while since I've had one of these posts.  But Linc has been everywhere: drawing on my computer monitor (thankfully he had the sense to use a dry-erase marker), trying to escape the back door before we woke up one morning, and now this.  Somewhere in Italy, George Clooney is weeping.

A Few (Hundred) Miles West of Isaac...

I posted a photo from my beach day with my parents and the boys on Tuesday to Instagram. The first comment was from someone living in California:  "Um, don't you have a hurricane down there?"

Well, the Gulf did.  Just not our area.  It was, in fact, a glorious day--kids are back in school so it was mostly empty and there was great sun in the early part of the day.  As we hit noon, a great mass of clouds that I think were the outer-outer bands of the storm began moving over the beach.  The wind picked up a little, and surfers seemed to enjoy the larger (but still laughable) waves.  That was all we got.  Hopefully the hit areas will recover quickly!

 There were a lot of half-moons shining...

Dad gazing at the poorly named "Pleasure Pier."  There's got to be a better way to say that.

Things I Actually Made from Pinterest!

I know I've been posting a lot about food lately (I go in waves with things), but here are a few more recipes I've gotten and tried from Pinterest this week.  Here are recipes, links, and my notes

Gluten-Free Sweet Pancakes
1 Banana
2 Eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Mash the banana and mix well with the other ingredients.  Cook as you would pancakes, but I found it hard to maneuver them, as they didn't hold together well in flipping.  Use a fork to help lift the edge and turn with your fingers rather than using a spatula.  Small pancakes are key.  They are slightly on the sweet side and reminded me of a fluffy french toast.  Find the original recipe HERE.


Roasted Carrots and Zucchini
A zucchini or two
A carrot or two

Slice into inch or two long fingers.  Toss with olive oil and spices of your choice (I did fajita seasoning and Tony's) and cook at 425 for 20 minutes, turning or tossing in the middle.  AMAZING.  Nothing really unique about these, as any veggies roasted and tossed in oil and seasonings works, but I liked the shape of them as well.  Saw and Rob ate them up.  Linc...well.  Three out of four isn't bad. The original recipe is HERE.  

My Faith Has Teeth

In a misshapen half-attic loft space in above church in Katy, this is written on the wall, "Kiki Hates Babies!"

Maybe it has been painted over, but I hope not.  I don't actually hate babies.  (You may know this if you read my blog.)  I will admit that I never have been a Baby Person, but the reason a teenage girl wrote that on the ceiling has to do with a Bible study on Philippians 4:8, which says, "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things."

I was challenging a group of high schoolers to make a list of what things might fit into that "whatever." Things in their life that were true or noble or pure or lovely.  "And DON'T PUT BABIES OR PUPPIES ON YOUR LIST!"  I said, pointing a finger of warning at them.

One of the girls, looking rather startled, said, "But I really like babies!  Kiki, you hate babies!"  It was more of a joke than anything (at least I THINK the girls knew that wasn't really true), but it lasted for several years, mostly due to the fact that someone actually wrote it on the wall in the youth office.

What's wrong with puppies and babies? you may be asking.  Nothing.  Clearly, it's a universal truth that many, many people find kittens, puppies, and babies to be lovely.  My point in making that caveat was to challenge the girls to really think deeply.  We sometimes choose the simplest view of what's lovely and miss the depth and complexity of breath-taking loveliness.  

Christians especially fall prey to this.  I don't in any way want to diminish people finding joy or loveliness in even the smallest pieces of daily life--I have been learning to see real beauty in even the smallest of details.  What I mean, rather, is that sometimes Christians speak or present a cheesy greeting-card or bumper-sticker mentality of huge realities like beauty or--the biggest offender--God's love.  We see and present huge ideas in tiny packages, skimming the surface of those ideas.

I find myself groaning when I see a Facebook post that says something like, "God loves you!  Click 'Like' if you want to stand up for your faith!"  Or the email: "Forward this email to seven people NOW if you really love God."  I don't want a faith that truly expresses itself by forwarding an email or wearing a T-shirt.  I want a faith with teeth, a faith that can really tear into and sink down into the complexities of life and love.  A faith that can stand up when the world doesn't look so cheery, a faith that holds up when there is suffering and hardship and questions I can't answer.

Jesus talked about the need for having faith like a child.  But if you ever try reading the Old Testament to a child, you will realize very quickly that there are a lot of R-rated Bible stories.  Every dark and hard thing that we see splashed in the news today was written about first in the pages of God's Word.  The Bible is not all rainbows (though they are in there) or lions lying down with lambs (that's there too) or peace like a river (you guessed it--also there).  The Word of God is truth, and the truth is that we are in a very messed-up world, fraught with suffering and darkness.  If Christianity was all puppies and kittens, we would not have a voice to speak to the suffering in the world.

God's love for us certainly doesn't look like sunshine and rainbows.  It looks like God coming down in the form of a man to walk among us.  Jesus sweated.  He grew weary, was deserted by friends. Was mocked and insulted.  Sometimes he couldn't sleep.  He bled, was beaten.  That cross you might wear?  Love was a man nailed to it with real nails--piercing skin and bone and tissue.

The love of the Bible is that of a cuckolded husband, chasing down his unfaithful wife living as a prostitute.  Love pays to buy that woman back.  It is a fearsome love, a gritty and true love.  Not soft and mushy and easy.  The love of God has teeth.  So should our faith.

Faith with teeth shouts at the sky with David, Where are you, God?  Faith with teeth may bleed and die alongside Stephen under the killing weight of so many thrown rocks.  Faith with teeth may sit in silence for days with someone suffering great loss, like Job's friends did.  (Before they started trying to give him bumper-sticker answers for his problems, that is.)  Faith with teeth knows that real love is sacrificial.  It is not easy like Sunday morning, but gritty and sweaty and gets right down in the muck of this dirty world.

God IS love.  Jesus DID die on the cross for our sins.  But because those phrases make good sound bytes does not mean we should toss them lightly at the mother who has lost her son.  The man and woman struggling through a painful divorce, or the couple trying for the third long year to become conceive a child.

Yes, God's love speaks to that suffering.  But not in a pithy, superficial way.  Truly understanding the love of the Bible means we suffer alongside those who suffer.  We offer a love and a hope that stands firm through that suffering, though it does not promise to make sense of every tragedy. God WILL wipe away every tear from our eyes (Revelation 7:17), but that will not be on this side of life.

There is real beauty in flowers and puppies.  And babies.  But Christianity is NOT cute.  It is not simply a platitude or something that fits well on a bumper sticker, though you could sum it up in a few words: Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live, and died on the cross the death we deserve so that we could be reconciled to a God that is holy, all-powerful, and very personal.

You can "Like" Jesus on Facebook and really think puppies and babies are lovely, as long as your beliefs don't end there.  Real love?  Real faith?  They have teeth.

Insta-Kiki

Lots of photos this week!  Lots of excitement. 

 Glow Kiki from bowling with my team.  I like buying thrift store wedding dresses to normal events.

 Two of my favorite boys.  The older ones.

 Clouds!

 Gammy and the boys. 

 Sawyer in a tall block building.

 Tex loving on our new rug.

 Enjoying the last days of summer at the pool.

 Learning to dive!

 Me and Betty Watchett at our bout last weekend.  I think I've perfected the creeper in the background of photos.

 Bubbles!  With Gammy, as always.

 Eyelashes!  For miles, those boys.

 I may have overdressed for church...

 Tofu with Mary!

I'm not sure who is the best looking child--Sawyer, Lincoln, or Tex.  Maybe Tex.  He's pretty darn cute.