Save the DRAMA for your MAMA

Oh, my goodness! My sweet Madison had a melt-down tonight. . of the "girly" sort. . I AM extremely sympathetic (as I am not immune to inexplicable melt-downs from time to time), but I AM still perplexed on how to handle it! Distract her? Talk it through? Firmly shut her down? Let her cry it out--alone? Try to cuddle and coddle her through it--despite her resistance to this? 

Tonight the initial issue was wanting to stay at church longer and not head home a little early (as my mommy instinct clearly knew we needed to do--and as was proved by the melt-down itself!).  But it quickly turned into "I never let her go her own way. I need to let her make more decisions. I don't listen to her. I don't understand her, etc.".  When we got home, and we continued our "conversation", it progressed to "She's 8 now. She needs adventure. She needs to explore the world. By herself." When I asked her how she would like to travel, she said that "she would travel on foot".

On and on it went. I wish I could have made notes as we talked so that I could remember all she said! Bless her heart. I finally decided our "conversation" was not very productive, and it was time to put her in bed. . . and she happily prayed with me and for me and said goodnight.

What??? After all that??? I am needing some major wisdom!! This is not the first time this has happened and I have a funny feeling it's not the last! :)

Anyone with words of advice or suggestions of books or strategies or scripture. . feel free to send it my way!

What a girl! Oh, the adventures of mommy-hood!

Happy Easter!!!

Happy Easter! We had a wonderful GOOD FRIDAY in Friendswood. We did it all. . 

. . . dyed eggs

. . . had a hunt

. . . opened baskets

... . and took some beautiful bluebonnet pictures. Here are some individual shots. . . 

Here are our three. . 

This is our adorable nephew, Caden. . .

The baby cousins. . 

And all 4 cousins. . 

We also had a delicious meal with ham and all the yummy sides and desserts. My mom is amazing! :)

Saturday morning, the bunny made a visit to our house. Funny how he knows that Sundays are too early around here, but he's always managed to visit us on Saturday. We went to the park and had a relaxing day.

Sunday was a blessed day. God was good to give us grace and strength to lead. I'm so amazed at the way God is making Stephen ABLE to do the work He has given. We are so thankful and blessed! Our church family was so receptive and responsive to the Spirit, and they were ready to worship. Our service Sunday night at Ascend marked the end of services in the sanctuary as we currently know it. It's about to under-go a HUGE renovation. . .these are exciting times.

God is good. It's going to be a great week. Hope turns 1 on Thursday. . . can't help thinking about how life was a year ago. So much has changed. . . this life-thing sure is crazy sometimes.. . kind of hard to understand.  The only ROCK is Jesus. He's been so faithful and good to me. Happy Easter!

Madison is 8!

Here's the run-down on Madison's B-Day Celebrations. . .

Thursday morning, we had our traditional birthday breakfast.. . she loved it!

At lunch, we delivered cupcakes to the 2nd graders at FBA. They announced her name on the cafeteria microphone. It was so sweet!

Thursday night we ate supper at home then went to McDonald's to play and have an ice cream cone. 

On Saturday we had a family party at the HFBC bowling alley! Madison felt so loved on and so special. It was really fun for everyone.

Tonight I interviewed her about life as an 8 year old. . .Here's a snap-shot into Maddie's world.

What was the best part about being 7? Getting to go to people's houses by myself.

What was the hardest part about being 7? Having to deal with my little brother!

What advice to you have for someone who's turning 7? Have fun!

What is one thing you learned about God last year? That He will be with you all your life. And I asked Jesus into my heart because of that on one Friday night.

What is one thing you learned about yourself last year? That I'm confident to go spend the night and to interact with new things.

What surprised you last year? All the friends I made.

What is the most exciting thing you did last year? Go to NRH2O with all the kids.. . and getting a little sister! That's been my life long dream--to get a little sister.

What are you most looking forward to as an 8 year old? Going to 3rd grade and seeing what that's like.

What will be your greatest challenge? Having to deal with both a little brother and sister!

What is the most important thing about being a daughter? Having fun with my mom and dad.

What is the most important thing about being a Christian? Following God's Word and learning to hear God speaking to you and following Him.

What is the most important thing about being a sister? Have to look out for all the little kids.

What is your favorite subject? music

What is your favorite restaurant? Pei Wei

What is your favorite food?macaroni

What is your favorite song? Here I am to Worship?

What is your favorite band? The Smith Band and Jesus Freaks {Madison and Hannah's Band}

What is your favorite TV show? Fairly Odd Parents and Sponge Bob

What is your favorite thing to do on the weekend? Hang out with my family

Friday

We had a delicious and fun Friday night. Can you say "2 desserts"? Well, that's how it ended. It started with a stop at Houston's to eat. Now, I absolutely love their grilled chicken salad with that peanut dressing. Oh, my goodness! But. . not exactly a place for a family of 5.  . . so we left there and went to Amazon Grill. Now--it is in the restaurant family with America's and Churrasco's--2 of my all-time favorite Houston eateries--and it did not disappoint. 

We ordered 2 kids meals, 2 entrees, and a dessert--their delightful table-top smores maker. It is so yummy! Well, then, we discovered that the kids meals come with (drum roll, please) GRAPE COTTON CANDY. Wow! It was actually really tasty. . .so we just basked in our sugar high. Happy Spring Break to us! :)

Jackson thoroughly enjoyed the smores, and was fascinated with the fire. Are all boys little pyros? He really only wanted to burn the marshmallows--eating then was just not necessary!

On the way home, in the context of a conversation I'll spare you, I said "What do you think it will be like to ride in the car with one of your own friend's driving?" Now, this is new conversation territory--we haven't talked about this before that I can remember. Jackson's immediate response was "No. I'll be driving MY friends. They can ride with ME!" What is it with boys and driving?

I'm reading Dobson's Bringing Up Boys, and I am (again) amazed at God's design of boys--my boy! He is in the stage where he continually identifies with Stephen as a male. He says it all the time---"Dad, we're boys. Mom, Maddie, and Hope-y are girls. We're boys." This is completely new and wonderful territory, and I am savoring my front-row seat to the unfolding of the way God designed my little boy!

We're having Madison's 8 year old B-Day party tomorrow. I just can't believe that she's actually 8!! I'll have an "8 is Great" post real soon with all the party pics!

The Tuesday report

Well. Here I am. Hallelujah for an 8 o'clock bedtime at the Smith house! We've had 2 nights in a row of supper at home, baths, books, and on-time to bed. Awesome.

We are counting down to Madison's birthday which is Thursday. Speaking of Madison, she is recovering from HANNAH MONTANA which she went to on Sunday night with my parents. Can you believe it? My dad managed to get 3 tickets, so he and my mom took Maddie. Crazy! They had a blast!!!

My sweet Hope is changing everyday. Her birthday is coming up too, on March 27. I can't believe my baby is almost one! She can say "dada"--her most favorite word which she says over and over and over, "mama"--which she occasionally says!, "bye", "hi", "baba"--bottle, and "bubba"--for Jackson. She's also signing "more", "finished", "please", AND she can wave and play patty cake .. . AND she's just so darn cute! 

Jackson is as much a nut as always. He keeps me hopping. He's happy if he can play with cars and more cars. I love that kid!

OK. That's the update. School's good. Church is good. Life is good.

God is good.

Good night.

A new song from Madison's heart

Maddie wrote a new song.. . .she diligently sat in the back seat of the car with her notebook and pen. . and then sang this lovely song to us. I thought you would enjoy the words, too (the way she wrote them).

The Fathe (faith)

The fathe I have in Jesus is the strongist bond with anyone. I love Him and one thing why is I mooved and allredy he is helping me. I love the lord! He is the Best. repeat.

I love the Lord!

Hallelujah!! Is that precious, or what! Thank you to all my blog-land friends who have prayed for our family--and especially my sweet Maddie--during our transition. It means so much!