I am probably forgetting some things from the other two, but I think Katie may be the most difficult child I have.. (okay, my kids are great, so I say "most difficult" only in relation to the others) the most inconsistent, at the very least. About a month ago, she started making us sit in her room while she went to sleep...it got to be crazy. If we left too soon, she would just scream, and the whole "moooooommmmmmmyyyyy" scream would come out. So, we just did the supernanny thing and sat in the room while she went to sleep. The thing that Supernanny DOESN"T teach is how to STOP doing that! I don't want to sit in my kids' room until they are 10, deciding they can finally go to sleep on their own! SO - out came SUPERMOMMY! Yep, I had had enough!

Kevin went out of town last week - Wed-Sat - so it was a perfect time to make it happen. Emily had decided she wanted her own room and Ethan now had a new, unwanted, roommate, so I couldn't do it with Ethan in the room. He got to sleep in my bed. Okay so here's how it went.

Wednesday - get her ready for bed, nurse, put her to bed, say goodnight and walk out... and I walked in and put her down about 30 times in the next hour and a half. Never saying a word, just putting her down, covering her with her blankie, and walking out. It never failed that before I had even left her room, she was standing up, screaming for me. (I am NOT exaggerating the word scream). Finally, I would see her rubbing her eyes as I walked back into the room and knew I was winning. I decided I wouldn't go back in until she was out.

Thursday - same routine. but THIS time it only took 35 minutes! yay!
Friday - I took Ethan to the movies and Emily was at a slumber party, so Ben and Rebecca had Katie. They have a new projector thingy for Micah and it worked like a charm on Katie! When I put her down again at home there was a peep and then sweet sleep.
Saturday - Katie cried just a little and then went quiet. She was still awake, as I found out when I went into the room with Ethan, but she didn't scream.
Sunday - put her down and not a peep.

I won!!! Yay!!!
Next battle: get Ethan to respond appropriately to bad news (such as, "it's time to go", or "it's time to stop playing that game")....

For those of you in the East Texas area, this weekend (Thursday - Saturday) is the CCC Sale! (Childrens' Clothing Consigment Sale). It's a great way to get your kids' seasonal wardrobe! My first time was in the fall and it was amazing!!! Harvey Convention Center, I believe. You can probably google it and find more info. I need to do that myself! If I think of it, I will update the info here.

Hey, folks... sorry I have been absent much of the week... Wednesday I fell into another head cold. Big. and Bad... feeling much better today, with residual effects, of course - it couldn't just GO AWAY, right?? that, coupled with allergies from all this lovely spring pollen and mold, have made for a pretty miserable few days...but no worries.

anyway... a couple of weeks ago, I ordered a copy of a new Ted Dekker book. I GUESS I must have ordered two of them. SO, I have an extra copy! I have seen many online giveaways, so I thought I would tweak it a bit, since Emily is raising money for her first mission trip sans mom and dad... the book is Kiss, and I have read it. It is great!

Here's how it will work: I will leave it open until Easter. Anyone that pledges (Or just sends) a donation for Emily's mission trip fund will be added to the drawing. On Easter, I will add all the names to a hat and draw one! Voila! you just got yourself a new book! I will pay for the shipping.

Sound like a plan? I hope you will all get on board. We are really excited about her going on her first trip alone. Okay, so it is the Texas Juniors' trip - she will stay on campus, and only go as far as Tyler, but we think it is a good first step without us. She has a tendency to get homesick for us, but I want her to see that she can do it. We wanted to send her to Costa Rica, and she wanted to, too, until she realized that she would be a regular missionary, not a PD kid, and it was for two weeks, etc.... so, TX JR's it is! She isn't officially of age, but we have connections, don'tchya know!