date night and big Sunday brunch

so we had our first date night since moving to kampala.

we went out for dinner and a movie.

and i took a boda boda. at night.

it was terrifying. 

i honestly do not want to do it again.

and there is no way i will willingly let noah or jude take a ride on one.

absolutely terrifying.

my legs were like jello for a couple hours afterward.

but i digress.

we got there safely and quickly and a lot more cheaply than if we had taken a private hire (taxi cab). 

dinner was delicious, i laughed out loud (a lot) in the movie and we got to chat about a lot of things.

and yesterday was Sunday which meant that we had big Sunday brunch!

it was delicious. i love big Sunday brunch. trevor said to me that he doesn't know which is more exciting; Friday pizza night or big Sunday brunch. i couldn't pick either.

we had bacon and cheesy scrambled eggs with banana muffins (for the kids) and coffee banana scones. yum!

next week i'm making these. um, i'm really excited.

after brunch, while we were at church i was getting pretty frustrated with the boys. they were fighting with each other and up and down and not listening and  i could feel myself getting angry.

angry at the boys. angry at our church for not having children's programs that start at the beginning of church and just angry that i didn't get to have a peaceful church experience. 

as we sang (i forget the song), the thought of sacrifice and picking up our cross and following after Jesus struck me. hard. 

motherhood isn't easy breezy. 

but it isn't the easy breezy things in life that conform us to the likeness of Christ, is it? 

nope. 

so i lowered my expectations, prayed for patience and love and moved through and forward to choose to have joy. 

and church finished early! 

i was thankful for that. (is that wrong?)

we're just over 6 weeks into life here and it's pretty good. my next goal for myself is to make up a monthly curriculum plan for noah including games, crafts and reading/writing. hopefully by the end of the week i can have something made up.

happy Monday to you!

underpants! v. 3.0

Today I had my "I've had it!" moment with potty training.

Well, all things considered, Noah is doing awesome with it. I mean, he literally potty trained in 2 days. So much more than I could have expected.

But he will only go in his potty chair. So this morning in our rush to get out of the house to church after Noah's prolonged tantrum about putting on his boots and coat and then finally getting him buckled into his car seat and pulling out of the driveway he announces

I HAVE TO GO PEE!

Me=anger!anger!anger!

So in we went and I told him {in my anger} that today was the last day for his potty chair and tomorrow it was going to go away and he would have to use the toilet seat {we have a little insert to make it easier}. He seemed okay with this, not thrilled, but fine with the idea.
Then he peed his pants at church.

So tomorrow will be phase 2 of potty training. So we'll see how it goes.

Also: I have anger issues.

tantrums and my own issues

Lately I've been struggling with my responses to Noah's meltdowns. Like screaming-in-my-face-in-the-middle-of-Chapters meltdowns. Like throwing-metal-cars-across-the-room meltdowns.
Everything in me just melts down into one emotion: pure rage. And then embarrassment if we're somewhere public. And then frustration because I don't know how to make.it.stop.
I read somewhere {Raising Boys, maybe?} about testosterone surges in boys at ages 3 and 7 and then of course during puberty I think. This would explain the pure rage and anger Noah exhibits, but how to explain mine?
I've mostly been able to keep it under check but it's definitely a wake up call that I need to work through my issues of control and pride {because that's what causes my embarrassment in a public situation}.
But it's frustrating to feel like I'm back here again. Working through these issues all over again.

Today I decided to play out a future situation with Noah.

Me: Noah, we're going to Hannah's house after lunch. And we're going to stay and play there for awhile. But after awhile we're going to have to leave and come back home. So when I say "Noah. It's time to go." You need to say, "Okay Mom." and then we'll get our coats and boots on. Okay?

Noah: Okay.

Me: So let's practice. Noah. We're having a fun time at Hannah's house but it's time to go.

pause


Me again: So what do you need to say?

Noah: Um...okay Mom. Boots and coats, now?

We rehearsed this a few more times and I also reminded him of this in the car on the way there.
While we were there we had a minor struggle for a diaper change {more on our goal of The Great Potty Training of 2011 later} and I reminded him of his response when I would soon tell him that it was time to go.

And then when it was time...it worked! He said, Okay! {and then quickly asked if he could watch something on tv while I prepared dinner when we got home.}
So all the rehearsing worked. I wasn't a believer of the practicing and preparing beforehand in the past, but I guess I needed to actually get him to say the words and pretend. I think it helped a lot.

I hope this will help the rage in our household. Because Jude watches and is The Ultimate CopyCat in his spitting and hitting and saying "NO!". It's shocking because he's so young, and kinda scary at how much he picks up from watching Noah so I'm really trying hard to set firm ground rules of expected behaviour because I do NOT want my children screaming in my face, much less anyone else's!

It's truly a good thing they are so cute because all I have to do is look at pictures like these {no matter how my day has been} and my heart goes to mush.

Expression of Anger

This morning Noah woke up at 6am.
Not cool.
His usual wake up time is between 7:30 and 8 so this was highly unusual for him.
I got up and went in to him and helped him get all comfy again and told him it was still nighttime and that he had to go back to sleep.
Then I left.
Then he screamed.
He was so angry!

And THEN...

THEN...

He started screaming, "I KILL YOU MAMA!"
I think my jaw dropped.

"Did he just say, 'I kill you Mama'?"

Jamie said, "Yup. Sounds like it."

I credit his good friend Elijah (you did warn me, Jen!) with this new expression of anger.

It only lasted 5 minutes and then he fell back asleep until 7:45.

And he woke up happy as can be with no memory of his death threat against me.
Nice.
Oh boys.
I guess I have more of this killing and death talk in my future - especially with 2 boys.