Adventures in Toilet Training

Over the last couple weeks Baby Brother has decided to toilet train himself. He refused a diaper and insisted we put him on the big toilet and not that dumb little potty chair (thank God I only paid $7 for it), he wanted big boy underoos and will only wear a diaper at night. All on his terms, the pig headed turd...hahaha.

The reason I feel this is important is to tell you this tidbit of poop humor...

I was doing laundry on my back patio (I hate that my laundry is out there) and my naked toddler, fresh from the bath and not wanting to dress quite yet, is trying to open the sliding glass door. I didn't want him outside in his nude state so I didn't open the door for him, which led to him to try and push the door harder. Well I guess he pushed a little to hard because a pile of poop fell out of him. The expression on his face was priceless! This astonished look of disgust. I ran him upstairs sat him on the pot grabbed my little green carpet shampooer, one of my best investments, and cleaned up what the towel left behind.

Toilet training is crazy I tell ya! CRAZY!

Dreaming of Hawai'i Lately

I miss Hawaiian Summers! Maybe, not just Hawaiian ones, maybe I miss the lack of responsibility, and freedom to read and play all day. 

I do miss the soft grass *Texas is seriously lacking in the grass area right now* and tropical breeze. I do miss the soft sandy beaches, and scent of Huli Huli Chicken. 

At this pointe, however, I do believe it is the responsibility thing. I complained about having to wash dishes twice a week and having to clean my room...which was just toys. Now I have to wash clothes for 4 people and do dishes 6 or 7 nights a week. 

I am in a whiney mood though, sorry. Woes me...lol

Enjoy some pictures while you are here.

 On our way to the beach 1990

 On the pass, headed to the beach. Had to stop for a soda and the view.

That is me walking down the stairs in my ruffle butt bikini.

I want to go on vacation...just Dustin and I. Hawai'i would be wonderfully romantic. Someday, when money is not so tight, I guess.

I leave you with this: "...I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you..." Romans 1:8 KJV

Why am I up?

1:40 AM CDT, and I sit here in front of my computer, that now sits on a desk...*happy dance*...tired and alone. Not lonely (no heart ache here), the good alone, the alone where you can think and breath, and hope and dream.
After digging deep, and getting through all the medical BS, I found an actual list of side effects for the medications Dustin was taking. Funny trend I saw...the side effects were symptoms of Bi-polar. We did more research and found information about dirty tricks drug makers pull and how medical science has never proven any of these afflictions to be true. Doctors who talk about this stuff are ostracized, and they rest blindly go on and prescribe because these pretty young people come in and tell them about these medications. Seriously go do the research for yourself, it will make you sick.
We don't need medication for stress! We need coping skills, we need to breath, and find a positive outlet. Not something to trow ourselves into to cause more stress! Take up a calming activity, like knitting or sewing, just for you. Collect comic books...write a blog! Like Dustin has started doing. He is The Token Geek Dad! Check him out! He is learning to channel his stress and anger into constructive things. I am so proud of him!
He is Wellbutrin free! And down to 1 Clonazepam half in the morning half at night. He has fought hard and continues to do so. He drives me bananas at time, but he is my best friend! I cannot wait until his body is free of these horrible poisons!
In other news I took the boys to the dentist. Big brother had 4 cavities, so far he has gotten 2 of them filled. He gets 1 cap next month and another soon after. Baby brother has nearly perfect teeth with a slight overbite.

They are growing so fast I can hardly keep up!

Hello Blogger My Old Friend

For Mother's Day I got this fancy new Android phone. The Samsung Nexus X, and today it occurred to me that perhaps Blogger has an App....and they do!! I'm blogging in the car on the way to my mom's house. No I'm not driving. Dustin is, I'm not crazy. Speaking of crazy and Dustin ....that's a whole other post. I'm off for now because my phone erased about 10 minutes worth of writing and we are almost to our destination.

His Deep Love

So many people see God as against people. We all have sin. A person who judges another is just as much as a sinner as the one he is judging. God loves everyone of us! He loves Osama Bin Laden, He loves the Westboro Baptist Church, He loves Obama, and Oprah. He loves Sarah Palin, he loves GW Bush, He loves me and you! He loves gay people, He loves people who don't believe in him, He loves Muslims, He love people who have ended a pregnancy. He is saddened when people rebuke him, or tell/believe lies about Him, or do things to cause pain to themselves or others, but He is not out to get us. We are not called to judge each other, we are called to love one another. He is for us, on our team. He desires to love us. He sent His Son to take on every single sin past present and future, so we can have a relationship with God. He wants to walk with us. He is on my team, how about yours?

Romans31-36, 31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” {Psalm 44:22}

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.



HIS GRACE SAVES US!!!!

My Little Loves

They have so much love for each other. This mommy could not be happier kissing any other tiny faces, or seeing any eyes other than these two sets looking up at her. I mean adding to them would not be a bad thing if that is what God has planned, but to replace them would be INSANE! 

Sigh...just thought I would share my love for these two awesome little boys. 

The Lies I Was Told

Autumn, if you live, you will never walk talk or be able to live on your own. -Drs. at birth
Autumn, you are not smart. -Many of my teachers
Autumn, you are not pretty. -Class mates
Autumn, you are a brat. -My siblings
Autumn, you will never stop wetting the bed. -My Grandmother
Autumn, you are not cool. -Everyone my own age, where ever we moved
Autumn, you are not dateable. -All the boys
Autumn, you are not as good as your brother. -Everyone who knew my brother, before they met me
Autumn, you will never get a good education, you should find a rich man to take care of you. -My dad(in a joking manner...I took it seriously for a long time)
Autumn, you will need a maid when you grow up. -my mother
Autumn, you are not worth it. -Satan

All of it is a lie.

The TRUTH is:
I am alive.
I am smart.
I am pretty.
I am sweet and caring.
I stopped wetting the bed.
My son thinks I am cool.
My husband asked me out.
My brother is not as perfect as everyone thinks he is(although he is pretty awesome).
I am in college and I can take care of myself.
I do need a maid, I am not the best house keeper, I do try. I have improved though.
Jesus died for me. He thinks I am worth it.


What lies have you believed?

I have been slackin' big time!

Christmases were great! Yep we had 2 of them! One with The G Family and one with the D Family. I feel so blessed!

The Family G

Cousins and off spring of them

 Brotherly love

The Family D

The cousins

 My parents are still so in love.

 I love me some waffles!

So that was Christmas. For new years we went to my parents house and blew things up. including nearly blowing up ourselves. Someone threw trash into the fore and a few seconds later small balls of sparlkly fire came at us while we were trying to relax in our chairs and keep warm. Screaming and running and laughter followed. Best part was having my whole family together.

*It is very difficult to blog during a movie!!

Next comes the birth of my BFF to her beautiful baby boy! Baby E is so sweet and was born on Jan 16th. He was welcomed by Boy's BFF CS and Little Sister, who is now also Big Sister. I am thrilled for our friends! 

Baby Brother is 2!! He ran around on his day saying "two", he says "car", "diaper", "peepee", "ducky", "bubbles", "Bubbah" and lots of other words. He would rather watch a movie with real people than a cartoon. So I stream Blues Clues off of Netflix. I am still trying to teach him to be nice to his big brother. 

Yesterday we had the annual Goodwin Boy Birthday Bash. We went with a Star Wars theme. I was quite epic. Our friends Jen and Eric helped us make the cakes, which were inspired by a post on Craftster. That was a fun time making marshmallow fondant and baking cakes. Eric cut out the shapes and Dustin painted them. Lots of work...

destroyed in less than a minute.

The boys and their friends had so much fun making light sabers out of pipe insulation and colored tape.

*Unfortunately Blogger won't let me upload that picture*

So you are caught up...for now.

Surrender

The hardest thing to do is let go, we cling so hard to our control over the very fabric that holds us together by insisting that we must know whats best for us. From your cell phone to your car to the chair you sit in at work non of these inanimate objects can function with out your assistance you in essence control them. Then we go as far as thinking we actually have the mental capacity much less the know how to control a person, how many times are spouses guilty of trying to make one another do what they want. The fact of the matter is that we don't have control over anything, at this very moment there are physicists attempting to make protons collide in order to understand how life it's self started, man will always be limited by his own ignorance. We are not even biologically capable of controlling the very chemicals in our brain that control our emotions. As Christians we have trouble casting all our cares at the foot of the throne of God (giving up control) I personally have gone as far as asking if someone could tell me how to do it, the truth is know one can tell you how to hand over your life to Jesus. It's a decision, you must be willing to give up and say "I surrender" and the minute that little seam opens in your heart God will pour in and do the rest, you know you are filled with the Holy Spirit when nothing else but serving your God matters. So fall to your knees with your face to the ground and say to God at this moment " I surrender" all I have is yours, what a great feeling it is to let go of everything you have been caring your whole life and give it up to the Lord God Almighty! in His mighty hands your troubles are like a grain of sand so he has plenty of room for everyone's problems. Have hope Beloved you have someone there waiting for you, eager to help and He has made life, and He will wait as long as it takes for you to let go and fall into His arms.

-D.B.Goodwin

Purpose

"Because of Jesus' perfect work on the cross I am righteous by His blood, and I am greatly Blessed, Highly favored and Deeply loved! I expect good things to come my way. I expect good success and have a confident expectation of good!"

The purpose of life is to live, don't sell your self short by settling for anything less than your wildest dreams. God is willing and waiting He wants to bless you beyond anything you ever thought was possible, because there is no limit to His love for you.

Keeping Good Company

I recently respond to a family member's frustration with friends talking behind his/her back with this statement and I thought I should share it with you guys.

"I have learned that if you ever want to let God prosper you and receive your inheritance from this world, you must start with keeping good company. "Bad company corrupts good character" 1 Corinthians 15:33. You are deceived by the fact that other peoples opinions of you matter and there for robbed of the all the great qualities that God has blessed you with that make you, you. Free yourself from the shackles of society that bind you and become the man you are meant to be a man that is not afraid to stand up for himself, a man that you would be proud to call friend."

-D.B.Goodwin

Halloween!

This year Boy wanted to dress as a Jedi

We had a Golf Pro costume for Brother from Peepaw.

A master trick-or-treater an such a young age.

Hmmm...should I use the 9 iron?

Family portrait at the Pumpkin Patch

The boy and his pumpkin.

Striking a pose

LOOK AT THE PUMPKIN!!!!

I would like to say that Baby Brother is a CANDY MONSTER! He got a taste and will not be happy when it is all gone! Us Goodwin's had a good Halloween, how was yours?

Bullies and the Bullied

So I have started reading the blog Single Dad Laughing and I really enjoy it. A few weeks ago he posted about bullies and his life dealing with them. This was hard to read, I was constantly picked on as a child. I was tall and lanky, all knees and elbows. I wore out of date clothes (mostly hand-me-downs from my sister) that look awful on me. I never felt pretty, I desperately wanted to be every ones friend. We were a military family and I was a perpetual new kid. I cried a lot, but I don't remember ever wanting to kill myself, mostly because I didn't want to hurt my parents. Home was my saving grace. My parents always let me know how much they loved me.
Instead of hating myself I hate cities where I was most unhappy. I hated Tucson AZ. until we went there on a vacation. For my 28th birthday I discovered Tucson was not a horrible, dark, unfriendly, hell hole. It is beautiful with all the mountains and palm trees. I still, however, hold a grudge on Lockhart TX. I was miserable in that town, my days were spent at the library and riding around on my bike avoiding certain neighborhoods where the evil bullies hung out.
I love home though, evn though it was a tiny 2bdrm single wide trailer, and my mom was quite ill(Lupus). Each morning my dad would cook us a hot breakfast and we would do a daily devotional.
In these to places I didn't even have friends my age at church! Adults adored me, but kids thought I was weird. That's until the Blankes came to town and I received the blessing of Krystal and Grace. Without them I would have had nothing. They were homeschooled and we had so many adventures at their home out in the country.
Anyway, as I have grown I have discovered that everyone needs to feel loved, and those that do not lash out at those who do. They have the goal to break down every one so they are below them. As Dan has stated in his blog, "put your arms around a bully" give them a hug. Also love those who are bullied! All of them, no matter the reason!
Yesterday I wore purple to remember the teens who have killed themselves for being bullied for being gay. Yes, conservative Christian Autumn! These kids were God's! He love all of us, no matter where we are in life. And as Christians it is up to us to love them! Shame on those who bullied them and called themselves Christians, shame on people who bully other in God's name. My God is the God of love and compassion. As a Christian I speak the truth in love, and love my neighbor and myself. You are all my neighbors! I expect you to keep me accountable for this. I have some apologizing to do, I know this. I am far from perfect but I am forgiven much, and therefor love much.

I kinda went all over the place with this post...but I hope you get my message.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35

Introduction

Hello my friends, today I am all jazzed! I finally convinced Dustin to blog! Like everything else in my life, we now will share this special place.

So, without further ado,
I give you Dustin.

Sink or Swim

Learning to swim means letting go of the side of the pool, as child I am reminded of how massive the pool seemed to me and how I was so afraid of the water because it looked deeper beyond what I could see. Learning to swim is not an easy task but eventually you will have to let go. Your relationship with God in the same way requires that you let go of the world and trust in Him to keep you a float, at first you may be frightened of letting go of all the problems and worries you are drowning in, but once you let go of them and come to the surface God will be there holding out His hand to pull you out of the pool of despair. Learning to trust in God is no easy task but eventually if you let go He will pull you out of the water and you will for the first time breath easily.

Hi!

Haven't posted in a while.
I have been busy with school, and parenting and best of all making my marriage stronger than ever.
Prayer and unconditional love and understanding make such a difference! Amen!

Here are some cute moments from a zoo trip we took the other day.

 Talking about what to see first. Deep thoughts.

 Do you see how involved he is?

 Lovin' my babies!

 So big! I love how the bathroom has a sink just for little ones.

 Look at that cute face!

 Gone fishing!

 Knocked out!

Yes friends that is a genuine SMILE!

Boys Grow too fast

Boy is 5 1/2 today, Baby brother is 18 months as of July 24th!


Dear Time,

Stop Flying so fast!!

Thanks,

The Mom

Worldess Wednesday: Don't Mess With Mommy!

School

Kindergarten is just around the corner. Although I am not a fan of public schools as they stand right now. (I hope to change them somewhat when I start teaching, which is another post.)
Boy starts Kinder August 23rd, in a way I am excited for him. I am mostly scared and nervous. What will I do without my precious boy all day? Oh yeah, work on my education.
Anyway here is a list of his supplies.


1 Blunt scissors (Fiskars preferred)
2 Boxes of 16 or 24 count crayons (Crayola preferred)
2 Glue bottles (4 oz. or more, Elmer’s preferred) or 4 glue sticks
1 Set of markers (8 count, washable, Crayola preferred)
1 Set of watercolor paints (basic colors, Crayola or Pang preferred)
6 Pencils, #2 wooden, yellow only, sharpened
1 Large pink eraser or 1 pkg. of pencil top erasers
2 Folders with fasteners and pockets (1 red, 1 yellow)
2 Spiral notebooks (60 – 100 page count or more)
1 Plastic box for school supplies
1 Large boxes of Kleenex tissue
1 Box of Ziploc bags gallon size – girls 1 Box of Ziploc bags quart size – boys
1 Backpack with zipper (13x9 or larger) NO WHEELS, labeled
1 Bath size towel (labeled) – no mats, blankets or pillows
1 Change of clothes (labeled and in Ziploc bag)
* please note – Some supplies will be collected and used as community property. Please do not label supplies unless indicated above.

Is it crazy that they want that specific brand? I need a backpack with his name stitched on it, I also want his name stitched on his towel.
I cannot wait to go shopping! 

Wordless Wednesday