Dancing, singing, screaming...real life

Just wanted to share some of the everyday here. Often I think, "Now if I only had a camera so I could share this!" Many times it's something cute or wonderful the boys are doing, but there are also times when I'm thinking, "I need to share this so other moms don't feel alone and to ask for help!!"

These pictures and video clips share just that.

This one is one of those wonderful moments when the boys were dancing around in the office where we're spending some time worshiping the Lord in song together every morning. Since this month we're reading parts of the passover story from Exodus in the Day by Day Kids Bible (forgot to mention that in my April plans post) and learning about passover and about Jesus from the passover story I thought it'd would be fun to learn some Hebrew songs about Passover, and so I found some by Jill Moskowitz that are great! You can listen to the music free here.
BTW, does anyone know of a good album for kids or site where I can download Psalms for kids. I'd like to start singing the Psalms with them to help get the word in their little hearts. Let me know if you know of anything please! This song is The Burning Bush :

Here's the "I need help!" video. The same morning that was full of joyful worship was tested hours later with this outburst of anger.

I won't expose which child, but this child is the one who, if we're talkin' soil, is the more difficult to work with soil. Most of the trouble I run into is a strong will and much of it is the fruit of my own anger and frustration- planting bad seed- or dealing with the abundant thorny weeds that keeping popping up in this little one.

On one hand, I'm assured, there's no pretending with this child- he's not trying to deceive or candy coat things for me so he can have his way- he's honest, but his bent towards violent anger is obvious. It's just the depraved heart in all of us I know, but as a mom, I get soooooooo tired of laboring in this "soil" sometimes, and that's where the danger lies- that I'll get tired and he'll win, or rather the enemy will win. I must stand my ground for this little lamb and often it's through a lot of screaming.

This also happened after I had just read "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines promptly." Proverbs 13:24 over at 5 Colorful Kiddos! and was lamenting the many times I haven't been "prompt" but lazy, and as a result have hated my own son, just as God's word says. It sounds terrible, I've hated my own son, but that's my tearful confession and now I must love him with a return to prompt discipline.

"Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." James 5:16. I NEED YOUR PRAYERS!

Here's some "laboring in love," our sheep craft for the Passover Seder centerpiece we'll be putting on the table that the boys made:




Here's Ryland and Connor working on our letter recognition, tracing and phonics. I use this three ring binder with laminated pages of the alphabet, they trace them with an eraser marker and shout out the name of the letter and what the letter "says" (the sound it makes). I just returned to doing this daily. One child LOVES doing it, the other would much rather go play and that was the trigger that sent us into a major tantrum, hence the bedroom screaming. But once the "foolishness" dealt with and over in the bedroom, there was peace and lots of joy at the table again when the child returned and was rewarded for his excellent tracing and annunciation of the letters VOLUNTARILY! I've also begun again following this up by simply going down the ABC's memory verse list that I got from Higher Up and Further In . I have the older child recognize the letter verbally and I follow it up with reading the verse which is behind that letter. Just more getting the Word in them: